After spending the winter of 2002 pouring over maps of our favourite places, Otter and the Commander decided that the absolute best route into Woodland Caribou Park was up the Bird River from Tulibe and north to Eagle where there were options. Either that or east from Garner Lake. The Bird we knew, the other route we didn’t, and if we were turned back on the Bird, we were still in prime camping country.

So up the Bird it was, six and a half hours of paddling and carrying into Snowshoe Lake. On the way we saw many remarkable things, some too Gothic to mention. The paddle takes you through Elbow Lake, which we agreed was probably the most heavily used wilderness canoe route in Manitoba. We passed so many parties going in and coming out. We saw people camped on islands the size of a River Heights lot. We saw people camping on cliffs. We saw people everywhere. But in the large body of the lake, where all the open spots were, no one. We were once again flummoxed. Why were they camping back there? But it’s not our problem. We are only a finger pointing at the moon; not the moon.

So double tripping the portages, it’s six and a half hours to Snowshoe no matter how you slice it. We used to camp at Bannock Point, but it is pretty beat up from hard use (fisherpeople, they’re different from us), so we camp around the corner on a flat bit of mainland that has seen lots of use, but is pretty good. For a lake the size of Snowshoe, there are very few camping spots, and because of the two fly-in fishing camps, the camping spots have seen quite alot of trash. Sad, actually.

Out of Snowshoe and into the river again, It’s pristine. It is impassable to motorboats, windey and reedy; turtles, ducks, otters, and deer stop to say hello. A zesty series of portages and carry-overs end in Chase Lake. We stopped short of Chase in a big bulb of the river only to find that our island, the beloved Lantern Lookout was the victim a of a violent wind storm and lots of big trees were down all over the camp site. It’s too bad. We’d had lots of great nights on this spot over the years and it was one of our favourites. The Comm has a picture taken from it in his office, over his door. He relies on it to remind him of yesterday, today and tomorrow, and what is really real.

Next day, we cruised into Chase. At the narrows to Midway there is a Fly-in-Fishing lodge where we took refuge once, during a troubled trip. There was a family vacationing here this time. They’re always so surprised, if not somewhat alarmed to see us paddle by, as if there shouldn’t be anyone around except those who fly in to fish. You see, they are from the U.S.A., they drive to Kenora and fly in, passing nothing but forest and lake, with no roads or settlements until they land, so they think there is no one out here. We come along, they can’t believe it. One time we were approaching Lantern Lookout and we saw a motorboat with fisherpeople going behind our island. So we hustled over to our spot, unloaded and set up a snack of liver pate, crackers and red wine, Burgundy to be precise. They came back around and nearly died when they saw us.

"Where did you come from?" one asked. Remember, there was no one there when they went behind the island.

"From down the lake" , we said.

"Would you like a beer?" they asked.

"No thanks ", said the Comm , ( I hated him for this),  " We’ve drinking Burgundy".

The Comm is Fracophone; rather Patrician. They were from Chicago. They were astonished that we paddled there in two days in complete comfort.  With Burgundy and pate!  The moral of this story?  Never turn down a cold beer in the bush in summer.

This time as we passed the lodge, there were two women sunbathing au natural, (I guess the guys were out killing fish). They looked dangerous so we kept our distance and spoke French. We often speak French when encountering American fisherpeople, to heighten their Canadian wilderness experience.

Once you get to Chase, it’s all paddling to Eagle. These are three big lakes with huge reaches and lots of island and bays. We headed for an island we knew that featured flat rocks on three sides, a good tent spot, breezy points to keep down the bugs and a great view. All in all, a Grade A camping spot. We are so lucky.

We swam, drank beer, watched the sky, ate curry. On this trip we made a giant step, for a man, a small step for mankind, in our food trip. A friend of mine told me about these amazing vacuum packed Indian curries and dhal dishes, really tasty and spicy, so we bought a bunch. They were light to carry and easy to prepare. We would cook Basmati Rice and set two foil packs of curry on the lid and cover them with another lid. By the time the rice was done, the curry was hot. We had three types of Chutney to eat this with. Fantastic. The Comm tried this another time in cold weather camping with good results. I must say, I think we get more clever all the time.

We noticed on this trip that the intensity of the mosquitoes at night was not always the same. The weather up to this point had been hot and dry, and some nights the mosquitoes were terrible and sometimes they were just awful. We conjectured that smaller islands had fewer mosquitoes than mainland because there was less wet area for the nymphs to grow (they don’t live in the lake) and as adults, they don’t travel that far from where they are. On this island we stayed up well into the night without being sent to the tent by the bugs. The next night on Talon Lake, we camped on mainland, near a reedy river and the mosquitoes were unbelievable.

Otter’s Talon Lake Mosquito Research

From Eagle Lake there are several options into Woodland Caribou Park. I’ll only tell you what I know. We once traveled from Wrist (we flew in) to Eagle and the route we took was very difficult, but it was May, it was cold and wet, and the water was so high, we couldn’t get to the portages. But that’s another story, and a woeful one at that! This time we went up the Talon River to Talon Lake: easy moving. It is a narrow river, but passable, with well marked portages and lots of interesting sites. There is a high climb just before Talon that has a great view down onto the land below. Coming from the prairies, we are used to everything being flat. Vertical terrain is refreshing.

We intended to stay at an old trappers cabin at the north end of Talon. Well folks, Talon is burned and not very welcoming. It always makes me sad to paddle through burned territory. I mean, the forest grows back and it is a natural cycle, but it is uninviting. There are no good camp spots; the forest grows right down to the shore and is impenetrable. But Otter should remember, the forest is not there for him and the Commander, or even the Chief. The forest is the forest.

So when we got to the far end of Talon, and it is far and remote and no one should be here, we encountered some people swimming off an island near our destination. Similarly to the guys from Chicago, we couldn’t believe it. But we just acted normal and made for our spot, which was the cabin with the sand beach. Well, the Natural Resources people had burned the cabin down because it was in a park and the owner wasn’t a trapper. I suppose there were rules and regulations and liability issues, as there always are when governments are involved, but if you can canoe here in one piece, how dangerous can a trappers cabin be?

Anyway, we set up the tent and hung out on the beach.

Sand beaches are rare and fun where we camp. This is the Canadian Shield and I don’t even know how sand comes to be here. Glaciers, maybe. Well, we swam, ate curry, sipped Malt and water, and walked along the beach. Most campsites don’t offer much of a walk so whenever we camp at a sand beach, the next day it’s covered in footprints.

At sunset, they emerged. Mosquitoes. Millions of them. The Commander left for the tent. I did my mosquito research. I put on my rain gear and rubber boots. I put Deep Woods Off on my hands and face, put on my hat, did up my hood and laid down on the sand, gazing at the full moon and the Northern Lights. The bugs were so thick, I almost inhaled them. The only place on me without repellant were my eyes and they tried to land there. I could feel the breeze from their wings on my face. And... Deep Woods Off lasted about 30 minutes before they broke through. That’s it! I ran the experiment with Muskol too. It was no better. I went to bed.

If you are swarmed by mosquitoes and you want to go to bed, you have to run to the tent , leaving them behind. You need at least 30 meters. Get into the tent quickly before new ones can find you. If you get up at night to go pee, be careful and quick. The last thing you want is mosquitoes in your tent. Just a few can keep you up all night. This is the kind of stuff good campers know. The next day, we left.

Same Trip Backwards

Up to this point, the weather had been consistently hot and sunny, with pleasant breezes. That was over. The first day of our return trip, we started having thunderstorms that went on and on. We paddled down the Talon River with big dark clouds rumbling ominously over head. We portaged out of Talon Lake and wended our way down a windey creek for about twenty minutes, until the next portage. We carried our gear across and realized we had left our extra paddle back at the last portage. We carry a cheap plastic and aluminum paddle for situations when the kayak paddle isn’t suitable, such as really narrow or shallow water, or guiding through rapids. The Comm suggested that we just leave it but we went back anyway. "You never know," I said. "Yeah, you’re right" replied the Comm.

So eventually we got to the last portage before Eagle. We were contemplating lining the boat down the rapids when the thunderstorm hit. So we carried everything over and set off into the storm. Paddling on a lake in a thunderstorm is scary. The wind was strong from the north, but we had some shelter staying close to the shore.