My first trip into Quetico exceeded all my expectations.  It is probably the beginning of an enduring ritual.  I can't wait to come back and plan to return the same time next year with my wife or other fishing buddy. 
My route was Nym-Batch-Pickerel-Maria-Jesse-Walter-Lonely-Draper and back (skipping Lonely on the return route).
The fishing was fantastic and diverse in the different lakes.
When I left the park driving toward the outfitter I found I was driving at 30 km/h (19 mi/h).  It took a few minutes to adjust to the speed of life on the "outside"!
I was back working in my ambulance the following day at 11am.  Quite the turn around but I the experience has left me revitalized and fresh despite the physical exertion of a solo trip.
Question:  On the portage into Draper L, There was a downed tree across the path 3/4 of the way in that i was able to carry under at my lowest "duck walk" position, i think anyone taller would have a hard time and would have to drag their canoe.  Should this be reported to anyone?  Park staff?

Millhouse wrote on Sep 16^th, 2012 at 5:23pm:

Question:  On the portage into Draper L, There was a downed tree across the path 3/4 of the way in that i was able to carry under at my lowest "duck walk" position, i think anyone taller would have a hard time and would have to drag their canoe.  Should this be reported to anyone?  Park staff?

It is what it is ... and will get cleared when they get around to it. 

And ... if that is all you ran into, I'd consider myself lucky.  Climbing over, crawling under, etc. is not necessarily unusual, especially for early season trips, when the park has yet to get crews in to clear portages.  I just don't like it when I have to take packs off or "unhoist" my canoe several times on a carry to get around obstructions.  (But, its all good exercise.  ;))

dd

 
DentonDoc wrote on Sep 16^th, 2012 at 6:56pm:

It is what it is ... and will get cleared when they get around to it.

Just wanted to make sure i was doing my part for the next group/guy.

At 6'-1" I didn't expect it to be an issue at all until that sucker sort of bumped me uphill. I was literally on my hands and knees at one point. I appreciated the big yoke pads as they were on my back by that point.  Coming out I was a little wiser and barely had to duck.

That's a pretty lake isn't it. Glad you enjoyed your trip! When I get out to the highway I usually crank some pre-chosen tune, floor it up to about 80 or 90 and go wow. I remember going to bed after my first trip and being awed when my bed bounced as I rolled over.

if your timing is right so that the office is open, the park people do appreciate a heads up on portage conditions

I've stopped a couple of times and let them know about this or that portage, but that was only a couple of times - usually, I'm not going to take the extra time or go out of my way. 

The blowdowns will get cleared when they get around to it, but that's why I always carry a small saw - trimming the sharp branches from the logs can make life easier, and if it comes to it, can help clear a path around.

This one was not on your route, and it's not a good picture either,

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but here's the interesting thing about it: 

It fell when I was about 50 meters past this spot!  So if you did Dore-to-Twin before ~4:15 pm CDT June 28, 2012, it wasn't there -- then BOOM it was! 

I've worried about trees falling on my tent...but never thought about this in the middle of the day.  No storm, but it was windy! 
-Tom

We all know that trees fall, but rarely do we see the tree when it falls.  My son and I were at our camp on Quetico Lake watching a storm and high winds approach.  There was another campsite about 100 yards away.  As we were watching the storm, a jack pine at the other campsite, broke off and came crashing down.  We had used that tree the previous year.

Draper was a beautiful spot.  There is a small space between the two main islands where I fished a bit. It was so quiet and the water was glass... The fish were also quiet but that's okay.
Jumping of the rock at the main campsite was good too it'd been 5 days since my last intentional bath.

Millhouse,
these sorts of obstructions are all to common place. If I can't leap over them I use the following strategies.......

The most advanced is what I call the "toss and roll". Get a bit of a running start, say 5 or 10 yards and then toss the canoe over the offending obstacle while immediately thereafter performing a diving somersault under the obstruction. The key is in the reengagement of your canoe. It may take some practice.

Less advanced methods include an appropriately placed karate chop or in very tedious cases a 1/2 stick of dynamite can work wonders.

BTW......glad to hear you had a good trip. Be careful, it can be addicting.  ;)

;D Haha! Yeah I think I saw the toss and roll in a Chuck Norris film once!  I've started training a team of beavers to swim behind my canoe and eat through obstructions on trail, but they keep swimming ahead and creating lift overs!  Good work ethic though. :D

Mk631 wrote on Sep 17^th, 2012 at 8:28pm:

This one was not on your route, and it's not a good picture either,   (You need to Login or Register   (You need to Login or Register but here's the interesting thing about it:  It fell when I was about 50 meters past this spot!  So if you did Dore-to-Twin before ~4:15 pm CDT June 28, 2012, it wasn't there -- then BOOM it was!

We crossed paths with you on this portage and had the job of navigating around/over this tree. You're right--the wind was substantial. The more I travel in Quetico, the more careful I have become with respect to trees when setting up camp. I can't say that I've given it much thought on portages though. This one was a little too close for comfort.

Lost Again wrote on Sep 25^th, 2012 at 7:46pm:

We crossed paths with you on this portage and had the job of navigating around/over this tree. You're right--the wind was substantial. The more I travel in Quetico, the more careful I have become with respect to trees when setting up camp. I can't say that I've given it much thought on portages though. This one was a little too close for comfort.

BDT, thanks for identifying yourself because you're the first QJer I've met in the park!  I hope the rest of you're trip went well.  As I recall you'd been in for quite a good number of days (10?) & covered a lot of miles at that point, or did I confuse your group with another?
-Tom

:(Yeah-that was us. We were on the final leg of our journey. We began east of the park in the headwaters of the Wawiag River and made a three-quarters loop to exit at Stanton Bay. We experienced a fair amount of misery, with the absolute worst mosquito swarming I have ever encountered on the river, combined with the mandatory flipping of canoes in the area of the Wawiag where we could not portage around rapids--no real injuries but soaking our food pack made for some nasty odors towards the end of the trip. The Kawnipi portion was great but the winds made Sturgeon a bear. We managed a layover day on Dore which was wonderful. The winds kept the bugs down and I got an incredible video of a bald eagle taking out a gull. Managed a good morning of fishing in Stanton Bay. The most entertaining part of the trip was Jim Clark from Canoe Canada driving us around a maze of washed out logging roads trying to get to the predetermined drop off point at the head of the Wawiag. That's a whole other story worthy of a new thread. So, as always, we had a great trip in spite of and partially due to the miseries we experienced.

Bdt58
I have walked around those rapids on the Wawiag. It is a long portage but mostly an old logging road. It takes you back to the Wawiag at the bottom of the rapids near the edge of the park.  GPS tracks are posted in the Inukshuk forum.  Did Jim drop you at the bridge that crosses Zephira Creek or take you on down to the Wawiag?
MagicPaddler

Hi MP--we did actually begin on the Wawiag River, about 4 miles east of where the Obadinaw River joins the Wawiag. We bushwacked a camp on the side of the road after a 4-hour adventure of wilderness road driving (we left Atikokan around 4:45 pm and finally got to the drop-off point near 9 pm) characterized by washed out roads, getting a little disoriented, and some serious off-road 4-wheeling. Day one was about a 28-mile journey down the winding Wawiag River before finally getting to a campsite in Kawa Bay. Long and HOT (this from a Texan!) day. After tipping our canoe early on, we were able to retain almost all of our gear. The worst thing, though, was losing my trusty expedition hat to the rapids. After that episode, I became a true "rag-head" (not a racist comment--the only thing I could find to cover up was a dish rag).

I've attached a satellite view of our starting point. The red X is Powell Lake, the yellow X is Hamlin Lake, and the blue circle is our starting point, on the side of a bridge on a logging road.

---

Bdt, I hope you do a trip report!  sounds like quite an adventure.  I need to get back to writing my own too...

You got dropped off on a different logging road than we did.  I have been in the area a few times all but one time arriving at the washout at point A on this aerial photo. Last summer (2011) I did a solo bushwhacked from Belaire lake to the B on the aerial photo.  At point B there were car-truck tracks.  I assume the washout at A had been repaired.  There is a undrivable logging road between B and C.  The road makes a easy portage path. At the end of the logging road there is a moose path down over the hill to the Wawiag. I measure it on Google as 1.6 miles.  Easiest bushwhack I ever did.

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