Lost portages of Irvine Lake

Lost portages of Irvine Lake
A solo canoe trip into
Woodland Caribou
Provincial Park
by
Martin Kehoe
Part 4
Irvine Lake
GPS Waypoints Listings at the bottom of the part 8

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Part 5

Irvine Lake has some rock cliffs and some open rock spots to camp but not like the country that was traveled to get here. Irvine is a Walleye lake and in my experience up here, you give up some scenic value if you want to have Walleye for dinner. It is great country with trees to the waters edge in most places. Gone are the large open rock shelves. In the midst of this, I picked a campspot near the north end in a sheltered bay. There is a beaver house in the bay so some tail slapping is to be expected. It will be home for a while so a proper camp is in order. A tarp, clothesline and nice tent location with a fantastic view fill that order. An almost full moon was visible through the tent screen as I drifted off to sleep with the sleeping bag zipped up and a wool cap on my head. A big change from it being like sauna in the tent until now.

The sun had been up a long time when I rolled out this morning. A bright windy day, so cool that long johns, parka and a wool cap feel good. A Bald Eagle and an Osprey are hanging close to my camp this morning. The wind is pounding into my little bay with the beaver house and some lily pads. There are supposed to be Walleye here so before the sun gets any higher the eagle and Osprey are going to get some fishing competition. My second cast from shore yields a perfect eating size Walleye. Many more casts do not provide an encore until I realize that my twister tail has never landed where the first fish struck. The wind was raising havoc with my presentation so during a lull, careful aim was taken and the lure again landed next to the lily pads. FISH ON! Now I will have a hearty meal of Walleye for supper tonight. Did I try again? No, I only fish to eat so the rod was set aside. Sorry all you avid fishermen. They are out there; you just need to get to Irvine.

After lunch, a trip into the whitecaps took me to Larus Creek at its exit from Irvine Lake. This would be my exit out when I tired of eating Walleye. There is a rapid as the creek flows out of the lake and an attempt at walking the shore on river left stranded me in knee-deep water along a rock wall. A retreat allowed me to hike up, over the rock wall but the area had burned in 1974, and had grown back with thick Balsam trees. Finally pushing my way through the dense growth put me back on the Larus Creek right below the rapid. The creek below this looked wide and open for travel so I worked back up the shoreline in search of a better option than all the dense trees. Pushing aside some Alder and Maple brush I found myself staring into a slot canyon in the high rock. Walking on in awe through the dark and cool passage led me to the spot from which I had retreated minutes earlier. Wet feet or not this was going to be the portage.


Slot portage past the rapids	Open water on Larus Creek

Ferns were waving in the waters current so on a normal year the path would be water free. On a Balsam that had survived the fire a blaze confirmed this as the best choice. After getting my canoe through the slot canyon portage it was an easy winding paddle out to the next lake. One log had to be cut and another had been cut many years before. Except for these, the stream had kept itself open for decades. It has good depth and little vegetation so must never get very low.

In the evening, the wind let up and allowed me to paddle over to the far shore to clean and fry my fish. My thought is that up here the bears might know that after they smell fish frying it is their turn to come in and eat up the spoils. With half the feast eaten, distant thunder startled me. While bent over cooking the weather above me had changed to ominous looking clouds. My meal was finished as a retreat to camp was made. The storm missed Irvine but others moved through during the night. A clear blue sky in the morning had me hoping the storms had all moved on. An attempt was made to replace the Walleyes that had been eaten last night but without the wind blowing into my bay the fish must have been feeding elsewhere. An exploration to the east was on the agenda so trolling on the way over seemed like the thing to do. The twister tail was not working so I resorted to my ace in the hole lure. Yes, Old Pinkie a hot pink Dardvel that my friends Ron and Jim had given me was called into service. Four hundred meters out while passing in the shade of a peninsula a Walleye hit the spoon. After landing it a trip was made back through the shaded spot only to have a Walleye on and lose it. Not to worry though, another one hit and was landed on the return pass. My fishing gear, fish and cook pail were left on shore before the exploration up the creek to the east was started.

The creek flowing in from the east was open and deep all the way to the next small lake. The goal was to find a land route from this small lake over to the Royd to Murdock chain. There were no good landing spots near my chosen starting point so the canoe was nosed into some Alder and slid up on the shore at a Moose trail heading in the right direction. All went well until a Spruce Bag about half way over forced me way off my intended course. The other side was finally reached at a point on a cliff high above the water. Walking further north a way was found down to the water that also provided a stunning view down the narrow lake passage. Unfortunately, it could not be used for a canoe portage because of its steepness. Farther along the rock wall, an animal trail showed me a way down to the water. An old blaze on a tree confirmed that another lost portage had been found. It is a steep climb but is broken up into many segments and is safe to do. The GPS was used to find out what bearing needed to be followed to return to my canoe almost two kilometers to the west. Walking with a compass in one hand and a GPS in the other recording a track, the return trip was started. The route was not too hard to find but sometimes if it did not look good ahead the GPS laying the track was laid down with my pack, another GPS was turned on, and a waypoint set for my pack location. This was the only way the pack could be found again. After the area ahead had been scouted a return to the first GPS and pack took place. Then the next leg of the portage would be recorded with the GPS. The route was a good one with a little drift to the south to stay on good open rock runs.

Dinner was waiting on the stringer back on Irvine so a quick paddle down the open stream was started. An Olive-sided Flycatcher was doing its "Quick Three Beers" call from a snag on the way back. It had rained a few times during the day but held off during the shore lunch. Dessert was Dove Dark Chocolate Pieces washed down with hot coffee. This gave me the pep to push upstream on Larus Creek from where it entered Irvine Lake. The creek kept getting smaller as it got closer to the next small lake. A shallow rapid made me leave the canoe and walk the 200 meters to the next lake. A small channel could be seen entering the far side of the lake but the small amount of water coming through the rapids led me to turn around and head for camp.

The objective of finding a way to Irvine was taken care of with my entry Monday from the southwest. Today’s addition is almost 3000 meters but is a nice way to come in directly from the Royd to Murdock chain. It has the climb on the east side but otherwise is mostly open and drops gently all the way to Irvine Lake. With these routes laid out, tomorrow camp will be moved down Larus Creek and a link made back down the West side of the "O" to "Boot Lake." From evidence found south of "Boot Lake" I know there will be lost portages coming north to Larus Creek.

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