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25 All Things Bushwhacking (Read 11887 times)
pine_knot
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #10 - Apr 19th, 2012 at 11:37am
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Kingfisher, great advice and summary.  It brings back memories from last summer's solo when I "hiked" part of the bushwhack from Camel to Hoare.  After about a 1/4 mile, slogging, slipping and hopping up a rocky creek and bobbing and weaving through the brush and thicket, I realized how  ridiculously difficult and time-consuming it would be with a canoe and pack.  A potentially tough situation could become really bad in a heartbeat.  Maybe in the future with a partner...
  
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PhantomJug
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #11 - Apr 19th, 2012 at 11:02pm
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Funny story regarding a bushwack attempt about 10 years ago on Quetico.  Many of you will recognize the attached photo as the back side of Eden Island.  As a narrative, there were 4 of us that year - 2 canoes.  One morning as we were getting ready to fish, one of the guys in the other canoe thought a bushwack to the lake in the bottom right of the picture would be cool.  Me and Matt weren't interested so we stayed on Quetico.  Anyway, they paddled to shore, we said our goodbye's and good luck and they disappeared into the woods.

Me and Matt (Pascanell) continued fishing around the shore (white line) and we arrived in the small bay about 2 hours after we parted ways with our other canoe.  As we rounded the point we saw the other half of our group heading down the shore.  We pulled out the map and realized that they had actually portaged across the isthmus (red line) and NOT into the unnamed lake to the south (blue line).  As we paddled up to them they were shocked to see that we too had decided to follow them and bushwack into the unnamed lake.  (Are you getting this).  Anyway, we decided to not tell them where they actually were and continued to fish for a while together when they decided that they were going to head back to "Quetico".  We told them we would start heading back later.  Once they were in the woods out of sight, we paddled back around the peninsula post haste and met them as they were coming out of the woods.  It was then we revealed their actual route and directional mistake.  Pretty funny.
  
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thinblueline
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #12 - Apr 19th, 2012 at 11:28pm
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That ain't just funny, that's a riot!
  
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zski
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #13 - Apr 20th, 2012 at 12:23pm
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A great story!  Grin  Thanks for the laugh PJ!
  
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Marten
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #14 - Apr 23rd, 2012 at 12:13am
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I too would advise starting out with an easy bushwhack. When you step out of the brush and gaze upon a backcountry lake you will know if this is something you want to do again. If your adrenaline levels rise and your heart is thumping in your chest from the exhilaration, you may be hooked for life. Shocked

I have found Walleye in lakes with outlets connected to known Walleye lakes. Quality of habitat will surely play a part in size and number.
  
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solotripper
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #15 - Apr 23rd, 2012 at 2:41pm
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PJ,

That would make a great intro to a article about the importance of basic or better map reading/navigation skills before attempting a bushwack Grin
  
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mastertangler
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #16 - Apr 23rd, 2012 at 4:28pm
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I can't ever remember not bushwacking.........when we were kids we would always look on the map for some lake back in the woods with no roads going to it......... we would ride our bikes until we were old enough to drive. In those days we fished out of truck tire tubes with a home made wood seat before the nice ones came around. There always was some stinking oozing mud to wade through before you got out there but we sure caught the heck out of the fish.

Some places were posted but we would slip in anyway. We got caught once.......the guy was so mad he was spitting......"where's those fish"!!!.......then he said he was taking us to the police station......."OK, lets go" I said............that threw him for a loop as I expected he probably thought we would start crying or something. He told us not to come back and we didn't........at least not in the daytime (I know, we were bad.....but not REAL bad).

good days........yes, bushwacking can be fun. Just ask any long haired, pimply faced teenager that is toting a truck tire bigger than he is through hells half acre with a busted rod and no bug dope.... Grin........yup, those were the days.   
« Last Edit: Apr 23rd, 2012 at 9:10pm by mastertangler »  
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Preacher
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #17 - Apr 24th, 2012 at 7:18pm
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One of my first solo trips was a bushwack and an education.  Constantly off course by 10s of degrees.

Bushwacking sucks for tripping. 
It's fun when you don't have a pack on your back and don't need to find a place to camp.

Definitely something to scout before hauling.  Do a day hike, pack a lunch, enjoy the walk.

Brush up on your map & compass skills.  A GPS is great for telling you where you are.  It doesn't replace map & compass skill.  Very easy to get turned around once there aren't any lakes or visible landmarks.
  
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Magicpaddler
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #18 - Apr 25th, 2012 at 5:22pm
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You can almost always find a camp site Kf and I spent the night where the triangle is in the picture. That camp sight does not fit on QJ’s number of stars rating system but I slept well.
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solotripper
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Re: All Things Bushwhacking
Reply #19 - Apr 25th, 2012 at 7:53pm
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Magicpaddler wrote on Apr 25th, 2012 at 5:22pm:
You can almost always find a camp site Kf and I spent the night where the triangle is in the picture. That camp sight does not fit on QJ’s number of stars rating system but I slept well.
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Good point. I figure if I can safely land the canoe, I figure between my Dri-Fly tarp/tent/hammock, I can spend a cozy night in a pinch.
I've watched in amusment as paddlers at the end of a long day and clearly exhausted, pass by one site after another looking for that 4-5 star spot Roll Eyes
I guess if your setting up a base camp it's worth it, but for an overnight stay, it seems a little picky to me Undecided
  
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