BWCA Caribou Lake north to Hollingsworth info... Boundary Waters Group Forum: Wabakimi
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      Caribou Lake north to Hollingsworth info...     

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01/14/2019 01:10PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I am looking on planning a trip north through Caribou, Hollingsworth to Raymond Lake and down the Raymond river through Scallop and on. Does anyone have any info about this area? Or do you know anyone with any info?

Thanks!

 
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01/15/2019 09:51AM  
As it happens, in the last year of Wabakimi Project trips, summer of 1018, we had trips that mapped and cleared Scallop down to Kellar Bay of Caribou. That was part of the routes we were working to finish in honor of Phil Cotton. The map books and planning map production will transfer to Phil's other legacy, Friends of Wabakimi.
The route info is not yet entered into Project map books, but I could scan and send the rough map notes if you PM me. The route from Scallop down the Raymond towards North Annette has not been documented or cleared recently, to my knowledge. There are trip reports on a couple of different canoeing websites of people coming up the Raymond from Whiteclay through Annette Lakes, heading south to Cliff Lake and down the Pikitigushi. Volume 5 of Project route maps has Butland Lake down to Pikitigushi Lake.
I am guessing at your route idea, maybe you are planning to follow downstream on the Raymond to Whiteclay… Anyhow, hope this helps.
 
01/15/2019 10:47AM  
Thank you! email sent.
 
01/18/2019 12:07PM  
For some of the other parts of your route: check out the albinger.me site ('Ramblin Boy' by True North) and click on Canoe Trips and scroll down, if you have not already run across this. That guy and his brother tackle some rigorous routes, and he posts a lot of detail and maps.
 
01/18/2019 01:31PM  
rtallent: "For some of the other parts of your route: check out the albinger.me site ('Ramblin Boy' by True North) and click on Canoe Trips and scroll down, if you have not already run across this. That guy and his brother tackle some rigorous routes, and he posts a lot of detail and maps. "


Thank you!
 
BV
member (25)member
  
01/18/2019 06:38PM  
DJJRW7, I've been following your effort to plan a trip from Caribou up to Raymond Lake and down the Raymond River via Scallop to points east. I'm wondering if you have thought about attending Canoecopia in Madison, WI? That might be a good opportunity to meet some of us who were on parts your route last year. We were there the end of May and the high water levels helped us traverse the river/creek north of Raymond Lake, but hindered our effort to travel east out of scallop further down the Raymond. I will be glad to provide you any information that I have from my notes. I am in the process of typing up a trip report of my two weeks on the Raymond River for The Friends of Wabakimi, and would be glad to share that with you when done.
 
01/18/2019 08:37PM  
BV: "DJJRW7, I've been following your effort to plan a trip from Caribou up to Raymond Lake and down the Raymond River via Scallop to points east. I'm wondering if you have thought about attending Canoecopia in Madison, WI? That might be a good opportunity to meet some of us who were on parts your route last year. We were there the end of May and the high water levels helped us traverse the river/creek north of Raymond Lake, but hindered our effort to travel east out of scallop further down the Raymond. I will be glad to provide you any information that I have from my notes. I am in the process of typing up a trip report of my two weeks on the Raymond River for The Friends of Wabakimi, and would be glad to share that with you when done."


Bill, this must you no?

I 'd like to hear about your trip.
 
01/18/2019 11:57PM  
BV: "DJJRW7, I've been following your effort to plan a trip from Caribou up to Raymond Lake and down the Raymond River via Scallop to points east. I'm wondering if you have thought about attending Canoecopia in Madison, WI? That might be a good opportunity to meet some of us who were on parts your route last year. We were there the end of May and the high water levels helped us traverse the river/creek north of Raymond Lake, but hindered our effort to travel east out of scallop further down the Raymond. I will be glad to provide you any information that I have from my notes. I am in the process of typing up a trip report of my two weeks on the Raymond River for The Friends of Wabakimi, and would be glad to share that with you when done."


I would love to go back to Canoecopia the problem is I am a volunteer youth basketball coach and that is the same weekend as our state tournament. Any notes you have the time to send us would be great! We are now thinking about taking Big River to Big Lake and out that way.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
BV
member (25)member
  
01/19/2019 11:03AM  
I understand and that is great that you are a volunteer coach! I will share any information with you that I can. Are you still starting out on Caribou and are you thinking of doing a loop ending on Little Caribou via the Big River/Big Lake? The reason I ask is that The Wabakimi Project spent many years working north of Big Lake and that area is well documented. However, I don't believe that the route from the south end of Big Lake west to Little Caribou has been found? Some other Friends Of Wabakimi have asked that question, and it hasn't been answered yet. I know that I looked for it and didn't find it about five years ago. But, I believe that the portages west out of Big Lake about mid-lake have been found. I do know that one can't fly out of Big Lake. About how many days are you planning?
 
goatroti
distinguished member (328)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/19/2019 12:43PM  
Bill is right about not flying into or out of Big Lake. Too many reefs and islands to land safely. It's beautiful from the air. The Big River is not aptly named. Coming out of Big Lake it's a mere stream and really doesn't get to be much of a river till it reaches Reef Lake, but then again, you're planning for May so there'll be better flow. It's been mapped all the way from Big Lake to the Pikitigushi River, and even up Linklater Creek to Linklater Lake and the rest of the northern route to and from the top of Caribou Lake at the Keller Bay area.
 
01/21/2019 08:33AM  
BV: "I understand and that is great that you are a volunteer coach! I will share any information with you that I can. Are you still starting out on Caribou and are you thinking of doing a loop ending on Little Caribou via the Big River/Big Lake? The reason I ask is that The Wabakimi Project spent many years working north of Big Lake and that area is well documented. However, I don't believe that the route from the south end of Big Lake west to Little Caribou has been found? Some other Friends Of Wabakimi have asked that question, and it hasn't been answered yet. I know that I looked for it and didn't find it about five years ago. But, I believe that the portages west out of Big Lake about mid-lake have been found. I do know that one can't fly out of Big Lake. About how many days are you planning?"


We are (as of now) planning to go out of Little Caribou, up to Scallop, down through Cliff, to Big River, Big Lake, and out through Little Caribou. We are planning 8-9 Days.
 
BV
member (25)member
  
01/22/2019 12:07PM  
Well, I'm not a good judge to be able to tell you whether or not 8-9 days is enough time for you to complete your planned route. My experience with improving the portages has skewed my judgement as to how far one can travel by just crashing through. I assume you are going to schedule road shuttles to and from Little Caribou, or wherever your take out point will be? I do know that there are some parts of your route that will slow you down (see earlier posts). I encourage you to spend time exploring Cliff Lake-don't just paddle through without taking time to enjoy the rock art! rtallent's advice to check out Ramblin Boy's trip reports is a must read for you! You might consider a road pickup at either the Whitesand or Pikitigushi bridges to avoid getting stalled out in the Big Lake area. I wish that I could give you more definite information for the parts of your route that are questionable. Maybe some other paddlers can give you more info.
 
01/22/2019 02:19PM  
BV: "Well, I'm not a good judge to be able to tell you whether or not 8-9 days is enough time for you to complete your planned route. My experience with improving the portages has skewed my judgement as to how far one can travel by just crashing through. I assume you are going to schedule road shuttles to and from Little Caribou, or wherever your take out point will be? I do know that there are some parts of your route that will slow you down (see earlier posts). I encourage you to spend time exploring Cliff Lake-don't just paddle through without taking time to enjoy the rock art! rtallent's advice to check out Ramblin Boy's trip reports is a must read for you! You might consider a road pickup at either the Whitesand or Pikitigushi bridges to avoid getting stalled out in the Big Lake area. I wish that I could give you more definite information for the parts of your route that are questionable. Maybe some other paddlers can give you more info."


You have been great help. Thank you!
 
OregonDave
senior member (84)senior membersenior member
  
01/28/2019 10:41PM  
BV: "DJJRW7, I've been following your effort to plan a trip from Caribou up to Raymond Lake and down the Raymond River via Scallop to points east. I'm wondering if you have thought about attending Canoecopia in Madison, WI? That might be a good opportunity to meet some of us who were on parts your route last year. We were there the end of May and the high water levels helped us traverse the river/creek north of Raymond Lake....


I was there with BV (aka Bill). The Raymond "River" was quite a tangle for an extended stretch. We were literally pulling our way through the alders in a stream just wide enough for a canoe. It was quite an adventure...and fun in its own way...though there was also some teeth gnashing about whether this is a viable route.
 
OregonDave
senior member (84)senior membersenior member
  
10/22/2019 12:55PM  
DJJRW7: "...We are (as of now) planning to go out of Little Caribou, up to Scallop, down through Cliff, to Big River, Big Lake, and out through Little Caribou. We are planning 8-9 Days."


Did you do this route? I'm interested to know if the portage connections from Scallop east on the Raymond River to the the north/south route (and height of land). Our crew was thwarted by the high water and tangle in 2017.
 
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