Quetico: Sturgeon -Kawnipi - Agnes Loop

Total Distance: 193 kilometers

Duration:10 days 

Number of Portages: 37 (a few can be avoided if running/lining/wading rapids)

Total Port. Distance: 11.1 km

Level of Difficulty: Moderate (this route is portage-intensive and the leg from Kawnipi Lake to Agnes Lake can be challenging)

Map provided courtesy of Toporama which contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. I have made additional markings to show route information.

This route is on the traditional territory of the Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ and Michif Piyii (Métis)

Quetico! What can I say?!? 

It had long been on my bucket list of places I wanted to visit and the only reason that I hadn't dipped my paddle in any of Quetico Provincial Park's 600+ lakes thus far was simply because it's so dang far from my house.  I mean it's in another time zone kind of far.

(Image taken from Google Maps)

So, why would I embark on a two-day road trip just to start a canoe trip? Well, Quetico is nearly 5000 square kilometres of wilderness bliss that includes rushing rivers, gorgeous waterfalls, large lakes full of fish, an indigenous people's history going back for 10000 years, and perhaps best of all, a small number of canoeists -- relatively speaking. The park's management (bless their souls!) caps the number of canoeists entering the park each year in an effort to protect Quetico's fragile environment. 

Just to compare, it is estimated that Algonquin Provincial Park gets about 300,000 backcountry canoeists visiting its interior each year (I swear, 75% of them are paddling from Canoe Lake!...but I digress) while Quetico gets about 20,000. That's 15 times more people in the Algonquin interior than in Quetico's. Sure, Algonquin is a little bigger but not by much; Algonquin's area is only 1.6 times greater than Quetico's. As a high school math teacher, I enjoy numbers, and as a backcountry canoeist who seeks solitude in the wilderness, I really liked what those particular numbers were saying.

Don't get me wrong...I love Algonquin; it will always hold a special place in my heart. I'm so blessed to have that incredibly beautiful wilderness area just a two-hour drive from my front door. It's just that it is overcrowded, and lately, I feel the wear and tear on Algonquin is beginning to show. Perhaps, Algonquin could take a page from Quetico's management plan and begin to limit the number of its yearly visitors. Unfortunately, I feel that may never happen due to the fact that it might put a dent in Ontario Parks' revenue stream. That discussion might be better served on a different blog with a different purpose, however...

So, in my trip planning for the 2024 paddling season, I made plans to finally get to Quetico. I carefully chose my route, wanting to get deep into the park and see many of the highlights on the eastern side in a ten to twelve-day timespan. I decided on a figure-eight loop trip that looked like the one seen on the map provided. The 2021 fires that decimated 14% of Quetico were also a factor in choosing my route. While I didn't mind paddling alongside recent burn areas for small sections of the trip, I certainly didn't want to spend days on end in those areas. 

Well, I learned that this trip would be a lesson in adaptability, reminding me that on a canoe trip, one has to roll with the proverbial punches. 

First, I was planning to do the trip with my father. Earlier in the spring, I had sent him some information to see if he was up for the long drive and the trip that I had planned. After learning more about it, he was eager to join. Unfortunately, less than a week before we were supposed to depart on the trip, he had a dental emergency that required immediate attention and subsequent visits to the dentist; he was forced to abandon the trip. I had already booked the trip and purchased my permits, and due to the quota of canoeists allowed in Quetico, I didn't want to cancel and miss my chance to go. Alas, I would be doing the trip as a solo paddler. 

The second big cause for adaptation was that I exacerbated a niggling knee injury descending next to Louisa Falls at a point on the trip where I was furthest away from my vehicle. (More on that on Day 6 and 7!) This forced me to change my original route and paddle the most direct route back to my car rather than complete the originally planned Figure Eight that you see on the map.  

Map provided courtesy of Toporama which contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. I have made additional markings to show route information.

Despite these changes from where I first set out to go, it was still an incredible and unforgettable experience; Quetico lived up to its reputation as one of the top canoeing destinations in Ontario, if not Canada. And that is saying something.

Let's get on with the canoe trip...