Day 6 - Wednesday, June 12 2024 – Carroll Lake to Wanda Lake (24.5 kms, 7 portages)
We poked our heads out of the tent to a moody sky at 05:00, ready to leave our exposed camp on Carroll Lake and start another stage of our 2024 WCPP adventure up what I assumed was Simeon Creek. But it wasn’t. While planning the trip I had no idea that rather than running all the way from the Gammon to the Bloodvein River, Simeon Creek runs only from Dunstan Lake to the Bloodvein. I knew something was up as we paddled the short way from camp into the mouth of the nearby stream and realized it was entering Carroll Lake, not exiting it. I continued to call it “Simeon” until we actually hit the headwaters of Simeon Creek and I resolved my confusion. Wednesday, June 12th was a day for the ages as far as canoe trips go. What a spectacular experience it was to paddle under clearing skies in such a beautiful and lonely landscape. There aren’t that many accessible places on earth where one can drive to the trailhead and only 6 days of self-propulsion later find oneself in a place with many more moose, bald eagles and beavers than humans. Many more. We entered what turned out to be the mouth (not the exit) of a wide, unnamed stream and paddled against a lively current as it curved and wound its way through acres of water lilies and endless fields of swamp grasses and shrubs. It didn’t take long and we spotted our 4th moose of the trip, followed very soon after by the 5th and 6th ones. A cow/calf pair calmly got out of the way as we glided past. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill mangy road-moose either. These are a deep brown, almost black, and as beautiful as a moose can be with their ornery long faces, huge bloated bellies and gangly legs that suit their preference for deep muck and swampy areas. Within an hour of leaving our camp on Carroll Lake we were at the first portage up the unnamed creek towards Terry and Wanda Lake. Thankfully the distance of this and most subsequent portages up this creek are much shorter than indicated on PaddlePlanner and more in line with the WCCP route map. The forest here was so torched by wildfires that the hardest challenge of the first few carries was finding a trail in the tall grasses rather than tangled fallen trees like elsewhere in the park. There weren’t many trees left here. A short paddle from the first, we easily portaged another 50 meters and continued paddling up a much more contained creek. PaddlePlanner missed another short portage which again, was obviously cleared recently with blue ribbons (WCPP park staff use blue, others use orange), rock cairns where possible and a barely visible path through swamp grasses. Everything was absolutely soaked with the previous days rain and the temperature was cool at around 12 to 15 degrees but we didn’t mind. I learned a long time ago that the best way to enjoy wilderness trips is to have appropriate clothing for it. This is a hard-earned lesson over many trips when I was younger and couldn’t afford decent gear. In 2000 our whole group had signs of hypothermia after an ill-advised Obukowin / 3 Mothers portage in a deluge with shitty gear. Nowadays we have head-to-toe coverage for wet days, including waterproof pants with socks so that even our feet stay dry. Gore-Tex pro on top provides both breathability and weather proofness when needed. I can’t believe how expensive this gear has gotten over the years, but what is your life worth? That’s how I justify it anyway. We continued upstream, enjoying a moody morning before hitting our 4th portage of the day, just before Research Lake – unnamed on most maps. A beautiful, low waterfall danced and shimmered towards us as we pulled up and started a familiar routine. As we paddled the lake we spotted our 7th moose feeding along the shore. The unnamed creek continued to be hospitable as we paddled to one of the longer portages of the day – 150 meters near a branch leading north that we wanted to take. This was the first time today that my saw and ax were required to get through a thick tangle of fallen trees along the route. Since we knew we were almost for sure coming back along this route in a few days, I made sure to clear every obstacle that I reasonably could. There’s nothing like being kind to your future self! ?? It was becoming obvious that the wet weather and environment was a boon to the local biting insect community and deet became our best friend on every carry. A nice long paddle brought us to an unnamed lake where we found ourselves under a rapidly clearing sky and drifting downwind. We took off our jackets, laid back and enjoyed a well deserved coffee before spotting a pair of huge, majestic bull moose, our 8th and 9th sightings, swimming across the lake just in front of us. We marveled at their antlers and surprising grace as they exited the water and wound their way through burned forest on shore. I’ve never seen such large bulls together before – maybe they were brothers? We drifted to our next portage – another scenic falls before continuing upstream under clearing skies. The final portage of the day was much longer than indicated on the WCPP route map at 270 meters rather than 125. It was also through a much thicker tangle of new growth and fallen, burned trees. Thank goodness a chainsaw crew had come through in 2023 or this section would have been a bit of a nightmare. It was nearing 11:00 hours as we wrapped up the last carry of the day and skirted the northern edge of Terry Lake through shallow reeds. We’d been on the go for 6 hours already and were ready for a little break. I suggested that we paddle onto Terry and check it out. I wanted to see if there was a viable campsite for future consideration and wanted to fish for some walleye for lunch. KC readily agreed and we exited our little creek and made our way to a set of tiny rocky islands just SE of campsite “71”. It didn’t take long to catch a few fat walleye for lunch. As we paddled past the burned out campsite we spotted something very large and black in the forest. At first we thought it was a bear but on exit it proved to be our 10th moose sighting. We spent a relaxing hour frying up and consuming fresh walleye before somewhat reluctantly getting back in the boat and paddling back to the unnamed creek. I found myself getting excited as we finally exited the unnamed creek onto our destination lake for the day – Wanda Lake. I’d been dreaming about this lake for many months and now we were finally here. The sky was continuing to clear with puffy white clouds drifting overhead under a brilliant blue canopy above. Unfortunately for us, the next few hours proved to be a little frustrating. I’ve been tripping for over 20 years and one thing that’s served me very well, both in my beloved Rocky Mountains to the west and in canoe country, has been a meticulous and some would say, obsessive, planning cycle beforehand. This trip was no different. I started planning for it way back in January – it keeps me sane during long winter months indoors. There was supposed to be not only one, but two 4-star sites in this little gem of a lake – loaded with walleye. The first purported site was on an obvious, unburned island straight ahead and we booked it straight over there without hesitation. Only to find absolutely nothing! I was perplexed as we slowly coasted by open rock near shore, expecting to see a fire ring at the very least, but spotting zero human sign. Trees crisscrossed the rock and even when I got out of the boat for a quick scout of the area, nothing presented itself. Dang it! What was happening?! An unburned island site in a lovely walleye lake with no site on it, despite beta to the contrary? It made no sense. Not quite panicking yet, we set off for the next option – a reported 5-star site to the west. Once again – no go! Oh yes – there was an obvious site here. But in an opposite problem to the first area, despite a huge fire pit and tent area, this site had almost zero forest. It had been completely destroyed by recent fire and didn’t look attractive whatsoever, especially with our experience of an open site in bad weather the day before. Crappola! What to do now?! We had been paddling for over 8 hours at this point and afternoon winds were predictably picking up. Wanda isn’t a large lake by any means so we did what we had to do – we paddled all the way around it looking for a decent place to set up camp. TWICE! As the wind continued to pick up we got more and more frustrated. We found a few other old sites, even an old iron skillet on one small rocky outcrop and an aluminum boat pulled onshore, but nothing attractive. Finally I decided to check out one last potential site on a peninsula towards the north end of the lake and voila! At first it didn’t look like much – it was an old campsite, but the tent spot was exposed to a strengthening south wind and it didn’t have much of a kitchen area. Sometimes you have to make do with what you have and by the time we set up camp it was a 3-star affair. It turns out that the island site is buried back in the bush and I’m not the first to miss it. The open site is the one other folks use, but with drawbacks. After a few hours of recovery at camp we were more than ready to fish for supper. It took almost no time at all and we were onto the famous Wanda Lake walleye! Trolling spoons worked best as we caught fish after fish. All the frustrations at finding a camp faded with each new catch and by the time we got back to camp with a stringer full of sharp fins and protein we were feeling pretty darn good about life again. After a delicious 2nd walleye meal on the day, we settled in around a cheery fire for the evening. The sky stayed moody but the wind completely died out as we drifted off to sleep to the serenade of frogs and birds, closing out a very full day of adventure and discovery.
Day 7 - Thursday, June 13 2024 – Wanda Lake to Dunstan Lake (8 kms, 2 portages)
It poured overnight in our little corner of the outback. Thank goodness for a good tent is all I can say. I woke several times to sheets of rain and wind hitting the single-wall of the pyramid near my head. There’s something vulnerable about sleeping in a paper-thin shelter on hard, Canadian Shield rock exposed to rain and wind. So-called, “widow makers” are a real threat in these conditions too – trees falling on sleeping campers have done their fair share of damage over the years. Thankfully nothing untoward happened to us and we woke to reluctantly clearing skies and cool temperatures. By 08:30 we were packed up and in the boat, paddling a short distance to the north end of Wanda Lake where we hoped to find the unnamed stream.
After some confusion with long marsh grasses we managed to find the stream and continued against a robust current – all the rain on and before our trip was likely fortuitous considering how small this stream normally is. As the sky cleared above and the birds and bugs woke up on all sides, the stream got narrower and tighter until willows and shrubs were threatening to decapitate the paddlers trying to push their way upstream. Because I was still thinking we were in Simeon Creek, the narrowing unnamed creek caused me great concern! I thought we still had dozens of kilometers to travel it to South Simeon Lake and this was NOT a good portend of things to come, if that was the case. After a particularly nasty, tight section that reminded me of the unnamed creek Hanneke (my wife) and I had encountered out of Indian House Lake the year before on route to Royd Creek, we burst out of the thick canopy to our first portage of the day. Considering all the rain overnight, we were expecting a bit of a soaking thrash and we got exactly that. Despite the wet vegetation it was arguably better than the tight confines of the creek we’d just left. A reasonable 165 meters of portaging and we were in the creek on the other side, wondering what lay ahead with some trepidation considering what we’d just left. It wasn’t as horrible as we were expecting and we pushed and pulled our way through some shallow, reedy sections into Ugly Lake. I wouldn’t use the term “Ugly” for this little pot lake, but maybe whoever named it was thinking of the up and downstream accesses? Who knows. We enjoyed the warming morning and some coffee as we paddled and drifted the small lake, finding our next portage into Dunstan Lake in reeds at its north end. This portage was marked as 750 meters and this is where I first realized that the small creek we’d been travelling from Carroll Lake starts in Ugly Lake and is most definitely NOT Simeon. Oops. Just goes to show that nothing quite beats feet on the ground to figure things out. ?? Our expectations were pretty low for this lengthy carry but as it turns out – completely unfounded. The parks crew and their chainsaws did incredible work through a tangled mess of old and recent burn. Despite almost no blockages (I cleared one or two), the open forest required a few extra ribbons that I obliged. As you can see from the title, today was a short day with a planned camp in Dunstan – assuming we could find a campsite of course! Dunstan was looking pretty torched as we started paddling up it, our frustrating search for a site on Wanda fresh in our memories from the day before. At least we learned our lesson here, instead of going directly to sites reviewed on PaddlePlanner, we kept our eyes peeled for all options along the way. As we paddled north I spotted a promising, unburned spit of rock off to our right in the distance. I convinced KC that we should paddle over and check it out. Our campsite luck reversed from the day before and we docked on a solid 3.5 to 4-star site! With plenty of flat areas, a fire ring or two and unburned trees, this was very unexpected. We promptly called it our home for the day and set up a delightful, cozy camp. It was only around 13:00 hours as we settled into our camp on Dunstan Lake. A few hours of relaxing and we were ready to try fishing. Despite cool temps, it didn’t take long and once again we were hammering large pike and walleye on Len Thompson spoons. Most experienced fishers would take note of that last point. Walleye aren’t known for hammering spoons – usually a simulated baitfish like a Rapala or jigs are used to attract this species. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve experienced this “spoon effect” on other walleye hotspots in WCPP over the years. In 2016 my son and I caught most of our walleye in Haven Lake on spoons while trolling. Again in 2019 this happened, and in 2023 on Joey Lake, my wife and I had the same thing happen. It’s always while trolling (casting works for pike but not as well for walleye), and usually catches us by surprise. We took a break with a stringer of fish for a delicious early supper before heading out again in the evening. At around 19:30 I caught the largest walleye of my life in a little bay just off camp while, as you guessed it, trolling a black and white Len Thompson spoon! I knew right away that this wasn’t an ordinary size fish. The big ones always start with a series of deep, lunging pulls that can even move the boat as you wonder what the heck just happened. Thanks to snapping my walleye rod a few days previous while moving the boat ashore, I was using my pike setup with 30lb gorilla line. This was likely a very good thing as my walleye setup uses 6lb fluorocarbon and would not have dealt easily with a fish this size. When I first saw the flash from below I thought maybe it was a lake trout, but knew they weren’t supposed to be on this lake. When I realized it was a walleye I got a little more excited. After landing and photographing the hog, I released it back to fight another day. We hammered many more fish before returning to camp, buzzing with all the action. The skies continued to clear into the evening and we were treated to a spectacular sunset over calm waters as the local frog population loudly serenaded the loon circling nearby and evening song birds joined in. As I sat by a small, cheerful fire watching the sunset I meditated at where we were. 7 days from the dock at Wallace Lake and here we were on a sliver of rock with nothing but loons and frogs for company. What a privilege to experience this with my daughter, how lucky am I? Good thoughts to fall asleep on, so that’s what I did.