That said, you also need to understand the WCPP policy is that only 20-25% of the portages see a portage crew per year.  I'll be able to provide a more effective assessment on portages and levels of difficulty after my early July trip.

As for the legality of taking your own motor & canoe, that would be better answered by Doug,  the park super.  You might want to pose that question of the "Who Am I" thread.

dd


[/quote]
thanks doc: sounds like I'd better throw my o44 sthil chain saw in also..furniture any one  .....glad I got a second opinion from you doc...that super so far don't say boo  ....guess that means anything goes

I can't say for sure but I am 99% sure, chainsaws are not allowed in the park.

Well, there is new WCPP mapping afoot. 

Last season I invested some time and energy in producing a series of maps (both printed and GPS-based) for a WCPP trip.  I say "some time" tongue in cheek ... this swallowed HOURS and included a fair amount of hand work.  (Samples in earlier posts on this thread.)

Never satisfied with a solution (flaw in my character I guess), I'm always looking for a different approach.  At the end of last year I started looking into the different formats of "mappable" data that was publicly available for download on the Internet.  I had used some last year, indirectly, by doing a conversion on the available into a format that (say) my GPS could use.  Doing the "printed" map development was essentially totally independent.

So it a mapping experiment I had looked into for Quetico 4-5 years ago popped back into my head.  (Then I was attempting to reference satellite data into a usable map format ... Azalea (and others) finally completed this for me in their his own project.)  But I digress.

This year's mapping project involves using shape (shp) file to create maps.  While there is data available for doing this all over Canada and some specific types of useful data for Ontario per se, I'm concentrating mostly on WCPP.  Shape files take a totally different approach to map making, since everything you see is based on a layer of data.  One easy way of managing those layers is by using ArcGis/ArcExplorer software (free download).  So, the map is kind of like making a layer cake.  Bottom layers (e.g., lakes, vegetation, contour lines, streams, wetlands) are overlayed with other key elements (e.g., canoe routes & portages, topographical names/lake names, reefs, waterfalls, rapids) and if you are on the edge areas of a provincial park there might be other types of layers (roads, wharf, entry points, etc.). 

At present, I'm only missing one, most useful, layer...campsites.  YES, like the Legacy Forest data that Azalea incorporated into PCD, historical campsites exist as a data layer.  Unfortunately, its gone AWOL ... it was publicly available last year, but apparently is only available for a fee this year (go figure!). 

Never one to be thwarted by a little bureaucracy, I sought alternatives.  I contacted WCPP staff directly.  Come to find out, THEY area also working on a campsite mapping project.  And they can add some color to the old material because they also have some actual "eye ball" data on a number of these campsites.

After exchanging a few e-mails with Claire (Assist. Super.), I was re-directed to another person that was more involved in the technical details of the project... the park biologist.  You see, they are not only working on a map, they are also working on a campsite database (including photos). 

Frist e-mail from the un-named park biologist is from Shannon Walshe.  That name sound familiar?  For some of the "old hands" at Quetico, you might remember that Shan Walshe was the park biologist for Quetico for some time ... even has a lake named after him over by McNeice.  And YES, she is Shan's daughter!  (Small world isn't it!) 

In any case, Shannon suspects that their project will not be finished and available for public consumption until 2012. 

I'll likely produce a sample of the map series I've been working on for WCPP (although anyone should be able to pull the pieces together for any area of interest in Ontario).  What you should know about this approach to creating maps is that they are VECTOR based and not bitmapped ... for the non-techie type, this means that the maps are infinitely scalable (can zoom in and out at will) and do not pixelate (get grainy when zoomed in too much).

I'll be back later with other details as they develop.  And, if I can carry this as far as I think I can, we might be able to offer this as another Inukshuk perk.  I've also found a group of satellite images ... just not any to the detail level available for Quetico (yet).

Happy mapping!  (Isn't that what everyone does in the winter?)

dd

I will concur with Jimbo. Wayne's maps were far more useful and user friendly than the Canadian topos supplied by our outfitter. Scale, color coding and select details were well researched and allowed my group to travel with confidence in the areas mapped out by Wayne.
I eagerly await any further developments DD has to offer. Sincere thanks for the effort so far.

Darrel

have been using color maps downloaded from MNR sites for years. printed 8.5x11 on regular laser paper and carried in a wp map case, or laminated back-to-back and carried in a non wp case. i've used these maps on trips to the near north parks including WC and the Albany River this past season. add whatever detail you want in paint or powerpoint, change the zoom, etc., easy and free.

another method for custom trip maps is to buy the topo cd and print out your route on 8.5x11. the cd is a digital scan of the paper maps you would buy, exactly the same, except you just print what you need.

usually i'll take both, it gives you a backup set of maps, and the plain paper is a write on set for trip notes.