Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Quetico Forum :: Rabc fail
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Ho Ho |
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Eyedocron |
We have now been married 47 years, and this was the 4th of what is now 34 Quetico trips. |
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Springer2 |
Ho Ho: "I feel confident that Boggy Portage will in time throw off its new chains (or corduroy) and menace generations of travelers to come." We can only hope! Oh how I wish I had put my load down and made a video of my buddy half-way across, up to his hips in the bog with the canoe on his head. |
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Eyedocron |
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PineKnot |
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marsonite |
It was a complete fubar on my part. I thought I'd get a jump on them by snail mailing my application using the old form. Got a call from border services telling me they had it but I used the wrong form. So that day I emailed my app in with the right form. But the email didn't send....sat in my outbox for a week before I noticed. So I re-sent, and did verify that they had it. Three weeks later, still no word. I'm not upset about it. My bad. We were a little short of time anyway....we've been talking for years about canoeing the Vermilion river (my wife and I had our first date on a day paddle there) so this is the year. But be warned those RABC's are taking awhile. |
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campnfish |
Mine went USPS as well, card got charged a few weeks ago, but haven't seen anything yet, but I have a month. |
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campnfish |
Banksiana: "TrailZen: "Banksiana: "I did the email of the new form the first day it appeared. Received my RABC (via email) the following afternoon. Doing the same late September, never been up to Kahsh, any tips getting there? |
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Ho Ho |
Luckily, if worse comes to worse, I can drive up to I Falls too. I did it several years ago when I just plain forgot to apply for an RABC until it was too late. |
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Jackfish |
Ho Ho: "Jackfish, how long did your friend wait for the permit that didn't come in time? " Bill, I don't recall exactly, but probably two to two and a half weeks. Maybe three. He'd gotten no responses yet and couldn't get any firm answers, so he drove up to Sault Ste. Marie to get it. Lots of driving, but it's what one does when one gets a last minute opportunity to go to Q! |
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TrailZen |
campnfish: "Doing the same late September, never been up to Kahsh, any tips getting there?" We've ventured through Kahsh several times--it's a beautiful lake. About 30 years ago we entered Kahsh from the south, and felt the portage was horrible enough that we'd avoid it on future trips. You don't name your entry lake, so I'll blather about a few options... With Agnes as your entry lake, you can paddle the length of Agnes, go north through Kawnipi, then down the Kahsh Creek chain (Cairn, Sark, Keefer) into Kahsh. Exit via Joyce and head west, or exit further down via a series of no-names into Sarah. Or you can exit via Yum Yum (another tough portage) and work your way through the S chain back into Agnes. With Sarah as your entry lake, I'd hit the upper end of Sarah and work my way through the no-names into Kahsh. An option is to leave Sarah for McIntyre, then work your way to Joyce and into Kahsh. If Kahsh is your entry lake, you're pretty much stuck with the 1260 meter portage into the south end of the lake, since the Park requires you to go directly to your entry lake. Hope it's a great trip! About 1/3 of the way up Kahsh on the east side is a BEAUTIFUL cliff-top site. Doesn't look like much from the lake, and requires climbing ~60 feet above the lake, but the view is amazing (if last year's fires didn't mess things up there) and the site is nice. TZ |
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Banksiana |
The portage from the far south end is long but fairly easy if the beavers are on the job and allow you to float the pond beneath towering cliffs with a giant talus slope below. If the beaver dam has failed the route around the beaver pond is difficult sloppy corduroy with bottomless muck when (not if, when) you slip off the mud slicked logs. The last time through (I think 3 or 4 years ago) I floated the pond in spring and had the corduroy hell in mid-summer. I'll see what I can find out on my trek and post if I have any news. |
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campnfish |
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Banksiana |
McNeice portage is still (maybe more so) very difficult. Like the YumYum it is at times steep, and on two occasions, ridiculously steep trail. The main trouble (and the reason it is tougher than YumYum) is that it is a rugged rocky slick-surfaced trail and for all but the last 200 yards (the Kahshahpiwi side) the surface of the trail is obscured by the thick growth of vegetation. It's not difficult to follow the trail; just hard to see what you are going to put your foot on. My experience was not helped by pouring rain for a good hour despite it being sunny at the time. Basically a mile long portage in which nearly every step must be taken slowly and with exquisite care. On the upside my dog thought it was excellent. Other portage notes on route- on the double headed deadly swamp portage from unnamed east of Dell to Grey the park is trying to make it single headed with the western most trail out of Dell being the maintained trail. New corduroy in the swamp section is fantastic. |
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campnfish |
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Ho Ho |
As you can see it was also raining cats and dogs that day - the infamous Day of the Deluge. |
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Springer2 |
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marsonite |
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TrailZen |
I have yet to receive my RABC by email, but I'm going to Quetico later this month. If the RABC arrives by the 23rd, we'll enter via Prairie Portage. If it doesn't, we'll cancel the PP permit and enter from the north. Be flexible! TZ |
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Banksiana |
The pace of application must be picking up. |
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TrailZen |
Banksiana: "I did the email of the new form the first day it appeared. Received my RABC (via email) the following afternoon. Nice! When I got the call from CBSA, the agent said they've been slammed with RABC requests. I'm still hoping mine arrives before I start my 1250-mile commute to canoe country, but if not, I'll just drive a bit longer after altering my Quetico reservation. TZ |
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Banksiana |
TrailZen: "Banksiana: "I did the email of the new form the first day it appeared. Received my RABC (via email) the following afternoon. Make sure to keep checking during the commute. I hope to fill a Kahsh permit on Monday. |
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johno |
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Jackfish |
Well... that didn't happen. He's retired, so he drove five hours one way to the Canadian customs office at Sault Ste. Marie, ON and picked up his RABC permit directly from them. He leaves for the Gunflint on Sunday and they're headed to a Cache Bay entry on a 10-12 day trip. Falls Chain to Kawnipi and down Agnes to Louisa Falls, then back. Lucky dawg... |
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timatkn |
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flaxman |
So, off I went to Pigeon River. Pulled in on a Saturday night in late July, the place was empty, and I was in and out in under 30 minutes. I, too, am leery of sending my passport through email, and with hindsight, I would have just planned on picking it up in person. |
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marsonite |
campnfish: "Did your card get charged? If so you should see it soon, maybe call and see if it can be expedited. I checked about a week ago. It hadn't been charged so I went ahead and cancelled my Quetico permit. I also called border services last week. The guy said all he could do was tell me if I was in the queue which it is. I think they are pretty backed up. Glad I can use it next year. |
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Voyager |
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Banksiana |
PineKnot: "Wait, what? So no more future stories of paddlers slipping off the corduroy into waist deep muck while swatting hordes of blood-sucking skeets (like my eldest son), or paddlers ending up back on the no-name that they thought was Grey?? Well, maybe in a few years after the bog swallows up that new corduroy, it'll go back to being known as the "Boggy Portage". :-) " Corduroy is wide, perpendicular to direction of travel and laid firm and tight. Lack of traffic in the last two years has also healed the random scars inflicted by embattled portagers as they tried to avoid the bottomless muck. |
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timatkn |
campnfish: "Really wish I hadn't seen that photo." Need to clarify that wasn’t the area we had to slide down. That’s just a picture of a portion along the trail looking down. T |
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PineKnot |
Banksiana: "Update: Wait, what? So no more future stories of paddlers slipping off the corduroy into waist deep muck while swatting hordes of blood-sucking skeets (like my eldest son), or paddlers ending up back on the no-name that they thought was Grey?? Well, maybe in a few years after the bog swallows up that new corduroy, it'll go back to being known as the "Boggy Portage". :-) |
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Springer2 |
Banksiana: "Update: McNeice portage is still (maybe more so) very difficult. Like the YumYum it is at times steep, and on two occasions, ridiculously steep trail." I never did the Yum Yum but I think the McNiece to Kash was one of the toughest we ever did (Spring 2010, lots of trees down but at least it was dry). The Kett in a wet/flooded spring and McIntyre Creek-Robinson in the rain are right up there. Photo: McNiece--steeper than the photo makes it look. |
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Ho Ho |
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