BWCA One Month !!! Boundary Waters Group Forum: Woodland Caribou Provincial Park
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timmyDH
member (10)member
  
08/12/2012 11:18PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Hey everyone- one month to go till my first Woodland Caribou trip and I am trying to get everything organized (Love planning for a trip :)).

Currently looking for maps of the area for a garmin GPS. any suggestions on where to look?
Thanks, Tim
 
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08/13/2012 08:22PM  
I know I pd about 100 bucks for Topo Canada. I then got waypoints and track files from a guy on solotripping.com . Shopped the internet for the Topo Canada. Pretty late in the game to be finding this info... where are you heading in?
 
timmyDH
member (10)member
  
08/14/2012 12:23AM  
I am going to put in at Leano and from there head to Mexican Hat Lake and loop back.
 
08/14/2012 07:21PM  
A well established route! I'd get a good set of Topo maps and the park map and transfer the portages to the topo's. I use mytopo.com and get a custom waterproof map. The gps is nice, but not as needed here as other places. Just my opinion...
 
08/14/2012 08:12PM  
I have topo Canada from Garmin, and it is a great addition and works peachy. I also have topo maps and park map. I can tell you that the topo canada map will work just fine.

SunCatcher
 
dentondoc
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08/14/2012 09:21PM  
quote nctry: "I then got waypoints and track files from a guy on solotripping.com."

All you had to do is ask ... I also have the park-distributed list of campsites converted into a GPS overlay file. (Don't remember if I got the data from Claire or Shannon ... but its Shannon's project.)

If you are "looping back" through Nutria (1st lake west of Mexican Hat), you probably need to check-in with the park staff before you go. It can be a swampy mess (or impassable) if you have low water levels.

dd
 
timmyDH
member (10)member
  
08/15/2012 12:05AM  
Thanks everyone for your replies and advice, I have read many of your trip reports for this trip I am doing and I am getting pretty pumped for the trip.
Yes the GPS map was a late thought because I didn't know if I wanted to spend the 100$ on something I wouldn't use to much. I don't need the GPS as I am pretty strong with a map and compass, but I do like to have it along to mark waypoints, trip details, and a little extra piece of mind.

Thanks!
Tim
 
McVacek
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08/27/2012 09:07PM  
We just returned from our first WCPP trip, we had a great time, but found navigation to be a bit more challenging and THANK god for the GPS at times. You end up navigating off of two maps, a topo and the park map that has portages marked, but the portages ARE NOT marked on the topo. The park map portages are "approximate" and not super detailed. We learned this the hard way.

As an aside, when were there (August 12th-20th) the water levels were high. We ran into someone going through Nutria and he didn't seem to have any major complaints.

Good luck! :) Make sure you bring a deep diving bright-colored rapala to troll behind your canoe...
 
timmyDH
member (10)member
  
08/27/2012 10:23PM  
Thanks for the advice! I leave in 10 days :)
 
Marten
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08/28/2012 06:16AM  
There are many comments about portages in WCPP being hard to find. The route you are using gets enough use that the portages landings should be showing some wear and thus easier to find. I have come across portages in WCpp where it is obvious I am the first one through this year. In these cases it is harder to pick out the portage. Cattails or other vegetation have not been stomped down to make it easy to see. In rare cases the portage is marked wrong on the park map. When you paddle away from the Leano access turn around and look at where you just passed. Surprisingly, many have a hard time finding it at the end of a trip.
 
dentondoc
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08/29/2012 09:36AM  
quote Marten: "When you paddle away from the Leano access turn around and look at where you just passed. Surprisingly, many have a hard time finding it at the end of a trip."

When I departed from there on my first trip, I was glad I'd put a GPS waypoint there so I could find it on my way out. On my second time leaving from there, it had been brushed back a bit and was much more obvious.

dd
 
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