I am contemplating entering WCPP from Garner Lake.  I have never entered from the Manitoba side.  Anyone came into park from this entry or Manitoba?  Have any helpful thoughts on rules in Manitoba or watchouts, Vehichle Parking? Fee's etc.  Thanks in advance.
SunCatcher

I went in via the Garner EP this year

Your approach will be over a section of gravel road.  I went in by the southern route via Lac du Bonnet (which is where I stayed before and after the trip).  From there your route will include about 70 km of gravel road, but this road is vastly superior to the road running from Red Lake to either Onnie or Leano.  An alternate would be to approach the Garner EP from the north via Bissett.  This is a longer drive, but more of the route is over paved road ... perhaps 40 km of gravel to Garner.  (Bissett would be the route that you'd take if you were to do the Wapinagow EP.)

I parked at the boat ramp at Beresford Lake.  There is a reasonably large parking lot there and I moved to a location that was least likely to interfere with those putting conventional boats on the water.  There is historically a park fee (including parking) for Manitoba parks.  However, it has been waived for the past 3 seasons.  I don't know if you'll need a "park pass" or not.  They make the decision on this around April, so you can check the Manitoba parks web site.  (As I recall, the fee for a single vehicle is about $20.)  There is no camping fee or wilderness camping in Manitoba parks.

The route into Garner Lake has some good news and bad news.  First, you'll have to share the waterway with motor traffic.  You'll need to watch out for fast moving craft in the Garner River channel until you reach Garner Lake.  Boaters tend to haul it through that section, but thankfully all slowed to a crawl as they passed, minimizing their wake.  If you wish to camp on Garner Lake and have a campfire, you'll need to find one with a metal fire ring.  I've been told that the campsite on an island just NW of the WCPP park entrance has one.  Both going in and coming out, we chose the beach campsite south of the park entrance.  This place is huge and has a fantastic sandy beach.  That said, it is also a site that gets over used and may be trashy.  Although technically within Ontario, this site also has a fire ring.

The actual park entrance is on the south side of the Garner River as it dumps into Garner Lake.  It is now easy to find since the park staff have erected a new, large park sign there.  The "river" is more like a "creek" through this section.  If you are planning this route, you need to factor in the water level.  We ere fine going in, but coming out 12 days later, there were a few spots where we had to do lift overs or drag (and my paddling partner and I were in solo canoes with need less water to float).  The good news is that the park crew cleared the portages to Haggart between our entry and exit.  However, there were a few spots where I thought they could have cut back on some of the encroaching vegetation ... but at least we didn't have to negotiate deadfall along the cleared section.  A tip on the section leading to Jester Lake (the first lake along the route).  Paddle as far as you can up stream before you begin to look for the portage entrance ... it should be obvious that you are not paddling any further ... even push through or paddle around minor obstructions.  The park map appears to show the entrance to portage locations well short of where they actually are.

Between Garner and Haggart, there are only three lakes of any size and these are the only places where you will find campsites.  If you plan to stop somewhere between these two points, let me know and I can provide you with the locations of campsites on each of these three lakes.

dd

Thanks DD, I may have more questions, but am seriously contemplating that entry for something different and the fact that it is closer drive for me by several hours.
SunCatcher

SunCatcher wrote on Oct 20^th, 2011 at 8:19pm:

it is closer drive for me by several hours.

Same here.  The put-in is at least 2 hours closer than Red Lake.  Then it is still a bit of a hike from Red Lake to get to a put-in. 

I did have to spend a little time navigating around Omaha on my way to and from this year ... finding bridges crossing the Missouri (with sections of I 29 closed down) was a bit of a challenge.

dd

I was always on the lookout for someone at the Wallace Lake campground that would do a shuttle down to the Garner Lake area. It would make a great one way trip from Garner and then come out to Wallace Lake using the Wanipigow River.

Thank's to dd for all your help!  You are a valuable resource and appreciate the response's!  I talked to Martin on the phone a few days ago, and he gave me some great advice also.  Thanks Martin!
I got my topo maps of this area in the mail from Canada Saturday.  I am about 100% sure I am going in the Garner Lake entry.  Going to take Molly the lab, God willing.
Planning on a loop of Beresford Lake, Manitoba to Garner, Jester, Haggert, Welkin, Beamish,Irregular, Mather, and then connect up with Jester and Garner and head out to Beresford lake.  Well that's the plan for now!  May try and go in June or July this time instead of August (seems to be lower water in Aug)
SunCatcher

SunCatcher wrote on Nov 13^th, 2011 at 10:14pm:

Planning on a loop of Beresford Lake, Manitoba to Garner, Jester, Haggert, Welkin, Beamish,Irregular, Mather, and then connect up with Jester and Garner and head out to Beresford lake.  Well that's the plan for now!  May try and go in June or July this time instead of August (seems to be lower water in Aug) SunCatcher

The good news along that route is that a portage crew went thru there in June this year (although I thought there were some areas they could have brushed out a bit better.  I'd say the water dropped a good 6 inches between going in and coming out for us this year.

A tip on finding the beginning of portages along that section into Jester.  Paddle as far as you possibly can and THEN look for the portage.  There were a couple of spots in there where my maps suggested where the portage would be and it looked as though others had exited there, but the trail soon disappeared.  Others must have does the same search that I did.

The section between Garner and Haggart has very few campsites ... 3 that I know of--one on Jester and one each on the two larger lakes along that route (send me an e-mail if you need to know their location).  Also, there are a couple of places that are marked as short portages (lift overs) that you could probably paddle through, given adequate water.  So you might give those a quick look before you unload.

You might check around, but I seem to remember that parts of Irregular (and maybe Mather) were burned over not too long ago.  Since I went north out of Haggart, I didn't get a chance to investigate those lakes this year.

dd

Thanks dd, I been messing with google earth this afternoon.
Seems the route I am planning is about +/- 65 miles.
I will stay on beach at Garner and then planning an all dayer to Haggert.  But may stay on Jester or one of little lakes on way back out.
SunCatcher

The Garner Lake campsite is just south of the center of a beach that might be 100 yards long ... you can't miss it.  If its a warm day, the sandy bottom extends at least 20 yards off shore.  What a treat on a warm day!  Unfortunately, this spot is reachable by motor boat and is known as the "party" site.  So it might be a little trashy.  You'll need to keep an ear peeled for motor traffic if you enter/exit on a weekend.  We encountered maybe a half-dozen boats getting from Beresford to Garner.  I was amazed to have even a pontoon boat catch up to us just after we finished the river section.  But then we went in on Sunday.  On our late week exit, we passed no boats.  Maybe they were just smart enough not to be out on such a windy day!!

There is a very nice (for WCPP) campsite just as you come off the portage into Haggart.  The short channel after the portage heads NNW.  The campsite is on the point/peninsula just as you turn east into the main body of Haggard.  The take out is poor and you'll have to climb up to the top of a hogback ridge over mostly bare rock, but the side is large.  Toward the end of the point (on the west side) is the kitchen area (parked my canoe on the opposite slope toward the east-side take-out.  The tent pads are located further south, down the back of the ridge ... separated by maybe 30 yards.  There are two (maybe 3) FLAT tent pads in that vicinity.

I think Martin stayed at both of these sites, based on his Garner Entry trip report on Canoestories.com

dd