Vachon River Explained

Vachon River
Subdivision Type1:	Country
Length:	266km (165miles) (measured from north-west end of Lac Laflamme)
Source1 Elevation:	487.5m (1,599.4feet)
Mouth Elevation:	5m (16feet)

Vachon River (French: Rivière Vachon, Inuktitut: Ikkatujaaq (seemingly shallow) or Qarnatulik (unknown meaning) or Avaluko (unknown meaning)^[1]) is a river in the Arctic tundra of Nunavik, Quebec. It originates on Lac Laflamme at 61.3636°N -73.76°W just north of Pingualuit crater and finishes at 60.0786°N -71.1497°W where it joins Arnaud/Payne River. It was named after bishop Alexander Vachon (1885–1953), rector of Laval University in 1939 and from 1940 to 1953, archbishop of the diocese of Ottawa, Ontario.^[1]

Despite the access and paddling difficulties (long rapids and ledges) and extreme climatic conditions,^[2] river is occasionally paddled by canoeists:

in 1978, 4 canoeists from Quebec, Canada, paddled Vachon upstream as access route to Povungnituk River (French: Rivière Puvirnituq);
in 1985, the group of 4 canoeists (Pascal Dorémus, Jacques Lavoué, Olivier Barbier and Philippe Zanni) from Lyon, France^[3] coming from Puvirnituq, upstream Povungnituk River (French: rivière Puvirnituq);
in 2009, solo canoeist Eric Leclair from Quebec;^[4] ^[5]
in 2010, the group of 4 canoeists (Lynette Chubb and Lester Kovac from Ontario and Curt Gellerman and Wesley Rusk from the United States).^[6]

River is inhabited by an important Arctic char population harvested for subsistence by the Inuit of Kangirsuk.^[7]

References

http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=64708 Commission de toponymie du Québec - Topos sur le Web - Rivière Vachon
Book: FQCK. Guide des parcours canotables du Quebec, Tome II. 2000. 241. Broquet . 2-89000-504-6.
Philippe Zanni . Pauline Holdsworth . Across Ungava - Canoeing Northern Quebec . Kanawa . Winter 2000 . 4–9.
Virginia Marshall . Lining and Tides and Bears . Rapid . Summer/Fall 2009 . 14.
Eric Leclair . Vachon River, Nunavik . Kanawa . Winter 2009 . 20–29.
Lester Kovac/Lynette Chubb: Vachon River 2010.
Web site: Assessment of the baseline metal levels in the aquatic environment of Crater Lake, Deception, Puvirnituq and Vachon rivers, Nunavik . 2008-10-23 . Daniel Leclair . January 2001 . Environmental monitoring of the Raglan project . Nunavik Research Centre . . 4.