Mowat Landing (Maple Mountain) Loop - Temagami?

[NikonF5user]

Curious if anyone out there has done a route similar to this (I believe this is what Hap Wilson calls the Maple Mountain Loop, or at least covers parts of it)? If so, would love to hear how long it took and any issues you faced along the route. I have read that fires have made some of the portages difficult and campsites unpleasant up by Skull Lake (ominous anyway), so I will probably try to time it such that I am not camping in that stretch.

Any thoughts are welcome!

 

[gadabyte]

depending on what time of year you're planning on going, buy one of those bug jackets, have a backup bug headnet, and have antihistamines in your first aid kit. i went west of there solo late june/early july last summer and elected to end my trip early because my face was swelling like crazy from bug bites and continuing on with my planned loop seemed like too much of a roll of the dice.

if the area i was in was any indication, don't expect firm dry ground on the portages. lots of marshes, lots of boulder fields. easy walking is the exception, not the norm.

whatever google maps says the drive will take, bump it up a couple hours.

with that said, i'm going back again this year because it's spectacular and i loved it.

 

[NikonF5user]

depending on what time of year you're planning on going, buy one of those bug jackets, have a backup bug headnet, and have antihistamines in your first aid kit. i went west of there solo late june/early july last summer and elected to end my trip early because my face was swelling like crazy from bug bites and continuing on with my planned loop seemed like too much of a roll of the dice.

if the area i was in was any indication, don't expect firm dry ground on the portages. lots of marshes, lots of boulder fields. easy walking is the exception, not the norm.

whatever google maps says the drive will take, bump it up a couple hours.

with that said, i'm going back again this year because it's spectacular and i loved it.

I have all three of those things in my kit! Since I posted this, I have been debating doing a reverse loop of sorts, heading south after climbing Maple mountain and going through all of the waterfalls. Although I have been watching several videos, and those portages look ROUGH. I think I will do one of the two loops however, just not sure which yet...