Hi Folks,

I am only 18 days away from my first trip to WCPP, it's hard to focus without getting too excited! We are doing a 9 day fly-in and paddle out trip through Harlan. I've already purchased sets of Harlan's maps and downloaded routes to a GPS/iPhone. Our route has us starting on Adventure and ending on Onnie. Our plan is to take it nice and slow and fish our way as we go. Our "plan" is to spend nights on Adventure / Haven / Rostoul / Hansen / Glenn / Optic / Telescope / Onnie, however we don't have a rest day set aside in case of poor weather. My question for you folks is this, if we were to "bank" a rest day, which lake would you recommend paddling through instead of camping at.

Cheers,
Ian

Are you catching a ride out from Johnson Lake entry point?
If so, you might want to camp the last night on Onnie, so you don't have so far to go the last day.
Last year, we put in from Johnson Lake and it was a long hard day to get to the east end of Telescope. We had a brutal west wind and didn't even make it to a campsite on Telescope, we just pulled up on the beach and set up the tent in the brush.

My daughter caught a eating sized pike on HER FIRST CAST EVER at WCPP. I caught mine a few minutes later and we ate pike for dinner.

Optic had real good walleye fishing.
Daughter caught a 38" pike on Glenn, and we caught a bunch of walleye there too.
We stayed on every other lake you mention except Adventure. The fishing was great everywhere.
Based on all that, I'd blow through Telescope.
Joe

You will get good action on Glen. Check out the falls that spill out to the west and thee same that spill in. Good campsite nearest the western falls.

Hi Joe - thanks for the great info. We are getting picked up by shuttle at the Onnie Access Point and our plan is to spend the last night on Onnie to make our egress nice and relaxed.

Hi HighnDry - thanks for the fishing tips. Now I'm thinking we should paddle through Hansen (while fishing) and camp on Glenn for two nights. Decisions, decisions.

Cheers,
Ian

I'd also second the Glenn Lake layover choice for a couple of reasons beyond those already stated.

Hansen Lake has a private lodge (east side of main lake) and if occupied, you'd likely encounter a little motor traffic there.

From my experience there is a second reason for moving up the chute between Hansen and Glenn. Under normal conditions that chute is manageable. However, if you've had a lot of rain before you reach the chute, it could be somewhere between unmanageable to challenging going up stream. (Of course, I got the challenge of going upstream here after 7 days of pretty heavy rain.) When I went through there (2010), there were a semi-bushwhack trail that started about mid-channel (where I encountered a ledge drop on my trip ... under normal circumstances there would only be water spilling around the right side of the channel going up).

Of course to add to the challenge, I was paddling solo.

Hopefully you'll not have my experience and you'll easily get through this spot. However, if you plan a layover day on Glenn and decide to forego the channel because of conditions, you'd still have time to work down to Wrist from Hansen and then run toward (via Streak and Nutria) to Mexican Hat and back to Glenn. If you have high water Nutria should be navigable.

dd

Hi dd - Thanks for the useful tips. I will be sure to monitor the conditions at the chute between Hansen and Glenn. According to a map on another site, it appears that there is a 206m portage around the first falls on the Hansen side. If conditions warrant it, we'll definitely be taking that portage.

Cheers,
Ian

Hi dd - Thanks for the useful tips. I will be sure to monitor the conditions at the chute between Hansen and Glenn. According to a map on another site, it appears that there is a 206m portage around the first falls on the Hansen side. If conditions warrant it, we'll definitely be taking that portage.

Cheers,
Ian

I flew into Adventure last year, there is one island that is green, and it is a decent site for one tent, maybe 2. Fishing was excellent for Lake Trout, and I caught my biggest Northern to date on Adventure. I really liked Glenn Lake, and would try to spend a second day there. I have a video up from the trip if you are interested:
2018 WCPP Highlight Video

Hi Don,

Thanks for the info. I have seen your videos and actually re-watched the 2018 trip a week ago. Are there any beaches on Adventure to use to disembark from the plane or do you have to disembark mid lake? How close did the pilot get you to the island?

Thanks,
Ian

No beaches, mid lake unload. The pilot gave me a hand loading up, no issues. He was within a couple hundred yards of the island.
Make sure you are organized on your packing for the plane, so you know you have everything unloaded before he takes off! Hopefully you will enjoy your trip as much as I did mine!

CedarHillX: "Hi dd - Thanks for the useful tips. I will be sure to monitor the conditions at the chute between Hansen and Glenn. According to a map on another site, it appears that there is a 206m portage around the first falls on the Hansen side. If conditions warrant it, we'll definitely be taking that portage.

Cheers,
Ian "

It’s good that a portage now exist there. It wasn’t there when I first went through. I would have used that option if it had been available.

dd