Greetings Fellow Paddlers,

I was recently thinking back to my youth and the several trips I made into the Quetico in the late 70's.  I began to Google search for information on Hoare Lake and ran across a post on this site by Jim Carrier titled "Rendezvous in the Bush" and was shocked to see this quote: "We discussed making an impromptu bushwhack over to nearby Hoare Lake. Hoare's reputed olive jar "message cache" and rumor of its lake trout were tantalizing"

It was a group that I was affliated with that started the message cache in 1976.  Our names were placed in a waterproof metal container and placed in a obvious rock pile on the only camp worthy island on the western side of the lake. This group made additional trips in 1978, 1979 and 1980.  When I saw the quote about the "Olive Jar" and knowing we had used a metal container, I now had to assume it has been found and the cache lives on!  

A little about our group:  We were all long haired teenage boys (remember the 70's?) from Sioux Falls, SD who canoed the rivers of South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota on dozens of trips in the late 70's.  We were organized as a Boy Scout Explorer Post #54...  primarily for the ability to access free or discounted camping. Quetico however was our favorite destination and challenge. I was personally there in 1978 and 1979 and planned the route for the 1980 trip but entered the Military and was unable to go.

Are you ready for a challenge?  Get to Lake Hoare and write your name in the message cache and record the results of the names currently recorded and post on this thread. (I can validate by knowing who was there on our trips)

Getting into Hoare Lake: There are two access routes and possibly a third. None are easy.  

The first is Via Camel Lake (East of Hoare Lake): At the time there was no marked portage, so we would just brush bust and following a weak game trail north of the the dry creek bed that runs from Camel to the ponds just south of Hoare Lake.  We called this portage "Rasberry" due to the large amount of berries growing there at the time (it had been a burn in the early 70's).  If my memory serves me right this took 1-2 hours. There is one more quick hop portage to the second pond as you prepare to portage into Hoare. On all previous trips this second pond was always loaded with Bass and we regularly took them by the dozens for our annual Hoare Lake Fish Feast to come.  The portage was blazed on the north east corner of the second pond that would take you down the hill into the small eastern inlet bay of Hoare, I remember this to be a very easy downhill but steep walk. Total Time to the island on Hoare from Camel was about 4 hours. Not counting fishing time. You can get to Camel from either the Lake Agnes (1978) or Lake Kahshahpiwi (1979) routes that we took.

The 2nd Route in would be from Allan Lake (West of Hoare Lake): We never entered from Allan, but we did use it as our exits on the 1976 and 1979 trips.  There were several blazes that we placed on the west shore of Hoare - from the island this was directly west and a maybe little southwest of the island.  I will caution you. We brush busted a trail over and left some of gear (some paddles and expensive camera gear) in about 40 mins and we make a quick return back (20 mins) to Hoare to get the canoes and heavy packs. We then spent 4-5 hours in thick brush very lost and and eventually had to back track to Hoare. We had a restless night sleep and reattempted the next day. On the next day we made it over to Allan in 30 mins. Very stressed out we only made to Pooh Bah lake that day and camped on a "spooky island" with two high peaks. I think the compass route/direction on the 1st attempt out of Hoare was off a more than a few degress off and we "missed the lake"  If you are not an expert at Land Navigation, primarily compass reading, this route is not for you. Go back out through Rasberry!

The 3rd route is only a rumor.  I remember our Post Leader telling us that he found out about Hoare Lake by reading an old National Geographic Magizine article and the NAT GEO team took a route that was from Fred Lake following the ponds and creeks towards Allan Lake and portaging south from the last pond north of Hoare Lake. I have no direct knowledge if this is true or even possible.

The lake itself is beautiful and appears to be at a much lower elevation than the surrounding area, almost a sunken Lake. This was our place to lay over for 3 or 4 days and eat fish, wash clothes and recover for the return trip.  The previous mentioned article also discussed the Lake Trout.  I know that we caught several VERY large trout. The island will comfortably fit a party of 9, but wood may be getting a little scarce as a I remember this to be an a little issue at time for us. The island has a nice rock beach and serveral good bath holes.

I would be interested in hearing back from anyone who has either heard the rumours of the message cache or actually been to Hoare Lake.  I would love to someday return to Hoare but I am now 47 years old retired Army Major and living in the Atlanta, GA area, so I may have to keep these trips as nothing more than some of the best memories of my life. I do have several pictures of Hoare and some on Rasberry that I could dig out and scan if anyone is interested.

I would encourage you to also consider taking the Hoare Lake Challenge and place your names into paddler lore and history.

I just recently completed my first Quetico Trip after a 31 year gap in trips.  I created a video of my "Quetico Journey" and shared it on another site.

With much regret I forgot that it was this site that got me started on considering and planning my return to Quetico.

I would personally like to thank Jimbo for writing the article I found that brought me to this site.

I also need to thank Ranger who's comments hit me like a laser beam and made me decide to go back.

Last but not least  Db for creating this site...whithout it I may never have gone back.

The video link:

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bojibob wrote on Sep 13^th, 2010 at 12:10am:



bojibob,

I've been a little lax in recent months with my QJ reading & duties as a moderator in the General Forum.  I only JUST discovered this thread a few minutes ago.  It's funny to come across this thread today.  Just this past weekend I was penciling out a prospective route for next year that would take me through that general area... and, specifically, to include Hoare Lake!  I guess that means I"ll be taking the challenge that you've laid out here.  So I fully intend to add my 2 cents to the jar that exists there (a true "olive jar" or not).

It's neat to now know a little bit of its history.  I also thoroughly enjoyed your video clip.  Thank you for sharing!
 
My son & I would have definitely made an attempt to bushwhack in 5+ years ago had we not had Stumpy's first-ever Bushwhacker's Jamboree in our sights.  We figured THAT challenge would be enough bushwhacking for one trip, so there was no need to practice on Hoare Lake!  Lately we've been visiting Woodland Caribou Park... where bushwhacking skills are more of a requirement than a recreational "option".  So, I expect I'm about as ready to do Hoare (physically & mentally) as I'm ever going to be.  I ain't getting any younger (you're just a young whippersnapper at age 47!).

I'm glad you were inspired to return to Quetico after all of that time.  I'll return your thanks to Ranger, QJ, & me by thanking YOU for sharing your history, memories, & that video!  

Very cool.

Jimbo  

(alias "Shady Character" whose pen name = Jim Carrier)  

I created a trip report that will give a little depth to the video. 

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Thanks Again to Jimbo, Ranger and QJ.

Good trip report, bojibob!

I still have hopes of adding to your Hoare Lake Message Cache in the summer of 2011! 

Jimbo   

I love the video and the dedication to your mentor.  The campfire video with moon reflecting off the lake took me away from a WI winter and to a happier place for a while - thanks.

solotripper wrote on Dec 25^th, 2010 at 1:56pm:


ST,

I got me a pack just like that one!  Interestingly enough, it shows up in my camp every-other-year and it has been dubbed "the bottomless blue barrel."  Coincidentally, it just so happens that my paddling partner - who goes by the QJ handle of "Matunik" - ALSO shows up in my camp every other year.  Matunik is fond of portaging the big blue barrel with the really fine Ostrom harness attached to it.  Our bottomless blue barrel NEVER loses weight; in fact, some days it actually gets HEAVIER. The odd thing is that - simultaneously - the packs of everyone else in camp grow lighter each passing day.  Magically, items from these other packs disappear and somehow make their way into the blue barrel.

Freaky & mystical canoe country phenomenon, it is!

I think the technical term for it is "transportificatiion" or "transconfiguration" or, er, um... some similar "trans" word that essentially means: that sucker over there is carrying my crap.

Jimbo  

Well, I regret to report we were unable to attempt the Hoare Lake challenge this year.  We DID get to Camel but our arrival was delayed by a couple days, leaving us one legitimate day to make the attempt (given the other group goals for this particular trip).  Anyway, we were pretty badly socked in by extreme weather over that 24 hour period (thunder storms, four inches of rain, high winds, etc.).  Our group decision was to leave the challenge for a more cooperative day during some future trip.

This is a beautiful area of the park & we had a fine trip, overall.  The biggest negative I have to report is - after my three year hiatus from Quetico - I returned to experience heavier canoe camper traffic than on any previous trip ever... especially in the Russell Lake area.  For that matter, we were passed by eleven canoes coming out of Camel as we were about to enter!

My well-wishes go with whomever might attempt Rob's "Hoare Lake Challenge".

Jimbo   

Had great company, dd!  Very fine fellows including Matunik, whom you know.

I had a 70 year-old park newbie paddling in the bow of my canoe.  He did great on those portages and mostly fine on the water with only a couple of exceptions.  He dozed off taking impromptu unannounced naps.  One such time when I wasn't watching closely enough, he dropped his paddle while we were trolling on Russell Lake.  We had to paddle a quarter mile back to retrieve it.  The second issue was more my fault.  I attempted to paddle up the small set of rapids that you encounter just before you reach the long portage connecting Oliphaunt to Fern Lake.  While Matunik & his 60+ year old paddling partner (wisely) lined it upstream, I talked my partner into "going for the gusto".  BAD MOVE.  Despite the fact that my partner teaches canoe safety & rescue back in New Jersey, for the first time EVER, I managed to flip a fully loaded canoe.  We just didn't have the horsepower.

Oh well.  The water was warm & we didn't lose a thing... except our pride, maybe.  Matunik was laughing so hard & so much more interested in taking photos of us that it was ten minutes or more before they got around to our "rescue"!

The guys had a great attitude & we had a wonderful trip.  I hope your venture into WCP next week goes equally well!

Later,

Jimbo   

Jimbo wrote on Jul 6^th, 2011 at 10:05pm:

Here?
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Nice place to go for a swim at least.

I had not seen this post prior to my june 2011 Q trip but i can say that i own one of the 40 or so names and 20 or so stories in the message cache on hoare lake. Me and my best man (for my wedding coming up in august) made the bushwack over from camel on june 16th this year. I will admit that he is not kidding when he says it's not easy. IT took the two of us, single portaging mind you, about 6 hours to make it in. The "raspberry portage" is about 3/4 of a mile. At one point a beaver has dammed the creek that you follow making it pretty rough goig around or through. The second little jump is about 150 yards long that isnt very bad. The final push into hoare from the little pond isn't a easry down hill walk. There has been some major wind damage to the area and it's more like a maze of up down and around and then a very steep downhill at the end.

I do agree that all the pain and bugs are worth it. Hoare lake is incredibly clear and cool. There are numerous trees that look like they have been keeping watch there for thousands of years. And the lake trout are Plentiful!!! Just in case anyone was wondering we did not catch any other species in hoare despite a full day of trying. The campsite hadn't seen a tired body in 5 years according to the infamous message cache and it showed in how grown over it was.

On a different note. We pushed hard later in the day to make hoare on the second day of our trip out of stanton bay and payed for it that night. In our haste to push hard and make our destination we dropped the compression sack that held our tent and sleeping bags. By starting as late as we did we were unable to find it in the dark that night and slept under a tarp stretched between two trees. Luckily the bugs were almost nonexsistent in the constant east wind. Ad it didn't rain that night! We rose early just to backtrack almost all the way back to camel before we found our lost equipment. Needless to say we enjoyed another full day on hoare fishing, eating and resting before we left our peaceful lake headed north again.

Regretfully i did not know of the "challenge" so i did not copy any of the names in the new and improved nalgalene bottle that must have replaced the metal container. there was a moose shed that was placed over top of the rockpile by one of the previous visitors. They had apparently found it in camel lake and carried it all the way in with them!

I will have some pictures in a couple weeks and if anyone wants to know more, or specific info about getting there or anything i would be happy to help. 

Awesome! It means so much to me to know the messages survived.  I have sent you a PM.