Wabakimi Trek! Previously published on Canoeing.com.  Report by Vern Fish.

In 2008 I had the opportunity to spend a week helping Phil Cotton clear portages on Crown Land on the west side of Wabakimi Provincial Park. Phil is the founder of the Wabakimi Project; it is his goal is find, clear and map the historic canoe routes in and around this huge wilderness area. This was my first exposure to paddling north of Quetico Provincial Park and I was hooked. I have been fortunate to be able to come back to that area Northwest Ontario also known as the “Little North” and paddle the Albany River, Winisk Rivers, Pipestone River, Gammon River, Bloodvein River and explore the crown land around Wabakimi. However, I have never actually pitched a tent in the park.

In conversation with Phil Cotton, he noted that one portage in particular needed to be explored and mapped. He was sure that there was a portage that connected the Misehkow River to the Greenmantle River because he had seen the access to the portage on a previous trip down the Misehkow. The Misehkow River joins the Albany River at the far northwest border of Wabakimi. In 2010 I was with a party that ran the Albany River and floated by the confluence with the Misehkow. I made a mental note that I should someday come back to run the Misehkow.

Thus, the idea of paddling from the northwest corner to the southeast corner of Wabakimi took shape. One of the goals would be to find, map and measure the portage between the Misehkow and Greenmantle Rivers as part of the Wabakimi Project. To accomplish this trek would require paddling down the Misehkow, Greenmantle, Attwood, Ogoki, Pikitigushi Rivers while paddling up the Shabuskwia, Witchwood and Raymond Rivers a distance of over 150 miles. Because we could not find a portage into the Greenmantle River, we actually paddled down to the Albany River and then up the Shabuskwia River to get back into the Attwood River. This small detour brought the trip distance to over 200 miles.

Maps & References

I started with the Wabakimi Canoe Routes Planning Map that has been put together by the Wabakimi Project www.wabakimi.org. This large scale 1:210,000 map provides an overall view of Wabakimi Provincial Park and the surrounding Conservation Reserves and Crown Land. The Wabakimi Project also provides more detailed maps which show routes, campsites and portages. For this trip we used the following volumes:

Ogoki River & Northern Tributaries – Volume 1
Albany River & Southern Tributaries (Chivelston Lake to Achapi Lake) – Volume 2
Albany River & Southern Tributaries (Patte Lake to Abazotikichuan Lake) – Volume 4

I also consulted the Wabakimi trip planning map provided by Ontario Parks. This 1:150,000 scale map is printed on a huge sheet of paper and it provides a summary of park rules, access points and other park details.

The Wabakimi Canoe Routes Planning Map also shows which 1:50,000 maps will be needed for a route. I ordered the following 1:50,000 maps from Map Town out of Calgary, Alberta at www.maptown.com:

Burnrock Lake 52 I 13 Greenmantle Lake 52 P 03 Pruner Lake 52 P 06
Grace Lake 52 P 07 Kilbarry Lake 52 P 02 Kawitos Lake 52 P 08

Slim Lake 52 P01 Whiteclay 52 I 15 Linklater Lake 52 I 10Pikitigushi Lake 52 I 07 Hurst Lake 52 P 08 Pringle Lake 52 P 07

Attwood Lake 52 P 02 Grinch/Witchwood 52 P 01 North Annette 52 I 10

In addition I ordered the following detailed maps from www.wabakimimaps.com:

Rockcliff Lake to Albany River
Attwood River to Whiteclay Lake and Pikitigushi River

These maps provided portage and campsite details for the Misehkow River, Whiteclay Lake, Raymond River, Witchwood River and the Pikitigushi River. The Wabakimi Project does not currently provide portage and campsite details for Raymond and Pikitigushi River. It was interesting to compare and see the differences between the two maps. They did not always agree on the location and distance of portages. Campsites were also inconsistent.

In some cases, I went directly to The Atlas of Canada – Toporama at http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/toporama/index.html and created more detailed small maps of critical portages or confusing points along the route. Finally, I “cut & pasted” the 1:50,000 maps to create (13) 14 x 17 inch maps that would fit in my map case. On to these maps I “cut & pasted” portage details from both the Wabakimi Project and Wabakimimaps.com. I also referenced a trip report by www.albinger.me/rockcliff-lake and added his helpful comments to the maps. The maps were copied and laminated. An example of one of these maps has been attached.

See full report on Canoeing.com!