Tuesday, June 10 2025 – Russell Lake to Fern Lake (22km, 3 portages)

After 3 days of sub-optimal weather, we were more than ready for clear skies and calm winds on Tuesday as we packed camp on Russell Lake. Alas, it was not to be! After 11 hours in the tent, we awoke at 05:30 to more wind, more clouds and more cool temperatures. The wind wasn’t ideal for our plans, but neither was the thought of huddling in it all day so we decided to move on.

As you can tell, we were getting a little disillusioned with the conditions at this point of the trip. It’s not that they were awful, it’s that our timing wasn’t the best. We managed to do our trip just as the weather went from hot and dry to cool and rainy. All good, but the fire ban wasn’t lifted for the entirety of our trip, so we had to huddle around camp in 3 or 4 layers of clothing with our toques on. The ban was lifted almost immediately AFTER our trip of course. Oh well. First world problems.

We paddled out of Russell Lake in moderate NNW winds towards the Russell Rapids that exit into Sturgeon Lake. I wasn’t sure if we should run the rapids – they appeared pretty tame from the short portage but the portage was so short and easy it wasn’t worth the risk. I caught a few fish downstream of the rapids before we got back in the boat and continued onto a wavy (big surprise) north end of Sturgeon Lake.

Originally I was considering taking the Pickerel River route from Sturgeon to Olifaunt Lake but with the wind and waves we decided to shortcut the river and take a more direct 388m portage between the two lakes instead.

The portage was in great shape and certainly MUCH shorter and easier than the route up the Pickerel River would have been, but also less scenic. In hindsight I wish we would have taken the river. At this point we were getting tired of wind, waves and clouds and didn’t want to expose ourselves to more of these conditions than we needed to. I’ll be back more than once I am sure of it.

We blew very quickly across Olifaunt Lake stopping for a coffee break at the excellent “18E” site. Originally we were thinking of a night in Olifaunt since it was only Tuesday and we were rapidly running out of landscapes to travel for the next 3 days (we had until Friday or Saturday to finish our trip).

As we blew across the lake however, we decided that rather than hunker down on another cool, cloudy, windy day we might as well tackle the 1km portage into Fern Lake and stay there instead. As we enjoyed a coffee break we noticed a couple huddled in the strong west winds on the island site (“18B”) just offshore.

The 965 meter carry up the Pickerel River between Olifaunt and Fern Lake was a pleasure. The trail is well traveled and oft-maintained and it showed. The river was very scenic with several nice overlooks just off the trail.

Once again we blew across choppy whitecapped water towards two camps marked on the two small islands ahead. We couldn’t clearly see the first site (“1ES”) for some reason but the second one was obvious and good enough for us.

On inspection it was another great site (“1FL”) and we set about making camp and trying to f ind shelter from the relentless west winds. It’s strange how many highly rated camps were exposed to west winds on this trip, including this one.

My trusty weather service (BoltWX.com) wasn’t responding so I texted my buddy Wietse instead and he updated me with the forecast. The new iPhone’s satellite texting capabilities are sure handy! He told me that we could expect clear skies but continued strong west winds on Wednesday.

Thankfully the winds died down in the evening and we spent quality time hammering Smallmouth Bass on topwater lures. The action wasn’t quite as relentless as on Bentpine, but still very respectable.

A beautiful, calm evening was a very nice change from the winds and once again a small campfire would have been SO NICE. Alas, my son assured me that the fire ban was still on. At least I managed to stay up until sunset today.

Wednesday, June 11 2025 – Fern Lake (Rest Day)

We slept in and puttered around camp after getting more rain overnight in Fern Lake. We managed to nab a couple of walleye for lunch at the inflow of the Pickerel River which was nice. Despite fishing a LOT from camp, I didn’t have much success. The sky was completely clear with a brilliant sun beaming down at us. Despite this, it was still very cool in the strong west winds.

We managed to find a tiny little wind-free area on the south side of the island that exposed us to the warm sun without the cold wind. As we were relaxing, reading our books I was very surprised to hear voices nearby. A canoe rounded our island and two park wardens asked for our passes as they bobbed in the waves nearby.

This is only the 2nd time in a few dozen years that I’ve had to produce documentation in a backcountry park but it was nice to see rangers patrolling and maintaining things. After a quick check they powered off against the churning lake, they were going all the way to Russell Lake yet today. I was happy to continue reading my book out of the wind.

We discussed our options for the following few days as I waited for another weather update. With 4 days of windy, cool weather behind us already, we didn’t want to spend another day huddling around camp without a fire. We also had the issue of paddling huge Pickerel Lake with any wind.

Thankfully the forecast came through as sunny and relatively calm for Thursday. Now we had two choices. We could exit the following day or spend one last day camped on Pickerel Lake near Stanton Bay so that we wouldn’t get windbound on the massive lake.

Sitting back in the office 6 months after our trip, I kind of wish we chose the latter option but of course after two weeks in the bush with the last week being less-than-ideal conditions and with no end to the fire ban in sight, we decided that a hotel in Kenora for Thursday night sounded pretty darn good and made plans for our exit.

Our last night in Quetico was a beautifully clear evening and once again we turned in early thanks to a chill in the air.

Thursday, June 12 2025 – Fern Lake to Stanton Bay Exit (20km, 6 portages)

Our last day in Quetico dawned clear, calm and gorgeous in Fern Lake. It’s always a bittersweet moment when a trip that you’ve been planning and looking forward to since January comes to an end but this was an ideal way to end it.

We paddled and portaged our way through the oddly named, “Bud”, “Beg” and “Bisk” lakes (aka the "B Chain") – taking our time and soaking in the calm atmosphere after so many days of paddling in wind and waves.

After one last portage from Bisk to Pickerel Lake we found ourselves on the huge body of water, crossing our fingers for calm waters.

A stiff wind from the SE threatened to make our last paddle a bit of a bear but never did get strong enough to cause issues, only some minor anxiety before it completely died off. Despite trolling for a few kms of paddling across the lake, we didn’t catch much.

As we paddled into the mouth of Stanton Bay off the lake, we decided to take an extended break on a shallow sloping rock in brilliant morning sun. And wouldn’t you know it? The wind died off completely. Literally 10 minutes after landing our canoe there was no more wind and the lake went to glass again. LOL.

It was the perfect way to end things – sitting on a shallow sloping rock with warm sunshine on our bodies and no wind.

Reluctantly we slowly gathered our things and got back into the canoe one last time. By noon we were at the portage to the parking lot and within an hour we were packed up and starting the long journey back home to Calgary.

The Retrospective

There is always a complex mix of emotions and thoughts after my canoe trips. On the one hand, I am delighted to have a warm shower and real food on a plate. A cold pop is also very nice. On the other hand, there are always some feelings of remorse and longing to be back. (I'm busy planning a 2026 adventure as I write this report.)

It doesn’t help that after a busy summer of adventures back in my beloved Rockies, I’m only writing this report many months later as winter threatens. (Thankfully I have journals and videos of the trip to assist with my rapidly deteriorating memories.) There’s always questions about, why didn’t we stay an extra day on Jean Lake? Why didn’t we move camps on Russell Lake to get away from the wind? But that’s OK.

With full-time jobs and plenty of responsibilities back home, we aren’t quite at that sweet spot of being able to do multiple canoe trips per year just yet. I’m getting closer and closer to this dream and I think it’ll change how I approach things. A little less worried about timelines, deadlines and the trip back home, I think it’ll free us up to be a lot more flexible in challenging conditions. As it stands now, we have 14-days to do our canoe trips. That is the MAXIMUM, not just a random number. Unlike so many folks nowadays, we have jobs and schedules and responsibilities to return to back home. We aren’t living the #vanlife just yet! This means we have to make trade-offs on route to adapt to challenging and ever changing conditions – the norm for areas like Quetico.

Looking back and musing on this trip, I think it’s one of my best canoe trips yet. We made the best out of a situation that started with wildfires and ended with wind and rain. Much like our trip in 2021 to the Churchill River, we had to be flexible on route and make safe choices that had some impacts on the length of the route and the number of days spent in the wild.

We were both very impressed with Quetico. I’m busy convincing my “guy group” to go there instead of Woodland Caribou P.P. next summer (2026). Other than a few very targeted areas, I don’t see myself going back to WCPP very often anymore – at least while Quetico (and other areas such as Wabakimi) remains as unburned and well maintained as it currently is.

As I always end these things, “I’ll be back”.