Sultan to Gogama: A Saga of Seven Rivers

Maps provided courtesy of Toporama which contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. I have marked my route in blue and portages in red. 

Could it be possible to arrive by train at the hamlet of Sultan, Ontario with a canoe and paddle to the town of Gogama to take another train home?

During the excruciatingly long winter nights in Canada, I plan canoe trips. It helps me survive the cold months imagining all the fantastic places I can paddle in the soft-water season. For my first extended summer trip in 2024, I wanted to try a route that was off the beaten path. I was contemplating a couple of options when Brad from the Explore the Backcountry YouTube channel, and his friend, Cam, released a video of a canoe trip connecting the Sakatawi area west of Gogama, Ontario with the Somme River system at the top of the 4M Circle Loop. 

This piqued my interest for a couple of reasons.  First, I really enjoyed the Opeepeesway-Sakatawi Loop that I completed two years earlier and wanted to explore the area further. Secondly, in 2020, I was ready to tackle the full 4M Circle Loop beginning and ending at Gogama when I learned about the massive IAMGOLD gold mine project at the north end of Three Duck Lake. Knowing this, the 4M Circle Route became much less appealing to me. The thought of canoe tripping alongside one of Canada's largest open-pit gold mines was just not doing it for me despite the company's best efforts to keep the route open.  However, by connecting the Sakatawi region to the Somme River at Wolf Lake, I could paddle the northern part of the 4M Circle route and avoid the bustle and noise of the mining operations further to the south. (...or so I thought! The mining operations were still plenty audible from our campsite on Wolf Lake!) I began putting together a few topographic maps based on Brad's information. 

The next order of business was to work out logistics. This couldn't be a loop trip, so I began to think about entry and exit points. After exploring maps of the area, I saw that the Wakami River flowed into the Woman River which connected to the Sakatawi region via the Rush River. Would it be possible to start the trip in Sultan and paddle to Gogama? If so, I could put my canoe on the VIA Budd Car at Sudbury Station, alight at the Wakami River near Sultan, paddle to Gogama and take the Canadian back to Sudbury Junction Station. Then, I would simply take a taxi back to Sudbury Station from Sudbury Junction Station to retrieve my vehicle. It seemed viable. I started researching. 

With train schedules, I learned that I could take the Budd Car on the morning of June 29th to Sultan. At the other end, I could catch the Canadian back from Gogama on July 9th just after midnight. This gave me a 10-day window to complete the trip. 

This seemed a reasonable timeframe in terms of distance I needed to cover, however, I had no idea about the river conditions on the Wakami north of Sultan. The last trip report that I could find on the river was from 2002 and that party seemed to have a difficult time between Sultan and Ridout Lake. Twenty-two years later, who knew what kind of logjam and sweeper madness was on the river! I was able to find the MNR canoe brochure of the Wakami River but guessed that it was from as far back as the eighties. River conditions have surely changed since those days most likely making much of that information far less accurate if not obsolete. In 2017, Dan Kirouac and his friend paddled the lower Wakami River to the Woman River and posted some of the highlights on his YouTube channel, InSeasonStudios. This helped me see what I was in for in that section of the river. 

In the end, I made topographic maps and tripping notes with what information I could find. I tried contacting some local businesses in Sultan to inquire about river conditions, but it was winter and due to many of those businesses being seasonal, I wasn't able to reach anyone; even the post office in Sultan had closed. 

My intended trip would take me along seven river systems, all within the James Bay watershed. The seven rivers that I would paddle are as follows in order: Wakami, Woman, Rush, Rice, Northpoint, Somme, Makami. It would actually be eight if I were to include Wenakoshi Creek, but I include that as a part of the Northpoint River system. The Rush River, Rice River and Wenakoshi Creek sections would be upstream which would add to the challenge. It would be quite a trip! 

I also learned in the early spring that as of 2024, VIA Rail had changed their policy on transporting canoes; they were now implementing a limited quota on the number of canoes allowed on the Canadian due to its consistent lateness. I surmised that this was most likely due to the increased interest and popularity of people doing Wabakimi and Missinaibi trips and the loading and unloading of canoes was holding the train up. This meant that I needed to make a decision and either buy the train tickets immediately to ensure I had a spot on the train for my canoe or abandon the trip entirely. Well, canoeing meatball that I am, I called VIA and booked the trains. I was committed to the trip.

At Easter, I told my father about the trip. Initially, I had not asked him to join me because there were some sections of the trip that I was particularly wary of -- the aforementioned  section north of Sultan and a 1600-meter bushwhack of a portage between Wenakoshi Lake and Pebonishewi Lake (more on that insanity on Day 6!)  My father is 73 years old and might be in better shape than I am, but he has had a knee operation that limits his mobility somewhat. Besides, I didn't want the trip to be so much of a boot camp excursion that it wouldn't be enjoyable for him. I, on the other hand, am a bit of a Type 2 fun junkie and like a challenge (I am a little nuts). Despite me giving it to him plainly, he said he wanted to join, so I signed him up for train tickets, as well. He is, indeed, as they say, a trooper! 

The months passed and I periodically tried to find someone to contact in Sultan. In early June, I came across a phone number in the online Yellow Pages for an outfitter in the region. Obviously, my online search techniques leave something to be desired because I had not come across this number in previous searches. A woman answered and I began telling her my plans. "You should talk to my husband!" she responded and passed the phone to him. Well, it turns out that the gentleman I was talking with and his wife live in Sultan year-round and used to have an outfitter business in the area some time ago. Based on his knowledge and fishing forays into the Wakami River area north of Sultan over the years, he confirmed my fears and explained to me that the river there was choked with logs, had some dangerous rapids with sweepers, and all of the portages that used to be maintained by the Junior Rangers had become overgrown in the last two decades. He thought it might take several days to get from Sultan to Ridout Lake by canoe. 

Apparently, I had contacted the right person, and suddenly our 10-day window to paddle the route was looking very tight, if not impossible, to achieve. Moreover, given the man's description and having only one canoe in our party, it seemed reckless to try that section. If we were to wrap the canoe, get caught in a sweeper, or damage the boat to the point where we couldn't paddle it, we would most likely need to call for a rescue which would be extremely difficult in a narrow, fast-flowing river basin. I asked him if he knew of anyone who would be willing to shuttle us to a point further downriver east of Ridout Lake for a fee. Having seen the InSeasonStudio video, we felt we could handle the Wakami from that point onward. When he said that he or his brother would do it, I was very happy. 

Although part of me really wanted to have the experience of putting in on the Wakami River right from the train and paddling our own way entirely to Gogama, I knew we had made the correct decision to arrange a shuttle for the first portion of this trip. The potential risk far exceeded the reward, especially for a couple of guys aged 73 and 53 in one canoe with a 10-day time window. After a few subsequent phone calls and texts, it was arranged that the man's brother would pick us up at the rail crossing in Sultan and shuttle us to a put-in location a couple of kilometers northeast of Bayly Lake on a spur coming off the Dore Road. The trip was a go!