Rich,
Rules are "somewhat" flexible with respect to when you must hit your entry point. The entry lake is supposed to be the lake you hit first - roundabout trips to the entry lake aren't really following the rules. And, if internal customs or rangers find you well out of your way to your entry lake on the first or second day out (entry permits are dated), you'll have some explaining to do

In past years, you were expected to hit the entry lake on the first day out - somewhat unrealistic for trips like Kashapiwi (at least for my partners and I).
But there were good reasons for this expectation. The Park saw problems when people didn't spread out "immediately" after visiting the ranger station - campsites close to the border were getting seriously trashed by people not playing by the rules - not even trying to hit their entry lakes. (I saw this myself in Cache Bay on my way out from a trip. Couldn't even eat dinner until we cleaned up the piles somebody left ON the fire pit).

The rangers have most recently advised us to take our time - don't get hurt or do dangerous things to satisfy the entry requirements. You're expected to hit your entry lake NLT the second day, weather permitting, and you're supposed to try unless the weather is dangerous for paddling - wet portages aren't supposed to keep you from traveling.

Once on your entry lake, you're expected to stay there for 24 hours. After that, you can go where you want.

(There has always been the weather factor - if it's blowing hard, you won't hit the entry lake anyway.)

Wish I could advise you re' Kash- my partners and I never did make it. Wind and rain and high water (I mean rivers in the portage path) on the portages realistically prevented passage. We chose not to try the Yum Yum route - we tried the western route - and got trashed. We tried the granite cliff and small lakes just SE of Kash, we tried the southern route thru the Loon ____ passage (outfitter's description) and couldn't get thru in 3 days of trying. That's the only trip (out of 12) we didn't satisfy the entry requirements, but we tried harder than some travelers, I know for a fact.

But I can say that many lakes described to me as laker lakes have also held great populations of northerns and usually bass. Northerns are native to these lakes going back to iceout of the last glacier. Bass were introduced earlier this century, and it seems to me that many fisherman have decided to help spread the wealth, so to speak (unofficial stocking as it were). McEwen Lake (off the Falls Chain) is mostly visited for lake trout, but we cleaned house on smallmouth and some big northerns (no walleye for us, and most say there aren;t any in McEwen).

Depending on how long your trip is and how much you're willing to travel, you might swing east out of Kash and come out via Agnes and the S-chain. There's good bass in Agnes and in all lakes of the S-chain.

Besides, isn't discovery part of the fun?

Posted by Skip Guyer on February 27, 2000 at 07:57