Quetico closed too

[PortageW/Cerberus]

Looks like the Syrupheads (term of endearment, rest easy) are following suit and closing Quetico. That might be a first.

Blazing hot, windy, dry as a bone.

Going to get worse before it gets better.

 

[Black_Fly]

Nothing to do but wait it out in the sweltering heat. At least the grass doesn’t need mowing twice a week. Too hot to ride the bike. I toyed with finally heading to Armstrong to finally see/fish Wabakimi, but RV camping is an expensive proposition there, and there’s fire up there too, so who knows?

Wish I hadn’t spent the last two weeks buying supplies and loading up the trailer. I guess it will keep. Food containers and the blue barrel are staged in the extra bedroom.

I’ve got two additional permits for August entry, one for September. July is a busy.

 

[memaquay]

Northern Ontario is basically on fire right now. As I speak, the sky is an unreal orange, it looks like the end of the world. Three fires on or around Marshall Lake, and to the west, seems like there is more on fire than not.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

If what I am seeing is accurate, the amount of land that has burned within Wabakimi so far is approaching the size of Rhode Island. It's a huge amount.

 

[yellowcanoe]

No longer tripping here but sobbing
The area of Ontario I spent so many years is just …. Gone
Collin’s Ont remembering the people there

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I recall fire maps being posted here in previous years. Could someone link a current one.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Gaia has a fire overlay, as does OnX.




Looks like a normal Idaho fire season - which is to say....just awful.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

FIRMS (interactive fire map)

 

[tketcham]

So much for our planned trip to Quetico in September. About half the area we were going to paddle is now burned over. Might be able to salvage a trip if the fire doesn't burn to the north or west and rain puts it out before we get there. But not sure if Ontario Parks will even allow people to use access points into areas that have been recently burned.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

According to Gaia, that Wabakimi fire is 657 thousand acres! How many millions of acres are on fire in Canada right now?

 

[jdeerfoot]

I am so glad a buddy and I were able to get our trip touring Cliff Lk in during the last week of June. Sadly, it sounds as if the Don Elliot family business, Mattice Lake Outfitters, is no more. They provided excellent service to the Wabakimi Project for many years and continued to provide bush plane flights to many of us for private trips.

 

[Gamma1214]

Crap, Don was very helpful in planning and was destined to be an extraction option if needed. Hopefully, they can rebuild.

 

[jdeerfoot]

Crap, Don was very helpful in planning and was destined to be an extraction option if needed. Hopefully, they can rebuild.

I doubt any rebuild as they have their business listed for sale (see their FB page). Don told us they have just 3 outpost cabins remaining of the original 18 they owned and operated. Also, Don sold off his Turbo Otter aircraft to another operator on Mattice Lake as well as one his two DH Beaver aircraft, with the other leased out for the season.

Don and Annette started their business with one plane and one outpost cabin in 1985, after he left his job as an MNR pilot. They are in their mid to late 70’s and were looking forward to retirement.

Hopefully, they have good insurance.

 

[Gamma1214]

...and were looking forward to retirement.

That might be an even better opportunity for them.

 

[Pinecones]

I don't know Don like others here do, but everybody deserves a good retirement. Especially after a career like his. I last saw him 20 years ago this month...

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

I don't know Don like others here do, but everybody deserves a good retirement. Especially after a career like his. I last saw him 20 years ago this month...

That looks like Phil Cotton...

 

[Pinecones]

Yes, good ol' Phil in his prime.

 

[Aslowhand]

That looks like Phil Cotton...

Yes, good ol' Phil in his prime.

...and Don on the pilot seat of the beaver...

 

[memaquay]

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Bruce Hyers. He is an American who came to Canada in the 70's I believe, and is largely responsible for creating Wabakimi park. Anyway, last week his main lodge burned down, he says it was worth millions of dollars. He had two canoeists trapped in the middle of raging fires and was begging foe someone to send a helicopter to save them. His quote was something like "My million dollar lodge just burned down, so I don't care what the cost of the helicopter will be, but I need to get my cleats out alive." They were rescued. Lots of Outfitters have been burned out so far. Several Indigenous reserves have been evacuated, some as far away as to Niagara Falls.

Interestingly enough, Geraldton is smoke free today.

 

[jdeerfoot]

Yes mem, Bruce was very concerned for his clients and it sounds like he really went all out to get his final two clients evacuated. He and FOW have developed a very good working relationship. FOW has done a super job of promoting Wabakimi and Bruce’s business has benefited.

While he bills himself as the “father of Wabakimi” PP, others were also involved in the expansion of the park in the 1980’s, I believe it was. What the future holds for Bruce and his business which, per a recent newsletter from him, his son now controls, remains to be seen. I sure hope the business can be rebuilt. As for the Elliot’s and Mattice Lake Outfitters I think they are done. They had the business for sale and planned to retire in October. I sure hope the Hyer’s and the Elliot’s had good insurance. Devastating loss on Mattice Lake. When I said my goodbyes in late June I had no idea it would end like this. I realize I am unlikely to ever be back in Armstrong and I find it incredibly sad that 20 years of great trips and memories had to come to an end like this.