i'm on record as stating that travel in the Wabakimi and surrounding provincial parks, as well as adjoining crown lands, probably peaked 30 years ago. the decline in both recreational and First Nation use has had the greatest impact, with First Nation travel at the top of the list. there are at least two generations in the remote First Nation settlements that have no need or desire to use the traditional routes that moved supplies along the rivers and creeks in the area.

in the present day, goods that can't reach settlements by outboard boat come in over winter roads or by air. an easier life for those peoples, no argument there, but the portages on some of these 5000 year old routes have closed in quickly in recent years. the number of old moose and rice camps in the bush that show no recent use is also an indicator that traditional indigenous use is in decline. the future of recreational use of these areas has been discussed on all the canoe forums, and if there's a definitive answer, i haven't read it. i do know that it's unrealistic to think that recreational paddlers will keep the portages open, the numbers aren't there, and those paddlers aren't carrying the chain saws it takes to do the job.

the following photos illustrate the conditions. these photos are all from established and necessary portages located in logical places, there's only one way through, and no alternate route. the portages are in different areas, have documented use, and most likely go back thousands of years. except for the occasional old blaze or other indicator, you might think your footprint was the first. nope, to get from A to B, countless travelers have gone before, just not recently.

Wow, those look like the portages from hell. For someone who has paddling Wabakimi on his bucket list, your pics aren't really encouraging to me.

Great pictures and interesting points. Thanks.

quote Jackfish: "Wow, those look like the portages from hell. For someone who has paddling Wabakimi on his bucket list, your pics aren't really encouraging to me."

i wouldn't worry about it, just pick your route. on the main routes, the portages are open.

quote jdrocks: "

quote Jackfish: "Wow, those look like the portages from hell. For someone who has paddling Wabakimi on his bucket list, your pics aren't really encouraging to me."

i wouldn't worry about it, just pick your route. on the main routes, the portages are open."

Ok, I won't worry about it. (See how easy I am? lol)

quote BillConner01: "Great pictures and interesting points. Thanks."

In the portage photos that include the q18.5, the boat is pointed straight down the portage trail. in the photo without the SR, the camera is pointed down the portage, the new blazes are mine.

Old blazes on some of these portages were spaced far apart, and that tells me that the trail was well worn up until the present. it was educated guesswork sometimes to decide where the trail historically went, but eventually we would find good indicators, and only rerouted if the blowdowns were impenetrable. in some cases, there were mature spruce growing in the center of the track.

examples of sites once used by First Nation bands are found throughout the area. very few show recent use. these are tent support logs that were set aside for reuse in a small clearing that was once a native moose camp judging from all the junk that was left behind. the logs hadn't been used for ten years at least, maybe quite a bit longer.



this abandoned native moose camp replaced an even older one nearby that was closer to the river. hard to say when it was used last, but nothing recent. there was a big blowndown across the trail leading in, but we cut it out of the way and set up the tents in there just as the sun went down. it was the only possible place to camp that we had seen for miles.



this particular camp was well established and had seen much use, but no more. the native people do not use the bush like they did even a generation ago.

blazing trees across those portages wasn't quite as simple as it might sound. the trail was so faint in many instances that you would set a blaze, march ahead a distance to make sure you were still on the trail, then backtrack to set another blaze on the line before leapfrogging forward again on the trail. you needed to pay attention to what the heck you were doing, it's not like you could change your mind once the blaze was set. old blazes were much larger than the ones i left, with blazes at the landings as large as 2sf if found. razor sharp Council hudson bay doing the work.



the south to north route we were on was a historical trade route used right up into the 20th century to move goods back and forth from the Albany river system. even in recent times, a combination of river routes allowed bulk food transport, like sacks of flour and beans, from the rail at Savant Lake north to bush camps or settlements. this five star elevated site along the river hadn't been used. as far as we could tell, we were the only two people that had been on the entire length of the river that season, maybe the first time that had ever happened, two people in a calendar year.



note the big Corona fixed blade saw in a pocket and under the side cinch straps on two of the packs. these saws saved our butts in some rugged country.

we had packs and junk scattered all over to dry out after being rained on for days.

Some portages even off the main route are well trampled. Kinda depends on whether or not there has been a wind event lately which can alter everything overnight.

FN use is traditionally by snowmobile now. Some of those trails are wide open and obvious and othertimes you have to think seven feet up for trail width.

Like jdrocks, I have spent mucho weeks trail opening in Wabakimi..to date some nine weeks.

quote yellowcanoe: "Like jdrocks, I have spent mucho weeks trail opening in Wabakimi..to date some nine weeks."

I've come across portages you helped clear some years ago. Unless there's more recent work, they've started to close in. Not enough use, except by moose.

Surprising how fast it happens, even that far north.

Dave...Sure does bring back some good memories. I couldn't have asked for a better partner on this trip. Thanks...

Chuck

21 Day Canoe Trip to the “Little North”

CIIcanoe Canoes Wabakimi...with Dave

CIIcanoe.com

Chuck Ryan Photography

...and with a mere whisper of the word "Wabakimi", my good friend and fellow adventurer Chuck Ryan shows up at the door. the man has a finely tuned ear, besides being a heck of a paddler.

there's only one thing to do, dredge up a photo, and here it is...



Chuck in his Canuckistan La-Z-Boy, camera case at the ready if an opportunity should arise, multiple maps, GPS to transfer UTMs to the the written record, journal, water bottles full of some energy drink concoction, and a coffee cup full of a liquid so black and viscous ya could seal your driveway with it.

Chuck was responsible for recording the information we would transfer to our custom map set and send to Phil Cotton, shoot the photo record, write the trip report, and most importantly, keep the boat pointed where it was supposed to go.

For my part, the main jobs were preparing enough food to keep our calorie intake at 7000 per day, portage the canoe along with a pack containing 100# of custom blend coffee from the mountains of some exotic location, not that we have an addiction, and paddle 55 strokes per minute so the boat would move fast enough to pull a skier...ya know, should the need arise.

Memorable Chuck quotes from that trip...

After losing the boat in big standing waves above Iron Falls on the Misehkow, "Dave, you better learn how to paddle or we're going to die in here."

After another day of slow advance and torturous portage clearing, "Dave, when you said you wanted to go up to the Albany, I didn't know we would have to walk the whole way."

Great to hear from ya Chuck. I had just emailed your trip report link to a friend last week.

somewhere on this message board, i believed that i mentioned that portages here in wabakimi were getting harder to find. my comments were rebuffed. i stand by those comments. portages here are becoming overgrown, at least compared to thirty year ago, even on the old standard routes. this photo is the bloodvein river (WCPP, and manitoba, the climate is noticeably dried than that in the wabakimi, the bedrock more exposed, i believe that those conditions keep the portages clearer.

the main difference between WC and Wabakimi is park management philosophy and how it relates to portage maintenance. WC hires and directly supervises their own crew(s), while Wabakimi contracts with a First Nation band to do the same work. there is no comparison between what you see on the ground as to the work performed by those crews, you have to see it. WC has an adopt a portage program and isn't afraid of turning you loose in the park with axe and saw. cutting alders off a portage trail in Wabakimi can get you arrested. WC encourages you to stop by or call the park staff to report trail conditions, not so with Wabakimi.

i saw a contract crew member board the train in Armstrong, young guy and what could have been his girlfriend. uniform shirt and white Nike footwear. new portage pack, new Stihl chainsaw in a factory case. NO GAS CAN, NO BAR OIL. anyone think they did some serious portage clearing work?

the Cotton crews have been on 800 portages, something like 200,000M in length. a volunteer crew will not keep these portages open, too many and the area is huge. the important thing is that the portages are documented, and opened with a chainsaw. once that saw work has been done, it's unlikely someone would mistake the trail even if it grows in. Chuck and i came across portages that had never been opened with a chainsaw, old and little use, it was tough going.

quote CIIcanoe: "Dave...Sure does bring back some good memories. I couldn't have asked for a better partner on this trip. Thanks...

Chuck

21 Day Canoe Trip to the “Little North”

CIIcanoe Canoes Wabakimi...with Dave

CIIcanoe.com

Chuck Ryan Photography "

Sure is nice to be able to see some of the places my canoe has been. I bought Pete's canoe last spring. It was a 900 plus mile day round trip with a great cup of coffee before I started back north.

quote KevinL: "
Sure is nice to be able to see some of the places my canoe has been. I bought Pete's canoe last spring. It was a 900 plus mile day round trip with a great cup of coffee before I started back north. "

you wouldn't have Suko's Q18.5 if i hadn't relinquished my internationally recognized marine salvage rights and lent him my boat so he could retrieve his own on a westward leg of the Palisade.

Chuck had the stern paddle on Pete's boat too, no argument, he's a magician with that Zaveral.

You made a good choice on the Q18.5, we had plenty of close calls, and that boat brought us home.

as mentioned, we carried two of the big Corona arborist saws, and i give the saw my highest recommendation for travel above 49 north. there are two sizes, get the big one. Weaver makes a belting leather sheath, well designed and rugged.



the saws are extremely sharp, and i nearly lopped off my left thumb clearing alders as we tracked up Petawa Creek, moving at .5/mph. lots of blood, and we thought about stopping to sew it up, but the conditions were so bad i just said screw it, and on we went. it was a kinda tough day all around.

we were both concerned about the portage at Iron Falls, and had read all the old available print literature covering this river route, as well as some old trip reports. everything we read said river right, river right, one after the other...except for a lone report from a myccr paddler who had gone through solo only two years earlier, he said river left.

as it happened. we found some pretty extreme conditions on the final approach to the falls, with multiple sets of class rapids. we took some water in the first set, eddied out and bailed. there wasn't a chance in the world of making an approach for a river right portage landing before the falls, and if we had gone river right, we couldn't get back across to a river left landing. no portage available that we ever found. chuck determined a river left line and we were doing ok until we got into some big standing waves and filled the boat to the gunnels. we were still paddling when the boat capsized and we were in the water, swept down river right along with the boat. the falls is a huge fast chute, the amount of water moving through there was unbelievable.



i couldn't see chuck, he couldn't see me, but we both knew enough to reach up and grab the painter lines, let them stream, and swim like heck. the boat was rigged with 25' poly lines, coiled from the boat out and secured under a bungie on the deck plate so they would stream. the ends were sealed and also marked for easy identification. those lines were rigged for emergency use, like right now.



we were able to get the boat into the last eddy above the falls, and when i said "Man, that cold water is refreshing", the audience didn't laugh. close call, no joke. all our gear was tethered and watertight, we didn't lose anything. we found the portage only 50m ahead, river left, right at the top of the falls.

the point here is that you better know where those portage landings are when traveling fast water in the drop and pool boreal system, you can find trouble pretty easy. of all the landings we found in fast water, none would have permitted us to casually switch sides if it wasn't where we thought it would be.

quote jdrocks: "the main difference between WC and Wabakimi is park management philosophy and how it relates to portage maintenance. WC hires and directly supervises their own crew(s), while Wabakimi contracts with a First Nation band to do the same work. there is no comparison between what you see on the ground as to the work performed by those crews, you have to see it. WC has an adopt a portage program and isn't afraid of turning you loose in the park with axe and saw. cutting alders off a portage trail in Wabakimi can get you arrested. WC encourages you to stop by or call the park staff to report trail conditions, not so with Wabakimi.

I saw a contract crew member board the train in Armstrong, young guy and what could have been his girlfriend. uniform shirt and white Nike footwear. new portage pack, new Stihl chainsaw in a factory case. NO GAS CAN, NO BAR OIL. anyone think they did some serious portage clearing work?

The Cotton crews have been on 800 portages, something like 200,000M in length. a volunteer crew will not keep these portages open, too many and the area is huge. the important thing is that the portages are documented, and opened with a chainsaw. once that saw work has been done, it's unlikely someone would mistake the trail even if it grows in. Chuck and i came across portages that had never been opened with a chainsaw, old and little use, it was tough going."

Yup Wabakimi and Woodland Caribou are light years apart in their view of paddlers. The MNR staff at WC are always available to help. Part o the problem is that the Wabakimi office is in Thunder Bay..

I have been across some of those portages that were supposedly maintained a few weeks before.. Those were old fallen logs.. Nuff said. The portage clearing job in Wabakimi is meted out not on ability but who you know.

One has to realize that most portage maintenance over the centuries has been by travelers while they were actually using the portage. The tradition is to improve as you go -- breaking off encroaching branches as you walk along with a pack, or cutting/moving downed trees.

I do this out of habit.

I first paddled the Wabakimi-Albany country in 1986 when the protected park area was a fraction of its current size. There was NO organized portage maintenance at that time, and many portages were just a step up from a bushwhack. Portages along major routes were in better shape, and in some areas you would come to a well-maintained portage in the middle of nowhere were folks using a fly-in outpost on a particular lake would maintain trails to adjacent lakes for fishing.

First Nation folks really haven't been using unmotorized canoes in the North for several decades. Nearly all travel along waterways is now by motorboat in summer or snowmobile in winter. I remember talking to an old woman at Kingfisher Lake near the north end of the Pipestone River in 1989 who recalled her husband paddling to Pickle Lake to work in the mines there decades earlier.

quote arctic: "One has to realize that most portage maintenance over the centuries has been by travelers while they were actually using the portage. The tradition is to improve as you go -- breaking off encroaching branches as you walk along with a pack, or cutting/moving downed trees."

i can agree with that statement, but only in a historical context. portages off the beaten path in this area are now so infrequently traveled that there are not enough people passing through to do the incremental yearly work required to keep the portages open enough so you could go through unimpeded.

we quickly learned that it was foolish to even think about bringing the boat across without first going through with a pack, saw in hand. we cut enough out of the way to portage the canoe, not much more. that was the extent of our contribution, we could not spend a day clearing each portage with axe and handsaws.

some of the areas that we traveled could not be reached by motorized craft, at some point, you had to portage.

you're not going to do that portage clearing inside the Wabakimi PP boundary, the park super won't like it, the First Nation band with the clearing contract won't either.

quote jdrocks: "you're not going to do that portage clearing inside the Wabakimi PP boundary, the park super won't like it, the First Nation band with the clearing contract won't either."

Do we care if they like it?

You guys wouldn't happen to have a trip report containing the Flindt River portages would you? Also interested in the actual route, looking at the map it appears there are two places where there is a "fork in the road" curious which fork people take.

quote ZaraSp00k: "Do we care if they like it?

You guys wouldn't happen to have a trip report containing the Flindt River portages would you? Also interested in the actual route, looking at the map it appears there are two places where there is a "fork in the road" curious which fork people take."

Not to be taken lightly, Cotton doesn't, the MNR can cause you big problems if they choose to. in an example that comes to mind, Cotton told me that he had a fully equipped trail crew that would be crossing part of our route west-to-east within two days of when we would be on the same portages. i thought "Great, the portages will be like a city sidewalk", except when we got there, the portages hadn't be touched. the Cotton crew had quit clearing at the park boundary, and hadn't resumed work until they exited the park to the east.

i've been on the Flindt from the tracks north to wabakimi a couple times, not sure what you are calling "forks". it's an interesting route, there are some outpost camps, but i never saw another canoe in there.

Wildwaters was dumping trips at Flindt Landing, also the location of the lodge by the same name, and seriously aggravated the owner there. with the train schedule reversed, consider getting off at allenwater, then paddling west to pick up the Flindt and points north.

quote jdrocks: " consider getting off at allenwater, then paddling west to pick up the Flindt and points north."

OK, I’ll bite, do you know where the portage is from Alan Water to Gault Lake, and from Gault Lake to Flindt Lake?

As for the forks in the road:
As you are traveling downstream on Flindt River, east of Valley Lake (which is not connected to Flindt) the river appears as a “Y”, with the eastern branch being the Flindt River (I think), but the western branch loops to the east after Painter Creek dumps into it and eventually meets with the Flindt River again.

It also appears to branch just before the outlet of Flindt Lake. The Flindt River goes to the west (Sassenach Lakes dumps into it) then loops to the east. Just before the outlet of Flindt lake there appears to be a branch going to the east for about a mile where it opens to a lake, then goes straight north before making loping to the west meeting up with the Flindt.
I know these old maps are inaccurate, and that’s why I am asking for info from anyone that has been there.

my maps are at the office, i'll check for you after the 1st.

if you don't want other people mixed in with your wabakimi experience, you would not go north on the allenwater from allenwater bridge, that's a main street route and plenty of trips are dumped there.

if paddling the flindt, you would head NW from allenwater bridge, foam, barrington, heafur, then continue north on the flindt.

quote jdrocks: "

quote arctic: "One has to realize that most portage maintenance over the centuries has been by travelers while they were actually using the portage. The tradition is to improve as you go -- breaking off encroaching branches as you walk along with a pack, or cutting/moving downed trees."

i can agree with that statement, but only in a historical context. portages off the beaten path in this area are now so infrequently traveled that there are not enough people passing through to do the incremental yearly work required to keep the portages open enough so you could go through unimpeded.


you're not going to do that portage clearing inside the Wabakimi PP boundary, the park super won't like it, the First Nation band with the clearing contract won't either."

I suspect there is more organized portage clearing now than there was 20 or 30 years ago. Phil Cotton certainly has had crews busy for years in the park, and I doubt there were ANY First Nation crews clearing portages before the park was expanded in the mid-1990s when the wider paddling audience was exposed to the existence of Wabakimi.

quote arctic: "...I doubt there were ANY First Nation crews clearing portages before the park was expanded in the mid-1990s when the wider paddling audience was exposed to the existence of Wabakimi."

it all goes back to my contention that there is less park usage, as well as the surrounding crown lands and adjacent parks, than there used to be before Wabakimi was established, and then expanded. no organized portage maintenance back then, but there were enough people using the area that the portages stayed open. recreational paddling has declined from peak usage, but i don't think the percentages were ever that high anyway. when overall usage declined, the portages tended to close in. ask Cotton about slogging along opening up an old portage, only to find a big trash pile back in the bush. at one time that portage was wide open.

Cotton is the only one providing organized trail work in the area, and as you know, his activity is not welcome in the park. the park uses contract maintenance as discussed, ain't the same type of deal.

another clue to usage is in the number of campsites, both used and unused. my experience has been that in many areas, established campsites are few. that's not absolutely true, unless restrained by topography, there are more than you might think. the problem is that they haven't been used, are overgrown, fire rings fallen down. if you're not actively looking for them, you might not notice. so, if you have multiple campsites in the same general area, maybe only one shows some use, the others show no use, is it possible to make an assumption that there were more campsites required? at the end of a long day of paddling the boreal, i'm not going to clear a campsite unless i had to.

my custom maps have been marked with all the "reported" campsites i could find in my report research. a significant number either no longer existed, or hadn't been used, sometimes for decades. we've also checked some sites as requested by Cotton. they were on his "reported" list, and hadn't been used either. got to be a clue.

The other folks posting here know a whole lot more about this and will correct me if I am wrong, but,unfortunately, I do not believe the Wabikimi Project is doing any work inside the actual park. As I understand the current status, the park management has declined to accept any volunteer portage and mapping services. That posture is in stark contrast to the cooperative position taken by the folks responsible for WCPP. Anyone care to provide greater detail?

quote jcavenagh: "As I understand the current status, the park management has declined to accept any volunteer portage and mapping services."

the Wabakimi Project got caught up in the political intrigue involving MNR park management, local First Nation bands, and certain private interests seeking to maintain a somewhat exclusive economic activity (how's that for some circumspect phraseology).

beyond the Wabakimi park boundary, the same work that the Project used to do inside the park has been embraced, rather than hindered, by MNR personnel responsible for managing those lands.

regarding maps, the MNR at one time had a large format map of the area with marked portages. from what i understand, the MNR bowed to pressure from certain interests and not only refused to reissue the map, but was also prepared to take action against any entity who copied the original issue in violation of the Queen's copyright. Puzzling until you ask the simple question, who gains if this map remains out of print?

now the Wabakimi Project maps are available, accurate, and up to date...also under copyright protection, how 'bout dat.

Yes, jdr, thanks for noticing how circumspect, err, I mean, "polite" I was. (I actually get paid for that, being a legal eagle and all.) ;)
I guess naming names just fans the flames, so we should just leave as is.
So, does anyone know what the prospects are for portage/campsite maps for the northeast area of the park? Say, Whiteclay-Van Cleaf-Montcreif-Sollows-Hood?

I have nothing productive to add, but as a guy who is looking at a summer trip to either Wabikimi or Woodland Caribou, this has been a fascinating & entertaining thread. Thanks!

paddleaway- If you choose Wabakimi I recommend that you look at the Wabakimi Project maps. We used their map set for our trip last summer and I must say they contain significantly more campsites than the outfitter's maps. Also, the WP maps show alternate portages at several locations. The outfiters maps had info about good fishing, outpost cabins, and showed whre some emergency radio equipment is located.
The WP maps cost more than other sets, but you get extra detail of each portage. Also, a lot of that money is plowed back into portage improvements.

I would add that campsite and portage info on maps for most of the park are not really needed at all. Just get a good set of topos. Campsites and portages are almost always located in the logical places, although some portages, as previously mentioned, are just a step up from a bushwhack, and many campsites haven't been used in years.

quote arctic: "...portages are almost always located in the logical places..."

i would get the WP maps if they cover your route, otherwise do the research. it's the "almost always" that can cause you some problems. as i've said, guess wrong on a fast water portage landing, and it can be difficult or outright dangerous to try a ferry to the opposite side.

an example...paddling bow in Cotton's boat, we approached a long riffle, hardly a class I although the water was really moving, when Cotton said "Watch for a portage landing", and I replied "You think there's a portage here"? Cotton "Of course there's a portage", and by that time we were in a little deep and had to back ferry out. Cotton picked a river left eddy as the correct landing location and in we went. No landing, no portage. "Sorry Dave, we have to get back over right", and we did, but it was a mighty struggle, and his W18 wasn't even loaded with packs. Cotton was a little worn out, so i left him in the boat and beat the bushes looking for a portage, i was skeptical. i found the portage not far from his second choice, a trail beaten 18" down into the soft ground, i don't think it had been used for 100 years, Cotton agreed. the chainsaw wasn't working too well to start, until i looked at it and found someone had installed the chain backwards. four hours later, a 120M portage was open for the first time in a century.

the point is twofold. Cotton, the grandmaster of portages, picked wrong. secondly, i don't think we would have been able to ferry river right with a loaded boat. maps or research, identify the portages when traveling that area.

jcavenagh, thanks for the info on the Wabakimi Project maps, I'd already bookmarked the site, but didn't know the maps were so good. I'll definitely be getting them (& be around with lots more questions) when we schedule a trip, be it this summer or next year.

quote ZaraSp00k: "I know these old maps are inaccurate, and that’s why I am asking for info from anyone that has been there.
"

the topos are accurate for this route, except for one missing island, but it won't matter for your purposes.

canoe route in red dash line. portage info through WP maps. there are several options once you get to Wabakimi.

the authority on Little North portages, Phil Cotton in his office...

this portage has just been opened by a WP trail crew. if traveling through this stretch, it's a required portage, but had almost no use. standard WP practice is to clear a wide opening, knowing that it will close up at a slower rate.

thanks for the info JD
I am planning a trip that is a circular route using both the Flindt & Alan Water Rivers. The Flindt river is the one I am most lacking in info due to it being less popular than Alan Water. One of the remaining pieces of the puzzle is the Gault-Flindt portage. I have marked below where it would most likely be, but as you have mentioned, the most likely may not be.

i have the Gault portage marked on another map, but the Wabakimi Project maps cover your route, i suggest those.

one thing to always consider in route planning is water level. you can be inconvenienced by early season high water, or as in 2009, historic high water late in the season. even worse is very low water, like the near historic low water levels in the last half of 2011. low water can extend portages a good distance from each landing, maybe 100m or more, turning a routine boreal portage into an event.

it's a good idea to do some contingency planning, and Cotton may provide route suggestions if you email him.

quote ZaraSp00k: "thanks for the info JD
I am planning a trip that is a circular route using both the Flindt & Alan Water Rivers. The Flindt river is the one I am most lacking in info due to it being less popular than Alan Water. One of the remaining pieces of the puzzle is the Gault-Flindt portage. I have marked below where it would most likely be, but as you have mentioned, the most likely may not be.

"

You wont have any trouble. Back in 2005 we did the Flindt (four of us including Phil). None of the portages are obscure. There a few fishing camps along the way which helps maintain portages.

This was the year of the Wabakimi recon and true portage work started in 2006.

BTW I found Sassenach lake just weedy and unappealing. Get the book from Uncle Phil for the Flindt River. A couple of times we had a hard time finding an existing campsite.

The first time we looked for the Gault portage (again in 2005) we spent two hours looking for it. The only way we found it was we found a bit of snowmobile sled ski. The portage is used in winter as a snowmobile trail.

my old maps show that portage open in the mid 80's, no notes to indicate otherwise.

Our September trip took us from the Palisade River-Kenoji Lake-Okogi River-Whitewater Lake-Lonebreast Bay-Caribou Lake/River.

Here's a sampling of our portages. We had quite the variety. A few were non-existent. With low water levels we portaged on plenty of boulder fields. From the forum we new to expect anything and in the end, although not always easy, made for a much more interesting trip.

Working on blaze at portage entry.
Recently burned out area. Someone came in and added flagging. Saw only a handful of blazes the entire trip.

Best portage. All clear and soft.

Rocky, mostly overgrown, portage.


Carried a 30' axe and a 15" Corona saw. Used them well.

quote jdrocks: "my old maps show that portage open in the mid 80's, no notes to indicate otherwise.


"

I don't have my map in front of me but the portage is the southernmost one of the two. The one not circled..

edit..I do have my map in front of me and the portage starts at the north end of the bay on Flindt Lake as you indicated but cuts to the the southern end of the bay on Gault. So technically neither route is quite right today.

Very good blueberries to boot.

quote yellowcanoe: "I don't have my map in front of me but the portage is the southernmost one of the two. The one not circled..

edit..I do have my map in front of me and the portage starts at the north end of the bay on Flindt Lake as you indicated but cuts to the the southern end of the bay on Gault. So technically neither route is quite right today.

Very good blueberries to boot."

my map from that era had a field note slash straight across as inside the red circle, no additional annotations, which means i found it routine, at least for that area. i did not keep very exacting trip records back then, wish i had.

quote paddlefamily: "Our September trip took us from the Palisade River-Kenoji Lake-Okogi River-Whitewater Lake-Lonebreast Bay-Caribou Lake/River.

Here's a sampling of our portages. We had quite the variety. A few were non-existent. With low water levels we portaged on plenty of boulder fields. From the forum we new to expect anything and in the end, although not always easy, made for a much more interesting trip.

Carried a 30' axe and a 15" Corona saw. Used them well."

great photos, thanks for posting. what portages were "non-existent"?

good to see you had a proper axe, although i think you might be happier with the larger Corona to compliment it.

jdrocks-

We were unable to locate a couple along the Ogoki River (where it enters from Kenoji Lake). We found the first couple, then the others were overgrown and unusable (looked for the better part of 1.5hrs). The area clearly has been affected by fire withing the last 5+ years and it's all thick with willow and impassible unless you want to spend the better part of a week clearing it.

You'd take a bigger Corona? What size?

quote paddlefamily: "We were unable to locate a couple along the Ogoki River (where it enters from Kenoji Lake).


You'd take a bigger Corona? What size? "

the Ogoki portages should have been open, somewhat well traveled route.

the larger Corona is this one, about 23", a serious saw. i gave up on all those folding saws, these are much better. plus, when you need a saw, it's right there, no assembly. when done using it, no disassembly, it goes back in the sheath.

quote paddlefamily: "jdrocks-


We were unable to locate a couple along the Ogoki River (where it enters from Kenoji Lake). We found the first couple, then the others were overgrown and unusable (looked for the better part of 1.5hrs). The area clearly has been affected by fire withing the last 5+ years and it's all thick with willow and impassible unless you want to spend the better part of a week clearing it.


You'd take a bigger Corona? What size? "

AAAGH! I DID spend the better part of a week four years ago! Fire again...does it in. I suspect many people just run the rapids.

quote yellowcanoe: "

quote paddlefamily: "jdrocks-

We were unable to locate a couple along the Ogoki River (where it enters from Kenoji Lake). We found the first couple, then the others were overgrown and unusable (looked for the better part of 1.5hrs). The area clearly has been affected by fire withing the last 5+ years and it's all thick with willow and impassible unless you want to spend the better part of a week clearing it.

You'd take a bigger Corona? What size? "

AAAGH! I DID spend the better part of a week four years ago! Fire again...does it in. I suspect many people just run the rapids."

Bless you for your work. It's pretty overgrown in some places and only one portage in the stretch between Ogoki and the next lake (can't recall the name) is average. We ran rapids, portaged over boulders and lined the canoe. We covered 3 miles in 5 hours.

jdrocks- We thought the area might be more passable as well, but its thick with regrowth.
Photos here are of first portage from Kenoji - Ogoki. You could tell it was a portage because it had a general openess to it, and occasionally we came across a birch log bridges.
In the middle of the portage.


Portage exit.

Does anyone know if Gremm, Sapwell, Murrell area burned last year? Or where would I be able to see what areas did burn??

jdrocks:
the larger Corona is this one, about 23", a serious saw. i gave up on all those folding saws, these are much better. plus, when you need a saw, it's right there, no assembly. when done using it, no disassembly, it goes back in the sheath.
"

how would that compare in performance to a bow saw?

Many think a bow saw is too cumbersome, what can I say?, I'm cheap,you can get one for $5, but I've found a bow saw to be effective, but not the best choice for ease of storing.

quote ZaraSp00k: "

jdrocks:
the larger Corona is this one, about 23", a serious saw. i gave up on all those folding saws, these are much better. plus, when you need a saw, it's right there, no assembly. when done using it, no disassembly, it goes back in the sheath."

how would that compare in performance to a bow saw?

Many think a bow saw is too cumbersome, what can I say?, I'm cheap,you can get one for $5, but I've found a bow saw to be effective, but not the best choice for ease of storing."

the performance of the large Corona saw is superior in every way to the more traditional tripping saws in common use, including the larger multi piece bow type saws used by the wabakimi project trail crews. general camp use for chunking firewood or clearing tent pads, trail work, deadfalls, sweepers, you name it, the saws are in use every day.

heavy stiff blade tracks straight through the cuts and doesn't tend to bind in pitch, no hesitation to tackle any log within reason. the saw configuration allows you to reach in with the tip of the saw and cut, can't do that in many cases with a blade supported on both ends. no reason to carry spare blades, you're not going to break that blade or dull it either unless you're cutting rocks.

i like carrying the saw on the side of the pack, always ready to go.

as mentioned, these saws are sharp, they're not kidding when they advertise "razor". be careful with the digits.

quote jcavenagh: "Does anyone know if Gremm, Sapwell, Murrell area burned last year? Or where would I be able to see what areas did burn??"

Here is a link to the most notable fires last year. There is a pdf with a map showing the locations. Maybe it will help?

2011 fires Look on the right side for "active fires map".

Thanks, pf. That is a good starting point and we can work from there...

quote jcavenagh: "Thanks, pf. That is a good starting point and we can work from there..."

Let me know if you find something with better info.

OK. Claire Q over at WCPP sent me a map that showed the actual extent of the fires in her park last summer. I think there may be a similar map for Wabakimi. I will look over the weekend.

So, if we don't decide on WCPP, I am thinking of a route: Fly in to Granite Lake then thru McWade, Lower Wab and then down Smoothrock, Spring and Onamakawash and train out. The last half of the trip will be a repeat of last summer. But as I expect to have some rookies with me, I think knowing some of the route is a good idea. The route has the advantage of being one that is very hard to get lost on. And I am pretty sure we will only skirt some burned over areas.

Those lakes further northeast seem to me to be for more accomplished paddlers. I am thinking the portages are little used and probably pretty overgrown. But I still look at my maps and the area intrigues me. Maybe I will do a fly-in/out with my son in a couple years. He will 17-18 then and I expect strong enough bushwack with me.

Anyway... I'll post back up here soon.

JCavenaugh, how many days are you planning on going in?

In the water on a Friday and out on a Friday. We most likely will travel the week of July 19-27.
As usual, I am trying to find one more paddler. We are looking for a young woman to match up with my 20 yr old daughter. I am waiting right now to hear if my buddy's daughter will be coming along.

I’ve only recently joined this board and am still trying to catch up with all the interesting posts on this private group forum. I’m particularly drawn to this thread on Wabakimi portages and take this opportunity to address a number of issues mentioned by past contributors some of whom I’ve had the pleasure of tripping with in Wabakimi.

Let me begin by stating that the primary aim of The Wabakimi Project is to locate, rehabilitate and map the traditional and historically-significant canoe routes in the Wabakimi area. Now in its tenth year of operation, the WP does not have the man-power to retrace and maintain the routes already explored. We monitor websites such as this and rely on our ‘contributors’ to keep us informed as to the current condition of those routes. Once reconnaissance expeditions have fulfilled our original goal, it is our hope that the WP will morph into a volunteer trail maintenance program to maintain routes for the enjoyment of future generations of visitors to this wonderful wilderness area.

It’s true that the management philosophy of Wabakimi contrasts drastically with that of Woodland Caribou and that our efforts have not been warmly welcomed by the current administration. Despite this, we’ve managed to explore and map over 80% of the existing canoe routes within the park. Lately, we’ve focussed on those routes that lie on the Crown lands adjacent to the park that are not maintained by the park portage crew.

No roads lead directly to Wabakimi. Unless visitors use VIA Rail or a float plane charter service, these unmaintained Crown land routes are the only way to access the park. They also provide vital links to other nearby protected areas such as St. Raphael, Brightsand River and Albany River Provincial Parks as well as the Attwood River Conservation Reserve.

We do not ‘bushwack’ new portages or campsites. We’re only interested in re-establishing portages and campsites that have existed on the landscape for millenia. Many of these are still used today by area First Nationt residents for hunting, fishing and wild rice harvesting. We do not blaze the portages we clear but rely on the accuracy of the maps we produce to safely guide users to their landings. We clear tent pad sites at all the campsites we encounter and remove trash we collect on our next scheduled extraction.

There’s still much to do. Subject to recruitment of enough volunteers, the 2013 season will see us complete reconnaissance of another 700km of canoe routes and publication of our fourth volume of Wabakimi canoe route maps. Come join us! You won’t be disappointed!

The Wabakimi Project

Thanks for all you do Uncle Phil! I think it's quite a testament of what one individual can do to rally others and make an important contribution in preserving canoeing history.

Would love to volunteer sometime!

quote paddlefamily: "Thanks for all you do Uncle Phil! I think it's quite a testament of what one individual can do to rally others and make an important contribution in preserving canoeing history.

Would love to volunteer sometime!"

Thanks for the kind words of support. The WP began out of concern that canoe routes in the Wabakimi area had never been fully documented, were falling into disrepair and abandonment, and might be lost forever. Government belt-tightening has reduced, and even eliminated, the financial and human resources for services such as trail maintenance. The WP stepped in to shoulder this responsibility and we hope our example will spawn similar volunteer canoe route conservancy initiatives across Ontario.

I sincerely hope you’ll be able to join one of our reconnaissance expeditions someday soon. But, please don’t wait too long. Subject to successful enrollment, 2013 will see completion of our exploration of the southern tributaries of the Albany River--the remotest region of the Wabakimi area and home of world-record brook trout.

The Wabakimi Project

Uncle Phil is exagerrating. There are no fish on the Albany... I repeat: no fish... :)

quote rtallent: "Uncle Phil is exagerrating. There are no fish on the Albany... I repeat: no fish... :)"

Yeah, sure! And if anyone believes that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn they can have real cheap. The real problem is finding fish small enough to fit into the frying pan without having to chop the fillets in half or even thirds.

quote wabakimimaps: "

quote rtallent: "Uncle Phil is exagerrating. There are no fish on the Albany... I repeat: no fish... :)"

Yeah, sure! And if anyone believes that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn they can have real cheap. The real problem is finding fish small enough to fit into the frying pan without having to chop the fillets in half or even thirds."

For some there are no fish. I remember some fisherman made the tedious trek to Osprey Lake over four portages several days and caught nothing.. Nothing.

We sat on the opposite bank.. and just threw lines in. In five minutes we had our limit. They had...nothing...

There is a secret color.

We spent 7 days in Wabakimi...4 guys caught 5 fish total...of which 2 got away after being brought to shore...
As I have said before, I guess you have to be smarter than 'em to catch 'em...

):<(

quote yellowcanoe: "There is a secret color."

A good friend and fellow Wabakimi enthusiast once told me there are only three colours that will attract fish in the tea-stained waters of the boreal forest: yellow, yellow and yellow.

The best time and place to angle is at the foot of moving water (rapids) once the sun is setting and shadows begin to appear on the surface. Only then do pickerel (walleye) move into these waters to begin their evening feed. Twenty minutes should suffice to fill a stringer. We gave up live bait a few years ago and now only use yellow-tailed jigs. The results seem to be the same as before. We rarely get skunked!

40 minutes on Opichuan Lake.

mmmm...tasty.

On my list.

Real thanks to JDRocks for his detailed pictures and knowledge. Great stuff!

Nothing on the Albany except these dang spotted carp.


Uncle Phil works his magic with pickerel fillets.

Thanks for the memeories Dave. The picture of Phil in his office is on a campsite below the Savant River Falls on Velos Lake. It was quite windy for a couple of days, and we could hear the flow over the falls increase every 40 seconds or so as a wall of water was pushed down the river by the wind.

Just a bump...We hope to update the Flindt-Gault portage info with some more detail this summer. Maybe a few others, too.

Thanks for bumping this up, a good read with some real meaty insightsfor the future.

I'm about 2 months out from my next Wabakimi trip..............

I have been pondering doing a W. trip inside the park, probably a main route, but the total lack of people in the area outside the park is getting more interesting. I have some of the projects maps, and this might been a godsend for August when so many areas are crowding in. Does that seem realistic?

sb - "crowding in"...I'm not sure you are referring to Wab. BW has crowding, Wab has 700 visitors a year. On the crown lands outside Wab you can camp and canoe just like inside the park. But you must get a Crown Land Permit for each night. There are some areas that US folks are not allowed to camp and the Ontario CLUPA has a map that will show you that.

quote jcavenagh: "sb - "crowding in"...I'm not sure you are referring to Wab. BW has crowding, Wab has 700 visitors a year. On the crown lands outside Wab you can camp and canoe just like inside the park. But you must get a Crown Land Permit for each night. There are some areas that US folks are not allowed to camp and the Ontario CLUPA has a map that will show you that."

Thanks, Jim--I was thinking of the BW & Q being "crowded"--in july and august. I really enjoy the solitude aspect of the wilderness, and usually travel with a dog, so being alone on portages makes things easier. And those pictures of overgrown portages are compelling! I have a May BW trip planned but can't imagine getting thru the summer without trying someplace new--Wab. seems the closest, most likely place to find a new niche. I have been thinking of a fly-in for the park itself but wonder about the fishing camps spaced out in the park and what the downside might be if they have alot of boats and people out. Do the Crown Lands support many camps also? Thanks for your help if you see this.

sunnybear

In July and August the fish camps produce very little traffic and that traffic is pretty much on the lake with the camp. In the trips I have been there I have seen 2 motor boats and one of those was right in front of the fishing cabin.

In 12 week-long trips in the Wabakimi area with the Wabakimi Project, including 3 inside the park, 3 on the Savant Lake/River crown land, 2 on the Albany River, 1 in the Atwood Reserve, 1 on the Ogoki River and 2 in the Caribou Forest, I have seen 5 motor boats with fishermen, and only one up close, the rest in the distance. I have been on trips starting late June through to Labour Day. Over those 85 days we have come across only 2 other canoe groups. The place is empty.

If you are planning a trip up there, get in touch with The Wabakimi Project through our website. e-mail us at info@wabakimi.org

Consider purchasing one or more of our map booklets. They are the definitive source for tripping information on Wabakimi Park and the surrounding area.

+1 on Wab Proj map sets. Most thorough info available on campsites and portages.
For a first trip fly-in you probably should talk with Mattice Lake Outfitters .
Its easy to get to their place and they know the area at least as well as anyone.

A few of the most used portages look better but close in quickly if not maintained from my limited experience. The WP has re-opened many in the past which helps a lot. I asked around the FN villages of Savant and no one had been into Smye in a long time nor able to tell me how to find even the turn-off to the parking area. Finally the resourceful grader-operator tracked me down on the 702 rd as I ascended for my third try to find the turnoff and gave more specific instructions on how to find the turnoff. From there thankfully the rehabbed trail down to the lake was a piece of cake. I'm going back in with a group of guys (jcavenaugh & co.) and hope to make it past the Gault portage and perhaps Brennan eventually. We should have more intel on the area after that trip.

quote jcavenagh: "+1 on Wab Proj map sets. Most thorough info available on campsites and portages.
For a first trip fly-in you probably should talk with Mattice Lake Outfitters .
Its easy to get to their place and they know the area at least as well as anyone."

I think Wildwaters is recommended as well which can be useful for price-comparison purposes.

Sincere thanks to Jim, Goat, and HignDry for your help. I was leaning toward Mattice Lake Outfitters, spoke with them at Canoecopia last year, but did not follow up as I went to Alaska instead. They were very helpful, reasonable cost, and I spent hours pouring over the main routes from their lodge. The fish camps scattered along the route gave me pause and I appreciate the non-commercial opinions you guys have offered. I have one of the Proj. map books and thanks to your encouragement will be focusing on Wabakimi for late summer or very early fall. Hope your upcoming trip will be spectacular! Catch this post again when you get back, I'd enjoy any report and pictures you can offer.
Much appreciated, Sunnybear

I actually used Wildwaters in 2011 for my paddle in trip. I believe they contract with Mattice Lake for fly in trips.
The two outfitters are both just south of Armstrong.

quote jcavenagh: "I actually used Wildwaters in 2011 for my paddle in trip. I believe they contract with Mattice Lake for fly in trips.
The two outfitters are both just south of Armstrong."

Congratulations on the bear paw level attainment by the way!

Thanks. But all it really means is that I don't get out in the woods enough.