Bob B. and I drove to WCPP together and then went our separate ways at the Onnie access. We planned to meet again Aug. 1 on Royd Lake. I was anxious to get to Craven Lake on the west side of the park and had purchased a 260 cm, 28 oz. Werner kayak paddle to make the crossing easier. The winds were not a major issue and so by using the larger waters and short portages of the Gammon River I was at the Craven Portage 48 hours later. 25 hours of that was paddling and double portaging. The Gammon River is a fast way to get deep into the park and then head for smaller waters. I saw a few motorboats but no canoes on my way across the park.

As I finished putting up the tarp a shower started. For the next 31 days I had many small rains but always after the tarp was up or during the night. The next 10 days were spent bushwhacking my way east to Walking Stick Lake. Five new portage tracks were laid out and connected with portage tracks I had laid out in 2011 from Dunstan Lake to west of Walking Stick.

A spider bite caused one eye to swell shut and weakened me for a while but I still made my way to Walking Stick the evening before Ron and Jim flew in for our planned rendezvous. Ron came in from fishing Walking Stick and said he came back to camp when it started taking two casts to get a Walleye. We gave them a rest one day and day-tripped through two of my portage tracks to "Echo" and its Walleyes. Time did not allow for us to trip west to more Walleye in the Walking Stick area.

We paddled down Walking Stick Creek to Carroll Lake for their planned pick-up by floatplane. The plane arrived with Hogan and his canoe and left with Jim and canoe. Farmer was on the return flight with his canoe. Ron and his canoe headed for home and we headed up the stream towards Terry and Wanda. We had plenty of time to take it easy and  the third night we were on Dunstan. Again rain blew in after the tarp was up. There had been a small forest fire in the area a few weeks before and with the wind change it smelled of a stale campfire.

We took the narrow string of lakes SE to Royd and met up with Bob. B. a day early. He had come up very lame with knee swelling and had been holed up there for 12 days. Getting there early allowed him to ponder whether to catch a ride out on the plane bringing in Waleswalker on Aug. 1. We had gotten wind of his predicament through the Caribou telegraph network.

Bob opted to stay so when Waleswalker arrived the next morning with steaks, beer and cokes on ice the second annual solotripping gathering commenced with five present. A fun day  was enjoyed and much food was consumed. As darkness fell the last of the liquid refreshments were consumed around the campfire. This year we were having a moving rendezvous with all five attendees traveling together   on the "Minjim" route through Lightning and "Joey" Lakes to Indian House Lake.

Two easy days travel and we were camped on Walleye rich Joey Lake. We stayed two nights to take advantage of the good fishing. Bob paddled around the corner to fish as I put the coffee water on the next morning. As fast as I could get the coffee finished he was back with Walleye to complete our   pancakes and Walleye breakfast.

We then started towards our exit at Lund. Bob B. with his swollen knee was the kid of the bunch as 47. The rest of us all had a 6 as our first digit. We spent a night at "Highcamp" and the next on Indian House. We then spent two nights  near the 950 portage on the way to Lund Lake so I could investigate a fix for that bog walk. With that good route saved as a track in my GPS we headed for the new Lund portage. Claire had done a good job of routing the whole 1100 meters and with Harlan's help tossing the wood it was open this season.

Our final paddle was before sun-up with thick clouds of fog moving across the calm waters. Everyone was in agreement that it was the icing on a terrific journey in WCPP.

Bob B. had a burn from Wild Parsnip when we started the trip. It got infected but that seemed to be healed over by Aug. 1. He is heading for a doctor because he is  sitting around home and it is getting sorer and stiffer.

New rules do not allow two canoes on the smaller aircraft. There are also new rules on the apparatus needed to carry that one canoe.

I am going to try to put together a video that will contain all  the information needed to travel the area with a GPS or marking the UTM numbers on the paper topos. Vegetation is sparser in the area so the portage crews do not need to bring in the chainsaws to make a path to all those Walleye in the Walking Stick area. I feel it will be a fantastic area to travel in for those seeking out solitude. Many of the lakes between Craven and Walking Stick are standouts with their own merits. I only found one old cairn and one very old billy can in the area.

Yes Ben, I think Walking Stick Lake, its creek to Carroll and my new route from Craven to Dunstan should be added to your bucket list for WCPP.

I laid out a good fix so you can now easily travel from Poodle to Royd Creek. After using the start of the old route from Poodle it heads straight south to Royd Creek through dry ground and open forest.

Guess  I now know what NCBen was eating while beinng "in"for almost 4 weeks. Now I'm wondering what a "wild parsnip burn " is, and how to avoid infection.

Thanks. I've seen it growing allong the roadsides,but have not gotten into it. I'll try to avoid it. It resembles what is called "Queen Ann's Lace"in appearance (here in Illinois),only it(parsnip)is yellow rather than white. Seems nasty.