BWCA My 2019 Trip Plans Boundary Waters Group Forum: Woodland Caribou Provincial Park
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joewildlife
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09/27/2018 09:02PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Got any suggestions about my plans? Tell me about the campsites! Going with my 23 year old daughter, who has been doing trips to BWCA/Quetico/WCPP with me for 7 years now. This is a 14 day early June trip. The goals of this trip are to get away from everything; motorboats, cabins, and people. I understand a lot of it is trout water and that is just fine! We also don't mind the burns.
Starting and finishing at Leano, we roughly figure on camping on the following lakes in the loop. We do want to end up on a good fishing lake each afternoon. These aren't very hard days for us...the first day is the hardest.

Jake
Mexican Hat
Wrist
Adventure
Bulging
Haggart
Mather
Irregular
Beamish
Aegean
Paull
Upper Kilburn
Kilburn

Thanks!
-Joe
 
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09/28/2018 05:49AM  
...if you want to stay away from people, try going west of Middle Kilburn...go to Dragon, then a series of portages west of Dragon, then south to Talon...and/or you could do this route and go straight north through another series of small lakes into Paull...in Paull, note the 4 short portages that go directly to South Aegean...you will find these short, one of the lakes is a trout lake...from South Aegean, one can paddle towards Aegean and figure out several possible routes north and west to Welkin...or beyond.

another possibility would be to do the "edge" going to Dragon and then south towards Landing Crane, Blueberry, and the creek system that takes you to the Talon River...there is
an outpost on one of the lakes at the south edge of the route...this is rather isolated,

Mexican Hat is a great lake...gets used more than most in the Woodland Caribou.
 
gymcoachdon
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10/21/2018 09:51PM  
I stayed on the island site on Adventure Lake, nice site but not a lot of room to spread out. The entire area was burned, but one island escaped! Adventure is known for a healthy population of Lakers, and it didn't disappoint. I also caught my largest Northern trolling along the east shore heading for the portage to Haven.
Wrist Lake was one of my favorite lakes on the trip, and has an awesome site on the main island. 2 kitchen areas, room for tents out in the open, or tucked back in the woods. Spruce trees are dying though, and made it tough to find a spot for my hammock.
Mexican Hat is a great lake! It doesn't surprise me that it gets a lot of visitors. Great walleye fishing, saw bear and moose sign, but no sightings, and has the awesome waterfall and adjacent campsite. I took the campsite on the North side of the lake, it has a beach landing, then a walk up to the top to a really nice site.
 
joewildlife
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12/09/2018 10:12AM  
Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Oldzip, thanks for pointing me to Talon and Dragon. We will swing a bit further south and go through those lakes instead of Paull and Upper Kilburn.

Really looking forward to our next trip!

Joe

 
donr
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12/13/2018 09:08AM  
I paddled some of these lakes on my solo trip last summer. I have camped on Kilburn in the past on my way to Paull and paddled through Middle Kilburn and Upper Kilburn to avoid the 1000 meter portage between Kilburn and Upper Kilburn. I am looking to use the Boot Jack - Elephant Head option to go from Bunny to Paull. That route is apparently not as popular an option, but the portages present no great challenge.

There are two decent sites on Jake; neither were affected by the May 2016 fire. The tent pads appear to be better on the west side of the narrows. I stayed on the east side site as there was some weather blowing in and I had to get off the water ASAP and was just too lazy to move after the front moved through.

I second the enthusiastic endorsement of the northern Mexican Hat site. Can't beat the nice beach and the view. The island camp site is a good alternative, and closer to the falls coming into the lake from the south which usually produces outstanding walleye fishing.

There are two prime spots on Paull. One is on a small island just north and a bit west of the portage from the Sturgeon River, and the other is a peninsula site on the north shore a bit more to the west. I prefer the island site as the tent pads can't be beat and the view from the kitchen area is outstanding.

I can't give a recommendation for Aegean. I have spent only one night there, and the spot I used had room for only one tent. Once again, weather forced my decision. That site was on the north end of the lake on an island just off the west bank.

Enjoy your trip!
Don
 
donr
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12/13/2018 12:10PM  
Some Pictures

Kilburn Lake Camp Site - west side of lake south of bay with portage to Upper Kilburn
 
donr
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12/13/2018 12:14PM  


Island camp site - Paull Lake
 
donr
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12/13/2018 12:16PM  


Aegean Lake - NW camp site
 
donr
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12/13/2018 12:19PM  


Mexican Hat Lake northern camp site
 
donr
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12/13/2018 12:30PM  


Island camp site - Mexican Hat Lake
 
donr
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12/13/2018 12:35PM  


Jake Lake - east side of narrows
 
donr
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12/13/2018 12:41PM  


Camp site - Upper Kilburn Lake
 
donr
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12/13/2018 05:55PM  
Forgot to mention you may see motor boats on Kilburn Lake as there is a fishing lodge on Sydney Lake with easy access to Kilburn. I have run across people from the fishing lodge on Kilburn the last two years. There are boat caches on Middle Kilburn and Aegean as well, but I would be surprised if they are used regularly.
 
12/14/2018 08:34AM  
Hi Joe- I went on a couple week trip two years ago. Check out a video I made from the highlights of the trip: WCPP Go to Jigsaw!
 
joewildlife
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12/14/2018 09:37AM  
Man, thanks for the campsite info! exactly what I'm looking for!

I will be going through Jigsaw. I was there last June, I have some overlap between the two trips.

Joe
 
joewildlife
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12/14/2018 01:05PM  
karola: "Hi Joe- I went on a couple week trip two years ago. Check out a video I made from the highlights of the trip: WCPP Go to Jigsaw!"


Well done, I enjoyed the video! I'd love to do a solo trip with a dog. I was in that area June 2018. For the most part this coming trip overlaps only a little.

Joe
 
dentondoc
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12/16/2018 12:12PM  
Here are some other campsites (reference designations from PP) that you might consider. I've stayed on all of these at one time or another (as well as many of the ones previously mentioned).

Jake .. HP .. west side of narrows and within view of the campsite on the east side.

Mexican Hat .. GL .. along a peninsula on the northside of the hat "brim"; it is mostly hidden from view for anyone passing by below a low-slung rock ridge; can spread out along the peninsula .. plenty of space

Wrist .. GA (island on the east side) .. large area of very gradual incline on the south side, easy landing; smallish site, but spots for a couple of tents, one near the fire ring (lower level) and one on a somewhat elevated rounded mound a little further in. Lots of lounging/sunning rock on the south side. (Not much space for bathroom use.) Outstanding laker fishing between this island the larger "Pork Chop" island to the west. (Larger lakers can be found on the northern end of "Pork Chop" and in the north channel on the north portage side of the lake.

Aegean .. unreferenced near the end of a peninsula, I believe it is almost due north of KL (which is on the south shoreline of the western part of the lake (east of the portage from South Aegean) .. large, flat, but mostly rock face with surrounding trees

Paull .. M9 (north of a group of island campsites toward the western end of the lake .. nice elevated site, but poor landing
MA (due east of M9, tucked away back in the bay) .. reasonably flat, open space surrounded by thick caribou moss, easy landing

Haggart .. F4 (back in a bay off the main channel heading to Bulging) .. large, sandy beach on both sides of a narrowing "crooked finger" of land on an island; super easy landing, swimming/bathing beaches, good laker fishing north of campsite.


dd
 
joewildlife
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05/11/2019 07:30PM  
Thanks Dentondoc! Your notes will come in handy.
I'm going with my daughter so I like to have a pretty good idea of where I'm headed.

I was told this was a little-used area of the park. The lack of campsite reviews on PP seem to indicate this. I'm going to take good notes on the campsites I scout out and use, or don't use, and do a few reviews myself.
Joe
 
wyopaddler
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06/29/2019 07:59AM  
Hi Joe,

Did you end up traveling through the Haggart, Mather, Irregular, Beamish area this year? I'm heading into that area from the west later this summer and looking for ideas on the most viable camps to target. Hope you had a great trip and caught many fish. Thanks for the intel.
 
joewildlife
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06/29/2019 03:12PM  
Yes, it was an awesome trip and a great loop. Only saw people on Mexican hat, then no one until OldZip an I stumbled upon each other in the middle of nowhere between Talon and Dragon lakes. (Dont go through Boomerang to do that, trust me). Then nobody until we got back to town.

But yes I have intel on a few campsites. I will post again in a few days when I get my laptop up and running again...a new pup destroyed the power cord.

Joe
 
hobbydog
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06/29/2019 09:15PM  
wyopaddler: "Hi Joe,


Did you end up traveling through the Haggart, Mather, Irregular, Beamish area this year? I'm heading into that area from the west later this summer and looking for ideas on the most viable camps to target. Hope you had a great trip and caught many fish. Thanks for the intel. "


If you are going in on the Garner River there is a nice Island camp on Jester lake




There is an island campsite where you split off to go to Haggert and Mather. It burned hard a in 2016 but it is a nice site or a place to have lunch.



On Mather there is a large one on the north end and a small but really nice one right across from "Mather Man" .




There is a really nice large one on the north end of an island on Irregular.



Here is a link to a 2013 trip report through that area. Let me know if you have more questions. It is a good route, make sure to post up some pics when you get back.

2013 WCPP Trip Report

 
wyopaddler
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06/29/2019 11:30PM  
joewildlife: "Yes, it was an awesome trip and a great loop. Only saw people on Mexican hat, then no one until OldZip an I stumbled upon each other in the middle of nowhere between Talon and Dragon lakes. (Dont go through Boomerang to do that, trust me). Then nobody until we got back to town.


But yes I have intel on a few campsites. I will post again in a few days when I get my laptop up and running again...a new pup destroyed the power cord.


Joe
"


Thanks Joe. No rush. I'm not heading in for a few weeks yet. The solitude sounds great. Glad it was a great trip.
 
wyopaddler
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06/29/2019 11:34PM  
Thanks HobbyDog. We'll be heading in around the middle of August for about three weeks. And yes, we are planning to head in through Gardner so thanks for the tip regarding Jester. I will surely post photos when I return. I'm often good for a trip report but crazy slow sometimes getting it uploaded. I have enjoyed reading your reports, so I try to reciprocate.
 
06/30/2019 04:53PM  
joewildlife: "...a new pup destroyed the power cord.
Joe
"

Did the pup go with you?
 
joewildlife
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06/30/2019 07:31PM  
Ha, no I dont take my dogs. I did meet OldZip's lab before I met him and Carol on the bog.
Joe
 
joewildlife
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07/05/2019 07:25PM  
wyopaddler: "Hi Joe,


Did you end up traveling through the Haggart, Mather, Irregular, Beamish area this year? I'm heading into that area from the west later this summer and looking for ideas on the most viable camps to target. Hope you had a great trip and caught many fish. Thanks for the intel. "


Bulging Lake: One of my favorites. Great site, might be worth heading up that way. On the west part of the main lake, there is a T shaped peninsula. You want the island campsite to the east of the T. The other island campsite to the south is burned up. There is a moose antler hanging in a tree in the middle of camp, can't miss it.

Haggart: We paddled right through, but the campsite on the big island to the west of the cabin did not burn, the cabin did though. Supposed to be a good site.

Mather: We looked pretty hard and didn't find a decent campsite, and just kept going. The whole area is 4" jack pine. Many sites are just grown over, or have blowdown covering them up, or standing hazard dead trees. You could camp on a rock out in the open, easy enough, but you might not find a nice, shaded site with big trees. I doubt you will, we didn't! We had planned to stay there but didn't, banking a day to spend elsewhere. We took the east route from Haggart to Mather. The 300m portage is actually near the creek, it is mis-marked on the maps. The 475m portage burned hard and it took some recon to be able to follow it, but now it is much better as we gave it a lot of love building cairns, removing blowdowns, etc. Caught a lunker trout on Mather.

Irregular: Coming from the north and from Mather, we took the first island campsite you come to almost straight south of the 150m portage to the lake. It was good enough to spend two nights at, since we didn't spend a night at Mather as we had planned.
I don't think the site was shown on another mapping site, but it was shown on Harlan's map. It has a cool firepit with a flat rock protecting a nice little stash of split firewood. The wood was still there when we left. Probably won't be using tent stakes around here...

Beamish: The 850m portage from Irregular to Beamish needed lots of love! It is much better now. It and the 150 are through burned areas. Follow the cairns, the broken twigs, the survey flagging, and evidence of past portage maintenance. The first time through, they were hard to follow but we fixed that and the second pass through was easy. That's how we left them. most of the campsites on Beamish are non-existent, grown over, full of deadfall or dangerous standing snags. So, if you can follow here. You enter Beamish from the 150m portage from the west and you are in the biggest part of the lake. Then you go through a narrows heading east to a second main part of the lake with a huge island in the middle. Then you go north through a narrows and there is a peninsula to the east and a large island you need to go around to get to the larger area of lake. On this L shaped island, there are two campsites on the northeast and southeast end. The island is full of large, old growth pine, and has a lot of blowdown. The campsite on the northeast is potentially usable, but you will have to do some saw work to open up the firepit and such. It was an option, but I found what looked to be a
new campsite on the western tip of this island, marked with a cairn at the waterline. It is a pretty cool site, even if, once again, you are basically camping on a rock and won't be using any tent stakes. That's just this part of the park. We did see two moose on that island, by the way. It has a trail from the canoe pull out up the hill to the firepit and tent pad. It has a nice big custom firepit.

Now if you are doing a loop you might end up on Adventure lake, we stayed on a nice site, on the north side of the northern most island on the west side of the lake.

Enjoy the area! We saw ZERO people from Mexican Hat, through that entire area, until we were nearly at Dragon lake. Not many people use this part of the park. I left firewood at virtually every site we used, and you might just be the first person to use the site after us. The fishing was great, with the exception of irregular lake but we had some strong cold fronts come through, virtually every day.

Joe
 
wyopaddler
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07/06/2019 09:55AM  
Yes, I do follow you and thanks for leading the way on those portages! We will thank you profusely along the way and try to catch a large fish in your honor. We are planning on doing a loop in and out of Garner Lake so we will likely be passing through Bulging and Adventure lakes. We have three weeks so we tend to wander where the fishing leads us. Really looking forward to heading out on a big explore. Can't thank you enough. Awesome that you get to spend all that time with your daughter. We have a son of a similar age and time spent in the bush is always special. Not to mention all the help on the portages :)
 
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