Woodland Caribou Provincial Park 2015 Solo Trip

Soon after my trip to WCPP in 2013 I started planning a 2014 trip. Due to some of life’s twists and turns it became apparent early in 2014 that a trip back was not going to be possible. In 2015 I was determined to make up for it with a longer trip. I really wanted to do a fly-in but cost was an initial concern. However, I had some time to raise the funds and decided I would not let that stop me. I then started thinking about a route. In 2012 I tried to make it into WCPP via the Bird River and enter WCPP on Eagle Lake. The portages between Snowshoe Lake and Chase Lake were a bit more than I anticipated or they were not there. My preparation was not great but mostly I lacked confidence in my abilities. After looking at the maps an idea started to form. I could fly into Artery Lake from Lac Du Bonnet and paddle back out the Bird River. It would allow me to see all three regions of WCPP, top to bottom, paddle out the Bird River and get through the portages that stopped me in 2012. I would start in Atikaki, paddle through Woodland Caribou and end it in Nopiming. Three provincial Parks in one trip. When I started looking at a specific route it looked like I could do this in 12-16 days. I would have to get 3 weeks off of work but didn’t expect that to be a problem. Serious planning started to take shape in the fall of 2014.

Where is Woodland Caribou Provincial Park? Artery Lake is 160 miles NE of Winnipeg and an 85 mile flight from Lac du Bonnet. It will take me 13 days to paddle 165 miles from Artery Lake back to Tulabi Falls on the Bird River. From there I arranged for Jackson Outfitters to pick me up and shuttle me back to Lac du Bonnet.

This is a link to my planned route but I did deviate slightly from it between Wrist and Aegean Lake. I decided to save a day of portaging to get to the same place.

If you have Google Earth (KML) or can load GPX files you should be able to open them here. There are several files that show my GPS logs for the trip.

The Drive up

June 14, 2015

I spent Saturday making the 8 hour drive up to my cabin in NW Minnesota. I had a really good steak supper and a relaxing evening. Sunday I was up early, excited to get going. The plan for today was to make the four hour drive to Lac du Bonnet where I would check in with Adventure Air and drop off the canoe. My flight was to be 8:00 AM the next day. Crossing the border at the Lancaster/Tolstoi crossing was easy but the mosquitoes were horrible. At least a dozen made it through the window during the short stop. Fortunately that would be the most mosquitoes I would see until I got back to my cabin. Once I got to Lac du Bonnet I stopped in at Adventure Air/Jackson Outfitters to check in. At the office they said there may be some changes in schedule but would need to talk to Shaun (the owner) when he got a few minutes to talk. As you can imagine, getting people to and from over a dozen outpost in the summer has to be a hectic job. I had entertained paddling all the way back to Lac du Bonnet but Jacksons had a shuttle service that would save me a couple days of paddling. I would end my trip at Tulabi Falls so decided to go check that out and kill a little time. I returned a couple hours later and got a chance to talk to Shaun. He had two options for me, fly out at 6:30 or 10:30. I jumped on the early bird flight. He asked me about my route. He was thinking I was paddling the Bloodvein west to Lake Winnipeg. When I told him I was going east and paddling back to Bird Lake he raised an eyebrow and said “that is an interesting route”. He asked if I had a map so I got that out and we went over the route. I think his comment was something like….”hmm, that is not the way I would go but sounds interesting. Good luck.” He then showed me some good spots to fish along the stretches of the Bloodvein. We got the canoe tied onto the Beaver so we were all set for an early flight in the morning. I checked in at the Glen Howard hotel and had a big burger, fries and a beer. The anticipation is high.





Day 1

Monday, June 15, 2015

Getting started

12.5 miles 1 portage 175 meters

I am up at 5AM and quickly get my gear in the truck. I have a muffin and some juice....not really hungry but it will be a while before I eat again. It had rained overnight and there were some low hanging clouds. There was lots of activity when I got to the dock. A busy Monday in the outfitter business. It was not long and my gear was loaded and Randy (the pilot) let me know he was ready to go. For those that have never flown on a Beaver it is an incredible flying machine. The sound of the engines, the vibration, the power….it is a fun ride. As we taxied out Randy was asking about the trip. Like everyone, they question the solo thing but he said he spent winters in the Caribbean and enjoyed soloing in his sailboat. He understood. It was about a 50 minute flight over some really cool looking country. It was an interesting perspective as the next couple weeks the perspective would be a couple feet above the water. We docked at Jackson’s outpost on Artery Lake. There was a group of guys from Winnipeg waiting on the Otter to pick them up in a few hours. One of the guys helped me with my gear and I had a short conversation with him. He was wondering where I was going. His response was something like…”really, you can do that?” It was not long and I was on my way.

A cool front had just passed and it was clearing but a decent NW breeze. I misplayed that a little and took the south side of the lake as I headed east on Artery. Probably due to the excitement and just wanting to get going. Not a big deal though, I was soon at a small falls that has a short rail sled for outpost boats to hop over. I portaged the old fashioned way. At the top of the falls I dropped a line for the first time. Within a few minutes I had caught a couple of small walleyes. I kept moving though. The plan was to make it to Mary’s lake and fish a little in the evening. Next up were the pictographs on Artery Lake. As I paddled on Artery I noticed the birch trees were just starting to leaf out. I thought that was strange but soon realized there was an army worm invasion and everything was defoliated. For the next several days I would be dealing with them. They were everywhere. The pictos were easy to find, you can’t miss the mural. It was as impressive as described. I spend some time there trying soak it in and contemplate their meaning and significance. I fish a little as I move upstream. I catch a few smallmouth along the shoreline. The sky has cleared out and it is a beautiful day with temps in the mid 60s. I am soon at the north falls out of Mary’s Lake. I fish a little at the bottom of the falls and quickly catch a few walleyes. Then I decided to try the falls about a half mile south. Shaun had said there is an eddy on the far side that can be full of walleyes. This falls has a larger drop and the current is stronger. I was able to find the spot he described and tried my luck. Nada….nothing. I tried several other spots but caught nothing. I could not see a portage over the falls either so I decide to head back to the other falls, catch a few fish and have a shore lunch. After a good walleye dinner I crossed the portage into Marry's Lake and was on my way. I found a campsite on an island on Mary’s Lake. Once I got camp set up I took a short snooze. With sunrise at 5 AM and sunset at 9:40 PM, the days were long and I liked being up for the sunrise and sunset. A short afternoon snooze became a habit on this trip. It was a nice campsite and good fishing from shore. I fished around the island and small walleyes were easy to catch, nothing of size though. It had been a long day I was ready for the tent by sunset. The final thoughts for the day were….I am here, I am really doing this! What a great start to the trip.