Just booked my trip up to Quetico. Looking forward to it. heading up the creek. any thoughts on how much current there is against you? Trip will be in August, if that helps. Heading down the Cache river too. Any word on campsites along the river? I have details regarding other campsites on Cache Lake/ McKenzie Lake etc. but nothing for the river.
With all the great portage info on this website, I will definitely fill in the gaps from my trip this summer. (Mostly the portages along the river)

Keep in mind this trip will be a solo. (so far)
appreciate any thoughts from the wealth of people out there.
Never been up as APP has been a staple for years.

Cheers!

I did this route in August 2007 in the direction you are going. There will be some low water on Baptism but if it's dry enough to cause dragging in the creek then the long portage to Cache lake will also be dry and much easier than during a wet season. Enjoy the hike.

Tricky part is finding the Baptism where it flows into French River. In 2007 there was a small piece of flagging tape marking the mostly hidden confluence. Ask about it at park HQ when you pick up your permit. They will give you fresh intel.

The portages along the river are not what I would call easy but if it's dry in August then they will be as easy as they get. Mostly they are easy to find and follow. Some have more of that flagging tape to mark the route.

Solo, I made it from the campground on French Lake to Cache Lake in 7 hours. You will know you did something when you are done.

Welcome to QJ

"Where is the portage into Baptism proper anyway? Right? Left?"

its "river right" - I think all the portages along Baptism Cr are on the right.

As said above by others, it is hard to see/find the entrance to Baptism Creek - in fact, it is hard to see the entrance to French River out of French Lake - people have missed that and gone paddling the Pickeral River and on into Pickeral Lake. (if you are on a fairly wide section of "river", and the bent grass is showing the current moving with you, that is Pickeral River).  I've only gone up the French River in end of May first week of June timeframe - the current was very strong then, about all we could handle in a tandem. Should be considerable less in August.

You can't see the French River - it enters the lake in a back bay, so just stay along the left shoreline to find it.  

Its easy to miss the entry into Baptism Creek because you'd have to be looking back over your right shoulder to see it - as you are going up the French River, you will pass under TWO bridges (I assume the second one is still there - my Fisher map only shows one bridge, but there were two several year's ago.)  About a hundred yards or so after passing the second bridge, there is a small backset to your right where Baptism Cr comes in - you have to be looking for it, as it isn't obvious.

One of the portages after you leave Baptism Creek was changed by a Beaver Dam - it broke up the portage (the longer, second one I think?) into two distinct pieces - seperated by the new beaver pond - we paddled thru the pond, but it was full of floating logs and not the easiest paddle - just went straight across to find the continuation of the trial.  That would be a good question to ask the rangers, i.e. when those portages last had maintenance work, and if the portage has been re-routed.  In any case, that portage did not match to the map either.

The rangers will advise you about water levels - if its low, they will tell you Cache River is "too low" - not sure how accurate that will be, but with low water, it will be a really really long day to do the whole river.
Even in early June, most of the river is stillwater - no noticeable current, but most likely strong upstream winds - that's been my experience.

Essentially, there are no campsites along the river - it is bog lined almost the entire way unitl you get close to Kawnipi (the last couple of miles or so).  There is one area at the downstream end of one of the portages that had a fire ring, that would be a doable campsite that I recall - there might be one or two more similar spots ot other portages. There are one or two big rock outcrops that could be used in an emergency if you have a free standing tent (I've never checked them out, just noted them in passing) - they are about 2/3 of the way down from Cache Lake as I recall, but don't bet money on that location.  

I'd just plan on a first-light start from Cache Lake, and plan on making it to Kawnipi in one long 12-14 hour push.  In August, you will have more portages than I encounter earlier in the year - there are one or two ports shown on the map that are only needed to get around rocky areas when the water is low that I didn't use.  The map does not show all the portages  (there are maybe 8 or so) - the critical ones are pretty easy to spot.  I recall one of the portages being hard to find in the upper half, due to blowdowns obscuring the landing (that one was a short portage on river left).

there are several old threads on this topic- do some exploring in the old trip reports and use the search feature with the search parameters at max exposure

Jimbo wrote on Mar 27^th, 2010 at 6:12pm:


From some one who's been there, and done that...

I do realize I've chosen a loop with the two longest portages in the entire park. In thinking about this journey Northbound, I needed to wonder about possible wind issues. (from other forum reads) and also the great possibility that this would be a solo trip.
Call it a trip of a lifetime. I will remember it for many great things and hopefully, not so many bad things. (i.e. daydreaming, being lost etc.)  
I wanted to stay on smaller lakes, try the river systems in Quetico etc.
I'm not concerned with the timing of the route. From the campground the first day to Trouser, second day to somewhere along the cache river, towards the end of the cache river by day three, up into McKenzie bay for day four, onto Cache lake for day five and then Baptism lake for last night.
I will definitely be checking with the park rangers regarding the flagging tape (and probably a lot of other things too).
Thanks for the tips Mad_Mat, I've heard the creek is a tricky bugger to find. If I end up solo, I'll be bringing my hennessy, campsites shouldn't be a problem along the river then or anywhere.
Hey, if I get lost along one of those brutes to or from Cache lake, I'll sit back, do a little day dreaming about paddling down that river/ creek and cry just a little.  

call me a little nuts. this will no doubt be a challenge.
Hey why else would I drive all the way up from Kitchener (2 days) for an easy walk in the park.

here's a thought, anyone wanna show me the way?
6 nights start Aug 24.

I'll hope for dry portages and wet rivers. (is that an oxymoron?)

Glen