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- Feb 28, 2007
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Route: Little Caribou - Caribou - Caribou Bay, Smoothrock, Elf, Lower Wabakimi, Smoothrock and back out
Distance: 210 km, we did it in 14 days it could be done in 10 d or less if you are a high distance paddler
Ports: 21 portages; longest portage: 660 m
We decided on a loop via Little Caribou Lake as we were able to secure a former guide Clem for his shuttle services and we had his info on file to contact him. Clem is great to work with, super reliable and very easy going. He called us back within an hour of emailing him about shuttling and that helped us greatly with our planning (first logistic step completed). This time, instead of going north from Smoothrock into Whitewater as we did in 2016, we went south on Smoothrock, around the large lake perimeter and up through Elf to lower Wabakimi until backtracking through the northern part of Smoothrock.
On our travels to Wabakimi, and knowing we would paddling some 'big water', decided to get some additional tips and technical advice from a local expert from Nipigon. His name is "Paddle to the Sea". If you never heard of them...I pity your lack of awareness of Canadian Canoe Culture (My best Mr. T impression right there)... It was great seeing our old friend again.
b]Day 1[/b] - Little Caribou. We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Thunderbay and met our Guide in Armstrong at 3:00 pm. Knowing we were off to a bit of a late start, we camped on one of the crownland sites on Little Caribou for the night.
We still had fresh veggies from our roadtrip and brought them in to eat at Little Caribou. Technical note: adding copious fiber to your intestinal tract pre-trip helps to ease colon-dehydrated food shock the first few days!
Day 2 Next morning was one of those glorious misty calm days
First 250m port. Easy topo on this well cleared and used trail. Only one fallen tree to straddle over.
Caribou Lake fortunately was well behaved and we paddled relatively calm waters (as calm as that lake gets) through to Caribou River. We stopped at a campsite not to far from the outlet. Becky enjoyed a nap as soon as I set up our little Eno hammock.
Day 3 was a short one (only 5.3 km) and we proceeded to a known spot at the 4th portage, a little pool between rapids at the inlet and outlet. It has a nice sandy beach at the end of the site/port. The pool is great for walleye and pike.
img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1871/29309077667_df7c06e951_c.jpg[/img]
We met a couple of CCR hooligans at our site and they decided to camp out with us and enjoy a few livations that night. Kirby and Tom
Day 4. A fairly simple 0 portage paddle to the Northeast end of Smoothrock lake. That section of the Caribou River is a bit tedious for its scenery for me. The campsite we stayed at was very large with at least 3 flat tent pads and is very well used. Unfortunately, we did find lots of garbage at this site including used feminine products. Those items are best burned or packed out until the next fire, that's what we do... But the sunset turnout to be glorious.
Day 5 Another no portage day where we paddled to the middle east part of Smoothrock. We found a great site with large hills adjacent. This was one of the really hot days in the mid 90's degree F and with the high sun we were pretty overheated. Some motorboat fishermen from a nearby lodge decided to plant themselves right in front of our camp. We tried to wait them out but they seemed intent on hanging around right there. So Becky did what any reasonable girl would do...She took off all her clothes and went for a swim. LOL, their reaction was to pull up anchor fast and speed off. I guess that will teach them!
Distance: 210 km, we did it in 14 days it could be done in 10 d or less if you are a high distance paddler
Ports: 21 portages; longest portage: 660 m
We decided on a loop via Little Caribou Lake as we were able to secure a former guide Clem for his shuttle services and we had his info on file to contact him. Clem is great to work with, super reliable and very easy going. He called us back within an hour of emailing him about shuttling and that helped us greatly with our planning (first logistic step completed). This time, instead of going north from Smoothrock into Whitewater as we did in 2016, we went south on Smoothrock, around the large lake perimeter and up through Elf to lower Wabakimi until backtracking through the northern part of Smoothrock.
On our travels to Wabakimi, and knowing we would paddling some 'big water', decided to get some additional tips and technical advice from a local expert from Nipigon. His name is "Paddle to the Sea". If you never heard of them...I pity your lack of awareness of Canadian Canoe Culture (My best Mr. T impression right there)... It was great seeing our old friend again.
b]Day 1[/b] - Little Caribou. We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Thunderbay and met our Guide in Armstrong at 3:00 pm. Knowing we were off to a bit of a late start, we camped on one of the crownland sites on Little Caribou for the night.
We still had fresh veggies from our roadtrip and brought them in to eat at Little Caribou. Technical note: adding copious fiber to your intestinal tract pre-trip helps to ease colon-dehydrated food shock the first few days!
Day 2 Next morning was one of those glorious misty calm days
First 250m port. Easy topo on this well cleared and used trail. Only one fallen tree to straddle over.
Caribou Lake fortunately was well behaved and we paddled relatively calm waters (as calm as that lake gets) through to Caribou River. We stopped at a campsite not to far from the outlet. Becky enjoyed a nap as soon as I set up our little Eno hammock.
Day 3 was a short one (only 5.3 km) and we proceeded to a known spot at the 4th portage, a little pool between rapids at the inlet and outlet. It has a nice sandy beach at the end of the site/port. The pool is great for walleye and pike.
img]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1871/29309077667_df7c06e951_c.jpg[/img]
We met a couple of CCR hooligans at our site and they decided to camp out with us and enjoy a few livations that night. Kirby and Tom
Day 4. A fairly simple 0 portage paddle to the Northeast end of Smoothrock lake. That section of the Caribou River is a bit tedious for its scenery for me. The campsite we stayed at was very large with at least 3 flat tent pads and is very well used. Unfortunately, we did find lots of garbage at this site including used feminine products. Those items are best burned or packed out until the next fire, that's what we do... But the sunset turnout to be glorious.
Day 5 Another no portage day where we paddled to the middle east part of Smoothrock. We found a great site with large hills adjacent. This was one of the really hot days in the mid 90's degree F and with the high sun we were pretty overheated. Some motorboat fishermen from a nearby lodge decided to plant themselves right in front of our camp. We tried to wait them out but they seemed intent on hanging around right there. So Becky did what any reasonable girl would do...She took off all her clothes and went for a swim. LOL, their reaction was to pull up anchor fast and speed off. I guess that will teach them!