Yo ,Ben! Give us a few'quippets' while you put together an official trip report!  Can't wait.     e.g. :What sort of provisions does one haul in to feed a large dog and a not so tiny person for almost 4 weeks? What did you and "Chessy"eat? How did you prepare it? Wannabees wanna know!

Just about have my trip report done... The fire didn't do as much as you figured to the Irvine loop Claire. Worse was the blow down on a couple portages. Howard H was in Irvine the same time. He said he'd be talking with the park office on the blow down issue. Never in my life would I have thought I'd see someone else on Irvine while I was there... They came in during a huge rain storm.

Ben,

My guess is you're pretty-well water-logged after THOSE 26 days! 

Like the others, I look forward to reading your account of that area in the park.  I hope to get back there within the next 2-3 years.

Jimbo   

Glad to hear you are back Ben. I am looking forward to what you have to report. The Spot messages told me where you were but it can't relay the good stuff. You were in there a long time!!

Good to hear you made it out and had a good trip overall.  Sorry I missed you at the office... I think you stopped by.  Would have loved to pick your brain for trail details around Irvine and elswhere in the park.  Did the popular campsite on the point of the south pointing peninsula burn in the fire?  Finally getting our 2 maintenance crews up and going this week.  It is frustrating that our season begins so late ... we hope to make a dent in the long list of messy trails.  It is hard to keep up with Mother Nature - gusting winds today which prevented us from flying.  Will you provide this site a trip report at some time?  Wildlife sightings?  Spoke with Martin today.  He is gearing up for another great adventure in the park.

Just got back from 26 days in WCPP and included the Irvine Lake Loop. Not the bushwack route you took Jimbo, but had a similar situation with blowdown on some portages. The fire had it's effects, but nothing like the blowdown effects like on the portage out of what I think Marten calls Salamander Lake going towards Irvine. the blowdown was incredibly hard to get through or around. The second portage out of Irvine going the direction you went Jimbo, was burned over pretty good. There was still a fire hose left behind by the firefighters. Rain was the theme on our trip once we hit Irvine. Downpours of great amounts of rain brought the streams we crossed to raging rivers. I paddled my Encounter solo with my 80# chessy. Many miles paddled and fish caught and ate. All in all a good trip with it's own challenges. Met Howard Holtman, or whatever his name is that Martin talked about in his stories. They came in during a pretty good rain.

Nice job on the story.  It'd be cool to see some images of the landscape(s) you have painted so well with your words.   -- your Public   

Nothing like being outnumbered eh Jimbo.........

"hey, I have a great idea"......"Yea, lets go fer it"......."um, guys"

Beautifully written Jimbo.......very enjoyable

No wonder the loved ones left behind want you to take a Spot/Sat phone
They read stories like that and know longer wonder IF you've lost your mind, they damn well know you have
Great report and all well that ends well

So here is a link to my "trip report" for our 2010 bushwhacking (mis)adventure to the Irvine Lake region of Woodland Caribou Park, just posted to the QJ Stories page: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

This was quite an adventure.  I'm glad we got a chance to see so much of that region before fire burned a lot of it last year.  On the other hand, I suppose Kingfisher might have preferred it to be all burned-up, mostly knocked-down timber all stacked-up like matchsticks... you know, the sort of thrilling challenge that he seems to thrive on. 

Hey, I will say this: when we were lost, fatigued, blood-blistered, down to drinking scum water & my sciatica had almost completely shut me down, KF came through like a champ.  We eventually bushwhacked into Martin Kehoe's fabled Irvine Lake, sailed about using my pink WindPaddle Sail, & exited via the beautiful & unique Slot Portage.  The trip was a great success that I hope, someday, to repeat... though I expect I will prefer to use bonafide portages next time!

Jimbo