Wondering how it went and how your daughter liked it. See any wildlife or fire? How were the water levels?

here is what happened...I posted in the General Talk Forum on 07/22/2012 12:53PM

Well, I rolled my car about 15 minutes south of Ear Falls, ON.
We were all strapped in and there were only minor cuts and bruises. I have no pics of what is left of the car, but I am amazed that we walked away.
WEAR YOUR SEATBELT. Seatbelts saved our lives!

So the WCPP trip has been called off.

Harlan Schwartz was a real champ in our time of need! He showed up at the Red Lake hospital within minutes of my putting in a call to him. He then shepherded us to the auto tow shop to get our gear, took us to the hotel, literally walked us into our room, and then sat and talked me through the process of getting my family back home.

I was not really thinking all that clearly by the time I got to the hotel. After the adrenalin rush and crash fatigue had me pretty well beaten down. Harlan coolly kept a watch over us and gave me great advice on what to do.

He started banging the phones immediately to see about flights, or rental cars, or whatever. With his brainstorming we were able to formulate a good solid plan that got us home as if we were on a conveyor belt.

Harlan drove us to Winnipeg airport! That's 6 hours each way.

Sometimes you just need keeper and I gotta tell you all I am so grateful that we had Harlan in our corner. I also was lucky to get to know him a bit on the drive. Harlan is a great guy and anyone thinking of Woodland Caribou as a trip, don't wait a second before calling him at Red Lake Outfitters.

But...I now have pics...

Glad you are fine and the second try will be much better..

BTW Wabakimi is a nine hour drive from WCPP...LOL (at least the Armstrong end outside the park)

Glad to hear you made it through that episode not too much the worse for wear. And you are correct, Harlan is a first class guy!

That stretch of road can be a bit tricky. When I was returning on a solo trip in 2010, I was about half-way between Red Lake and Ear Falls. As I crested the top of a small hill, I could see a trooper's car with lights flashing at the crest of the next hill. As I pulled up, he flagged me down. "You need to go around the sink hole down there where you see the traffic cone."

As I passed by the sink hole, I could tell the bottom was probably 5 feet below pavement level. I just wondered what would have occurred if I'd happened up the spot before the trooper had arrived or, worse yet, at night.

Unfortunately, my reprieve was relatively short lived as I collected a deer on I-35 in Iowa, just short of the Minnesota state line, the following year heading up for a canoe trip. But with a little logistic shuffle (and a the loan of of a vehicle from a good friend living in Minneapolis), I left my vehicle for repairs (about $8500 worth) and was only a 1/2 day late reaching my put-in point (at the end of the Gunflint trail (my take out was at Prairie Portage, via Kawnipi). Love it when a plan comes together ... even if its a hastily patched together alternate.

dd

Some people think our excursions into the wilderness are dangerous, and they do have dangers. But we respect and are cautious to those dangers. I have always said home and on the road are far more dangerous.
Cars can easily be replaced or repaired, people not so much, especially children. Nice to hear you were only a bit shaken.

How awful. Glad you're all ok. What a shake-up though. Harlan really went above and beyond-there need to be more people like him!

You think you'll try again next year?

Next year...I think I will try again. But I won't be able to have my kids with me. That will make whatever trip I have a lesser one than we would have had in 2012.

I made it to WCPP in 2014.
Trip Report here

So, if you look at the pic above of the rear end note how the lid of the trunk has a "V" right in the middle.
That is where the trunk rolled over a boulder that was about 4.5 ft in diameter (1.4 m).
Had the roof of the car been just a few inches in that direction my son would probably have been crushed. He was sitting in the back seat, right behind me.
My daughter was in the front passenger seat.
So, anyway...I will always live with the guilt of almost killing my kids. It eases somewhat as time passes, but every now and then I get a chill when I remember...