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.
-I got up at 9:30. Breakfast (oatmeal and breakfast bar) was not done until 12
