I understand that Supt. Doug Gilmore recently has been given responsibility for Opasquia Provincial Park now, too.  If so, congratulations!  

I'm hoping that either Supt. Doug or Asst. Supt. Claire or some other knowledgeable person will comment on the general condition & upkeep of the portages in Opasquia.  As I contemplate my plans for 2010, Opasquia seems alluring until I consider the probability that no one - save perhaps the Big Hook outpost cabins outfit OR maybe some miscellaneous trappers - is keeping up ANY of the portages in that park.

My quest for remoteness & solitude is one thing; outright masochism is quite another.  If I pay all the extra money required to fly-in & fly-out of Opasquia, would I find myself marooned with little room to paddle except, perhaps, where I might hack my way through to another lake??  Not that I don't appreciate a challenge & a workout, mind you.  Yet something tells me I could be staring at a park of rats' nest portages (on the order of what I witnessed between WCP's Wrist Lake & Jigsaw Lake in early July).  That would be bad; very BAD, and not exactly the return I'd be looking for with the extra investment required to get there.

I'll probably be heading back to one of your parks, Doug; that's how much I/we enjoyed ourselves this past summer in WCP.  It is a great paddling park!  I guess I'm just trying to get a handle on when Opasquia might also be "ready for prime-time" park paddling....

Any words to the wise would be appreciated for 2010 -2015 planning purposes.  My initial research tells me that Opasquia isn't quite ripe for the picking yet.  True??

Jimbo   8-)