Hello,
Planning to do our first trip to Wabakimi and have some questions but also looking for route suggestions.

Wife and I have done BWCA and Quetico before but this year will be looking to take 5.5 year grand daughter as well. about 7 days in July , obviously not pushing distance given the situation. Looking for routes that minimize bigger lakes (waves) and long(er) portages. Fly in / out an option but looks pretty pricey.

I've been to the FOW site, lots of maps. I'll probably give Bruce a call or other outfitters suggestions as well. Besides shuttle/transportation, we'd need canoe, paddles, and packs - we have our own camping gear.

TIA

We did a loop starting and ending at Tamarack last summer. Tamarack to boiling sands to smoothrock to elf to mcwade to lower wabakimi to smoothrock back to boiling sands and tamarack. It was a little longer distance than we may have wanted. The portages were rough compared to bwca. I will admit planning a wabakimi trip takes more effort. There are far fewer entry points. Some of the area near Caribou is crown lands so camping permits get more complicated if taking that route. We have heard the train is unreliable and float plane flights are extremely expensive. Wabakimi is such a vast amazing area but it is completely different from planning a bwca trip. We will go back but choosing new routes that only take 11 days is kinda tough. There are plenty of reccomended routes that take around 11 days but we like layover days and we didnt get as many as we hoped. It was our first time so now we know how large the area is and how long it will take to go certain distances. A recommended route for beginners we were told is caribou to smoothrock to whitewater back to caribou but that involves crown land. The walleye and northern pike fishing was insane!

Given your specific circumstances calling Bruce is the best option.
He can recommend a small water route and, of course, outfit you.
With a little one along it might even help to stay at one of Bruce's outposts for a layover during the trip.
Out first trip was done through Bruce's company.
We put in at Little Caribou and went west and south ending at Onamakawash where we took the train back to Armstrong.
The train was only an hour or so late so we were fine.

Another option is the west side. It would require picking up gear and a rental from say Thunder Bay, depending on how/where you are getting into Canada, but dyou coukd drive up on the west side to enter via Smye Lake. It'd be four very short portages to Wilkie and a 4-star site on a peninsula where you could Basecamp or move on from there.

Thanks for the inputs and suggestions.

What is the cost to fly in, roughly. Would the three of us, plus canoe and gear e priced as one, based upon distance, or do they charge per passenger?

All other suggestions welcomed.

homers: "Thanks for the inputs and suggestions.


What is the cost to fly in, roughly. Would the three of us, plus canoe and gear e priced as one, based upon distance, or do they charge per passenger?


All other suggestions welcomed."

It's been a while since I talked to Bruce about it, but I seem to recall 700 or 800 UncleSamoleons one-way for a Beaver & one canoe, or more like 1500 one way for an Otter & two canoes. Those numbers are dated and my memory is fuzzy, but I bet it's within 20%.

Edit: Found my actual notes and one canoe/beaver was "About 650" USD...

sns: "

homers: "Thanks for the inputs and suggestions.



What is the cost to fly in, roughly. Would the three of us, plus canoe and gear e priced as one, based upon distance, or do they charge per passenger?



All other suggestions welcomed."

It's been a while since I talked to Bruce about it, but I seem to recall 700 or 800 UncleSamoleons one-way for a Beaver & one canoe, or more like 1500 one way for an Otter & two canoes. Those numbers are dated and my memory is fuzzy, but I bet it's within 20%.

Edit: Found my actual notes and one canoe/beaver was "About 650" USD..."

Thanks for the information. Seems quite a bit more expensive than WCPP flights

That was my reaction too. We've been to WCPP multiple times and the flights were quite a bit less.

You should check with Mattice Lake outfitters as well for pricing. Will probably be less expensive. Downside though is that you won’t get Bruce’s maps. You have to weigh the value of those maps versus the increased cost.

You also need to factor in whether they are pricing you Canadian or American dollars. Generally if it’s a Canadian price it saves us Americans a good bit. The exchange rate today is $1 American equals $1.35 Canadian. Bruce at Wabakimi outfitters is quoting you the price in American dollars.

When I’m looking at WCPP prices for this coming year everything is quoted to me in Canadian dollars price.