Saturday, September 6/08 - Leaving Wabakimi

-I slept poorly during the night. Whenever I woke up I could see Phil sitting at the kitchen table. I don’t know why he stayed up for what seemed to be most of the night.
-I woke up with a headache in the morning, took an Advil and then went for a walk along the beach and chatted with some of the people staying in the other cabins who were waiting for their flight out. They had alot of questions of our trip.
-I went back to the cabin, had breakfast and packed up my stuff
-Our flight is not scheduled to leave until around 11:00


-Dave was gone for awhile and came back with a Nalgene waterbottle filled with blueberries. Walt and I thought this was a good idea and filled our waterbottles with blueberries. I also picked a zip-lock bag full of blueberries for Sarah (Phil’s neighbour in Thunder Bay who does all the organizing for the trips when Phil is in the bush). Walt and I saw a garter snake while picking blueberries

-the Otter plane arrived with the new Wabakimi participants. They unloaded their gear at the dock and some large barrels of diesel fuel for the resort’s generator were unloaded as well. It is quite something that all the supplies for the camp have to be flown in: 4-wheeler, fridges, mattresses, etc.

-we exchange handshakes with the newbies and our gear is loaded into the plane. We say goodbye to Phil and get into the plane. I got the front seat; it has all the steering controls in front of it so I was very careful not to touch anything.

-a cooler was passed around and Walt took a beer and Dave & I took Coke.

-the takeoff was smooth and I wasn’t nervous this time. Took some pictures from the plane

-arrived back at Mattice Outfitters, unloaded our gear from the plane and loaded up Terri’s car
-on the car ride to Thunder Bay we didn’t see any wildlife other than a skunk
-we unpacked the gear at Phil’s, phoned our families, had a shower and a shave and felt human again. I did some laundry.
-we took a cab to the 3 Mangoes which is a Chinese/Phillipines type restaurant. We decided to order 3 dishes and each try part of each dish. Since I generally order stuff I am sure that I will like, I was rather adventurous. Dave’s fortune cookie said: “Water and boats are in your future”. Walt’s fortune cookie said: “A bold and exciting adventure is in your future”. It would have been funny if we had eaten at that restaurant before the trip! My fortune cookie said “Versatility is one of your traits.”
-rather than take a cab we decided to walk home and we each bought some pop, chips and a Lotto 649 ticket with the agreement that we would split any winnings
-we sat in the basement, vegged, watched the old version of The Flight of the Phoenix (which a long, boring, poorly-acted movie) and each ate a large bag of chips

Epilogue:
Sunday morning I got up and walked 2.5 miles to attend Hope CRC. After I got back we went out to Joey’s Fish & Chips for lunch, checked our lottery tickets and Walt won a free ticket
-I left at 3:30 pm for the airport for my flight back to Toronto and then a connecting flight to London to be reunited with Tetcy and the boys at 9:30 pm

Being a participant of the Wabakimi Project was an awesome experience. It was a little different than I expected it would be but it was still a great adventure. I feel a little regret that my remote, wilderness trip included some stays in log cabins but then it was also a nice luxury at the time. I take some personal satisfaction in that I not only survived but thrived out there. The bonds formed with Phil, Walt and Dave reminded me of the valued friendships from my college years. We hope to see each other again in February at a Canoe Symposium (all past Wabakimi Project participants in attendance go out for supper together)

I would absolutely love to go again. I have some pictures hanging in my office and I get a slight pang in my heart when I look at them. However, I don’t know if I will get the opportunity to go again for several years because of limited vacation time and various obligations. But I appreciate the fact that I got the opportunity to go. A special thank you to my wonderful wife, Tetcy for allowing me to go on this trip and also for allowing me to selfishly indulge in the many other camping trips as well.

Thank you to all who read my blog entries and for the comments.

And now back to your regular blogger, Tetcy.......

Wabakimi - Friday, Sept 5/08

-I woke up a couple of times in the night because my arm seized up. It is very sore right at the elbow. I don’t know what I am going to do about canoeing in the morning. We have another long trip planned and my arm is killing me
-woke up in the morning. Everyone is still asleep so I read a novel for awhile in my bunk and then dozed off. Everyone got up at 10:00.
-for breakfast I had two hot chocolate drinks and a granola bar. I complain to the other guys about my sore arm but don’t get much sympathy. I beg Dave to switch canoes even for just an hour just so I can switch arms. But Dave can only paddle on the left so he couldn’t switch.
-we pack up our gear and sweep out the cabin
-just as we are getting ready to leave the cabin, a guy in a motor boat comes to the dock and gets out and strolls around the grounds. Phil tells us to stay in mudroom at the side of the cabin so we just sit in there. The guy in the motor boat checks out the other cabins and then comes in our cabin through the front door and starts looking through the cupboards. We are all sitting still in the mud room. I am afraid to even breathe. Thoughts run through my mind like: Are we hiding? Who is this guy? What is he doing? What do we do if he comes out the side door and sees us all sitting here? Thankfully he left out the front door and got in his boat and left. It was extremely tense
-the resort/camp has a well so we can hand pump water from the well rather then having to filter lake water. Walt had shown me how to prime the pump the other day. So before we left I was going to fill my water bottle when I meet Dave coming back from the well and he asks me in his rough mafia voice “It's okay to use da water in da pitcher?”. He had filled his water bottles and made juice with the water to be used for priming the pump. I pour the remainder of my water into the pump but it is not enough to prime it. Now we don’t know what to do and we don’t want to tell Phil that we screwed up the pump. Dave wants to pour his juice in to prime the pump but I don’t think it is a good idea. Dave then goes to the showers and fills up the pitcher with untreated lake water and we use that to prime the pump and fill up the waterbottles. I hope we don’t get Girardia.
-we left the resort at around 12:30 pm. We don’t have lunch so I put a couple of granola bars in my pockets to get me through the day.
-we paddle up the Ogoki River. My arm is loosening up and I am doing okay. I concentrate on my paddling stroke. Phil jokes to the other guys that since I am such a great conversationalist he has been able to plan out most of next year's routes.
-Phil points out a spot where the natives used to meet to trade amongst themselves. He says if you kick around the dirt you can easily find ancient Indian artifacts. He once got a permit to bring some artifacts to an archeologist and he found some fragments of a bowl and a piece of copper. The copper was from a tribe from Michigan.
-we paddle to Ogoki Falls, see a beaver and unload the canoes at a huge rock. This is the spot where Phil thought we could camp if we didn’t get permission to stay at the resort. Phil phoned Investors Group using his satellite phone so he could transfer money into the chequing account to cover the monthly bill for the float plane
-we do the 273m portage around Ogoki Falls. It is an easy portage. Phil points out some old blazes. To mark a portage trail the voyageurs would make an axe mark on the trees.
-we paddle to the next portage where the two parts of the Ogoki River meet. We have 2 choices: take the long portage (732 m) or take 2 short portages (100m each?). However, the short one requires us to paddle across some fast moving rapids to an island in the middle of where the 2 parts of the Ogoki River meet. We paddle to an eddy and Phil gets out to scout the rapids. Walt, Dave & I think we won’t be able to make it across the rapids and will probably tip the canoes in meantime. Phil comes back after about 5 minutes and says we will take the long route and we all breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t think the “short” route would have saved much time because it involves 2 portages and it takes a bit of time to load and unload each canoe. But it would mean a lot less lugging of gear along the route. I think Phil just wanted to scout out the route on the island but after we told him that we were all afraid to take that route he will probably delete it from the map. We do a back ferry across the current to the takeout of the 732m portage. There are some outfitters boats blocking the takeout which annoys Phil.
-we begin lugging gear across the portage. There are some downed trees blocking the trail which we have to hurdle over. Phil got out the chainsaw and began clearing the way. Other than the downed trees it was a fairly easy portage. There were tons of blueberries. Whenever I walk through the blueberry patches I think about running into bears and I noticed later that I stepped in some bear scat.
-I had a chance to wait by myself at the end of the portage and was thinking how neat it would be to find something left by the voyageurs so I started looking around and noticed a coin. Excitement ran through me as a I picked it up hoping for some valuable coin from the 1800's but it turned out to be a 1965 US dime. We loaded up Walt & Dave’s canoe while Phil phoned Mattice Outfitters to say we are running late and could they send their camp manager with a motor boat to pick us up.
-we paddle Whitewater Lake for what seems quite a while and a little past Picnic Island (which is where a lot of fishermen from the outpost camps have a shore lunch of fish) Richard along with his dog Echo from the Whitewater Lake camp pick us up. Echo is a boxer so I am a little leery getting into the boat but she is very friendly. We take some time tying the canoes to the side of the boat and then we are on our way. During the boat ride it rained part of the time and it was cold. We saw a bald eagle, a rainbow and a beautiful sunset. The boat ride takes 2 hours and we get to the camp just in the last bit of daylight. The cabins of Whitewater Lake Camp are on beautiful white sand beaches that remind me of pictures of the tropics.
-Richard brings some beer but only Walt likes beer. Richard fills us in on some of the current events of the past week
-we unpack our gear to try to dry everything out. Phil gets the woodstove going
-Phil cooks up supper on a real stove. We used up some of the extra food so we had a huge supper: beef stew, potatoes, green beans and meatballs. For dessert we had chocolate pudding cups and chocolate chip cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies and was surprised to find a package in the bottom of the food barrel. I wish I had found them earlier.
-I take a luxurious hot shower
-I finish off the vodka I brought and we fill in our journals and chatted. We went to bed. I put earplugs in because Dave is a terrible snorer.

Favorite Phil Story:
-canoe guidebooks, websites and maps always have disclaimers on them. River conditions and portage routes can change with the weather, seasons or even from flooding from beaver dams.
-a couple had asked Phil for one of his maps of the Kopka River. After talking to them, Phil didn’t think they were experienced enough for a Kopka River trip. Phil said the maps were not complete and he didn’t want the liability so he didn’t give them one. The couple went anyways and missed a portage takeout and went through some rapids and were seriously hurt

Thursday Sept 4/08 - I can paddle for miles and miles and miles..... (with apologies to The Who)

My watch alarm went off at 7 and I got up. It is very foggy outside but very calm and the sky is clear; the water is like glass. Last night, Phil told me to get him up at 7 because he wanted an early start on the day so I went back in the tent at 7:30 to wake him up but he doesn’t seem interested in getting up. So I go back to sit in the gazebo. Walt got up and sat in the gazebo for awhile with me and then he went back to bed. I read my devotions in the quiet of the morning while the birds were singing and the fish were jumping. What seems strange in all my camping trips is the absence of birds in the forest. At home I have to sleep with the windows closed because the birds are singing so loud in the early morning but in the woods it seems quite rare to hear birds singing. After devotions I decided to try my hand at catching some of those jumping fish but again no luck.
-everyone else got up we had breakfast and we packed up camp.
-The outfitter came by in a Cessna to drop off some supplies to Jeff & Karla and to give them batteries for the fish finder. Jeff, Carla and Phil chatted with the outfitter for awhile. We didn’t leave until 12:30! Phil gave Dave & Walt directions and they started out while Phil and I loaded up our canoe and then started out after them. We crossed to the other side of Pickett Lake and went around the bend but there was no sign of Walt & Dave. Phil thinks they may have misunderstood the directions and gone down the creek which is just before the bend. Phil & I turn back and paddle along the twisting creek calling out loudly for them. We finally meet them. Walt & Dave turned back because they figured it must not be the right route. Since time was of the essence Phil wasn’t happy about the delay. Walt apologized. The paddle down the creek was quite scenic.
-I am finding the Canadian Stroke rather awkward. The problem with having Phil in the stern is that he can see when I revert back to my normal paddle stroke or if I bend my left elbow.
-The Raymond River flows into Pickett Lake so we are now travelling on the Raymond River
-we have to do a 250m portage to go around some rapids. The portage is fairly easy and it has lots of blueberries. The portage is muddy in some sections. Due to the rocky put-in (with some downed trees) I had to wade in the water so my feet got wet. However, I am wearing canoe shoes rather than hiking boots so getting wet feet isn’t a big deal. Phil has very strict equipment requirements about what to bring on the trip and he doesn’t allow hiking boots. Several years ago I sprained an ankle on a Sunday stroll through the woods with the family so I really appreciate the ankle support a hiking boot provides. So when Phil said no hiking boots (his reasoning is that only cement shoes make better anchors) I actually lost sleep agonizing over my footwear choices when I was planning on what to take on the trip. I ended up choosing Merrell Gaulley shoes and Phil has given me positive comments on them a couple of times
-we continue paddling along the Raymond River. We paddle/pole through some reeds to get to Whiteclay Lake and take a short break in the canoe to have a snack. Whiteclay Lake has beautiful white sand beaches along it and there seem to be some spots along it that could be cleared out for some potential campsites. There is a gentle wind at our backs. Phil is an awesome paddler. I can truly say that I have paddled with the best of them. Phil and I are making such good time that we often have to wait for Dave & Walt to catch up so we got extra breaks which is good because my right arm is sore. I am getting more comfortable with the of the Canadian stroke and am falling into a rhythm.
-at 7:00 we finally get to the resort. There are several cabins but the resort is deserted. Phil is scouting around while we wait on the dock. Phil says we may have to push on to a campsite by the Ogoki Falls (where Phil says the fishing is excellent). I hope we stay at the resort, even if we stay in tents on the lawn. I mentally prepared myself to canoe as far as the resort and now that we are here I don’t know if I can go farther. I am dog tired and laying flat out on the dock exhausted.
-Phil calls the the Ogoki Frontier outfitters on the satellite phone and they give us permission to stay in the cabin. I am ecstatic.
-it is September and there a lots of blackflies at the resort. I would have thought they would have all died in July. The are not biting but they do swarm around our heads and we have to be careful not to inhale any.
-Phil does all the cooking on all of the trips. He figures it is easier that way because the participants on the trips would constantly be asking questions such as how much water to add, how long does this simmer, what pot to use, etc. He does a good job of cooking for 4 people on a one-burner stove. Even though he does the cooking we do help by getting him supplies and running errands.
-the resort has a really nice gazebo with a large dining table. We set up to eat in there. Phil seems a little grouchy and Dave calls him an old codger (but safely out of earshot).
-Supper is dumplings, corn, sweet and sour pork on rice. The dumplings weren’t that great but everything else was great. Dave wouldn’t eat all his dumplings and offered them to the rest of us but they are very filling so we all declined. We teased him that he shouldn’t get any dessert if he isn’t going to eat all his supper. I got to choose dessert and picked mandarin orange fruit cups and oatmeal cookies.
-Walt & Dave do the dishes. I can't remember what I did (if anything).
-Phil puts the woodstove on in the cabin and we hang up our clothes to dry. There are huge log beams about 5 and a half feet from the floor. One of us will probably knock ourselves out on those things. The walls and beams are adorned with all kinds of notes from past users of the cabin. The notes typically brag about a huge pike that was caught or a moose that was shot but there are also numerous notes about killing a about 12 mice in one day. Yikes, I hope I don’t wake up to mice in my bed!
-we spend the evening writing our journals and enjoying some libations
-the plans for tomorrow are for another long trip to another resort on Whitewater Lake. The trip may involve some tricky rapids
-we had hoped to see some moose on our long canoe trip today but we didn’t see any. We did see a large osprey, a woodchuck, some loons and a couple of birds.

Wednesday, Sept 3/08 - Windstayed

-woke up early to the partridges poking around the tent. I get up to find it very windy and very cold with grey threatening clouds.
-it would be possible to canoe Pickett Lake but we wouldn’t be able to canoe on Whiteclay Lake because it would be like a wind tunnel so we decided to stay put
-breakfast was a breakfast bar, hot chocolate and a granola bar. I finally figured out that Dave is the smartest one of the bunch and I went back to my sleeping bag to warm up. Read a book and my devotions. Dave slept most of the day. He said he had to keep his sleeping bag warm.
-a late lunch was soup, crackers and summer sausage
-we were jealous of Jeff & Karla having a nice heated cabin while we were freezing outside. Phil went inside the cabin once to talk about something or other with them and we thought he lingered for awhile (probably to soak up as much heat as possible).
-Since there is an outhouse I don’t have to ration my ever-so-valuable stash of TP. There are numerous notes scrawled in the outhouse. One says “You can’t catch them if you are sitting here”. So I decided to fish from the end of the dock. I have read numerous trip logs of the excellent walleye fishing in Wabakimi. Unfortunately I didn’t catch anything :(
-Walt went fishing later and caught 2 small perch. He had bought a fishing license for this trip so he said each perch cost him $10
- We spent most of the day huddled in the gazebo. It was a great day for camaraderie. Phil would be giving one of us heck for something and we would playfully kick each other under the table as if to say “Come on, dummy!”
-we didn’t finish supper until about 9:30 pm: pasta primavera, stuffing and carrots. After supper Walt thought we should do dishes by the fishhut so he started walking to the fish hut while I went to the tent to get my headlamp. Walt came back yelling: “Ray, your Northern Lights are out!”. At first I didn’t think they were that great; they just looked like some back lighting behind the clouds but then the lights spread to the West and then to the East and the light intensified. The lights started moving and there were various “fingers” from East to West and a couple of streamers straight overhead. It was incredible and I was so glad to have seen them. Jeff & Karla even joined us to watch the lights. Given the cold weather they probably would have missed them if we were not there. It was kind of surreal to do the dishes and watch the Northern Lights. Everyone went to bed at around 11 but I stayed to watch the rest of the light show on the dock by myself until 11:30 with a hot apple cider and vodka. The Northern Lights were not over yet but we have to paddle 26 kms tomorrow and I will need my rest. Unfortunately, none of the pictures turned out. I think you may need a special camera to properly capture the show.
-It was a very cool night. I put my sleeping bag inside the summer sleeping bag and wore my sweater so I was comfortable.

Favorite Phil Story: Phil only paddles on the right side because of an old injury so I will have to paddle the entire way on my left. The injury was from many years ago when he and 2 other guys were carrying a 300 lb canoe and the carrying yoke snapped. The other two guys ducked out of the canoe and Phil left Phil holding the canoe. He broke a bunch of ribs and other bones. They duct taped him up until the trip was over.

Wow...

...you can hardly get a word in edgewise around here!

It has been an eventful week, with tons of things going on everyday but....I am loving Sunday nights now that the evening service is at 4pm. It gives us such a relaxing evening at home before the weeks starts all over again.

We decided on Monday that the garage really ought to be stained before winter...and with the balmy temperatures in the forecast, we thought this was just the time to squeeze it in. Crazy idea, staining in November. In the summer you really don't give any thought to temperatures and daylight hours. But..the mornings were below 10 degrees, so you couldn't really paint....and then the wall faces the afternoon sun and you can't paint in direct sunlight.... and the sun dips below the horizon around 5ish, and a seasoned, crusty, old painter at the paint store told me not to paint after 4pm. I dared not continue after that time each day.....Short version? Just get it done in the summer! After supper is still the best time!

I got lots of work done on a top secret project I've been working on. That is looking like it will get done in good time. I am also teaching a class at our school scrap and stamp event coming up in on Friday. I am teaching a board book, and have to prepare kits for about 30 people. I have 26 done but should make a couple more...just in case. I like the teaching but I like the preparation work too. Lots of tedious fun.

Each time I look at the calendar I am amazed at the lack of empty squares. I am sometimes tempted to erase some writing but it's always in pen. I flip the calendar over to look at the next month but it looks the same as this one. This week was really busy, but it created this great energy while I was painting and working and looking forward to a date on Saturday with Ray. I like the down time, but for now, the busy is okay too. I am taking some time for scrapbooking and having lunch and going painting with friends, studying with and quizing the kids when they have a test coming up.....sometimes the secret is just in spending time with each other, no matter what your hands find to do.

(PS we were going to see 'the Changeling' but we were still 4th in line when it was sold out. So...we went to see Eagle Eye....sooooo far fetched....but what a ride! .)

Wabakimi - Tuesday Sept 2/08

Note: for those of you just tuning in, I (Ray) am a guest writer on Tetcy's blog to give an account of my trip on the Wabakimi Project. I was in Wabakimi Provincial Park for the first week of September. Sorry about the shameless teaser on the previous post, but yes the only victim of the bear attack was the oil can. Thank you for reading and for posting comments (Karen I LOL'd on your first comment).

Now, back to the story:
-we get up around 10 (I read in bed for several hours). Breakfast was oatmeal and a breakfast bar
-we pack up camp. Walt & Dave had said that Phil is very particular about how his equipment is packed up. Phil definitely does not belong to the stuff the tent in the bag camp. Everything must be folded up perfectly. Phil brought his tent back to the manufacturer for some repairs once and when he unfolded it they jokingly offered him a job folding up new tents. Phil was even consulted on the design of some of the Eureka tent models.
-we carry everything to the shallow muddy pond. The water level has fallen and now that the canoes are loaded it is even more difficult paddling/poling on this pond
-we cross the next pond and then take a 900m portage to the Raymond River. This portage is maintained by the park’s portage crew and it has many small stumps along the path. It certainly isn’t up to Phil’s standards. The trail is very hilly and rocky and it is pouring rain. It is still very hot and muggy and I am having difficulty navigating the trail because my glasses are fogging up.
-Phil moves rather slowly on the portage and carries only some small packs - now he is showing his age. Given all the packs we have, it takes quite awhile to complete the portage.
-we paddle 4 or 5 kms in the rain down the Raymond River to Pickett Lake. We hope to stay at the Ogoki Outfitters Outpost Cabin. However, when we get to the the cabin we find it is being used. So much for Shangra Lai! Jeff & Karla from Chicago were staying there for the week to do some fishing. It must have been quite a surprise for them to have paid several thousand dollars to have been flown by float plane into the middle of nowhere and then have a bunch of soggy yahoos come out of the bush to knock on the door. They graciously allow us to set up camp on the lawn and use the gazebo as shelter from the rain. There is even an outhouse. So much for wilderness camping! There are very few potential spots for any campsites so I don’t know where we would have gone if they had turned us away.
-after we got unpacked, I went for a swim. The water was cold but I wanted to get cleaned up a bit. Lunch was salmon salad on bread and Gorp (trail mix).
-it kept raining for the whole day, the wind started to pick up and the temperature got cooler. I was a little chilled from the swim so I put on extra clothes to try to warm up. The gazebo is
screened so it started getting quite cold just sitting there.
-some partridges came out of the woods during the day to look for food in the lawn which was cool
-Dave slept a good part of the afternoon in his tent
-Jeff & Karla stayed holed up in their cabin. I didn’t even see them come out to go to the outhouse
-supper was soup which helped to warm me up abit
-we have a lot of paddling to do in the next couple of days so Phil showed me a more efficient paddling stroke called the Canadian stroke. Phil teaches the Canadian stroke to most participants but I still feel a little embarrassed that he criticized my paddling
-since we are just sitting around we do alot of talking and hear more interesting stories from Phil. Phil even met the hermit Wendell Beckwith once.
-the plan is to get up at 7 tomorrow morning because we have a 26 km paddle ahead of us. Yikes. The farthest I have ever gone is 15 km and then I was tired. However, Phil’s canoes are cruising canoes which are more efficient in the water than my prospector canoes
-I went to bed around 9 or so and read for a bit and then fell asleep. Walt & Phil talked for awhile in the gazebo. I must have slept well because I didn’t even hear Phil come in the tent.

Favorite Phil Story: He went to Baffin Island in the 1970's as a cook for a group of 28. The group had not met their freight allowance so Phil took along some milk to trade since it is worth $6 a litre there. He traded his milk for a whole hind of caribou

Wabakimi - Monday Sept 1/08 - Bear Attack!!

-I got up at 9:30. Breakfast (oatmeal and breakfast bar) was not done until 12
-we commute back to yesterdays location
-I am leading the group along the trail and see a huge bear crap beside the trail. About 10 feet away is the hapless victim – the can of chainsaw bar oil. The bear had punctured the can and all the oil leaked out. Now we will be limited in the use of the chainsaw.
-our goal is to finish this trail to the lake (which is unnamed) and then make a trail to Scallop Lake.
-We continue working on the trail. However, as we get closer to the water the vegetation changes and there are a lot of cedar trees and the vegetation is quite thick. Walt scouts out the best path to the unnamed lake and the cedars are so thick he has to sometimes crawl on his hands and knees. We cut a rough trail through the cedars to the unnamed lake.
-lunch was sundried tomatoes tuna salad, beef jerky, and a granola bar
-Phil and Walt take a canoe to scout out a trail to Scallop Lake beyond the unnamed lake. They say they will be gone about an hour or so and Dave and I can work on cleaning up the trail. As soon as they leave, Dave says he is going to take it easy. I start clearing the trail.
-as much as I have been avoiding it, at 4:30 I have my first wilderness dump. Now I am a true outdoorsman :)
-continue clearing/grooming the trail. It is actually starting to look quite good. I am rather proud of it. Dave comes by a couple of times to tell me to take a break and that I am making him feel guilty. I take a break and pump some more water at the unnamed lake (I have drank 2 litres again) and he goes swimming. Walt & Phil come back after about 2 hours and compliment us on how nice the trail looks!
-Walt & Phil have bad news though. They couldn’t find a way to Scallop Lake and there are no campsites anywhere on the unnamed lake so we have to spend another night at the bog campsite. Phil said they will try to access the lake from the other direction next year. So at this point the portage we worked on doesn’t go anywhere. I name it...Futility Portage. Once again Dave proved to be the smart one. I should have lazed around all afternoon and taken it easy.
-we go back to the campsite
-we have supper which is powdered eggs, hash browns, and bacon. A fruit cup and oatmeal cookies are for dessert.
-Phil decides on an alternate plan of action. We will work our way to Whitewater Lake which is far away. However, we may be able to stay in some outfitter cabins along the way (some with showers). Sounds like Shangri Lai!
-Phil said there may be time to see Wendell Beckwith’s old cabin on Whitewater Lake.
-we go to bed at 10. I get up at midnight to check for the Northern Lights again but no luck

Favorite Phil Story: Wendell Beckwith was a researcher for the Parker Pen Company and invented a pen that could work in zero gravity. He wanted Parker Pen to patent the invention but they were not interested so he quit and took his invention with him, left his family and moved to an island in the middle of Wabakimi and built a cabin. After several years, NASA was interested in the invention and the Parker Pen Company came with hat in hand asking to buy the patent. Wendell turned them down for several years.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off to work we go......

Sunday, August 31, 2008
-get up at 7:30 after laying awake for awhile. Left Phil in the tent and I am working on my trip report and doing my devotions. I had to wear my mosquito net and the mosquitos are clawing at it to get in. It is hard to concentrate on my notes because there are so many mosquitos.
-Phil and the others get up at around 9:30. Phil generally starts late in the morning. His theory is that it is too wet and foggy in the mornings. It is a bit of a sticking point for some. We have breakfast which is oatmeal and wild blueberries (which are everywhere), a breakfast bar and tang. It is late morning by the time we gather up all the gear and take the 280m trail to the pond. The put-in is very shallow and muddy so we step on as many rocks as we can to get out farther from shore but it is still very shallow and we have to pole the canoes out to deeper water. The takeout on the other side of the pond is difficult because of all the rocks and a submerged tree stump and root system that the canoes get hung up in. It is a 145m portage to the next pond. The put-in and takeout are rocky. We get to the other side of the pond to the portage where we will be working. The other group had started the trail and we have to finish it. It is an open area with lots of blowdown. Phil is operating the chainsaw and Dave moves the logs. Walt & I pull Labrador Tea. I have flashbacks of my summer jobs with the tree nursery and after about 30 minutes I begin to think the week is going to suck. It is very hot and I drank 3 litres of water. Lunch is salami, crackers, cheese and a couple chunks of semi-sweet chocolate which is a real treat. Granola Bars for a snack.
-at the end of the day we leave some stuff such as the chainsaw, gas, oil, etc. I start taking a pack and some gear back to the canoes and the other guys are to follow. However, at one point the trail forks and I don’t remember which way to go so I stop and wait for the other guys. While waiting I load up on wild blueberries and hope a bear doesn’t come to visit the blueberry patch. The other guys catch up and we take the fork to the right. We cross both ponds and go back to the campsite. We can’t go swimming at our campsite because we left the canoes at the other end of the 280m portage by the shallow muddy pond. The water by the campsite is shallow and we would sink in the muddy bottom if we waded out; we need the canoes to get to deeper water.
-Dave goes to bed (he has a gift for being able to fall asleep) and the rest of us veg out for a bit. It has been a very hot, tiring day
-Phil shows us how to sharpen the brush axes but somehow I end up sharpening them both.
-while getting supper ready Phil has me getting all the stuff ready, pump the water, etc. He tells Dave to take it easy since Dave says his stomach is not 100% yet. I am beginning to wonder if Dave was sick or if he is really smart and knew he could get special treatment by being “sick”. If I go on another trip I’m starting to get a Martha complex.
-Supper is chicken stew, green beans and potatoes. The chicken stew is awesome. Dave and Walt had said they got tired of eating freeze-dried food last year but they are both former chefs so perhaps they have more distinguished palates. We had pudding and oatmeal cookies for dessert.
-One of my goals for the trip is to see the Northern Lights. PC says they are usually seen between 12 and 4 so I set my alarm for midnight. I check out the window of the tent a couple of times after midnight but no Northern Lights.
-it was a very warm night

Favorite Phil Story: a group of canoeists were late from coming out of Wabakimi Park so the park superintendent called Phil to see if he could use his maps of the area. Phil said sure but they would cost him exactly what the park has charge him and the Wabakimi Project in park fees for the last few years (over $5000!). Phil didn’t give him the maps. There are other provincial parks where a portage cleaning crew would get free admission but Phil and the Park Super don’t get along. After hanging up the phone with the Park Super, Phil reviewed his maps and figured the canoeists would be in one of two areas. He called Mattice Outfitters and told them he would be there in 2 hours and to have the plane ready. They flew to the general area and found the canoeists in an old ranger cabin. One had a badly broken leg. They got them out and to the hospital.

Day 2 - Flying In....

Saturday, August 30/08 - Wabakimi Finally!
-woke up at 4 am. Slept fitfully until 6 and got up to take a shower since it would be my last one for a week. Just as I am getting into the shower, the phone rings and Walt bounds down the stairs to get it to find out there is a 2 hour fog delay. Went back to bed to try to squeeze in some more sleep. I am concerned I am going to be fatigued from lack of sleep
-get up at 7 to shower. Terri picks us up and we stop at Tim Hortons before the long drive north to Armstrong. Some of the other participants have seen bear and moose along the way to Armstrong but we saw nothing other than a bald eagle
-we get to Mattice Outfitters, put our wallets in their safe but I forgot my wallet in Terri’s car. I run out the door and catch her just as she is pulling away. We load our gear into the Beaver. I try to take a picture but the batteries are dead. Oh no! This brings back memories of the trip to Killarney with Tetcy when the batteries ran out after the first picture. Killarney is such a beautiful park and I only got one picture.
-we pile into the Beaver. I have been looking forward to riding in the float plane. The interior looks very old, just like those old airplane cockpits in the museums. We get some quick safety instructions from the rather young pilot and he hands out some ear muffs. We drive around the bay to warm up the engine. The takeoff is surprisingly smooth but still a little scary. The plane gets blown around quite a bit by the wind and air drafts which is unsettling. The view though is amazing. Lots of small lakes and lots of trees but also evidence of lots of logging and blowdowns. It is approximately 11:40 am.
-after awhile the pilot tells us to keep a lookout for Uncle Phil. From the air it is hard to see anyone. Have a new respect for air search and rescue teams. We finally spot them and the pilot makes a sharp turn by a cliff and turns back to the lake. I’m thinking this is crazy but this must just be a normal part of the life of a bush pilot but after we land the pilot turns around and says, “That was fun!”. The landing on the water is incredibly smooth, much smoother than any normal airplane landing
-the 2 canoes come to meet the plane. The people we replace are very strict about getting out of the canoe and touching the pontoons with the canoe, etc. We are not even touching the pontoon as we pull away and they are still saying to be careful of the controls. Walt thinks Phil must have been really picky with them. Phil shouts at us to paddle down the lake to the campsite as he and Dave stay behind while his canoe is loaded with the gear and food. However, in all the excitement of getting loaded and into the canoes the shouted instructions aren’t clear. Walt and I paddle for awhile but don’t see the campsite and decide to wait for Phil. It is now around 12:30.
-Phil & Dave catch up and we canoe to the end of North Annette Lake. It is so named because the owner of Mattice Outfitters wife’s name is Annette and they spent their honeymoon on these lakes. Walt is a little disappointed because they were on these lakes on last year’s trip and he was hoping to see a different part of the park.
-we get to our campsite and unpack the canoes. Phil seems amazingly agile for 67
-the campsite is on a bog with some beautiful cliffs across from it. However, since it is on a bog we can’t have a fire. A fire should only be set on rock or dirt and if we were to have a campfire, the fire would spread underground.
-the tents are already set up from the previous group. PC has nothing but praise for the other group. Phil explains our original travel route has been changed because they are behind schedule due to the difficult work on the portage routes this summer
-The Wabakimi Project has been going for several years and there have been no bear issues. One of Phil’s favorite sayings is that "Wabakimi doesn’t have a bear problem because it doesn’t have a people problem". Since the park doesn’t see many campers, the bears aren’t habituated to humans. However, the previous crew had a bear encounter. They came back to the campsite after a day of working on portages and a young black bear was just getting into the worm bucket. When he saw the crew he took off.
-we have a safety meeting and are shown where everything is packed. We eat a tuna salad from a can and some crackers. The tuna salad is fantastic but then again everything tastes delicious in the bush
-he explains how to use the satellite phone. Since I am the newbie I am volun-told to phone home. However, I must talk non-stop otherwise the phone will cut out. I can’t ask any questions and I can’t allow Tetcy to talk. Oh great, I have to give a 2 minute speech to my wife in front of a bunch of strangers. Thankfully I get the answering machine and say we are fine and hang up.
-Dave isn’t feeling well and rests in the tent all afternoon while Walt, PC and I sit around and talk, ask questions and listen to PC’s stories. There are lots of beautiful moths/butterflies. For a good part of the afternoon, Walt had several sitting on his hat. There is also a Spruce Budworm which is pretty freaky. It looks like some kind of beetle but to fly it stands up and unfolds it wings (it reminds me of a transformer) and then flies away clumsily.
-PC has had a lot of run-ins with the park superintendent. This is surprising because you would think the park would appreciate the clearing of portages. The park actually hires a crew from a nearby reserve to maintain the canoe routes. However, they only do the main routes and don’t search out the old “lost” routes used by the voyageurs.
-Phil is a retired school music teacher who also was a guide in the summer months. His wife passed away in the ‘80's and he has a son and a daughter who he is very proud of. Phil and the Wabakimi Project have been featured in numerous outdoor magazines. He has a nice deep narrator’s voice. He knows and has met many of the canoe celebrities (I know, who knew there are canoe celebrities): Kevin Callan, the McGuffins, Bill Mason, Kirk Whipper, etc. Phil even wrote one of the chapters in Kevin Callan’s book on Quetico. There is even a plan to do a documentary on him and the Wabakimi Project sometime next year. In 2008, Phil was in the bush from early May to mid-September. He only came out for two weeks to attend his daughter’s wedding! Not bad for a 67 year old!

-supper was Kraft Dinner, meatballs and green beans. I hate KD and I have never eaten it, not even as a college student! But in the bush it isn’t wise to skip a meal so I ate it and with the meatballs it wasn’t bad. We had oatmeal cookies and pudding for desert.
-We do the dishes, tell some more stories, look at the stars. The Milky Way looks amazing and there are several shooting stars. I generally suck at identifying the constellations; Phil patiently points out Saturn, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Cassiopeia, North Star, MIR Space Station, etc.
-go to bed at 10:30 and slept off and on. The tent fly is flapping in the wind quite abit which is keeping me awake. I will have to remember to wear earplugs tomorrow.

Favorite Phil Story:
-last year the regular portage crew had to be evacuated twice by bush plane. They had capsized the canoes and had lost all of their gear.
-Phil thought it was unusual that they lost all their gear and food but managed not to lose the satellite phone each time. It turns out they were evacuated on June 20th and July 20th which coincides with the date they each received their monthly government cheques! The Ontario government footed the bill so they could have a few days on the town.

Please Welcome My Guest.... Ray (applause...)

Here at long last is the first installment of Ray's Wabakimi Wilderness Adventure!!!! He promises to post about each day so check often....maybe even every day? (or maybe not....)


Wabakimi Trip Blog
August 30 - September 6/08

The Wabakimi Project (Most of this part is plagiarized from www.wabakimi.org):

The Wabakimi Project was started in 2004 by Phil Cotton. Wabakimi is Ontario second largest provincial park (Polar Bear Provincial Park is the largest). Wabakimi is located about 250 kms north of Thunder Bay. It is a wilderness park and has few visitors because of very few canoe routes and lack of maps. Most of the park is only accessible by float plane.

Volunteers who participate in The Wabakimi Project will help make Wabakimi Provincial Park more inviting and user-friendly by exploring and documenting its canoe routes particularly those that have been abandoned and fallen into disrepair. Preservation of the park's canoe route values will make backcountry travel safer, disperse visitor traffic over a wider area, reduce the frequency of human encounters, lessen the impact of human activity on park environs and enhance users' wilderness experiences. Data collected about canoe routes will be used to augment the pool of information needed to develop the park's first Management Plan.

The canoe routes that lie on the Crown lands adjacent to Wabakimi are an integral component of the park's values but they do not enjoy the same degree of protection as those within the park. They are prone to the impacts of road development and resource-extraction activities. The Wabakimi Project will confirm the existence and condition of these canoe routes and will collaborate with other stakeholders to negotiate their recognition and improved protection.

The ultimate outcome of The Wabakimi Project will be the publication of a full-colour, large-scale Wabakimi Canoe Route Planning Map and several volumes of detailed Wabakimi Canoe Route Maps. Ultimately, these materials will be donated to a non-profit conservancy organization that will continue to maintain and update these maps.

The rest is all original.....

I heard Phil Cotton speak in October 2006 at a seminar at an outdoor store in London. In 2008 I would get an extra week vacation as well as some severence pay from switching jobs from the provincial to the federal government so (with Tetcy’s encouragement!!) I signed up for a week in the 2008 Project. Killarney Provincial Park has a guidebook and it has a page of thankyou’s for those who contributed to the printing of the book. I thought it would be cool to be one of the individuals who helped start the canoe routes and perhaps be immortalized in the thank you section of a guidebook.


Friday August 29/08 - The Departing
Got up at 6:30 am to have breakfast, shower and leave for the airport at 7:30ish. I haven’t been sleeping very well for several days now because I am so excited about the trip. Get to the airport at 8:30ish, check-in, say good-bye to Tetcy & the boys and settle in to read my complimentary National Post I took from the Westjet counter
-Fly out of London on Air Canada Jazz flight AC7708 at 9:25 am to Toronto. It has probably been about 6 years since I last took a plane but I was surprised to find myself rather nervous on the take-off from London and the landing in Toronto. Get to Toronto at 10:07 and walked around the airport for awhile because my flight to Thunder Bay doesn’t leave until 12:20. Took a little while to figure out I was supposed to be on the second floor of the airport for my next flight (I felt like such a tourist). Sat in the lounge and read a book. Chatted for awhile with some guy from Edmonton who had been in New York watching a couple of baseball games at Yankee Stadium before it closed. He got his tickets for free from a friend who knows Brian Trottier.
-have a cookie and chocolate milk for lunch. I was tempted by some fish & chips but I don’t want to eat too much because I don’t want to be air sick (even though I have never been air sick).
-board for flight AC8537 to Thunder Bay and once again am nervous on the take-off. The plane is quite full but I somehow lucked out and have no one in the seat beside me.
-Once we near Thunder Bay there was an island that had such amazing breath-taking cliffs that I really did make me gasp in wonder. I think it may have been Sleeping Giant Provincial Park but I am not sure
-we arrive in Thunder Bay at around 2:00. While waiting for my luggage at the carousel, a guy named Walt came up to introduce himself and his friend Dave. They had overheard me talking with another guy on the plane; Walt & Dave will be going to Wabakimi with me.

-Phil Cotton, the organizer of the Wabakimi Project allows participants to use his residence on the day before the trip and the day after the trip.
-we shared a cab to Phil’s house, unpacked a little bit and sat on the deck, chatted and read magazines since we had several hours until the pre-briefing meeting at 5:00
-Dave and Walt have been friends since highschool. They are in their mid to late forties. Dave is a proud Scotsman and Mason. He has a rough gravely voice which makes him sound like an Italian mafioso. He is also very funny. Walt is well-travelled, well read and has an interest in canoe history. Walt has a lot of canoe camping experience.
-Walt & Dave went on a trip in late August last year. They had a great time but found Phil could be a little cantankerous. I had talked to some other past participants and they had also shared Walt & Dave’s opinion. So hopefully I can measure up.
-Sarah who lives next door to Phil came over at 5:00 for a pre-briefing meeting which includes packing the gear for the trip and getting properly fitted for a paddle. We are each given a “ditch kit” which contains: Bug spray, purell, toilet paper, whistle, after-bite, etc. We were given strict instructions on what to bring so I was surprised to see we only got one roll of t/p. I smuggled an extra double roll in my pack (however, I didn’t need to because later in the trip I found other rolls).
-we also met with Terri who would be shuttling us to Armstrong. Packed up Terri’s car to capacity. We are supposed to be on the float plane for 10 am so we should leave at 7 am
-took a cab to the Keg for a steak lunch and some drinks and then back to Phil’s house and bed for 10:30

Favorite Phil Story: Last year, Phil was adamant that they all wear life jackets even when they were near the water. Walt was going to dispose of some fish guts on an island away from the campsite. However, he forgot his life jacket and somehow tipped the canoe just a little way from shore. He was standing in the water as Dave walked up and saw Walt in the water with the overturned canoe. Dave started laughing. To avoid Phil’s wrath, Walt begs Dave for his life jacket before Phil sees him. Dave tosses Walt his life jacket and Walt dunks it underwater to wet it and then walks into the campsite. Phil asks what happened and after hearing the sanitized version says: “See, it’s a good thing you were wearing your life jacket.”