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Wabakimi Provincial Park

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Jul 17, 2019
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I’ve been meaning to write a post about this for quite some time but kept putting it off.

At the start of August I had the chance to spend 8 days inside Wabakimi provincial park. The park for those that don’t know it is located north of Thunder Bay Ontario.

It took appx 23 hours for us to drive to Wabakimi Outfitter lodge, which is located on Mattice Lake just south of Armstrong Ontario. Bert and Brenda run the lodge and I couldn’t possibly say enough good things about them. They are great people and treat you like family.

We spent a night at the lodge and had a chance to go through our gear and do a final once over of our maps and route plans. Early the next day we got on a float plane for a one hour flight into Lower Wabakimi Lake.

Our trip would take us from our starting spot into Smoothrock lake. Then north following the Berg river and Ogoki into Whitewater Lake. Whitewater lake would be the furthest north we would travel before heading south on McKinley, through Lonebreast and back into Smoothrock. After reaching smoothrock we went southeast into Funger and then into Caribou lake and Caribou river. At the end of Caribou river we got picked up on a logging road and headed back to the lodge. The lodge also features a hot tub which was perfect after 8 days in the wilderness.

This trip featured wildlife such as Black Bears, Moose and Eagles. It featured all types of weather. Incredible thunderstorms and some hot days. We travelled on some of the biggest lakes I’ve ever been on with a canoe and also travelled on rivers with swifts and through areas beautifully carved into the rock of the boreal forest. This was the first trip that we did a food drop. We left 3 days of food in an Ursack tied to a tree on an island and as we passed back through that lake we picked it up. This allowed us to lighten our gear weight. We also got a chance to see the Wendell Beckwith Cabins which are nearing the end of their life. The main cabin is almost completely destroyed and the other two cabins are quickly deteriorating. This trip also features some of the best fishing that I have ever been a part of.

We have just released the first video for the trip which is only day 1. The rest of the trip will be released shortly with one video every 2 weeks. You can find the video here if interested https://youtu.be/7bcwioS3-HQ

if anyone has any question about the trip please feel free to ask me.

Rich
 
Really looking forward to your trip videos Rich. I did a 15 day Wabakimi solo trip a couple years ago. I have videos too, but of course there nowhere near ready to post.

Mark
 
Sad but inevitable the decay of the unique Beckwith compound. I have done four solos and one was on your route but I started and ended on Little Caribou. ( the trip was three days longer) and went down the Caribou RIver to Lower Wabakimi Lake.

I think Lonebreast Bay is incredibly pretty. Thank you for the video that takes me down memory lane.
 
The videos do take some time and effort. It’s nice to put them together a few months after the trip. It lets you relive it again.

I am glad I got the chance to see the Beckwith location before the wilderness completely takes it over. It’s a really impressive site and its a shame that more people don’t know it exists. Although it’s remote location and the lack of knowledge about it have probably allowed it to last as long as it has. The story behind it is pretty interesting as well, even though there seems to be some lore to it as well.

Some of those big lakes must have been tough crossings on a solo trip.
 
Great video. I recognized that place where you lined the canoe. I looked at both options on either side of that rocky ridge that splits the channel and I ended up taking the right hand one. I did have to unload and carry a few meters, but I think the water was higher when I was there so your route seemed a bit treacherous for me.

I'm looking forward to your trip on the Berg river, I haven't been that way. I'm also really curious to see how your food stash survives. I saw quite a few swimming black bears there.

keep up the good work.
 
We also considered going around that channel. The rock cut seemed like it would be tough to get through with the boat and gear.

The outfitter had told us to line that area, we were actually a bit shocked when we got there because we were expecting it to be shallow and slow moving.

I had a chance to post the day two video this week. On day two we travel up the Berg river and camp on the Ogoki river. I was feeling really bad when we woke up that morning but was able to fight through and make it the entire way. It helped having a three man boat that morning as I wasn't overly helpful to start the day. It was also one of the hottest days of the summer which didn't aid in my recovery.

The Berg river with the current was a really great paddle. I'd recommend that to anyone that likes river travel. The portage into the Berg from Outlet bay was difficult to find so be sure to have high quality maps if you go. This is one of the parts of the trip that we were glad we had the GPS with us.
 
Yellowcanoe - or anyone else that’s interested, we posted a short video with a brief story about the Beckwith cabin, video and photos that we took while we were at the site.
 
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