New member. Going on our second trip to WCPP. Another fly in. This time to Artery and down Simeon and fly out of Irvine.

This is our favorite park due to its remoteness, beauty, low fishing pressure, primitive campsites, and wonderful waterways.

Can anyone comment on the water levels through Simeon? How about the availability of the new WCPP map? Can we get one before we set out September 15th for a 12day journey?

We take hours of video and hundreds of photos. We'll be sure to post the new ones when we return.

quote KCMOcat8: "Can anyone comment on the water levels through Simeon? "

Was on Simeon on June 17th. Water levels looked fine then ... but a lot can change in a couple of months. Lots of walleye and nice pike on the lake. Didn't catch any smallies there, but did on the northern approach.

I'd check with the park staff to make sure the portages into Irvine are open. The portages between Artery and Mary's lakes were clogged with deadfall from the October storm. Both the north and south portages each took about an hour to traverse ... and we were day-tripping from Mary's. They have since been cleared, but that should give you a picture of what the ports are like if a crew hasn't gotten to them this season.

dd

The best way to get the latest water info is to call the park office. I just talked to them today and no maps. They wanted one more revision and at this point in the season they figured why not get it right. Now it looks like something for sure by the end of the year.

Welcome to the board Mark. Hope you have a good trip. We're doing a southern end trip out of Leano around Labor Day. Will know more then.

Things should be fine on your route. There are a few short sections between South Simeon and Dunston that are always a little rocky. There was a beaver dam helping things out when I was through in late May. Your portages are all going to be in great shape, I can personally guarantee that.

Just to be assured I would ask the park office about water levels. They may not have fresh reports about Simeon Creek but will know about recent rain amounts. If you are heading up to Irvine from Royd I would recommend going up the west side of that loop. Either way is nice but I prefer the scenery on the west side. There will be some burned areas on the north end but it is pretty spotty. If you prefer Walleye they will be in most of those waters once you get to Splitrock Lake. The next long narrow lake I call "Boot Lake" for its shape. It is very scenic with high walls but shallow and has no campsites.

NCTRY, if things work out as planned you are going to be very happy with what the new map may have on it.

You could ask me....I have clients going through there weekly!

Had a group go through there 3 days ago without issue. Folks, for the most part I have the most updated info on the park so please, just ask here or drop me a line 807-727-9797

Harlan

I went through Artery down to South Simeon in 2010, Ran out of Water on the Creek on way to Dunstan...Where it says "ROCK GARDEN"....
It is still doable, just a pain in the ASS!! I was a solo with Molly and it took me from 3 pm till 7 pm to get to Dunstan. Hot and Tired, but it is still do-able. The Enchanted Portage is awesome, and Dunstan is an Awesome Lake!!! Don't let a little "low water" stop you!

SunCatcher



this was after Dunstan Headed South and then EAST...That creek was not as low as The one into Dunstan, but darn low in spots, at least I could pull the canoe with good Ole Molly in it!

Just here to report back from 13 marvelous days in the park, September 16th to September 29th. We flew into Artery, traveled down the Bloodvein River to Barclay, Sabourin, Simeon, Dunstan, Ugly, and Wanda. We base camped and really only paddled 3 days. Those lakes and the wildlife on them were fantastic. Great fishing too. We got delayed by the heavy fog by one day but flew our of Wanda at the end.

About the water levels, it seems that we went up over a watershed divide as we exited the south end of Dunstan or Ugly. The water south of Ugly Lake was dried up which forced us to make a decision NOT to try to travel east to Irvine Lake as originally planned but to head west on the little creek and then south into Wanda Lake. The trip from our island site on Dunstan to the north end of Wanda was only a few short miles but took a full 8 hours. I am convinced that we went up over a divide and started into the next river system going into Wanda.

Three guys at 58 to 62 years old in a 3-man canoe with double portaging as our standard procedure were challenged by the lack of water at the divide. We were just a bit too wide and too heavy and too long for the portages and paths cut through the blow-downs. We love an adventure (that's why we go for the remote areas) but what we needed to know was whether ANYONE could have made the trip slogging to the east for miles in the mud, pulling the canoe much of the way or whether we chose the only feasible way through by heading west and south. Bushwacking to the west from Ugly Lake was tedious. Just deciding to wade the creek and pull the canoe along between pools worked the best.

The rewards for our efforts this trip: fantastic walleye, northern, and perch fishing; sighting 3 white-tailed deer swimming; sighting 4 female and young caribou swimming; hearing 12 to 15 wolves howling; wonderful campsites; old trappers cabin; the "Sistine Chapel" of pictographs; and only a couple of fishing boats the first two days. We saw NO other folks in canoes! I took about 1150 digital photos and we have over 4 hours of video. Great trip!

You have a trip to remember, that's for sure. The decision of south to Wanda or east to Royd would have been a toss-up. Since I cut those portages open this spring I am a little curious about your comments on their condition. I thought I had cut them out to the full width. what troubles did they present for you? Was it only because of the size of your canoe?

Marten,

Actually there were problems in two low water areas on Simeon Creek and Lake that included narrow cuts through the branches that our 3-man canoe had to scrape through. Sometimes the canoe was too long to turn between branches or rocks. We were heavy so it was worst case.

One pull out at a portage along Simeon was next to impossible as you had to walk over a brush pile while portaging. That's the take out (heading south) where there is a rock, a pool and then the beginning of the portage trail but we couldn't wade through the pool as it was over our Boggs boots. So we went directly to the shore to the north of the real portage trail's beginning and had to climb over brush from the blowdown.

All that said, we love adventure and we truly appreciate the maintenance that you've done. It's just that old guys with big loads need to know that some of those routes could be impassible in the fall. We really wanted to head from Ugly to the east but it looked to be a two day slog through low or no water.

The low to no water south of Ugly Lake was simply ignorance on our part. We scouted about 1/4 mile to the south and west and decided to bushwack across the grassy area to where the creek flows straight south to Wanda. NOT a good idea! Lots of holes and beaver slides to trip over. Once we got about 1/2 mile down the stream floating, we decided to just immerse ourselves in the mud and pull the canoe much of the way into Wanda. Good decision.

Thanks to your description I now understand why you had troubles. I was there in the spring and balancing in a canoe while cutting fallen trees. With the low water levels you encountered even more problems. The messy portage start you describe is the same situation. I assume the actual trails were OK but the falling water levels in the creeks exposed a real mess.
Thanks

Great mini-report..gotta love the WCCP !

SunCatcher

I came into Dunstan from Simeon in 2011, and the creek ran out of water coming into Dunstan, It took me 4 hours to get to Dunstan. Going South out of Dunstan paddled across some little lake and came to a creek at the South End, I went EAST it is not to far to another little lake that takes you East and then South. I would have went EAST. It would have been ok. You come off the little lake after Dunstan head south and come to a T intersection on the Creek where you go WEST or EAST and I went EAST. I think that is where you went WEST? It is a pain in the rear. The picture above is on that Creek going EAST with Molly the lab. I was glad to hit the next little lake. Glad you had a nice trip. The way I went was down to Royd and then West To Kennedy and down into Donald.
Take Care
SunCatcher