Having begun this topic more than 3 years ago I should report what has transpired.
I made contact with Rick Sanderson and chose a modification of his route. Rather than going over to Dutton, the plan was to continue on the Schwandt into Kasba.
My grand daughter and I made a first attempt in 08 but only got as far as Merritt.
In 09 a larger group of us got as far as Nordbye where we left the canoes under the cabin there owned by the Hatchet Lake Lodge people. We owe Harvey a debt of gratitude for letting us do that.
Last year, this time Rick was with us, we continued from Nordbye and got to Kasba Lake Lodge in 10 days. It was a very difficult trip but this was mainly due to unprecedentedly low water levels in Northern Saskatchewan while the South was flooding. (Climate change I suppose!) Another challenge we faced was the discovery at Nordbye that a bear had tasted the bow of one of the canoes leaving puncture wounds that were discovered when the canoe began to leak as soon as we set off. The other canoe had cracking of the Royalex, believed to be due to a combination of cold and wooden trim that had not been loosened.
Mention should also be made of the great kindness extended to us by the owner of Phelps Lake Lodge where we went after loosing our duct tape in the Lake (still at Nordbye!)
This year our plans are to begin a descent of the Kazan. This time we are using PackCanoes. No more plans to leave canoes to over winter in the North.
cheers,
alex
ps some photos can be found at
http://kleico.net:7580/Sask10/sask10.html