Wabakimi, the Gear

When you go into the bush you have to be prepared for anything, yet try to keep things light and sparse since you have to CARRY it all!.  I thought I would include this chapter because there are a lot of people who don't regularly head into the bush with a canoe, away from the campground.   I have been on other wilderness trips for 3 or 4 days, but never for 7 days.  The Wabakimi wilderness is much wilder and more remote than any place I have ever been.  On a trip like this, a satellite phone is a MUST.  

On our trip, we brought  2-60L barrels which contained all the food we needed for the week....mostly freeze dried meals from Mountain House, and Bauly.    This took up almost one whole barrel.  The other contained:breakfast items like oatmeal, snacks (GORP, trail bars, etc...), dessert (pudding, fruit cups, and cookies), and the small lift out barrel pack pantry (coffee, tea, salt, pepper, peanut butter, etc....).  The food we ate was sooo good, especially at the end of long working days...my favourite was the Mountain House Pasta Primavera, Bauly carrots and yummy Finnish Bread Dumplings.   

Every team of two(Ray and I, and Phil and Jerry) had a personal pack which contained their four man tent and 2 each: sleeping bags, liners, utlralight thermarest, 20L drybag of clothes, and room for camp shoes (usually dry).   This pack always weighs a TON....I LET the boys carry this one( big  & red)!!!   I usually carried the food barrels, and the equipment packs.    The personal packs also held one tarp each.   One 12'x14' tarp functions as rain shelter and is always the first detail that gets taken care of, and one 9'x14' that covers the gear at night.    The second detail is....making a bench for us to sit on, or more often for us to lean against.     Seat pads double as canoe seat pads and campfire cushions(they're on top of the food barrel in this picture....)

The logic behind bringing 2 four man tents is in the case that one tent becomes unusable...that the participants on the trip CAN all fit (snuggly) in one four man tent.   All the camp sites inventoried had to be able to support two tent pads to be marked on the map with the GPS.  Phil carries it on his person at all times.  He marks the campsites that are inventoried, and all the way points.    There was one map pack for each canoe that contains topographical maps of the current area we are visiting.  The topo maps are great for checking elevation.   Most of the trails follow the contour lines quite closely.   Phil predicted that we would spot very few campsites along the Western side of Granite Lake since the contour lines indicated cliffs!   He also predicted that we would find some near the South end, where we ended up making camp. 

There are two equipment packs which house the rest of the gear....ropes,a Pelican case full of first aid items, the satelite phone and case, utensils, a case for the fishing reels, two camp stoves, 4 Nalgene bottles of naphta fuel, an extensive repair kit, 2 cases of fishing paraphernalia (telescopic fishing rods are housed under the bow seat in Phil's canoe in PVC tubes with caps), a buck saw, sierra saws and blades, a soft cooler with sandwich meats, and cheese for wraps, two map cases and contents, camp shovel, cooking pans, and plates and bowls.  

Do the math.....2 canoes, 6 paddles (2 spares), 2 monster personal packs, 2 food barrels, 2 equipment packs, a chainsaw and case, can of gas, can of oil, and four knapsacks (one per person)...plus my camera.  This has to be carried up and over every portage(and you get to eat blueberries by the handfull when you head back for your next load :)    Jerry has a portaging song in his catalogue called "Rocks and Roots" which quickly became an anthem, but at the same time became the dreaded song that gets stuck in your head, that you don't know all the words to....yet.  (Jerry  has promised to rectify the situation and send us the CD once he records that one AND the Wabakimi song.) 

I REALLY wanted to bring my new camera to Wabakimi.    I wasn't sure how well that would be received since the Pelican case is a very bulky, but water proof and impact resistant container.    I sacrificed room in my daypack to bring it along ( I left my dogeared wildflower books at home....).    Not too much photography has been done previous trips, so YEAY me!    The day we measured the portage from Granite to the first pond toward Van Ness Lake, I actually had sore knees from all the crouching I did.     It was so beautiful and the lighting was great almost all day.     I took over 900 photographs from the beginning of the trip to the end.  The case is open on the front seat of the red canoe.  

Dual purpose.  The central tarp line makes a great clothesline too.   Lots of things can be found drying at any given time...usually swimtrunks, wet clothes, towels,  the odd Wa"bikini", hankies, socks (when you run out of trees),  and barrel gear.  



On the day that we flew into the park, we had to bring the extra canoe along since there was only one 2 man team in the park. (Phil and Barry sent the extra canoe, chainsaw, etc...out so that they could travel light for the week.)  So this is how you bring a canoe along on a bush plane,  tied to the pontoon.  All the things you learn when you head out of town.....  I'm not going to lie, flying in and out on a DeHaviland Beaver was a huge thrill!    It's the smoothest take off and landing I've ever experienced.   To the people who live up here...it's just something they do everyday.    I don't know if the novelty would ever wear off for me!       This is by far the most expensive part of the trip.   Ray and I daydream about going up there again.    I would love to take the train in and out the next time.  

This is Jerry's daytrip gear: hat, gloves, Nalgene bottle and a water filter(in a case).  Out in the bush you filter all your water so you don't ingest any nasty critters.  The filter fits on a wide mouth Nalgene bottle and the water is filtered right into it.    Often we use drink crystals to flavour the water....it tastes fine on its own but iced tea is really nice.    The water is already that colour so it might as well taste like it!!  The colour comes from the tannins in the water.    

The two things you can't live without in this environment: a good tarp, at least 12'x14', and the Wabikimi fireplace.  Putting up a tarp without pegs and poles can be a tricky thing, but it can be done.    Most people know how to put up a tarp...but I....didn't.  Phil taught me and so now  I know.  Anyone who witnessed my throwing a tarp over my tent in a torrential downpour in the Bruce, should rest assured that I now have a solid foundation in proper tarp management.   The main rope is strung between 2 trees near the top of a ridge.  The tarp is placed over the rope and the corners are secured with ropes and large stones.  Pegs....just won't work on granite.  :)   Poles are fabricated from small fallen trees, growing trees rarely need to be cut down for this purpose due to ever present blow downs.   There....a thing of beauty.   The back or the front can be dropped down in case of driving rain...I sure am glad we didn't have a storm.  The fireplace is constructed of several stones found at the campsite: several medium sized stones set on their sides and one large slab for the topper which usually cracks by the end of our stay because of the incredible amount of heat that is generated.   The topper helps keep the sparks contained when it has been really dry, and keeps the fire dry when it is raining.   The nearby moss is scraped off the ridge to make a 6'-8' clear zone around the fireplace.  If Phil knows he will be returning to this campsite in the near future, he will leave wood in the fireplace.   There is usually a stash of firewood cut up and left behind so it can season.  If you ever find yourself up there, and find an intact fireplace...you'll know Phil has been there.  

The right outer wear matters.   Quick dry pants, wool socks and polypro liners, and water shoes.    Pants need to dry quickly after they get wet(both from rain and from sweat!), and synthetic fabrics don't feel as cold as cotton.   Wool socks are warm even when they are wet, and polypros make the wool bearable...also keeps the sand from getting between your toes!    Shoes with drainage are a must since your feet are wet A LOT, not only does the water drain out as quickly as it gets in, they dry quicker too!  The orange thing in the left corner is my whistle.  We all wear one when we're out on the trail (and we should wear it in the canoe too!).    It is soooo easy to get lost, especially when you're on wild and wooly trail....like a piece of bog with tall grass or a thick scrub, and you stayed behind to take pictures and all the mossy footprints have sprung back already.    One blast means "I'm here", two mean "come to me" and three...."help".    If you hear a whistle you respond with the same call to confirm that you've heard.  The rain gear is kept in the day pack, so that it's with you in case the weather changes.

I loved the tents we had.    Eureka! 4 man tents 7'x7'.   How awesome to stretch out and not hit the sides!   My favourite feature was that both ends of the tent had a zippered entrance.   The tent also had a fly with a "storm door".   That end of the fly was pegged down to create a vestibule around the entrance.   This is great to keep the rain out of your tent, but also gives you a spot to keep unused gear, like your empty tent bag, your empty personal pack, and at night: your camp shoes, your seat cushion and life jacket so they don't blow away.    Yes....a seat cushion....you know the ones you kneel on when you're gardening?   These are a real luxury around the campfire at night on the granite ridge, and if you've sat on a canoe seat for hours on end....you'll probably go out and buy some too!    Sometimes you sacrifice space for comfort.  I loved sleeping with both doors open on the warm nights, and looking at the stars while I was laying in bed.   Incidentally, every tent pad site we slept on was made up of this lovely soft, deep moss.   It DOES compact after three days to reveal every rock and bump but overal, it is sooooo comfortable.   Ray and I talked about Wabakimi while we were staining the garage today.    He has been to the western side of the park and it looks a lot different than the Elf and Granite Lake areas...so I guess that doesn't guarantee this cushiony comfort in all areas!

The item that gets used the most is probably the stove.  We boiled all our water, and cooked all our food on this single burner Coleman stove.   It's about the same diameter as the kettle (coffee pot) and uses naphtha fuel like the regular camping stove. The shield is by Outbound and  is a really great feature...I can't believe they don't make those anymore.   We had coffee "first thing" every morning, and then brekkie, a daily routine that wrapped up around 11am or so...leisurely to say the least.

And about that sat phone.   It cost $2.50 per minute and there is no plan.  It is used only for emergencies, and three regularly scheduled telephone calls.  The phone makes it possible for Phil to keep in touch with the real world, and the real world runs on a schedule with details.  There are also people in Phil's real world who care about him and would be concerned if these regular calls were not made.   Phil calls the home base each Wednesday night(anytime after 9pm) with a shopping list.   In our case it included getting new chains for the chainsaw....aka Husky,facilitating the sharpening of the Sierra saw blades, more sugar cubes( we only had one cube left at the end of the week!),  and Phil was anxious to track down two missing fuel bottles.   This call gives ample opportunity for the supplies to be tracked down and sent along with the team that heads in on Saturday morning.    The second regularly scheduled call is on Friday night(at 5:30 sharp) when the next team of participants has assembled at Phil's house.  I can't  remember if he or Sara (home base) calls Mattice Lake Outfitters, which run Wabakimi Air Ltd. and gives them our coordinates so that the pilot knows where to find him for the rendezvous.   Wabakimi Provincial Park is currently larger than PEI.    There are a few outfitter's outposts scattered around the park, but most of the time you are the only group for hundreds of square kilometres.   There's no one to help you if your run into trouble.   We had no problems at all....but the potential is always there. It's called Murphy's Law, and Phil says Murphy comes along on every trip.  

I hope this takes some of the mystery out of wilderness camping. I hope it makes you think about getting out there.   I have not always been a camper, but....I have grown to love going into the middle of nowhere with these bare essentials.  Roughing it isn't nearly as bad as you think it is. Some people argue that we should have celebrated our 20th anniversary with a cruise...but I figure...we were still in a boat:a 52lb Kevlar boat, and I loved every minute of it!