Wabakimi is the Plan

[Black_Fly]

watching YouTube has made me to curtail my enthusiasm for a long Wabakimi trip. This first one will be easy going by Wabakimi standards. I’m just too old and busted up to take 2 weeks gear over 50+ portages now, not likely to improve a whole lot by August. Looking hard at Smoothrock Lake via Little Caribou Lake right now. I could devote many days to hanging out there looking for pictographs and fishing.

 

[jdeerfoot]

Try contacting Clem Quenville, a local First Nations guy in Armstrong who is a good contact for road shuttles and secure vehicle storage. I have been told he also allows his customers to camp overnight on his property before/after trips. He is very reliable and reasonably priced. He is also the postmaster in Armstrong. You can find his contact info on the Friends of Wabakimi website.

Other service providers in Armstrong would be Mattice Lake Outfitters (Don Elliot) or Wabakimi Canoe Outfitters (Bruce Hyer). Contact info available on FOW website.

 

[NikonF5user]

New post to an older thread - just out of curiosity I have been looking at train-in / train-out routes to Wabakimi - can you not take the train with canoe from Toronto or Sudbury Junction (and back)? Guessing Toronto could be an issue dealing with the canoe and parking long-term, but I would think the more rural Sudbury would work.

 

[carpenter]

New post to an older thread - just out of curiosity I have been looking at train-in / train-out routes to Wabakimi - can you not take the train with canoe from Toronto or Sudbury Junction (and back)? Guessing Toronto could be an issue dealing with the canoe and parking long-term, but I would think the more rural Sudbury would work.

Definitely - any of the stations along the route. Worth calling/asking around to see which would be most suitable for a longer term car park. I parked at a friend's house near Washago, just North of Orillia and about an hour North of Toronto, and got on the train there. Was tempted to attempt the portage into Union Station, one of these days...

Challenging to find a list of the stops along the route - found this map (train stations map & real estate), shows the waterways too which is nice

 

[billconner]

New post to an older thread - just out of curiosity I have been looking at train-in / train-out routes to Wabakimi - can you not take the train with canoe from Toronto or Sudbury Junction (and back)? Guessing Toronto could be an issue dealing with the canoe and parking long-term, but I would think the more rural Sudbury would work.

Picture in one of Kevin Callen's books of home portaging through Toronto train station. He said the stairs were hard.

I looked at a wabakimi project map at canoecopia that had a lot of flag stops on it through the park.

 

[jdeerfoot]

The train will stop anywhere on its route as long as you request it, by noting a mileage marker, when you make your reservation. Somewhere FOW has a mileage marker map of all the usual stops for the train in the park - these are stops where you could start or end a trip.

 

[Gamma1214]

This should do it: https://www.wabakimi.org/uploads/1/2/9/3/129364235/parkrailaccess.pdf

Note that these stops (including Armstrong) are "by request" and pick-up needs to be scheduled 48 hours in advance. (note: the days are wrong in this pdf but the mileages are correct. The Westbound train runs Mon & Thurs, I'm unsure what days have Eastbound service)

 

[Gamma1214]

FYI: I talked to VIA rail this morning and there is no space remaining for canoes on the Eastbound train from mid-July until after Labor Day so planning early is critical during the peak season. (They have space for 6 each day but all spaces are already reserved).

 

[Keeled Over]

FYI: I talked to VIA rail this morning and there is no space remaining for canoes on the Eastbound train from mid-July until after Labor Day so planning early is critical during the peak season. (They have space for 6 each day but all spaces are already reserved).

I did not have to use them, but I was told there were people that would drive you in on old fire roads from Armstrong. One shuttle guy I used in Canada told me that due to economic woe's, you could pretty much walk into any bar asking for a shuttle and you would have 3 offers pronto. I used this once In the UP. Bought 2 rounds, gave them $50 and I was shuttled.