Day 13 Saturday, August 27th

7.69 miles Too Many Portages 1) 100m bushwhack 2) 50m 3) 60m 4) 100m 5) 40m 6)104 7) 50m plus some stream walks and liftovers

Instead of making the long, potentially busy paddle across Brennan Lake we decided to take the road less traveled and venture through Jeep-Change-Dagger-Eagle-Beaver-Snake-Windfall and back into Brennan. Then there was wind and other assorted challenges which I will attempt to describe.

Yes, you should question our judgement, but we do want credit for being adventurous. So, we broke camp and paddled south toward Jeep Lake. Somehow, we paddled past the first short portage on the right (120m?) and instead bushwhacked through the rocky marsh on river left (100m). This was a mistake, but we survived and didn’t even break an ankle. Next, we paddled across an unnamed body of water south to what we call the “mossy shoe portage” which was a 50m struggle around a rocky obstacle to a brushy, marshy put in.

From there it was a short pond paddle to the next portage (60m) which was a nice ledge walk around another rocky debris pile to a small shallow creek that required wading until it was deep enough to paddle.

From there we paddled another small pond to the last 100m portage into Jeep. We paddled down Jeep in a fierce headwind with a red tail hawk and then an eagle soaring above us.

We had lunch on the short carryover (40m) toward Change Lake and then another lift over around an obstacle (rocks and such) and then a mudpuddle paddle to the treacherous takeout (tibia breaking holes) across the next pleasant 104m portage that ends near a small ledge camp and then the final pond paddle to a willow lined stream into Change Lake.

Here we dragged the boat and portaged our gear over some willows (35m) to avoid another rocky obstacle then paddled a shallow stream to wade through some shallow ledges into Change Lake. (Later found out there might be a short portage here on the east side but we didn’t see it.) Sound fun? But wait, it’s not over! Here we were greeted by the return of the fierce headwind and a woodland caribou swimming across the narrow section of the lake. After pausing to enjoy that reward, we paddled down the lake in the whitecaps hiding behind a couple of small islands to a 4*camp on the southeast section of the lake.

It was only 3 o’clock but given the day’s events we decided we were done, so we set up camp and tried to recreate the events of the day. I think I’m close but I’m sure it’s not exact. ? There were so many short “popovers” and “liftovers” and “obstacles” that I’m likely missed something. I’d rather do one super long portage any day of the week in exchange for all that loading and unloading. Try it if you dare ? A huge serving of Chicken Sausage Jambalaya and leftover Blueberry Cheesecake hit the spot for dinner.

“Did I say it was windy?”

Day 14 Sunday, August 28th “Swampy but passable”

9.18 miles Portages 1) 104 2)225 3) 300m 4)450m 5) 185m 6) 75m “popover”

We rose to a dry camp, Wow! We ate, broke camp quickly and launched early toward Dagger Lake. We took the first 105m easy portage and completed the windy paddle down Dagger to the next portage (255m) which turned out to host a narrow landing, lots of down trees (mostly stepovers, two walkarounds) and a couple of boot-sucking mud pits.

Pretty typical fair for this area in my opinion. A helicopter flew over us as we paddled the pond south of Dagger and then we inattentively cruised right past the portage which we later discovered after wandering around in the forest for a while and then backtracking to find it right where the map showed if we had been paying closer attention. This 300m jaunt starts somewhat steeply uphill over a ridge and then wanders downhill through the bunchberries to a shallow, sandy launch spot on Eagle Lake. Eagle Lake is very scenic-invitingly clear water with lots of rocks. A very vigorous headwind diminished the joy while we were there. We struggled our way across and easily found the subsequent 473m portage, lunching at the scenic takeout with a very aggressive squirrel. Next, we had another “adventure.” Here the first 450m is as an easy walk through the forest and then along granite ending in a meadow by a little stream in the willows. Then I guess, you’re supposed to cross the meadow (envision a willowy marsh) to connect with a second 187m portage that I believe is intended to cut across a ridge (maybe) and drop you into Beaver Lake. Well, this isn’t what happen to us, or many others given the tracks and trash in the forest. So, the first 450m went as planned and then from the marsh it was less clear.

After some exploration (envision wandering around cursing) we stayed on the eastern side of the stream for another 200m or so, walking on a moose trail (with some other unfortunate explorers who had tried the same) which dumped us into a mud puddle, which we paddled and lined to a rocky, log jam from which we did cut and stumble our way into the northeast arm of Beaver Lake.

I wouldn’t recommend it though it there now if you find yourself there . Out on Beaver Lake the wind continued to plague us, but Tony saw another woodland caribou on the north shore as the lake narrows, so that was cool. The 75m portage toward Snake Lake is easy with both ends shallow and sandy. We meandered toward Snake along a very beautiful, narrow, grassy stream with only one minor beaver dam pullover. It was a very pleasant surprise. We were convinced we would end up pulling/dragging our boat through the mud at some juncture, but nope, though the turns were tight for our 18ft craft, there was plenty of water, a sandy bottom, and an eagle to keep us company. We floated onto Snake Lake over a shallow sandbar and paddled up the lake with a tailwind to find a camp on a rocky point between two beaches littered with moose tracks. It’s a very pretty spot with crappy tent pads. We spread out, went for a swim, and sat watching the sky clear as we made short work of a Mexican Cornbread Pie. Dinner time conversation revolved around all the nice evenings in Wabakimi. ? Exhausted we hit the tent early. And then it rained and rained and rained some more.

Day 15 Monday, August 29 “The only easy day was yesterday.”

Miles 8.6 Portages 1) 170m 2) 150m 3)100m 4)100m 5)150m 6)300m

I woke up at 600am, heard it was still raining, and immediately snuggled deeper into my bag. The sun rose with a thin band of red in the east giving the appearance of clearing and then the wind blew a thick band of clouds right on top of us. We got up, had breakfast, secured the tarp, and decided to wait it out for a couple of hours. “If you don’t like the weather. . .” We eventually launched at 1100am in the low clouds but with the goal to make a few miles. We left Snake and headed down river toward Windfall Lake paddling through the first two swifts and then portaging around two more (170m and 150m) without too much difficulty. We hit Windfall in a full on, yup you guessed it, headwind. We paddled along the northern shore with goal of checking out Wabakimi Outfitter’s Outpost, (Bruce Hyer had described it to us the previous year.) but spotted a canoe heading that direction so we changed course so as not to bother them. We ate lunch on the lee side of an island hunkered out of the wind and then paddled on with thunder rumbling in the distance. A brief hard rain shower followed.

The first swift out of Windfall was marked as “portage over rocks” on our map but we found an unmarked portage on river right (100m,north side) so we snuck through that way and were glad for it. Then a quick paddle to the next portage on river left (100m) up and over a short ridge and then another quick paddle to the next rapid where we had trouble locating the takeout. (45 minutes of trouble). I think we were sucked into thinking that the portage would be near the rapid as that had been our experience to date. In the end, (after wandering around in the blowdowns trying to cut across it) we found it to be further southwest of the rapid-just a little grassy takeout that then cuts across the point (150m) to a beautiful sandy exit on Brennan Lake. Tony went on a rant for a while to express his discontent with all mapmakers, but we had a snack and he felt better. We paddled on into the windy afternoon with storms threatening and the sun breaking through occasionally to cheer us onward. We snuck up the Allenwater River along the north shore to avoid the current and took the 300m portage around a pretty CII rapid. It was a nice flat trail with several obstacles (1 chest high tree, 2 waist high trees, and 8 knee high trees). We lined/waded up the subsequent swifts along the north shore and paddled on to a large camp arriving around 500pm.

The sun came out and gifted us a rainbow. MH Italian Pepper Steak for dinner with a fresh baked Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread dessert hit the spot. We battened down the camp and hit the tent and a good thing too because a strong wind and rainstorm hit around 1100pm. Tony leapt up and secured the tarp, but the wind persisted all night and sleep proved intermittent.