Duration: 13 days

Paddling companions:  Jimbo, Ben, Matunik and myself (Group #1)
Kingfisher, Dede, Cheryl, MagicPaddler, Quentin (Group #2)

Entry/Exist Point:  Leano Lake (two hour shuttle, each way, from Red Lake, Ontario)

Route for Group #1:
Leano, no-name, Kilburn, Middle Kilburn, Upper Kilburn, series of no-names, Paull, no-name, South Aegean, Aegean, Streak, Wrist, Streak, Amber, Nutria, Mexican Hat, no-names, Jake, Lunch, East Lunch, no-name, Bunny, Leano

Portages:  Generally short.  Some at the beginning of the trip were very overgrown.  Few were rock gardens.  Many were over forest duff, but with frequent wet/boggy spots.  Put-in's and take-out's were often "one-at-a-time."  A few has space for two canoes, but 3 canoes slots were rare.

Solitude:  Other than our own group members, I only spotted other people twice (S. Aegean and Mexican Hat) other than the put-in/take-out lake.  However, we were visited by a portage clearing crew on Jake Lake (who stayed the night on an adjacent point, the only time we could see anyone camped from our own campsite, except for other members of our group).

Fire Ban: none

Weather:  Generally warm and sunny, sometimes breezy.  Days 1, 2 and 12 rain, wind and cool.

Fishing:  Good to outstanding.  All lakes have Pike, many had Lake Trout (but not eyes), and a few had Walleye (not but trout).  Only a couple of lakes have all species.  This area of the park only has one lake known to contain smallies, but we caught none.  Fish seemed to run somewhat larger than in Quetico.

Bugs:  Mosquitoes most mornings and evenings, black flies were an occasional problem, a few gnats.  Ticks don't exist this far north.

A sample set of photos are in the (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) (some of the blurry slots will be replace with other, clearer shots as I get a chance)

I'll come back and do a full report as time permits.

dd

Excellent photos DD 

dd,

Um, I might have left out a few details here & there.  

One such detail would be how Matunik, my son Ben, & I came crawling back to your island stronghold on Wrist Lake after we "failed" in our attempt to rescue Kingfisher, Magic Paddler & company from their passage through Hell.  Truly, you graciously granted us space in our hour of need.  

During a nasty storm, we left dd in peace & tried getting through all those charred matchstick-like downed trees that obliterated the (alleged) portage over to the lakes where we thought Darrel & Co might be.  Try as we might, my crew eventually gave up, returned to Wrist Lake.  Once back there, still in the pouring rain, we checked out every lousy excuse for a crappy campsite on Wrist Lake before we returned, hat in hand, to interrupt your peaceful (& much deserved) solitude & beg for tent space.  

The next day, when Darrel & Co finally DID crash through that horrible mess - looking like refugees from the great Chicago Fire or some bombed-out building in Beirut - THEY ended up on one of those miserable lousy excuses for a crappy campsite on Wrist Lake.  VERY nice lake.  VERY crappy campsites (due to all the blowdowns).

Anyway, dd's generous hospitality eliminated a mounting mutiny amongst my small crew that day.  I think he may have slipped them some cocktails, too (every little bit helps when trying to calm down a riot).  As I recall, we had the opportunity to return the favor over on Bunny Lake during that mega-storm on our next-to-last day (the one which produced those killer tornadoes nearby).

I don't recall if we still had any cocktails left to offer you when you arrived, however, dd.  Seems to me we had already drained the "phantom jug" I had produced a little earlier on the trip over on Mexican Hat Lake.

Is this version closer to the truth?

Jimbo  

Jimbo wrote on Dec 30^th, 2009 at 10:49pm:

Jim -

Close enough!  

... and my late arrival at the campsite on Kilburn had more to do with my checking out the portage to Upper Kilburn than being slow.  I'd actually PASSED Magic & Quinton entering Kilburn, but because I failed to ask "Which way did they go?" I decided the safer option was to make SURE you hadn't headed west over that 1000 meter portage.

Yes, I think you had drained the jug by the time I pulled into the Bunny Lake campsite.  At least I arrived at our campsite BEFORE the absolute downpour experience by Darrel and crew.  Unfortunately, my initial tent set-up didn't fair as well.  But at least I had time to bail it out and dry it out before turning in for the night.

Oh.  And as you read the menu ... I guess I should mention that I generally prepared my meals independently.  I seemed to remember your being a little surprised that almost all my stuff actually came from a grocery store.

BTW:  I'd be happy to prepare waldo's with my "special seasoning" anytime you care to drop by in the future.

dd

Here is a collection of photos from this trip.

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