Training Log Archive: Sid

Last day of Woodland Caribou Canoe Trip. Up at 8:30 am for gruel. Temperature - 14°C. 9:33 am departure paddling down Onnie for the 625 m portage to the creek beyond. Quite a rugged and hilly trail! Meet a couple going into the park with mega gear, suggesting a 2 week trip; 2 barrel packs and assorted mid sized packs suggesting 3 trips on portages for gear and canoe. Paddled down the creek to a 30 m portage to a small lake. Paddled across to the 300 m final portage to Suffle Lake Road for pick up. Arrived at 11:33 am. M showed up at 12:10 with a 4x4 Silverado crew cab and we loaded the gear after final pictures. 80 km drive out to Cochenour with lots of time to get S to work for 3 pm. Visited the locals for debriefing and beer.

Generally, a pretty casual adventure compared to past trips. Weather was so so with rain two days and wind against us only twice. Overall distance - 120 km in 6 days, 27 portages.

Day 6 ECCH! a rest day on Onnie Lake.. My brother learned years ago on an 11 day trip, I can not stand such. He and I disagreed but it was no contest with the kids voting. I even tried to get us to move just a few lakes over but to no avail. So again a waste day as I call them. The kids boated over to 2 main land campsites and ran through out. I did some light canoeing and fishing but little luck. We caught to 11" Walleye in shallow water but no honking fish. May be should have trawled. Weather was not great with a high of 14°C. May be I should have brought a book.

Day 5 of Woodland Caribou Canoe Trip. Decided to go for the park border and Onnie Lake. The wind is in our favour out of the northwest. Cool morning at 12 °C so we do not get up until 8:30 am. On the lake at 10 am after gruel. Down Glenn Lake we pass two groups of fishermen from fly cabins. The first portage is 275 m to a small lake and another 275 m to Optic lake. We head up Optic Lake though the north wind is a bit against us. At the narrows in the lake are a cow and calf moose that we approach cautiously, taking pictures and video. We get pretty close until K dog notices the animals and decides to bark. Once above the narrows the wind is near against us and black ominous clouds soon mean rain. A down pour lasts 10 minutes as we turn down the down to the portage. This portage leads to 2 smaller lakes with 100m portages and finally Telescope Lake. The sun comes out again but ominous clouds and gusty winds abound. Stopping at Telescope for lunch the rain gear is soon on as torrential rain occurs for 15 minutes. Telescope Lake is long, calculated at about 9.5 km. Heading out at 4:15 pm the canoes head for the far end. The large bay at one point blows the Tripper to the south shore but the lake narrows further on, blocking the wind and S & I reach the far end at 5:45 pm. The portage to the first of the 3 Halmarj is 150 m. More rain falls at the portage end. K dog almost decides to swim the lake but finally gets in the red canoe. S has decided to bet T on boat speed but the yellow kevlar canoe is quicker. A 200 m portage leads to the second Halmarj Lake with a stop to see the Indian pictograph and a finally 200m to Onnie Lake at 6:15 pm. We pick up some wood for the fire as the island campsite may be bare. Arriving at 6:45 pm all the kids footwear is wet. Corn beef hash with dehydrated cream style corn is a welcome meal. A large 6 litre pot of this canoeing speciality is soon consumed by the four paddlers.

The GPS distance is 36.1 km, perhaps a new record. A large fire is built to keep warm but rain starts so we crash at 9 pm. Being our 5th day out, we are used to the exertion. It would have been difficult to do earlier in the week or with bad winds. Generally, though it is felt the senior members are stronger from swimming and others may not be able to sustain the efforrt.

Day 4 of Woodland Caribou Canoe Trip. Late start on Hansen Lake after long distance canoe the day before. S with R and the dog and T with I depart about noon. We had been traveling down river from Dunstan to Restoule but Hansen was the first upstream lake of a few. Up creek towards Glen Lake a small swift is encountered. Not quite able to paddle up it, R does a small portage on the north side and I line our boat through on the opposite shore. K dog realizes we are on the far bank and with T's cheering tries to walk across the swift but gets swept away. Now it becomes an intelligence test to see how many things K will attempt the crossing. #2 is unsuccessful. R thinks she will not go 5 times. Sure enough the 3rd attempt fails and K has to helped out the eddy below the sift. 4th Attempt our cameras are set for video. K makes a valiant attempt almost reaching the far shore below the swift but eddies out again. T tries to encourage one more attempt but K goes half way before the small pea brain has had enough. The crew are besides themselves with laughter until R inadvertently knocks S's hat into the drink. Going through the rapids, it is never seen again though a search party spends some time.

Two further portages and the group is at Glenn Lake, stopping for a snack. It is 2 pm and it is decided to trawl for walleye through the northern Glenn channel. Many fish have been caught here on past trips and R calls the section, Walleye Alley. With the wind behind us T & S are rigged with diving Rappelas. The combination of wind and paddling should allow the lures to reach the bottom for fish. S catches a pike and T a 17" walleye. S catches a similar Walleye and another pike. The boys reel in at the narrows but release after. The plan is to have a shore lunch and continue through towards Optic lake. S catches another 18" fish and T a monster 23"er as we round a point. The group eddies out behind the point where there is supposed to be a campsite but there is none. Roy cleans the fish after pictures but the wind soon picks up and it begins to rain heavy. I put up the tarp for protection but the weather persists. It is decided to head back to an island campsite across the bay for the night as wind and rain is a bad combination. On the island there wind is quite high and the temperature has dropped to 10 °C. With 4 fish and 6 pork chops, the crew has lots to eat. In full rain gear, the boys eat supper and dry gear as the wind drops somewhat as it gets dark.

The plan is formed to paddle all the way to Onnie Lake tomorrow. This is to give an idea on how far one could go if conditions are favorable. Wind direction is important. Onnie is a good starting point for park access. If one could paddle to Glenn in one day, prime fishing areas could be quickly reached. Low mileage today though.

Day 3 of Woodland Caribou Canoe Trip. Sunny but breezy morning on Gammon lake. The wind has changed overnight to northwesterly from yesterday's south easterlies. The temperature is a warm 20°C and the 3 plus dog start out about 10:20 pm after a pancake breakfast. The satelite phone is working and it is learn that it is too windy for the float plane but an afternoon attempt will be made. We tell L that we will be camping on an island in the south west end of Hansen Lake so now have to get there. The first section is along a scenic river connecting to Hammerhead Lake. The area is very picturesque but 5 portages over some very rugged terrain tempers our spirits. There was an alternate route with 2 very long portage but a large basin in between. The river was recommended. Takes 2 hours to reach Hammerhead, heading south to the portage to a smaller lake. Navigation is tricky as we are in the edge of 2 top sheets. Portage to Restoule Lake for the long crossing. With wind behind, we reach the portage to Hansen Lake at 5:30 pm. With the float plane leaving about 5 pm from Red Lake, the group wants to on a lake for easy spotting. Hustle through the portage and come across a group of 4 heading the opposite direction and camped for the night. On the water by 6 pm, we do a quick stop for pictures at the Indian pictograph and then paddle on. We get about 3 km down the lake about 2 km above the campsite when a plane is heard overhead. Soon identified as L & S the plane lands and taxis close. L jumps out but s is a bit apprehensive when it is revealed that he has a sore wrist and an arm in a sling. R agrees to let S come on the trip though he is unsuitable for paddling. However we also get the chicken and pork chops. L departs and I have the wingless S in the front on my canoe. We reach the island campsite at 7:15 pm. GPS distance - 30.1 km Scott reveals his wrist is okay. Just a ruse cooked put by his mother but good for interesting discussion later. Ahh! Chicken on a stick for supper. Cool night, temperature dropping to 9°C.

Day 2 of Woodland Caribou Canoe Trip. Decamp at 10:45 am and proceeded south. Overcast skies looked ominous to the north. Cruised down to 40 m portage, through lake to a 125 m portage and onto the largest portage on this trip a 900m journey to Royd Lake. Finding the trail was a bit tricky as the blazes were old. Checked satellite phone at the 125 m portage but reception was bad. The 900 m portage had a nice flatter start but then became quite rugged and up and down with fallen trees everywhere. About 12 pm a float plane is heard overhead as I am about 3/4 of the way through the portage. L is expected to be dropping off S. The plne continues south as we trudge on. A major tree over the trail cause a detour. I take left but right was better at the opposite end. Finish the portage and hear the palne again. I wave from the portage end to a white palne with a lower yellow stripe but a response. The plane turns about 100m away and heads down Royd. Returning for a second gear load light rain starts but not enough to break out the rain gear. Art 1:45 pm we are finished ferrying gear and stop for lunch. The wind is usual from the southeast. Without a bow person, the yellow kelvar Tripper is difficult to handle in the wind. I keep get blown to the west shore and at one point have to go in reverse. Get a bit confused at the bottom of Royd but find the portage. Realize that maps are not always prefect from orienteering experience.

R gets satellite phone to work and learns the earlier plane overhead was to drop off S but they could not find us that morning due to some confusion on where the portage was. Also we were on the edge of a storm system making flight a problem in the small plane. We continue on after the portage to Gammon Lake and camp on an exposed island in east end of the lake. Arriving at 6:30 pm, we are a little light on food as the float plane was to drop off chicken and pork chops. T & I try some drift fishing for walleye but have no luck. Dinner is scalloped potatoes and brownies. There were emergency rations in case we never connect with the float plane. The Sandbank 10 blows about, exposed in the wind with little tree protection. The gear inside is the only thing keeping it down as the thin moss cover provides little purchase for tent pegs. Total distance travelled today 18.5 km.

Day 1 of Woodland Caribou Provincial Park canoe trip Started at Dunstan Lake after a 81 km float plane ride from Chimo airlines and pilot, Dwayne. Myself, R, T and K dog travelling in two canoes, R's red fibreglass unit and my yellow kelvar version. Travelled to 750 m portage at bottom of lake. This area has been named the "Enchanted Forest" and is known as prime Woodland Catibou feeding ground. The area was relatively flat with even spaced trees and heavy moss and lichen ground cover. Possible caribou tracks noted at one point.

Across a small lake we entered a beaver channel creek. Practised my dam busting skills at the top to increase water flow but was soon in low water and major quagmire. Channel was windy and K was excited jumping on off each boat and in as she got tired. Mucky poling condition required 1.5 hours to get through the 1.2 km section. Ended in a small pond with a vertical portage to the next lake.

Out an inlet onto the lake, our speed picked up. We stopped to check out a campsite near the end. R had a 45 minute sleep beforee T decided the spot was not suitable. There was not a great spot for the tent.

Back on the lake we traversed a 40 m portage skirting a narrows. to a second lake. A campsite below the portage did not look much better so contine to one past two more points. Quite nice with a rocky promintry, flat camp spot and a narrows for fishing. T caught 3 pike, myself 2 pike a perch bait fish. At night the temperature dropped to 8°C. The Sandbank 10 takes a large footprint but will stand with pegs as the rock was mossed covered but little more.