So my dad and I will be making our 8th trip to the Q, 2nd spring trip. We have a couple of ideas of where we're wanting to go in mind, but I thought I'd poke around for any info on a couple of our possible routes.

One idea is to come in from Clay Lake, through the Wawiag, and into Kawanipi, then onward through the poet lakes (which we've never been to) and out through Sturgeon, Lonely, etc. Main question here is info on Wawiag river - I've searched here, and read some comments made in 2010 about logjams etc and was looking to see if anyone has any input.

Other possibility is to head in at Beaverhouse and hit the chain of unnamed lakes north of Quetico Lake. Curious as to what its like up in there. From there, we'd be going through either familiar territory via Jean - Lonely - Maria; or considering heading north up through Oriana, Hamburg, which we've never been into.

Thanks in advance for any tips or ideas! Oh, and I should add that we're planning for 7 or 8 nights, and have always made a pretty good pace travel wise. Little worried about the early warmth making the black flies a bit miserable, however..

I have taken several Clay Lake fly-ins over the years to get to Kawnipi.  The Greenwood River that comes off of Clay and leads into the Waiwag is a very zig zaggy shallow creek. It most places it is only about 10 ft wide at best. It can get very low. In fact, one year many moons ago around the 4th of July ... my brother in law and I had to pull our canoe thru this creek almost 3 miles to reach the Waiwag. It was nuts. I would highly recommend going in before the 4th of July to make sure water levels are high enough to paddle through. I see that you are planning on a May trip and that surely would be a great time to paddle the Waiwag.

The water depth of the Waiwag is never a problem. It has good depth. It does however have beaver dams like you have heard.  The last time I was there I remember 4 dams that we had to portage around. They were all quite short and not that difficult to foot.

Another piece of advice is to get an early fly-in time into Clay Lake. It will take you a good 5 1/2 - 6 hours minimum if you double portage to get to Kawa Bay. There are no campsites along the Waiwag ... it is marshy along most of the river. You don't want to get caught with a late start and trying to find a campsite in the dark once you get to Kawa Bay. I usually camp in Kawa the 1st night when I take a Clay Lake fly-in. I have made it to McKenzie Bay on Kawnipi the 1st night but that is a full , hard day to make that the 1st night.

There is a good chance to see moose along the Waiwag. There are several bays that are scattered along it that sometimes are frquented by moose. Lots of mergansers and ducks too.

Bottomline, it is a very enjoyable route to paddle. I highly recommend it.

Contact this outfitter   (You need to Login or Register Doug Chapman and ask about being dropped where you can get to the Wawiag.  He will need to do some checking on conditions and if he can get permission before he can say for sure.
Or become an Inukshuk and read my post “For Those With the Bushwhacking Gene” I walked the trail last year.
MagicPaddler

if the water is too low in Greenwood creek, the park may allow fly-in access to Mack Lake - they've done that a time or two.  (note that there will be a new supervisor this year, so he may have different views on that than previous supervisor had)

With such a dry winter and maybe continuinig with a dry spring, even in May there is potential for Greenwood Cr to be too low (going to depend on spring rains) - Four ? years ago or so, all water levels were very low in Quetico after a similar but wetter winter - big lakes were down about 3 feet when I went at end of May begin of June.   But as mentioned above, the Wawiag should have plenty of water - I do remember a sorta campsite on the river - there was a fire ring and enough usable space at the downstream end of one of the portages for a "make do" camp if needed - it would be one of the marked portages around a rapid.

If you have an RABC, you can access Wawiag vis Saganagons to Mack Lake if you are looking for other options.

Q4L, check out my www in my signature line. I wrote up a trip report about going through the unnamed lakes along Quetico Lake. Easier traveling W-E as far as finding portages. I can't say much about fishing them, it was Oct and I fish very little while traveling solo. The camp I used on the middle lake was nice but not big.
Nice remote feel for so close to main routes.

Thanks already for the advice everyone - Wally, I have indeed read about the beaver dams, and not being totally new to the Q I have had some run ins, never much of a problem. As for moose, have only seen one (with a calf none the less!) out in the park so far, and it was a real treat, and look forward to the day I see another.

Magic, we typically go through an outfitter out of Atikokan, who has served us well, and also does fly ins, but certainly are open to other options.

Water conditions are certainly always unpredictable, and I have read where the Greenwood can be brutal if the water is down. Being able to get dropped into mack lake is obviously appealing, but as you pointed out who knows if that'll be an option.

Definitely am strongly drawn to doing that route - dad is getting up there in his years, and fears he doesn't know how many trips he has left, and to be able to share special trips in deeper in areas while feasible is definitely important to the two of us. Add into this the difficulty of arranging for time away (I'm a fireman, and getting shift coverage can be tricky at times). Ideally we'd like to go in at Cache Bay and travel NW from there and traverse the park...

We do double portage, yet we pack light - he carries our food/cook pack, I our 'sleeping pack' with tent, etc first, then I return for the canoe.

The unnamed lakes do appeal to us, however those might be better saved for a later date - perhaps more of an option when something such as a Wawiag trip is no longer an option for him. We are both very drawn to wanting to get into the poet lakes as well as the Chatterton area - he was there once back in 80's with the friend who introduces him (and therefore me) to backcountry paddling (thanks Mac! rest in peace, never forgotten, spirit always will travel with me to the Singing Wilderness).

Anyways, I digress lol - thanks again, and keep the pointers coming.

Oh, and Jim J - thanks for sharing! Great report, and seeing the pictures from Draper brought back great memories of our two night stay there a couple of years ago - definitely a gorgeous place..isolated, with good fishing - certainly will be going back there at some point!!

Geeze, guess I need to refrain from pressing 'post message' until I complete my thoughts!

Jim, fascinating about the wolves - I actually intended to ask in my earlier post about hearing them..I never have, my dad did once in the 80's, before I began going (born in 81, unfortunately never made it up until 2005...).

Any particular areas of the park where wolves are more prevelant? I can't help but think the more remote/less travelled areas would be more prone to having them..

Heard Wolves on Elizabeth in '99
Robin more recent ?2008?

You can see scat on almost any portage trail. So it's probably just a matter them wanting to sing and you being there to hear them. I always thought that would make a neat alarm clock sound, starting soft, then getting louder.

.02 Take your Dad down the Wawiag. Check out the unnamed lakes some other day.

Quote:

Any particular areas of the park where wolves are more prevelant? I can't help but think the more remote/less travelled areas would be more prone to having them..

I had a discussion with Quetico Dave about this very subject. Before he went out of business, he used to offer a hunting guide service for deer/bear/moose. At the time, they were doing a lot of lumbering along the northern borders of the park. Don't know if they still are?

Dave said that while scouting for hunting areas he found that the wolves were hanging out in recently lumbered areas becasue the deer/moose found foraging there much easier in the newly lumbered areas.
Wolf follow their prey and the prey like the newly growing food base that comes after logging.

I imagine it's easier for the pack to down an animal in semi-cleared areas rather than chasing them thru overgrown old growth areas.

Dave said he had personally seen wolves in packs and their sign thru out those areas.
So I'm thinking if the logging is still continuing, the lakes that border the harvest might be just as good as the more remote areas that you would think the wolves would seek?

Not a wolf expert, but I believe easy prey/food opportunities might trump solitude in the packs eye.

In spite of the many trips I've taken in the B-Dub and Q I have only heard wolves once, on LaCroix, while out camping.  I have a friend who goes to Basswood yearly; 2 of the past 3 years they have had wolves IN CAMP.  Once the wolves seemed to be casing the camp for left overs and once the pack chased a deer right through the camp.  When campers got thrown into the mix the wolves retreated and the deer swam away.  Other campers have also encountered the Basswood pack.
We live on the south western edge of the BWCA and have our share of wolves.  My husband used to go outside at night and howl for them...partly to drive the neighbors dogs crazy...but the wolves often answered once he got them started.  You could try "calling" them.  :)

About 4 years ago we saw a small pack of 4 wolves on Quetico Lake.  It was the middle of the day.  The wolves were just playing on the shoreline.  We were probably a 100 or 200 yards away.  I have heard wolves singing about 3 times in the Beaverhouse Quetico Lake area.
Westwood

Jim, that's exactly what I was telling him just last night - unnamed lakes are pretty close in (easy to get to from Bhouse), and going Wawiag seems so much more appealing - get through Greenwood, down W, and get a treat through the poet lakes then head back up to our familiar stomping ground through Lonely et al and out through Nym.

As for wolves, that makes sense about the logging areas - certainly all predators follow their prey, although I too have seen scat on many a portage throughout our trips.

Guess like it was said, you just gotta get lucky enough to be nearby when they decide to sing! I do believe dad heard them once on one of his 80's trips...one day!!

Quetico For Life wrote on Apr 14^th, 2012 at 4:32pm:

then head back up to our familiar stomping ground through Lonely et al and out through Nym. <SNIP> Guess like it was said, you just gotta get lucky enough to be nearby when they decide to sing! I do believe dad heard them once on one of his 80's trips...one day!!

I've been going to Q every year for over thirty years. That's gotta be at least over 500 nights in the park. I thought I might have heard wolves once or twice until my very last day, last year.

db wrote on Aug 31^st, 2011 at 6:32am:

not long before that there was a pack of wolves howling between Win and The Pines. Finally, I heard a pack howling after all these years. That was pretty special. I even asked if there was a breeder or kennel or sled dog guy in the area when I reported the fire. They were spread out but I just wanted to check. There had been reports lately of a pack near Lonely. One can only speculate if it's the same pack on the move.   (You need to Login or Register Unfortunately only a few wolves are barely louder than the hiss but just imagine sitting in the fog hoping to get wolves howling on a video when out of nowhere come four ducks that bank into the frame and fly off into the distance like that.

You never know and you gotta be digging it while it's happening.