|
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Group Forum: Woodland Caribou Provincial Park Just returned, great experience! |
Author
Text
07/11/2012 06:12AM (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Not too many posts here so I thought I would let you know that my brother and I returned from our first Woodland Caribou trip a few days ago.
Our trip began with a flight into Bulging and continued to Adventure, Jigsaw, Wrist, Aegean, South Aegean, Paull, Elephant Head, Boot Jack, Bunny and then out at Leano. The 850 meter portage in 90 degree weather out of Jigsaw kicked our old butts. Nine days total. I wore my rain jacket for fifteen minutes and my fleece one evening.
Thanks so much to Harlan. We could not have had a better outfitter experience. He communicates before the trip in a way that really reassured us that we would be ready. We had the opportunity to go through all our gear, food and get a great orientation to our route as well. He has selected equipment with care and everything worked just right. He was obviously concerned about us and our trip and that made all the difference..... we will be returning next year.
Highlights of the trip included seeing two caribou, the same number of human beings we saw the entire trip! The isolation was a big draw and it was incredible. It took us a few days to figure out there really is no one out there.
The fishing was a mixed bag for us. It was quite hot during the middle of the trip and the fish knew it. We caught walleye in the lakes that had them and a few lake trout trolling but I can's say that we really figured out how to locate and then jig for trout. I think I can do better the next time. As the weather cooled, we were able to find and catch northerns and that is fun for me as we don't have them here in South Carolina. They were quite predictable being in some of the deeper, isolated grass areas with access to deeper water. Where those conditions were met, we consistently caught them. They ate just about anything and we used Husky Jerks and Shad Raps quite a bit.
The scenery, weather, isolation and great outfitting made this an unforgettable experience and we have our dates for next year!
Our trip began with a flight into Bulging and continued to Adventure, Jigsaw, Wrist, Aegean, South Aegean, Paull, Elephant Head, Boot Jack, Bunny and then out at Leano. The 850 meter portage in 90 degree weather out of Jigsaw kicked our old butts. Nine days total. I wore my rain jacket for fifteen minutes and my fleece one evening.
Thanks so much to Harlan. We could not have had a better outfitter experience. He communicates before the trip in a way that really reassured us that we would be ready. We had the opportunity to go through all our gear, food and get a great orientation to our route as well. He has selected equipment with care and everything worked just right. He was obviously concerned about us and our trip and that made all the difference..... we will be returning next year.
Highlights of the trip included seeing two caribou, the same number of human beings we saw the entire trip! The isolation was a big draw and it was incredible. It took us a few days to figure out there really is no one out there.
The fishing was a mixed bag for us. It was quite hot during the middle of the trip and the fish knew it. We caught walleye in the lakes that had them and a few lake trout trolling but I can's say that we really figured out how to locate and then jig for trout. I think I can do better the next time. As the weather cooled, we were able to find and catch northerns and that is fun for me as we don't have them here in South Carolina. They were quite predictable being in some of the deeper, isolated grass areas with access to deeper water. Where those conditions were met, we consistently caught them. They ate just about anything and we used Husky Jerks and Shad Raps quite a bit.
The scenery, weather, isolation and great outfitting made this an unforgettable experience and we have our dates for next year!
07/11/2012 07:47PM
Welcome back. Glad you had a great trip. I hope you post a trip report. We are going up the last of August and Harlan is flying us in to Bulging L as well. We are going to drop down thru Haggart and slip thru the Welkin system to pick up your route in S Aegean. Would be very interested in hearing about your trip, the portages, campsites etc.
..there is nothing- absolute nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats - Wind in the Willows
07/11/2012 10:19PM
It is always great hearing feedback about paddlers experiences in the park. We at the park office rely heavily on the information that you share with us in order to prioritize our trail maintenance efforts. We do want to hear about your wildlife sightings, especially the caribou sightings... as we monitor their distribution in the park so we may offer these animals the best protection. Information we look for date of sighting, time of day (dawn, midday, dusk), # of animal, sex is possible, and what the caribou is doing at the time of sighting (swimming, walking along shore).
Good to hear that you had excellent service by your outfitter and that you will be returning for more. Woodland Caribou Prov. Park is indeed a very special place to paddle where solitude is found in great measure.
Thanks for posting Larry.
Good to hear that you had excellent service by your outfitter and that you will be returning for more. Woodland Caribou Prov. Park is indeed a very special place to paddle where solitude is found in great measure.
Thanks for posting Larry.
07/16/2012 07:42PM
We saw the caribou on July 4th and the eastern side of Paull I think where the islands are located. It swam to the island and the we took the video when got to land. A little later saw it again or another further east. Probably 15 min later again swimming.
Made the trip for us.
Dan- Larryb's brother and mule
Made the trip for us.
Dan- Larryb's brother and mule
Subscribe to Thread
Become a member of the bwca.com community to subscribe to thread and get email updates when new posts are added. Sign up Here