I will post a trip report, but our trip from Nym to Sag was one of the most intense wilderness trips I've been on in 25 years.

While the levels are certainly coming down, I have never seen the power and volume of water that I experienced on this trip.

- Chatterton, Keats, and Shelley running like rivers, not lakes
- Narrows, falls, and rapids treacherous
- Narrows that normally are a passage from one body of water to another acting as chutes
- Burn from 2021 making some portages non-existent or difficult to locate
- Had to bushwhack more than once and straight-line through a chute in a narrow of the Maligne near Shelley that normally would not exist
- Maligne River lived up to its name
- Falls Chain as dangerouse as I've ever seen them
- Surreal experience of such a volume of water while the forest itself was so dry - crunchy moss turning to powder under foot
- Encountered ill prepared or careless travelers near the Falls Chain heading north that were not prepared to deal with the trip back against the current. Keeping an eye out for rescues or worse this week.

I understand these conditions are changing due to lack of rain and rapidly decreasing water levels.

A couple highlights:
- Float plane trip from Sag to Nym and waterload were pretty awesome
- Fishing was dynamite (all four species)
- Island site facing Snake Falls/Twin Falls was incredible and the falls were something I cannot describe given the conditions noted above
- Fishing in Lonely Creek pool from Lonely to Sturgeon was stupidly good for smallies and walleye

Sounds fantastic! How long did you take to cross the park?

Falls chain was impressive 2-3 weeks ago - paddling upstream after the final portage was an unexpected act of desperation to escape the current.

Last year (late May) water was significantly higher - Chatterton falls were torrential.

Can you share what your logistics were to fly from Sag to Nym? Did you paddle to Cache Bay Ranger Station, get your permit, and fly from there? Or direct from the US side somewhere? If the latter, was the flight straight to Nym? Did an RABC cover this? What aviation outfit did you use?

Used Voyageur Canoe Outfitters to arrange flight.

Only needed our Ontario card and RABC. Pilots had permit for us when they picked us up.

Towed to an island on Canadian side by VCO. Atikokan Air picked us up. Paddled all the way back from Batch and got a tow back to VCO from Hook Island. We stopped at the ranger station in Cache Bay, but not because we needed to for reentry. We wanted to relay conditions information for safety north west of Kawnipi.

I posted my trip report, titled “Nym (Batch) to Sag Fly in” which covers the flight info with detail. Total flight time was about 40 minutes.

My son is in the falls chain today! Two 18 year olds with a lot of tripping experience but first trip on own! They are at 100 miles and came in from Beaverhouse. They camped on Kenny last night and are staying over today and going up the falls chain to explore. Been nervous all day! Stressed safety prior to trip and last night by Garmin message. I’m going to be even more nervous till I hear from him tonight!

They went through Russell, Chatterton, Keats, but then banked to Beard down to Kahsahpiwi. Strong paddlers and have been hammering the miles. My son did whitewater training with me in the last month so he has been in serious current recently.

I was worried about the Maligne as they head back up though Kawnipi. I’d pointed out the few areas and we’d discussed them. We did have a smoke portage and have that gps marked accurately as well as all the other ones we did on trip last year in that area. They are going to go out through Shelley, Keats, Chatterton. Then Alice to Bisk Beg, Bud with a Stanton exit. I note several narrower areas on Shelley that could have flow. Last year we could feel it on Keats big time though like you said flowing.

Ryan

Ryan, it sounds to me like they are well prepared, and the adventure will be worth it. The narrows in and around Shelley will be the hardest. If they are headed back in a loop and going down stream, they may have it a bit easier. Hopefully they just take one at a time and figure out the best course of action. I certainly didn’t want to make you (or anyone) more nervous, but I wanted to share what we went through so others can learn. I’ll pray for their safety. Please let me know how it goes.

Check out my trip report if you can for more context. If you can reach them on Garmin tell them not to take any narrows in and around Shelley for granted and to bushwhack or straight line, if necessary. I imagine that water levels are receding pretty fast.

We came out from Kawnipi through the Falls Chain on June 7. It was an intense experience. The Cache Bay ranger Peter had given us a map with an extra bushwhack portage marked to avoid strong current, but it was marked in the wrong location. This led to us crossing a channel where the current was so strong and capricious that we almost capped. A couple of other white knuckle moments as well paddling through narrows where current was pushing hard. The last portage before Little Sag was trickier than expected with the current trying to push and roll us against the rock face of the north shore. It was stressful.

Read your trip report -- glad you are okay and that the fishing poles were the only casualty. If you were to have capsized above one of the falls on the chain, man...could've been a much different story.

Agreed! And you are absolutely right about that rock face. Strange thing is, as cautious as we needed to be through the falls chain, it was nothing compared to north west of Kawnipi.

I knew water was high normal this year. I doubt it’s as bad as last year where we had to get into Keats through the super steep portage into McDougall and couldn’t go through at Split Rock falls. They already went through Split Rock Falls into Keats then to Baird so I’m guessing they have a clue about water flow. We avoided the narrow areas of Shelley and the Maligne area last year by routing into Montgomery because of the water being so high. Sounds like it’s pretty high this year as we worry about forest fires. Crazy!

Good thing is they will be going with current through those sections though and have a good idea where concerns are. I’ll definitely give them an update when they get closer to that portion. They’ve done a few over 20 mile days so I probably need to let him know tonight.

Once I hear from him!

Ryan

B2, thanks - makes sense. We also used VCO - they were great - & got a tow to Hook Island, checked in with Peter and Stacey at the Ranger Station, and went on from there. Did not realize that one could do what you did, and it opens some interesting possibilities.

Two more of our group joined two days later from Toronto, and they were on the same aircraft as you, flying into, and then on June 2, back out of Cache Bay.

My dog Cerberus tried to emigrate to Canada in that plane! She was so worked up about it, she likely thought it was a bird that needed retrieving.

We haven’t heard from them yet and it’s 8:50. Praying it’s a battery or Garmin thing. Didn’t realize I wasn’t really prepared to not hear from him especially today in the falls chain! I’d thought about it but had hoped it wouldn’t happen.

I should have sent him with a 2nd backup form of communication! He isn’t planning to come out until next Friday June 23rd.

Ryan

Good news!

I heard from him at 9:26 pm. They never left camp on Kenny Lake and had a fully relaxing day. I’ll be honest I lost it a little bit and broke down when I got the message from them finally! I’m so relieved! That is the downside to expecting and having these electronic options.

I did send him information on the Maligne river north end of Kawnipi and Shelley concerns with flows in Narrows.

Ryan

Ryan,

Phew! I’m sorry to have caused the anxiety! Hopefully you can rest easy now.

It was all good information so I appreciate it! He just happened to be lazy and leave the Garmin off all day until really late. I was already worried about it a bit because it’s the falls chain. Not your fault but the report definitely amped up my worry and then not hearing from him just took it over the top for me.

I know how capable they both are but you know as a dad it’s hard not to worry. Of course I rock climbed, scuba dived, skydived, was Airborne qualified in the army, rapelled, strongly believe in doing higher level challenging fun stuff when I was young! Cooper is on like his 6th canoe trip and his buddy is on his 3rd now and had some backpacking as well. My son and I are doing the Allenwater Wabakimi in August for a 14 day trip as long as the fire season allows.

Ryan
Cooper and I two weeks ago Whitewater


The two of them from last year on Agnes Lake

Good to hear Ryan!

Bastard, Thanx for the cautionary tale. Too late for me though. Dunked a few years ago at Chatterton falls and also lost our rods. Lucky to have met family on Walter several days later that donated a rod to us. They lived five minutes from a friend of mine in the outskirts of Toronto. That was during covid when there was almost noone in the park.

You've also peaked my interest in a fly in trip again. I've never seen the south end of the park and would love to do the inverse of your trip.

My son and a buddy took a similar trip at a similar age in 2016 and though I knew they had the skills and judgement to complete the trip safely, as a parent we still worry :)

So glad your young men are well and on a grand adventure. And kudos to you for preparing them thoroughly.

This is a major problem with electronics. We rely on them too much and when someone doesn’t communicate, people get worried. I’m a victim of this too since I use a Zoleo to communicate with family. What if my Zoleo fails? Then my family thinks I died and I panic not being able to tell them I”m Okay. This is a real and pitiful reality of this stuff.

If it’s not too late, the 400 rod Savage portage out of the unnamed lake into Fern is not accurate on Fisher maps. It is further east than marked. I spent almost an hour paddling the shore looking for it. There is considerable burn in the area and the portage is marked with occasional red flags in the burn out area. Nothing to be alarmed about but it helps to know this.
It’s also inaccurate on the way in from Fern.

Tom

tumblehome: "This is a major problem with electronics. We rely on them too much and when someone doesn’t communicate, people get worried. I’m a victim of this too since I use a Zoleo to communicate with family. What if my Zoleo fails? Then my family thinks I died and I panic not being able to tell them I”m Okay. This is a real and pitiful reality of this stuff. "

This can’t be overstated. I forgot to send the check-in text one night, and my wife barely slept because she was worried.

Also, what do you do if you lose your device or it malfunctions? Do you continue your trip knowing your family thinks you’re dead at the bottom of a lake? Will they send in a rescue party?

I think I read a trip report on here that a group aborted their trip on the first day because their satellite device fell into the water. They decided they couldn’t continue the trip knowing the emotional angst it would cause their families.

SummerSkin: "

tumblehome: "This is a major problem with electronics. We rely on them too much and when someone doesn’t communicate, people get worried. I’m a victim of this too since I use a Zoleo to communicate with family. What if my Zoleo fails? Then my family thinks I died and I panic not being able to tell them I”m Okay. This is a real and pitiful reality of this stuff. "

This can’t be overstated. I forgot to send the check-in text one night, and my wife barely slept because she was worried.


Also, what do you do if you lose your device or it malfunctions? Do you continue your trip knowing your family thinks you’re dead at the bottom of a lake? Will they send in a rescue party?


I think I read a trip report on here that a group aborted their trip on the first day because their satellite device fell into the water. They decided they couldn’t continue the trip knowing the emotional angst it would cause their families."

There really should be a general understanding amongst users of these devices that, in the event of a loss or failure of your unit, surely another group can send a message alerting your significant other about your plight and that there's nothing to worry about.

These devices are now fairly ubiquitous. Could obviously be a bit of an issue in Quetico which is more sparsely populated. But it wouldn't be too long before you ran into someone with a satellite communicator if you were traveling towards an access point.

I would add that a bit of an education with your loved one(s) at home about a potential satcom mishap prior to your trip would be wise. The incoming message from another device should be seeing as promising news. And the absence of a scheduled message could be due to a number of benign issues. Loved ones should check their spam folders regularly when a scheduled check-in fails to arrive as, in the case of an inReach, the messages can be interpreted as spam either by the mail app or the receiving party.

When I dunked, my inReach was attached to a lanyard. That precaution is a no-brainer.

SummerSkin: "

tumblehome: "This is a major problem with electronics. We rely on them too much and when someone doesn’t communicate, people get worried. I’m a victim of this too since I use a Zoleo to communicate with family. What if my Zoleo fails? Then my family thinks I died and I panic not being able to tell them I”m Okay. This is a real and pitiful reality of this stuff. "

This can’t be overstated. I forgot to send the check-in text one night, and my wife barely slept because she was worried.

I think I read a trip report on here that a group aborted their trip on the first day because their satellite device fell into the water. They decided they couldn’t continue the trip knowing the emotional angst it would cause their families."

That was my post from 2019. My SPOT failed and it ruined my trip. I had to leave to spare my family the unneeded stress since I could no longer communicate with them. The whole idea is stupid. You carry a locator to tell people you are OK. Then it fails and you have to leave so people know you are OK. WTF??!

I was on day 4 of a 7 day trip in Quetico.

tumblehome: "

SummerSkin: "

tumblehome: "This is a major problem with electronics. We rely on them too much and when someone doesn’t communicate, people get worried. I’m a victim of this too since I use a Zoleo to communicate with family. What if my Zoleo fails? Then my family thinks I died and I panic not being able to tell them I”m Okay. This is a real and pitiful reality of this stuff. "

This can’t be overstated. I forgot to send the check-in text one night, and my wife barely slept because she was worried.


I think I read a trip report on here that a group aborted their trip on the first day because their satellite device fell into the water. They decided they couldn’t continue the trip knowing the emotional angst it would cause their families."

That was my post from 2019. My SPOT failed and it ruined my trip. I had to leave to spare my family the unneeded stress since I could no longer communicate with them. The whole idea is stupid. You carry a locator to tell people you are OK. Then it fails and you have to leave so people know you are OK. WTF??!

I was on day 4 of a 7 day trip in Quetico."

Couldn't you find someone to send a text on your behalf?

Well luckily I’ve been able to stay in contact, but yeah I was super worried that one night. They spent a night on Kawnipi, two days on Keats. Then decided instead of the B chain they are on Sturgeon tonight, Blueberry island. They are going to roll out twin Lakes and Dore like we did last year. Spend a night on Pickererl and stage super close for pick up.

If he went in again next year with a buddy even though this year worked out. I’d consider an extra spot as a back up. Would have sucked not knowing for a week. I’ve got buddies that tripped back in the days without communications that would have talked me off the ledge!

Thanks for the advice on the Sauvage Bonhomme portages, I had went over that stuff with him prior to trip. Had them more correctly marked on the maps and gps.

I’m up on Lake of the Woods fishing this week on a guys trip. Weirdly enough I’m slightly further North than they are!

Ryan

We launched from Nym on 5/20 ....Jesse, Q, Jean, Burntside, Sturgeon, Lonely route back to Nym. Only place I thought water looked high was on Sturgeon. Creeks, rapids along the route did not seem to be running high at all. Weird that the Falls Chain was running so high.

We were on Woodside (west of the northern part of Agnes) on June 4th and we heard a float plane go south, then saw it heading north a while later. I'm guessing that had to be you guys! There was a bit of a strong north wind for maybe 30-45 minutes that day that blew out some of the even warmer weather that predominated through late May and the first few days of June. Glad to hear that didn't pose an issue for your flight!

We fished that same pool in Sturgeon that Lonely empties into. Incredible smallmouth fishing late May/early June of last year. We also had good fishing on Walter - great size, ok numbers.

Glad you guys were ok when you capsized. Moving water is a powerful force!

Especially without safety canoes! I think it would only take once to reconsider those chances on trip.

My son is most likely on Sturgeon tonight. Spent the day fixing a blown out boathouse door. Didnt hear from hm but less worried. Debating at this point on driving over and seeing him on the exit on Friday! I’m close and it would be nothing to see them for me that day! 3 to 4 hours each way!

I don’t want to impinge or change the trip for them though!

Ryan

cburton, can you share anything about Woodside? Had that circled as part of a loop trip, but don't know much about the lake. How is the (only? the one on the island, anyway) campsite? Fishing?

Probably was us! Honestly it wasn’t until Chatterton that the movement of water was super apparent.

sns: "cburton, can you share anything about Woodside? Had that circled as part of a loop trip, but don't know much about the lake. How is the (only? the one on the island, anyway) campsite? Fishing?"

Woodside was a nice, out of the way lake. Well worth the effort, and it was what I hoped it would be in terms of fishing, solitude, scenery, and camp.

Ended up being a good walleye numbers lake for us, and a few quality ones as well, but none that approached trophy size. Good smallmouth numbers, but nothing above 18” or so for us. Could be the week our trip was during, as we didn’t catch any 20” smallies this trip (first week of June).

The main camp was reasonably nice for being that far back in the park off a main travel route. I’d call it a 3.5 star. Some downed trees around the campsite island. One very good tent pad, and 1-2 other serviceable ones. The second best tent pad was probably not advisable to use based on a leaning and dead tree. The more historic campsite (west facing) on the campsite island has a small trail to it. There’s an old green plastic bin with some old equipment - an old aluminum and nylon net, an old tree saw, and some old tent poles.

There was a second campsite that was on the next more southern island, and it was south facing. It was a rocky, tiered campsite with a decent fire ring, but not good in terms of tent pads, and a much more limited view.

Portages along the route were rugged, as suspected. Some pretty steep, muddy, short climbs both going into Reid from Agnes and into Hurlburt from the no name west of Woodside. The No name to Hurlburt in particular was very challenging due to its overgrown nature compounded by being rocky, rooty, and steep in places. These types of remote areas always require a price to be paid to access, but we considered the effort well worth the experience.

I have gone into Woodside twice solo and would totally agree with your comments.
The portage up to Reed elevates you enormously and there is a short hill on the Hurlburt portage that gets your heart pumping. I love the island campsite and the fishing was worth the climb. I found the park junk as shown below in 2011 and reported it the the Rangers. But as we both know It is a trek to get to the lake so I am not surprised that it hasn't been moved.