This will be my first venture into WCP. I had hoped to have as much as 30 days to do what I will outline but that has been trimmed to 21. I suspect I may have to re-evaluate my plans. But here is my initial formative route and I give my thanks in advance to any who would weigh in.

EP Lund lake
Knox- Murdock- Bloodvein river- Artery lake
South along the western border-Haggert river- irregular lake
Exiting at Leano

I have virtually no info concerning a route from irregular to Leano and am quite keen to hear about this area.

Thanks again
Al

MT,

I trust you have read through all of the related stories in the WCPP section of the canoestories.com website (see:   (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) ).  I have been able to pull most of the information for my two WCPP trips from these stories AND from references made within these stories to other sources (such as Martin Kehoe, the park service, etc.).  Doug & especially Claire at the park office are also very helpful.  Another great source was Albert at Goldseekers.  Might be worth a truck-in fee to Leano just for the additional insight he can offer.  Also, it seems to me that hexnymph, pghportager and that bunch also posted an excellent account of their (quick) travels through the south central & southeastern sector of the park on another website.  It covered at least some of that stretch back to Leano from the Irregular area, as I recall.

My own travels have been through the SE quadrant and the Central East quadrant of the park.  I would be happy to pass along specific details from what I can recall of our routes.  The summer of 2009 trip went like this:  Leano, Kilburn, Paull, Aegean, Wrist, Mexican Hat, Bunny, Leano (KF's team went a little further to the NW of my team).  Our summer of 2010 route went like this: Lund, Knox, Murdock, a bushwhack across HELL, Irvine Lake, chain of lakes west of Irvine (including Larus Falls & Split Rock), Royd, Gammon, Upper Gammon, Gammon River, Indian House and Lund.  KF & I published an account of the 2009 trip in a BWJ issue that came out earlier in the year.  I expect a similar account of the 2010 trip will likewise be published by the BWJ sometime in 2011.  If a draft of that would help you, let me know.

I'm thinking I've been contacted by half-a-dozen QJers looking to do WCPP trips in the near future.  Other QJers I know with experience up there include: prouboy, MagicPaddler, DentonDoc, PJ, Old Salt, & Snow Dog in addition to the several guys who have posted their 2010 WCPP trip reports on QJ.  Also, if you aren't directly corresponding with Martin Kehoe, you probably need to be.  He is a fount of knowledge on the park.

I, for one, am envious of a 21 day trip to WCPP.  I'd especially like to see the west side of the park and will likely enter from Manitoba whenever I get back there.  I don't know when that will be, however.  The dude that publishes my stories has indicated he has reached his "WCPP limit" and has asked that I not send anymore for awhile.  I've suggested that he is being a bit shortsighted.  It seems to me that more & more veterans appear to be headed to WCPP for the challenge & freshness of the experience versus the BWCA/Quetico.  I would also think he might find a few new advertisers in the Red Lake area who would like to see more WCPP stories.

Hmmmm... I may just be talking myself right back into doing another WCPP trip in 2011!  Again, I'm envious & wish you the best with your planning.  I'll check more carefully through my other WCPP source material for information related to your route this weekend.

Jimbo  

Thanks guys
I'm pretty excited. I think what they say about "one track mind" is very true. It'll probably remain that way for me until I get this nailed down. I'm well on my way though. I have brought all my trippin stuff from Michigan back to Florida to see how things are going to pan out. I am very curious.  

DD, I haven't the slightest clue about a route from Irregular to Leano. I have some time (Yea, like ALL winter) to let that percolate. I am waiting to gather some info and probably lay out a practical itinerary from Lund to Irregular first to see how much time I have left to play with.

I will probably be leaning toward something fairly clean. The last thing I want is to be engaged in tough route finding when I need to be in Chicago the last weekend of August. I will likely take the advice of someone knowledgable for this last leg.

RE; Portage data base
In addition to the usual journaling I intend to keep scrupulous/detailed notes concerning the portages. Should someone have the time and inclination to set one up this info could prove helpful.

I have received the topo maps from Ostrom outdoors. I had heard some dubious comments about the maps but I rather like them. I actually like the black and white and that they are not on waterproof paper. This makes it easier to use a marker and highlight things.

I feel good about my time frame and have concluded my planning. From Irregular south to Eagle and up the Talon river.

Talon lake-boomerang-dragon-kilburn-leano

From Irregular to Eagle looks potentially "interesting". Maybe it won't be as snotty as I suspect. At least I will be a bit lower on supplies.

I know when one travels it is wise to have a "spare tire" and it fully inflated. I'm not really sure about that though and am hopefully going to proceed without one  .

Excellent. Whatever time I had left to burn (if any) I had intended to spend on Kilburn/upper kilburn. Good info....thanks Doc!