There and back total portages 4 total portage distance 2360m total paddling distance 16kms - total distance 18.3kms - longest portage 730m (+ day trip not included in distance)
Day 1 May 21/02
Access point #29
Kioshkokwi L
P730
Little Mink L.
P450
Mink L
Left Kipawa at about 7:36 am. We missed Karissa very much. We tried to call her but we cant get a cell phone signal. Our two portages werent too rough. Audrey found the bags heavy and needed a few breaks. All portages we done in two trips, we had too much to carry. I dont think we will ever be able to one carry.
We picked the campsite on the east point, near the middle of Mink Lake. We had cheese, salami, breadsticks and soup for lunch. Breadsticks are not very good. We took a short canoe ride to another campsite so we could pick up grill to cook supper. Luckily the rangers had some wood cut up some we picked some up for our fire.
For supper we had some filet mignon, mashed potatoes and gravy and some bannock. It was delicious.
The lakes were windy all day. We spent most of the day thinking about Karissa. We keep wondering what she is up to. We looked at her picture. We saw 2 other couples today, 1 on each portage.
Day 2 May 22/02
Mink L.
P1190 (no canoe)
Club L.
P1190 (no canoe)
Mink L.
P440 (no canoe)
Cauchon L.
P440 (no canoe)
Mink L
It was quite cold last night. Audrey slept with her toque, mitts and jacket. We woke up around 8am and had EggMcMuffins (egg muffins I guess) for breakfast with some crappy coffee. Got to get a percolator.
We decided to take a day trip to Club Lake. I had passed through Club with my Grandpapa when I was much younger and thought I remembered an old building there. I also remembered a fireplace on a campsite that had been made from bricks taken from the building. This is what I really wanted to see. We paddled to the Club Lake portage and left the canoe at Mink Lake. The building was easy to find as it sits right at the end of the portage. I didnt feel up to bringing the canoe thinking I could walk through the woods to the campsite. I failed to notice the rather swampy area between the portage landing and campsite. Needless to say we never made it to the campsite and I didnt get to see my fireplace. Ah well, just means I need to make a return trip to the area.
We started walking back to Mink Lake. Near the edge of the trail there is an old wagon, which was left there to root. There is also a small shack on the east side of the trail a few hundred meters in the bush. This shack is quite small and I cant figure out what its purpose would have been. (Its not an outhouse!) I would say these are probably ¾ of the way to Club Lake.
About halfway to Mink we hear a loud Crack! just to the left of us. Audrey whips out her bear spray and arms it. She says, Im scared. We didnt see any animal but I think we just scared a moose and it took off running. I remember seeing at least 3 moose on Club Lake when I was there with Grandpapa. Well there was no stopping Audrey after that. I convinced here to put the trigger guard back on her bear spray before someone (likely me) got sprayed. We did see lots of fresh moose tracks on this portage.
We then paddled to the Cauchon lake portage and tried to find another building that is shown on the map. I like old things! Well we could not locate this building if it is still there. The portage to Cauchon is quite rough but not very long. The campsite located at the portage is all right.
We paddled back to camp battling a head wind. We need to leave early in the morning or else the lake will be pretty rough. We enjoyed Kraft Dinner, cheese and salami for lunch. We also made some chocolate pudding that turned out good. Cleaned up and then napped for a few hours.
Day 3 May 23/02
Mink L
P450
Little Mink L.
P730
Kioshkokwi L
Access point #29
Well I have no record for this day so this is from memory (10 months later)
Woke up in the morning and since we had most of our stuff packed the night before it only took us a short while before we were on the water. The wind had been blowing all night and it was still blowing. The lake wasnt too bad though.
Did our two portages and made good time getting to Kiosk Lake. We paddled along the abandoned railway bed and this offered us a lot of protection. But oh boy, as soon as we rounded the corner to go underneath the bridge we new we were in for it. The waves were just beating down on us. We were not making much headway and the situation was turning ugly. We decided we would head to the two campsites on the north side of Kiosk Lake. It took quite a bit to land the canoe but we managed. Decided to take a walk though the woods to see how tough it would be to portage the canoe to the abandoned rail bed. We figured we could then walk out to the access point from there. We cut through the bush (Im surprised there is not trail) with all of our gear and started the long walk to the car. We could have taken the car all the way on the rail bed to pick up our gear but there is a gate (and hole) about half a kilometers from the access point. So we are walking out with the gear at least to the gate. At one point the rail bed passes right near the edge of the lake and the wind almost blew the canoe off of my head. We finally made it to the gate and left all of our stuff there. A short while later we make it to the car. We drove to the gate and loaded up our stuff. It was quite the portage, the hardest one of the trip. Without it though we would have been forced to wait out the wind. The total walk was probably just over 2kms, done 3 times.
If I run into this situation again I will take out before going under the bridge and walk out.
Finally we were on our way to see Karissa.
On the way home we spotted a moose in the ditch on highway 63 not far from the Mattawa cutoff.
We had a great time. As this was Audreys first trip, and since we are both not particularly hard paddlers we decided to setup a base camp for 2 nights and just explore from there and enjoy each others company. The good points of the trip: good food, beautiful weather and scenery and definitely great company! ;) I am already planning the next trip.