A Through-Paddle from Ely to Atikokan
Rod Franz
Day Ten (7/16/02) Day seven on the water. Quetico to Kasakokwog. 10
plus Miles, no portages.
Pictographs were interesting, and some of them quite clear. Identified some
antlered animals, and thought that we could identify a calendar. A pretty
light day. We camped on Kasakokwog. As much as I hate to admit it, I have
absolutely no memory of this campsite.
Day 11 (7/17/02) Day eight on the water. Kasakokwog, McAlpine to Batchewaung
Bay. 11 miles, 4 portages.
Our last full day on the water. Hard to believe it is over so quickly. Several
of us are torn by the desire to stay, and the desire to go home. Crew works
like a well oiled machine, with everybody pretty much knowing their jobs-which
is doing whatever needs doing. Paddled through another 'Vietnam' from Kasakokwog
into McAlpine Lakes. Saw a huge beaver lodge--probably 6 feet above the water
and much wider than the length of a canoe. As we were paddling through McAlpine
Lake, we heard helicopters, and as we got closer to Batchewaung there was
a lot of smoke in the air. After the portage into Batchewaung, we broke mid
day to let the wind settle.
Most of us took a midday nap. You know you are tired when you can sleep easily on exposed rock.. We had to figure out where we were, which ended up being not where we thought we were. We weren't lost, just a 'mite bewildered' for a short period of time, to quote Davey Crockett.
After supper, we paddled on to get a little closer to the ranger station, which we have to make tomorrow morning by 11:00
Camped on the end of an island in Batchewaung Bay. Bugs were terrible tonight. No trees suitable for bear bagging, so we built a 'bear fort' with the canoes. A Canoe Fort is where food packs, garbage and 'smellables' stashed under the canoes. The theory is that if a bear tries to get at them, the collapsing canoes, paddles and cook pots will make enough noise to scare the bear off. It would probably cause the rest of us to suffer cardiac arrest from the noise. Fortunately, this was never put to the test. It is not a recommended practice and is an option of last resort. We have done this before, but we are now in the area we were cautioned about. It is probably my imagination, but it seemed that the tents were pitched closer together than was typically the case.
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