Trying to plan a first time trip to Wabakimi this summer.  Any suggestions for routes?  Really have no idea about the park.

I'll be doing my first trip into Wabakimi this summer as well.  My wife and I are planning a 3 week trip.  You might start by checking out this site:   (You need to Login or Register  Then I would contact "Uncle" Phil Cotton.  He is the person responsible for the Wabakimi Project and probably knows the park better than any living person.  He is also incredibly generous with his knowledge.  In exchange for a detailed trip log and cross checking our trip against his maps, he helped me design our trip according to exactly how we like to travel and is providing all the maps and other tidbits such as fishing opportunities etc.  You can reach him at: Phil Cotton [pjcotton@tbaytel.net]  Good luck and keep in touch I'd love to share notes.

My only experience is a planned trip that never happened.  We were going to use   (You need to Login or Register and they seem to be the local expert on access and routes (besides Phil Cotton).  They facilitate the train ride to Collins or Allanwater or you can drive to misc. lakes and rivers to access.  Of course there's fly-in options galore.  The   (You need to Login or Register is pretty comprehensive.

We were going to take the train to Allanwater.

  (You need to Login or Register (Inuk. member around here) was there a few years ago I think.  I believe he was on a park clean-up type trip.  He'd be a better source for info.  Drop him a personal message.

In addition to Ranger, MagicPaddler also spent some time on one of Phil Cotton's crews.

If you are thinking Allanwater to Wabakimi to Little Caribou as a potential route,   (You need to Login or Register are some maps you might find useful.  It covers that route and also includes some campsite locations, portages, and what class of rapids are along the route.  The first page of this document is an overview map.  Make sure you scan on down for other, more detailed, maps.

I may try to do some form of that route, but its like likely to happen until next year.

BTW:  I have a preliminary set of electronic maps that covers Wabakimi and adjacent areas.  They also have historical canoe routes posted on them.

dd

Thanks everone!  I will deffinately check into all of your suggestions.  We usually self outfit.  But we may go through an outfitter for our first trip up there.  We haven't come to a decision yet.   [smiley=dankk2.gif]

I did the trip from Allanwater to Little Caribou in 2008 and produced the maps that were linked to previously in this thread.

Trip Report:     (You need to Login or Register

1:50000 Maps:     (You need to Login or Register


I would recommend hooking up with an outfitter to shuttle your vehicle and provide safe parking if you choose to do the route we did.  Additionally, it is worth noting that the train to Allanwater from Armstrong Ontario arrives in the wee hours of the morning, so again, making arrangements with an outfitter for safe overnight shelter may be advisable.

turtl wrote on Feb 26^th, 2011 at 6:37pm:

I did the trip from Allanwater to Little Caribou in 2008 and produced the maps that were linked to previously in this thread.

Turtl-

Welcome aboard.  I really liked your trip report and maps.  Excellent work!

What do you think of this rendition (sample) of part of your route?

  (You need to Login or Register   (You need to Login or Register

Green line:  canoe route
Red line: portage
Red text: notes (e.g. portage lengths)
Deep red boxes:  rapids
Deep red lines:  falls
Blue dots:  Campsites (extra blue dots at portages not yet removed)

Although this sample is not to this scale, it can be produced at 1:24000.

  (You need to Login or Register

@Turtl

All that camping by water falls and rapids.  How did you sleep at night?  When I camp 2 miles from a falls I have trouble sleeping.   ;D

Looks like an awesome trip though.  "Fish per cast" is always a bonus!  Thanks for sharing.

DentonDoc:  Your maps look quite good.  I produce mine as a guide, which we keep in the map cases.  We typically navigate via GPS.

PhantomJug:  I find the sound of a waterfall or rushing rapid quite soothing, and due to what is usually a hard day of paddling, I rarely have difficulty falling asleep.

For those that may or may not have interest, I have posted trip reports for other northern Ontario river routes here:

Trip Report -   (You need to Login or Register

Trip Report -   (You need to Login or Register

Thanks for the links, turtl.

But you have to do something about the music. On the Pipestone slide show, I got so sucked in by those JJ Cale guitar licks, half the show was over before I realized I wasn't watching, and I had to start over again with the sound off. On the Kopka show, about three notes in, I realized I hadn't listened to that album in years either, and I was off to the LP rack and had to come back to your show for a second try too. ;D

There are a lot of people on QJ who are moving spending less time in Quetico and more in the less-travelled areas of Ontario, so keep that stuff coming !

Joe_Schmeaux:

It happens to me all the time, especially with the J.J. Cale stuff.  I produced a 30 min DVD of the Pipestone Expedition, that has a pretty decent soundtrack as well.

I apologize that the music sucked you in ;)