I just returned from 13 days in Woodland Caribou Park with a group of four including paw, paddlemaker and our friend Matt.
We covered 140+ miles, 47 lakes and 51 portages. We also had some of the best walleye fishing I've ever had in any park. A major part of our travel was on rivers and we saw 14 moose at ranges close enough to get some decent pics and video. I put together some of that here if you're interested.
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WOW! Fantastic vid.

Holy moose! Nicely done sir.

That is a lot of Moose. Looking forward to more about the trip.
Especially curious about Larus Creek and how the rough stuff worked out.

Great Moose pics :thumbup

It never fails to impress me how something so big can move thru that thick vegetation so silently IF they choose too.

Very nice.

Marten wrote on Jul 29^th, 2014 at 11:29am:

Especially curious about Larus Creek and how the rough stuff worked out.

I don't recall any rough stuff ha ha. Adventurous canoe trippers have very short memories for that sort of thing. Seriously we did not encounter anything that anyone should be afraid of. Portages everywhere we went were in great condition and only the creeks and rivers gave us any amount of trouble due to blowdowns blocking our way. We had to be creative, determined and ready to go "balls deep" in some instances to get through. And in one special section one of us even tried "nipple deep".
Larus Creek turned out to be one of the most memorable days of the trip. Our group added this as a route only after hemming and hawing for two days about travelling for an entire day on a creek but I am personally glad we did it. We saw 6 moose that day alone. Also saw a pair of trumpeter swans and 4 chicks.

Happy to hear you enjoyed Larus Creek. There may have been a tough half mile near where it joins the Irvine Loop. I looked at it after the snowdown event and saw a lot of trees in the water but knew trees should be a minor problem on the rest of the creek. My goal of a back-country route needs to use Larus Creek and then a long portage over to Twin Lakes.

Do you have any special strategies for getting a canoe through a log choked stream?

Great video Kingfisher!  We're headed up to the south end of the park in a couple weeks...any fishing tips?  Particular gear, colors, depths that were best?

Marten wrote on Jul 30^th, 2014 at 12:38pm:

Do you have any special strategies for getting a canoe through a log choked stream?

A sensible, patient, unselfish group armed with a couple 21" bow saws could have cleared this route nicely except for maybe one or two spots where larger trees block the way and a chainsaw may be needed. We were not that group. We crashed and lifted and hauled and only unloaded when absolutely necessary. It honestly appeared that no one had passed this way in a very long time, no broken branches or bent grass or paths or footprints. We made a way but it could be much improved by a more ambitious crew.
As for strategy we opted for brute strength and no fear of getting wet and going deep when needed. There is nothing subtle or delicate about our tactics. The canoes took a beating when dragged over some of the deadfall fully loaded but my SRQ17 has been in worse situations, it's repairable.

ab wrote on Jul 30^th, 2014 at 1:18pm:

Particular gear, colors, depths that were best?

Walleyes were especially cooperative this trip and the most productive baits were the jig spinner and Berkeley #7 Flicker Shad any color patterns. Water temps were in the mid 60 range and walleyes were shallow in 15' or less and often in the cabbage.

These Flicker Shads continue to impress me. They consistently are outfishing my old reliable Rapala Shad Raps. I had high hopes for the newer larger #9 Flicker Shads but the #7 size was better this trip.

Interesting they were up shallow, thanks for the tips!