Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Woodland Caribou Provincial Park :: Barens River system
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Alan Gage |
The community of Little Grand Rapids is on Family Lake and they have regularly scheduled flights in and out (only way in/out other than paddle during summer). I believe there are two main airlines that service LGR. When I looked at the schedule they made the rounds (Bloodvein Village to Berens Village to Little Grand Rapids etc) but I can't remember if they popped over to Red Lake or not. I don't know how they handle loads like canoes but if you could catch a regularly scheduled flight back to Red Lake you'd probably save a bunch of money. I did the Bloodvein last year and found it very enjoyable. I think there are more rapids on the Bloodvein than the Berens but there are established portages around all the whitewater. Most of them are short and easy carries although some are longer or more difficult (steep up/down). The way I remember was the farther you get down the Bloodvein the more frequently you find sets of rapids. Paddling down to Stonehouse Lake and flying back would probably fit your 10 days paddling schedule about right. Ok, I just re-read your original post and see you're talking about flying in and paddling out. One idea would be to fly into Family Lake and head south from there starting on the Dogskin River. You'd be roughly following the Ontario/Manitoba border. You could paddle south to either the Bloodvein or Gammon Rivers and then cut back through WCPP to any of the access points you wanted. The Sasaginnigak map from Real Berard shows this route (among others). If you get that map you might as well pick up the Little Grand Rapids and Kautunigan maps by him as well. They cover other routes in the vicinity that might be of interest when planning this or future trips, and they're cheap. You can also find information on the Berens River over at myccr.com including some info on the upper section. Alan |
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KerryG |
I did get a chance to speak with Harlan yesterday and he's suggesting flying into Wavell Lake, which is northeast of Red Lake. From there we could go north into Upper Goose Lake and then west to Berens Lake and then work our way down to Red Lake. According to Harlan this is pretty much a lazy man's route - mostly river paddling and not much need to portage. I haven't got all the details yet but I'm looking at Google Maps and it is amazing how navigable that whole area north east of the park seems to be. Harlan has run a few groups through there and says we should have no trouble making a 10 - 12 day route with plenty of time for fishing and photography. I plan to work out the details over the next two or three weeks. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered. |
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KerryG |
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jwartman59 |
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KerryG |
I'm less interested in the flat water sections of the Bloodvein. |