After buying the Canadian w/c boat from Karin this summer I decided to take it on a 4 day trip to check out the Manitoba entrance to Woodland Caribou Provincial Park at Garner Lake.
I arrived at Beresford Lake in Nopoming Provincial Park on the Manitoba side mid afternoon and was on the water at 3:00. A 2 hour paddle up Beresford Creek brought me to Garner Lake where there are 6 designated camping sites. I passed by #1 site upon entering Garner Lake. It had steep hillside off the water and a trail which I assumed led up to the campsite. I decided to pass on this one and carried on east to check #2. I found it on a low island with sparse vegetation and an easterly exposure that wasn't appealing with the stiff east wind that was happening, so I carried on to site #3. It was situated on the eastern point of another island so was wind exposed as well. As I came around the point I noticed a blue tarp set up in the trees and then 2 campers on the point. One looked to be a teenage lad and the other an older fellow. The older guy was having a temper tantrum while the younger watched him. This man was repeatedly picking up a small dead spruce tree and slamming it on the ground while swearing a blue streak. Then he started thrashing the brush with the tree. Neither of them saw me sitting there 75 feet away. I had planned to stop and talk but instead paddled quietly off to check out #4. I was quite astonished to see this sort of behaviour. I don't know if they had a canoe or a motorboat on the other side of the point.
I found #4 which was again on the eastern point of an island. All the sites so far had rough rocky landings with eastern exposures and with the stiff east wind I didn't particularly like the idea of trying to unload the canoe with the wind beating it against the sharp rocks.
#5 was on the south shore of the lake and it had a small sandy landing in a partly protected small bay so I decided to pull in here. It was a heavily used site with garbage everywhere and a plywood thunder box with screen on the sides and toilet paper lying all around. There was no pail or anything in the box - just a huge pile of crap on the ground that could be seen through the screen. By this time it was 8:00 pm so I set up the hammock, cooked supper and turned in.
The next morning was windy from the east again and I paddled to the east end of Garner Lake to the entrance to WCPP. There was a 300 metre portage from the lake to go around some falls on Garner River, followed by a 225 and then an 825 carry to arrive at Jester Lake. Since there's no carry yoke on the Canadian, I rigged the 2 paddles to carry the boat. I hadn't used this method for many years but was really pleased at how comfortable it was.
Jester Lake after the 825.
On the south end of Jester a cow moose led her calf into the water for a swim. I'm not sure if they noticed me, but she led the calf in a big circle and then headed back to shore.
I paddled around the different arms of the lake and located several future camp sites and then selected one at the north end of the lake to spend the night. The latest fire was recent enough that there weren't a lot of large trees to hang my hammock but I found several spots with trees that would work.
Day three found the wind switched to westerly, which made sense since that was the direction I was headed now to head back to Bereford Lake. The sun poked out for a few minutes but then disappeared and drizzling rain started.
I made the three portages back to Garner Lake where the waves were pounding on the shore so I waited 3 hours to see if it would die down. The velocity didn't change but it seemed to be switching to more north-westerly so after studying the map, I planned a route to hop from island to island in order to get a little shelter from the wind. The waves were quite large but the boat bobbed it's way through and felt awesome.
I paddled back to site #1 and landed amongst a pile of garbage and abandoned clothes. I took the trail up the slope to the campsite and found more garbage and ropes hanging from trees everywhere. I couldn't imagine setting up there so I hung the hammock on the slope by the lake.
Paddled back to Beresford in the morning into a wind and rain in the morning.
I think if I decide to enter WCPP through this route I would camp at the provincial campground at Beresford and then go straight through to Jester and on the next day to avoid having to camp on Garner Lake. With motor boat accessibility there is just too much heavy use and garbage. I thought about bringing some of the garbage out, but I didn't have any spare bags and what I could have carried wouldn't have made any difference. I was quite disappointed with Manitoba Conservation for not keeping a handle on this since it would be simple for them to motor in and have all the sites cleaned up in a day. They advertise Beresford to Garner as a canoe camping route, but it is a real embarrassment.
The route to Jester up Garner River was good with the fairly high water levels at this time and I only had to get out once to float the canoe over a shallow spot, but I can see how low water levels would make it a challenge. Tripping with the w/c Canadian was great and I won't hesitate to take it again. I haven't bothered to weigh it. My theory is that it's better not to know, but it felt very balanced and easy to carry and I'm tickled pink with it.
I arrived at Beresford Lake in Nopoming Provincial Park on the Manitoba side mid afternoon and was on the water at 3:00. A 2 hour paddle up Beresford Creek brought me to Garner Lake where there are 6 designated camping sites. I passed by #1 site upon entering Garner Lake. It had steep hillside off the water and a trail which I assumed led up to the campsite. I decided to pass on this one and carried on east to check #2. I found it on a low island with sparse vegetation and an easterly exposure that wasn't appealing with the stiff east wind that was happening, so I carried on to site #3. It was situated on the eastern point of another island so was wind exposed as well. As I came around the point I noticed a blue tarp set up in the trees and then 2 campers on the point. One looked to be a teenage lad and the other an older fellow. The older guy was having a temper tantrum while the younger watched him. This man was repeatedly picking up a small dead spruce tree and slamming it on the ground while swearing a blue streak. Then he started thrashing the brush with the tree. Neither of them saw me sitting there 75 feet away. I had planned to stop and talk but instead paddled quietly off to check out #4. I was quite astonished to see this sort of behaviour. I don't know if they had a canoe or a motorboat on the other side of the point.
I found #4 which was again on the eastern point of an island. All the sites so far had rough rocky landings with eastern exposures and with the stiff east wind I didn't particularly like the idea of trying to unload the canoe with the wind beating it against the sharp rocks.
#5 was on the south shore of the lake and it had a small sandy landing in a partly protected small bay so I decided to pull in here. It was a heavily used site with garbage everywhere and a plywood thunder box with screen on the sides and toilet paper lying all around. There was no pail or anything in the box - just a huge pile of crap on the ground that could be seen through the screen. By this time it was 8:00 pm so I set up the hammock, cooked supper and turned in.
The next morning was windy from the east again and I paddled to the east end of Garner Lake to the entrance to WCPP. There was a 300 metre portage from the lake to go around some falls on Garner River, followed by a 225 and then an 825 carry to arrive at Jester Lake. Since there's no carry yoke on the Canadian, I rigged the 2 paddles to carry the boat. I hadn't used this method for many years but was really pleased at how comfortable it was.
Jester Lake after the 825.
On the south end of Jester a cow moose led her calf into the water for a swim. I'm not sure if they noticed me, but she led the calf in a big circle and then headed back to shore.
I paddled around the different arms of the lake and located several future camp sites and then selected one at the north end of the lake to spend the night. The latest fire was recent enough that there weren't a lot of large trees to hang my hammock but I found several spots with trees that would work.
Day three found the wind switched to westerly, which made sense since that was the direction I was headed now to head back to Bereford Lake. The sun poked out for a few minutes but then disappeared and drizzling rain started.
I made the three portages back to Garner Lake where the waves were pounding on the shore so I waited 3 hours to see if it would die down. The velocity didn't change but it seemed to be switching to more north-westerly so after studying the map, I planned a route to hop from island to island in order to get a little shelter from the wind. The waves were quite large but the boat bobbed it's way through and felt awesome.
I paddled back to site #1 and landed amongst a pile of garbage and abandoned clothes. I took the trail up the slope to the campsite and found more garbage and ropes hanging from trees everywhere. I couldn't imagine setting up there so I hung the hammock on the slope by the lake.
Paddled back to Beresford in the morning into a wind and rain in the morning.
I think if I decide to enter WCPP through this route I would camp at the provincial campground at Beresford and then go straight through to Jester and on the next day to avoid having to camp on Garner Lake. With motor boat accessibility there is just too much heavy use and garbage. I thought about bringing some of the garbage out, but I didn't have any spare bags and what I could have carried wouldn't have made any difference. I was quite disappointed with Manitoba Conservation for not keeping a handle on this since it would be simple for them to motor in and have all the sites cleaned up in a day. They advertise Beresford to Garner as a canoe camping route, but it is a real embarrassment.
The route to Jester up Garner River was good with the fairly high water levels at this time and I only had to get out once to float the canoe over a shallow spot, but I can see how low water levels would make it a challenge. Tripping with the w/c Canadian was great and I won't hesitate to take it again. I haven't bothered to weigh it. My theory is that it's better not to know, but it felt very balanced and easy to carry and I'm tickled pink with it.
