Day 13: 08-22-08 Friday - Day 15: 08-24-08 Sunday

DAY 13: 08-22-08 Friday

Lakes / Rivers: Whitewater Lake

Distance: 16.5 km (10.3 miles)

Time: 2:10 to Best Island. I didn’t document our time spent at Wendell Beckwith’s and our time paddling looking for a campsite)

This morning where we camped last night there was already a breeze, but there is a very large long island blocking the majority of the wind. Dave cooked scrambled eggs with onions and ham with some potatoes. We finished breakfast at 0640 am. We began packing up our gear to the sounds of some loons in the background.

I’m writing now at a campsite that we had to make camp from an old shore lunch site. There was a very old fireplace that hasn’t been used in years, and there hasn’t been anyone using this site for camping. There was enough room for one tent site close to shore. I located another area for a tent way back in the bush. Pete came up with his axe and cleared the area and cleared a trail back to the camp.

There were again many blueberries at this site.

We were on the water this morning at 0729 am. When I first got up I saw clouds to the east that were moving our way toward the west.

We followed our intended route to the east about 6.5 km before turning to a southerly direction when I saw a large Woodland Caribou on a point. The caribou walked into the water and began swimming across to an island to the east. Pete and I continued paddling to the caribou that was ahead of us. It was still some distance from us. I tried taking some photos, but I figured they wouldn’t turn out because I really needed a tripod because of the distance it was from us.

Before the caribou made land it swam up to a large rock that was under the water. We could see the caribou get about half way up and then slide back in the water. Once it made it to the island it ran south along the shore before getting back in the water. It began swimming back to the island from where it came, but only further south. Dave and Dick who were paddling behind us saw the caribou, also.

This was everyone’s first time seeing a Woodland Caribou in Wabakimi. Dave has seen Barren Caribou in the wild before, but it was his first Woodland Caribou in the park.

Woodland Caribou- not a good photo, but used to document the sighting.



The wind was coming from the SE this morning around 15 to 20 mph. We needed to paddle in some larger waves to get to Best Island. We arrived at Wendell Beckwith’s place at 0939 am.

Wendell Beckwith lived on the island from 1955 to his death in 1980. Wendell has been called the “Hermit of Whitewater Lake”. He was an amateur scientist who conducted astronomical and meteorological observations doing what he called “pure” research.”

We looked around his place where I took many photos of the inside and outside of the several of the buildings which he designed and built. We had lunch at the picnic table down at the beach after we looked around for an hour or so.

Dave got out the Globalstar Sat phone and called Mattice Lake Outfitters to confirm our flight and pick up location for tomorrow. I was surprised when it only took less than 5 minutes to get a signal. Dave talked to Yolanda who told us to call back in an hour. The person who does the scheduling wasn’t in. We were hoping for a 9 am pickup tomorrow at Wendell’s place.

We back track a little to a known campsite on another island near Best Island. The island was looking sparse and there wouldn’t be much relief from the strong southerly winds.

Dave had another campsite marked down on his map that was in the area, but he never had been to it himself. We needed to cross the large waves to check on it. We paddled down the west shore of another island, but we didn’t locate anything that was remotely possible for a campsite.

We then crossed more open water to the far west shore to check out another possibility. Nope, that wouldn’t work. It was back to paddling to the east from where we came. We scoured the area and came upon this old shore lunch site.

We got out and determined it was a possibility. There was one area for a tent site and Pete told Dave and Dick they could have that one. Pete told them we would make do with what was available or find a better site back in the woods.

We all began our chores to set up camp while I walked in the woods for a potential site. I found one, but it needed some work to have a reasonable access to it. That’s when Pete brought up his axe for clearing duties.

When camp was set up we put some coffee on and after that was gone we put on another pot. It appears Dick is a sleep under the tarp.

When Dave spoke to Yolanda earlier she said there was rain in the forecast tonight and tomorrow. The winds were expected to be from a southerly direction of about 10 to 12 mph.

Pete went for a walk in the woods this afternoon. Dave and I paddled in the very rough water to the Whitewater Lake First Nation outpost. There were a few times while I was sitting in the bow that I really had to bend down to get my paddle in the water. I felt like a bobber while paddling in the bow going over to the First Nation outpost camp.

We beached our canoe near their docks and walked around. There wasn't any activity. We didn’t find anyone walking around and it appeared vacant, but an hour or so ago we saw a Beaver land over in this area.

Another paddler who I talked to while waiting for the train at the start of our trip told me if we had time to stop by the First Nation site here. He said there was one guy who lives out here who’s very friendly and he’s willing to talk to anyone who comes by.

I walked up to the last cabin and saw a person in the window sitting with his back to me. Once I got up closer I waved at a female who was sitting across from the guy. She waved back to me.

I knocked on the door and it was answered by a guy who said his name was Walter Slipperjack. I introduced myself, who we were and what we were doing. Dave found his way to where I was and introduced himself to Walter.

Walter and his lady friend were dropped off by the Beaver float plane an hour or so ago. They are the only ones around. His brother has a cabin at the far north end and his sister, Rose, has a place further to the south of him. Walter and his brother trap here in the winter.

We asked Walter if he snowmobiles out in the winter and he told us no. He said he didn’t want to open up a trail for everyone to use and come up. He said the cabins are owned by First Nation families who live in Thunder Bay. He said anyone from the First Nation can come here and build a cabin if they wanted.

Dave and I had an easier time paddling back to our campsite after leaving Walter’s place. Pete was back from his walk and he was preparing dinner. We are using up the last of our food of sausage, angle hair noodles and sauce from a packet. When we ate that Pete cooked up some “hippie pancakes’. He made up a brown sugar, Swiss Miss and cinnamon for a topping. It tasted pretty good. I was still hungry.

Walter Slipperjack and Dave

The wind has increased even more since Dave and I got back to camp. The skies began getting dark and we could hear some thunder in the distance. It looked like it would rain soon so we put the packs under the tarp then threw another tarp directly over the packs.

Dick told us he survived his adventure, but he didn’t do as good as he wanted.

There were no canoes on our route other than the two we saw on Burntrock Lake at the campsite when we went on our day trip. We have seen a few small motorboats, float planes, a helicopter but nothing that would ruin a trip.

There has been a fire somewhere to our south and possibly to the west.

There hasn’t been too much to do on these last couple days after we ended our paddling early, but they have been relaxing days.

We really have had some nice weather for this trip.

The higher water level actually worked in our favor on this route. We could paddle through a number of swifts and some of the shallows we had enough water to line or track our canoes and we had better access to the portages.

DAY 14: 08-23-08 Saturday

Lakes / Rivers: Whitewater Lake

Distance: 6 km (3.75 miles)

Time: 0:45

I'm writing while sitting a in an outpost cabin on Whitewater Lake that's owned by Mattice Lake Outfitters.

The wind was blowing hard last night when we went to bed. Pete and I talked about paddling, again. It rained after we went to sleep, but when I got out of the tent sometime last night the skies appeared they were starting to clear. The wind had eased up somewhat, also.

Before I got out of the tent in the morning I could hear the wind blowing through the trees. The alarm went off at 0525 am, but Pete didn't hear it. He was still breathing loudly. I started to pack up my gear then shortly after Pete started doing the same thing.

Pete had his pack under the other vestibule on the other side of the tent, so he didn't have to carry all his loose stuff down the trail he cleared with his axe yesterday.

Dick was up attempting to start a fire when I got down to the water. When he couldn't get it going he asked me to do it. Since we didn't get the coffee ready last night Dick got that together, while I got a fire going.

Dave started making his "hippie pancakes". The skies were dark to the south and the west with some orange intersperse in them at 0622 am. It appeared that the wind would cause us to be picked up somewhere other than Wendell's place on Best Island today.

We decided that we should go to Mattice Lake's outpost camp for our pick-up. Hopefully it would be a little more protected on the south shore. We got on the water at 0800 am. We paddled toward the west shore to get out of the bigger waves that we being caused by the SW wind. Once we got closer to the west shore we headed south past the First Nation outpost camp then we went east along the south shore.

We arrived at the outpost camp at 0845 am. We pulled onto the beach next to the dock where we met Richard. Richard was the caretaker for Mattice Lake Outfitter's here at their outpost camp on Whitewater Lake.

Richard called Mattice Lake Outfitter's to let them know we had arrived at the outpost. Richard came back and told us they don't have a time on when they would be able to pick us up today. The wind has become a problem now, but if the weather breaks they would come and get us. Richard said he would let us know.

Richard told us a week ago there were several fires on Whitewater Lake from some lightening strikes. He also mentioned there was a bigger fire somewhere between here and Thunder Bay.

I found a very large blueberry patch in back of the outpost cabins. The plants were full of big blueberries. There were large clusters of blueberries. This is the type of picking I like instead of picking a berry here and there.

We place our packs on the dock as well as the canoes after we took everything out of the canoes. We sat and watched our gear sitting on the dock from the deck of one of the buildings. The longer we sat there the larger the waves were getting on the big lake. The wind was still blowing from the SW.

We continued to sit in the cold wind waiting to hear word that it was a go, but we all knew the weather didn’t look like it was going to cooperate, but we still hoped. There were several strong swirling gusts that went with the constant steady SW wind.

Richard came over at 0145 pm and told us lunch was on. He gave us all a ride on his John Deere Gator down to his cabin. It felt good to get out of the cool, damp wind. Richard served up some baked beans and a couple hot dogs for each of us. Richard was aware we had eaten all our food last night.

We went back to our “stand-by deck” and stared off into the lake watching the huge waves crashing on shore in the distance. The temperature has been dropping so I put on my long underwear pants and put on some dry socks. I took off the storm boots and put my tennis shoes on. The temperatures were now in the low 50's, and dropping. It was also misting on and off. The time is now 0233 pm.

We've been on a holding pattern since 0900 am. Richard told us that Don Elliott could fly up until 0830 pm. We decided to take the canoes and packs off the dock when it began to rain. We put the canoes up along side of the building and put the packs on the deck under the eve of the building where we sat.

Richard came over and gave us a small bag of coffee after Pete went over to see if Richard had any extra. Pete had his MSR cook stove out. If Richard didn’t have any extra coffee we were going to have some tea that Dave had packed.

It looked like the wind had started to move around more to a westerly direction. The temperature was now in the 40's. I could see my breath. We put on a second pot of coffee and still no good news about our flight.

We just saw Richard at 0645 pm go to one of the cabins that a group had left from this morning to clean it. It looks like we are spending the night. Pete walked over and spoke to Richard. Pete came back to say that the plane wouldn't be flying tonight. Richard had started a fire in the wood stove where we were going to stay. It felt good to feel the heat after sitting in the damp, cool air without moving around much for the past 10 hours.

Richard told us we could help ourselves to the food in the refrigerator, except for the frozen chili. The food is left over from other groups that have stayed here and there was a group that just left this morning.

Richard told us Don said there was no charge for the cabin and we are scheduled to be the first ones picked up tomorrow. Hopefully, around 0700 am.

We all helped ourselves to some apples, oranges, cheese and other food in the refrigerator. I was starving as I think everyone else was. Richard came back over with a loaf of bread for us.

Dave found some chicken breast in the freezer and he began to thaw them for dinner.

Pete and Dave have been looking at my overall view map of Wabakimi Park looking at some potential routes to the Albany River and the Misehkow River.

DAY 15: 08-24-08 Sunday

Last night after we got done snacking on the food in the refrigerator Dave cooked up the eight frozen chicken breast. We had a nice salad that Dave mixed up, also.

We were all able to take a hot shower last night before bed. The beds were pretty minimal, but we had a roof over our heads. I could hear the wind blowing over all the snoring going on inside the cabin. I got up at 0200 am and went outside. I couldn't see the waves lapping up on shore, but I could hear them over the wind.

I noticed a light on the distant shore. It must be another outpost on the lake. When I came back into the cabin Pete asked me about the wind. I tried to go back to sleep, but coming from the other room was some very loud snoring. The snoring went on for some time.

Pete got up before 0430 am. He wasn’t attempting to keep the noise down. He was banging around attempting to light a fire in the wood stove. Then Pete went outside the cabin and allowed the door to slam behind him causing even more noise. This woke Dave up and he said, “What is going on!” Pete was so loud that I never got back to sleep. When my alarm went off I got right up and hoped that our flight would be here at 0700 am.

Pete was sitting in a chair pulled up to the woodstove when I walked out into the main room. He said he had a stomach ache. I went over and turned the burner on the stove for the coffee pot.

For breakfast I grabbed a green apple out of the refrigerator and ate it as I began to pack up my stuff. We were all packing up our stuff like we were really going to be leaving today even though the way the wind was blowing.

Richard made his way to our cabin at 0630 am and told us we were a go for this morning. We threw our packs in the back of the gator and he drove the gator down to the dock. We put the packs and the canoes at the end of the dock. Earlier we all threw in $10 each to give to Richard for the food and the use of the cabin so Dave gave this to Richard this morning.

The thermometer on the warehouse building registered 40 degrees, but it seemed much cooler with the strong wind. The wind began increasing with every minute while waiting for our flight.

There was no sight or sound of our flight or word from Richard about our flight at 0805 am, so I decided to head back to the cabin to get comfortable and warm. Everyone followed me back to the cabin. Dave immediately went to the refrigerator looking for more food. I had a piece of bread and a small orange.

I sat down on a chair next to the window, so I could keep an eye out on the water by the dock. I wasn’t seated to long before I yelled, plane, and then we all ran out of the cabin toward the dock. The otter landed at 0816 am.

Richard

We waited on the dock for the Otter to be secured to the dock by Richard. Once Don Elliott got out of the pilots seat we introduced ourselves. Don had us get inside the float plane while he secured both canoes on the outside of it.

We left Whitewater Lake at 0835 am. Don pointed the Otter into the wind and once he supplied power the plane took right off the water. The Otter has so much more power than a beaver. We arrived back at Mattice Lake Outfitters about 0909 am.

The canoes and gear were taken off the plane where we tied the canoes to Dave and Pete’s vehicles. Everyone’s packs were put in the appropriate vehicles.

We went in and talked to Yolanda to take of any unfinished business. We needed to return the Sat phone and the charges for the few minutes we needed to use in making the final arrangements for the float plane. Yolanda also billed us for the outpost cabin that we were told would be on the house. We each paid our split of the bill without mentioning anything to Yolanda.

Pete and I were in the parking area down by the office putting our gear inside Pete’s vehicle, when Dick said he was taking off. He also told us, thanks for putting up with him.

Dave who was still busy tying his canoe to his truck when Dick left came over to us his afterwards and asked where Dick was. Dave asked us if Dick said anything so I told him what Dick told us before driving away.

Pete and I started driving down the road at 1000 am. Its 150 miles down the road from Armstrong to Highway 11/17. (Thunder Bay)

Pete hadn’t put anymore gas in his vehicle after we filled up in Grand Marais. He said during the canoe trip he didn’t think he would need any gas until we crossed the border.

Well, Pete became concerned that we might not even make it back to Thunder Bay. I looked at the fuel gauge and we had been driving on empty for some time. Luckily, Dave caught up with us and he didn’t pass us by. Pete did put on his flashers a couple times.

I really wasn’t too happy about this situation. I really wouldn’t have liked it if he had run out of gas. There are no gas stations until Thunder Bay, but luckily Dave was there if we had run out of gas.

We made it to the first gas station that we saw so we pulled in. There was no diesel for Dave’s truck and he was wondering what was going on with Pete putting on his flashers.

It was Sunday, but Dave wanted to see if the Wilderness Store in town was open. We followed Dave to the store, but it was closed. Dave then followed us to a Tim Horton’s where I filled up my Thermos with coffee and bought some muffins and bagels. I needed some meat so we drove a block away to the Dairy Queen where I got a double hamburger and a large fries. Dave bought a meal also. Prior to going inside Pete said he was no longer hungry. After Pete stopped smoking during the trip he said he was going to quit for good. He told us that several times.

While Dave and I were sitting waiting for our meal Dave asked me where Pete was. I told Dave that Pete said he was no longer hungry, but when Dave and I looked toward Pete’s vehicle he was standing to the back of it smoking. Once Pete was done smoking he came in for something to eat.

I got home at 0645 pm (Central), but it was 0745 pm (Eastern).

Chuck Ryan

CIIcanoe at comcast dot net

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