My first trip into Quetico exceeded all my expectations.  It is probably the beginning of an enduring ritual.  I can't wait to come back and plan to return the same time next year with my wife or other fishing buddy. 
My route was Nym-Batch-Pickerel-Maria-Jesse-Walter-Lonely-Draper and back (skipping Lonely on the return route).
The fishing was fantastic and diverse in the different lakes.
When I left the park driving toward the outfitter I found I was driving at 30 km/h (19 mi/h).  It took a few minutes to adjust to the speed of life on the "outside"!
I was back working in my ambulance the following day at 11am.  Quite the turn around but I the experience has left me revitalized and fresh despite the physical exertion of a solo trip.
Question:  On the portage into Draper L, There was a downed tree across the path 3/4 of the way in that i was able to carry under at my lowest "duck walk" position, i think anyone taller would have a hard time and would have to drag their canoe.  Should this be reported to anyone?  Park staff?

  DentonDoc wrote on Sep 16^th, 2012 at 6:56pm:

Just wanted to make sure i was doing my part for the next group/guy.

if your timing is right so that the office is open, the park people do appreciate a heads up on portage conditions

I've stopped a couple of times and let them know about this or that portage, but that was only a couple of times - usually, I'm not going to take the extra time or go out of my way. 

The blowdowns will get cleared when they get around to it, but that's why I always carry a small saw - trimming the sharp branches from the logs can make life easier, and if it comes to it, can help clear a path around.

We all know that trees fall, but rarely do we see the tree when it falls.  My son and I were at our camp on Quetico Lake watching a storm and high winds approach.  There was another campsite about 100 yards away.  As we were watching the storm, a jack pine at the other campsite, broke off and came crashing down.  We had used that tree the previous year.

Millhouse,
these sorts of obstructions are all to common place. If I can't leap over them I use the following strategies.......

The most advanced is what I call the "toss and roll". Get a bit of a running start, say 5 or 10 yards and then toss the canoe over the offending obstacle while immediately thereafter performing a diving somersault under the obstruction. The key is in the reengagement of your canoe. It may take some practice.

Less advanced methods include an appropriately placed karate chop or in very tedious cases a 1/2 stick of dynamite can work wonders.

BTW......glad to hear you had a good trip. Be careful, it can be addicting. 

Mk631 wrote on Sep 17^th, 2012 at 8:28pm:


We crossed paths with you on this portage and had the job of navigating around/over this tree. You're right--the wind was substantial. The more I travel in Quetico, the more careful I have become with respect to trees when setting up camp. I can't say that I've given it much thought on portages though. This one was a little too close for comfort.

Yeah-that was us. We were on the final leg of our journey. We began east of the park in the headwaters of the Wawiag River and made a three-quarters loop to exit at Stanton Bay. We experienced a fair amount of misery, with the absolute worst mosquito swarming I have ever encountered on the river, combined with the mandatory flipping of canoes in the area of the Wawiag where we could not portage around rapids--no real injuries but soaking our food pack made for some nasty odors towards the end of the trip. The Kawnipi portion was great but the winds made Sturgeon a bear. We managed a layover day on Dore which was wonderful. The winds kept the bugs down and I got an incredible video of a bald eagle taking out a gull. Managed a good morning of fishing in Stanton Bay. The most entertaining part of the trip was Jim Clark from Canoe Canada driving us around a maze of washed out logging roads trying to get to the predetermined drop off point at the head of the Wawiag. That's a whole other story worthy of a new thread. So, as always, we had a great trip in spite of and partially due to the miseries we experienced.

Hi MP--we did actually begin on the Wawiag River, about 4 miles east of where the Obadinaw River joins the Wawiag. We bushwacked a camp on the side of the road after a 4-hour adventure of wilderness road driving (we left Atikokan around 4:45 pm and finally got to the drop-off point near 9 pm) characterized by washed out roads, getting a little disoriented, and some serious off-road 4-wheeling. Day one was about a 28-mile journey down the winding Wawiag River before finally getting to a campsite in Kawa Bay. Long and HOT (this from a Texan!) day. After tipping our canoe early on, we were able to retain almost all of our gear. The worst thing, though, was losing my trusty expedition hat to the rapids. After that episode, I became a true "rag-head" (not a racist comment--the only thing I could find to cover up was a dish rag).

I've attached a satellite view of our starting point. The red X is Powell Lake, the yellow X is Hamlin Lake, and the blue circle is our starting point, on the side of a bridge on a logging road.

You got dropped off on a different logging road than we did.  I have been in the area a few times all but one time arriving at the washout at point A on this aerial photo. Last summer (2011) I did a solo bushwhacked from Belaire lake to the B on the aerial photo.  At point B there were car-truck tracks.  I assume the washout at A had been repaired.  There is a undrivable logging road between B and C.  The road makes a easy portage path. At the end of the logging road there is a moose path down over the hill to the Wawiag. I measure it on Google as 1.6 miles.  Easiest bushwhack I ever did.

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