Wabakimi Project Trip Report Week 1, May 28 – June 4, 2016. (See Pdf below for best view and photos.)
Participants: R. Trudeau, B. Pyle, D. McTeague. Leader: J. Holmes Day 1: Saturday, May 28th:The crew left Thunder Bay at 7:00am and drove to Armstrong in a light drizzle. We saw several bears with a cub or cubs at the side of the highway. Clem met us up at Mattice Lake Outfitters and we loaded our gear and canoes onto his trailer for the drive up Trail Lake Road. The following mileage points were recorded from the intersection of Highway 527 and Trail Lake Road.
Trail Lake access 15.6km
Road Junction (Turn left) 19.2km
Tunnel Lake bridge access 19.5km
Tunnel Lake trail access 19.6km
Fawn Lake portage 22.4km
Rocky Island Lake 26.7km
Tamarack Lake portage (335m) 29km
The objective of the first portion of the trip was to open the final portage that completes the route from Rocky Island Lake to Tamarack Lake. This eluded us in 2011. The first 3 portages from Trail Lake Road were cleared and measured at that time and required only minor maintenance this year. The drizzle stopped as the truck arrived at the portage that crosses the road and we carried the gear and canoes NW to the first unnamed lake. A quick paddle across took us to the 110m portage. Note that this portage is on the NW side of the creek, not the SW side as shown on the supplied map. A large wolf scat was found on this portage. Crossing another unnamed body of water we reached a 37m portage on the west side of the creek. After this portage, a short paddle west took us to a south facing island campsite that we occupied previously in 2011. The rain began again as we finished setting up our tents and tarp.
Day 2: Sunday, May 29th:
In the morning, we paddled to the NW corner of the lake to begin looking for the portage. We began looking on good ground just south of a small marshy area. As we travelled west, the terrain became quite steep and difficult, and it became apparent that the portage probably began north of the small marshy area. After reaching our target lake (east of Tamarack Lake), we began searching the shoreline for any evidence. We found a blaze on an old dead tree on the shore a bit further north and began working our way back, finding intermittent blazes along the way. We flagged the trail back to the lake and crossed the marshy area to retrieve our canoes. It had begun to drizzle, so we set up a tarp at the portage landing and ate lunch under the shelter. After lunch we cleared approximately 2/3 of the portage by 4:00 and returned to our campsite.
Monday, May 30th:Another grey, drizzly morning. We returned to the portage and finished clearing and measuring it by 1:00. The portage measured 631m by tape measure. After lunch under the tarp at the portage landing, we took it down and returned to our campsite. A productive afternoon of fishing provided a feast of 8 pickerel for dinner. A couple of the fish we caught were as large as 22”.
Day 4: Tuesday, May 31st:A blue sky morning provided a good day to travel back south over the route we had come up on Saturday, and on to our destination of Tunnel Lake. The 610m portage that crosses Trail Lake Road into Rocky Island Lake had about 30m of trail that was flooded and covered in standing water near the SE end. A developed campsite exists at the Rocky Island Lake end of the portage. We cleaned up some garbage from this site. A stiff SE breeze had sprung up and we could already see the edge of the next approaching front. Paddling south, we crossed a 230m portage that required a small amount of maintenance and into an unnamed lake. This lake has a campsite on a point on the west shore, about 2/3 of the way down the lake from the north end. We stayed on this site in 2011. After entering a small bay on the east side of the lake, we were confronted with a choice on how to cross the CNR tracks. A small channel to the south takes you to a 91m portage over the rail line. Extreme care must be taken as this is a heavily used rail corridor. An alternative is to take the small bay to the east and negotiate the tunnel that has been cut through the granite under the rail line. We chose this path. The north end of the tunnel had a small beaver dam that was level with the water surface and the loaded canoes were easily slid over it. The south end had a larger dam and a drop of about 70cm over some boulders to Tunnel Lake. We unloaded the packs onto the dam and lifted the canoes over this obstacle. After a short paddle into a strengthening wind and increasing waves, we found a suitable spot to camp on a north facing section of rock shoreline. It began to drizzle about 6:00 and turned to steady rain overnight.
Day 5: Wednesday, June 1st:The rain continued into the morning but abated around noon, allowing us to explore Tunnel Lake. The shore of this lake has a lot of sloping rocky shoreline and we discovered four more good potential campsites. One of these sites has an established rock fire ring. Another two are on the large island in the southern lobe of the lake. We paddled down to the extreme south end of the lake and looked in the SW corner for evidence of the Mountain Portage to Mountain Lake that is shown on the map. There is a steep climb up from this corner of the lake and we found no evidence of a portage in this area. We fished on our way back to our campsite and picked up a couple of pike for an appetizer before dinner. More rain in the evening.
Established campsite on Tunnel Lake Day 6: Thursday, June 2nd:Our plan for today was to move further south in order to establish a base camp closer to the portage to Mountain Lake. However, the morning weather was 6 degrees, windy and a light drizzle, preventing a move of campsite. A leisurely morning of reading, journal writing, map reviewing and hot drinks ensued.
The wind dropped enough for us to paddle south about 2:30pm, so we paddled into the small SW arm of Tunnel Lake to look for the alternate portage into Mountain lake shown on the geological survey map.
The small creek at the southern tip of this arm is negotiable by canoe for about 80m. After getting out of the boat at some obstructing logs, we found the shattered, rotting remains of a very old wooden boat. Some exploration of the surrounding woods yielded a few blazes and then a ground trail leading up a swale to Mountain Lake. Two cached boats with a motor underneath lie at the Mountain Lake end of this portage. We did not have time to flag the portage and planned to return the next day.
end of portage. Day 7: Friday, June 3rd:There were light winds and overcast skies in the morning. We packed up and moved to a good north facing campsite that is slightly east of the south west arm that has the Mountain Lake portage we found yesterday. This campsite will serve as a basecamp for all of next week. It has extensive clear rocky areas and we built a fire ring with a top cap on solid rock. The tent sites are further back and sheltered. On our way to the campsite, we flagged the portage to Mountain Lake for the crew to clear next week and it is estimated to be about 450m long. After we set up and had lunch, we paddled over to the south east corner of Tunnel Lake to explore the entrance to Vale Creek. Both shore lines have heavy cedar brush and swampy ground at the beginning. More open forest and better ground is found slightly further from shore on the south side of the exiting creek. Pyle and I made our way along the rapids to the first open body of water. The upper part of the rapids can be lined but there is a falls closer to the end. We did not find any evidence of a portage during this exploration. There is extensive rocky shoreline on the first open body of water, with some high cliffs where we came out to the lake. Very strong animal trails are present here.
corner Tunnel Lake. Day 8: Saturday, June 4th:
We were due to be picked up by float plane at 11:00am. The morning was overcast and looked very threatening to the south. Fortunately we were picked up an hour early, just as it began to rain. Our last assignment was to have a look at the Wabinosh River from the air. On the flight out, we had the pilot fly NE along the Wabinosh River out of the SE corner of Tunnel Lake. He then turned SE towards Mundell and Pillar Lakes before turning back north to Mattice Lake.
The route looks promising, with fairly short portages and lots of paddle friendly open water. A fair bit of rocky shoreline for campsites as well. We drove back to Thunder Bay in a steady, and sometimes heavy rain. Thanks to Debbie for the ride back with treats and for all of her help in organizing week 1.
Thanks to the participants for a fun and productive trip. Hope to see you again next year. See page below for map and notes from the trip.