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. 

Smack dab in the middle of July 2024, I left my home in Peterborough, Ontario at 4:00 AM in the direction of Quetico Provincial Park. Now, why pretell, would I get up at such an ungodly hour and start driving? Well, I wanted to get to Thunder Bay in one day so that I could get well into the interior of Quetico the following day. The reason for this is that I would be crossing Pickerel Lake on the first day of the trip. Pickerel Lake is a massive lake, infamous for its windy conditions. When it comes to wind on big lakes, the earlier in the day one can cross those large expanses of open water is generally the prudent option.  

The trip across northern Ontario was long but enjoyable. I recommend doing the drive along the north shore of Lake Superior at least once. It's a drive that could easily be on a top-ten list of most scenic drives in North America, if not in the world.  

I made it to Thunder Bay shortly before 6 PM, an excellent time for a journey of that length, especially driving alone. I decided I would check into a hotel for the night, hit the sack early, and get back on the road early to get to Quetico shortly after the park offices opened. Well, who knew that there would be little to no hotel vacancies in Thunder Bay on a Monday night? I certainly didn't. I changed tactics and started calling a few motels west of Thunder Bay on the way to Quetico. I found one that had good online reviews at a decent price with vacancies near Kakabeka Falls. After a quick stop to pick up some take-out dinner, I was checked in and relaxing in my room within a half hour. 

I stayed true to my plan and got on the road early the next morning. My motel had a kitchenette, so I made my coffee and breakfast there before departing. On the way, I stopped to take a gander at Kakabeka Falls from the highway, and another quick stop to allow a moose to cross the highway. He darted into the woods before I could get a photo. 

I was pulling into the Dawson Trail Ranger Station shortly after 7 AM. (I had crossed into Central Time and gained an hour!) The skies were blue and devoid of clouds; it was a beautiful day. I was looking forward to getting on the water!

I chatted with two rangers at the station as I was checking in. I had a few questions about wind on particular lakes, water flow, etc. I also wanted to ask about conditions and whether my intended route should be done in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. They were extremely helpful and gave me some good advice that allowed me to adapt my plans accordingly. They said the water levels were abnormally high for mid-July and were probably closer to normal May levels. On a whitewater trip, this would have been very welcome news; however, on this particular trip, they said it might cause some issues on some upstream portages, particularly at two locations:  Russell Rapids (Day 2) and going up the Falls Chain (Day 4). They expressed a bit of concern about the fact that I was going solo and advised me to take extra caution in certain spots, particularly after some deaths from drownings in the area already in the year. I would heed their advice about the spots they mentioned. They also commented on how the bugs were out in formidable force. In fact, I do believe the term they used was something to the effect of "worst in years" or something like that. Yikes.

After picking up my permit and following their directions, I hopped back in my vehicle and made my way to the Stanton Bay access point, grateful that I was a Canadian resident. This particular access point is restricted to Canadians only. By putting in at Stanton Bay, I would be cutting off the majority of the westward paddle across windy Pickerel Lake. It was still early in the morning and I could feel the wind gusts picking up already. 

Finally, there are benefits to being a Canadian resident, particularly from Ontario near the Metropolitan Toronto area. Many might feel there are many downsides to being an Ontarian. Take our three major sports teams for example, the Leafs, the Blue Jays, and the Raptors. None of them are good at our national sport, hockey. Thankfully, Toronto has the Hockey Hall of Fame. This allows Leaf fans to see the Stanley Cup up close to see what it looks like. Oh...one more good thing about Ontario is that it is easy to see the changing seasons. When spring arrives, the Leafs are out. (Sorry, couldn't resist! Go Habs!)

The journey down the gravel road to Stanton Bay took longer than anticipated; it was about a 45-minute drive. It was rough in several places and slow going. At one point, while crossing a small bridge across a creek, I spotted a cow moose in a pond. Two moose sightings in a couple of hours and I hadn't even gotten in my canoe yet. This was going to be a great trip!

There were only a few vehicles in the parking lot which was a welcome sight. Who wants to paddle on a crowded route?! Not me. The portage from the parking lot to the put-in was just under 500 meters and surprisingly signed to show the portage location. 

I used the word "surprisingly" above because Quetico Provincial Park is somewhat unique in that there are no signed trails or campsites in the interior of the park. This is because it is classified as a wilderness park and, typically, true wilderness does not have the markings of human impact such as signage. Although there were a few moments on the trip when I cursed the policy because it caused a couple of issues finding portages (Especially on Day 5!), I appreciated it in the end. After years of tripping in places like Algonquin where the effects of humans are grossly apparent at times, Quetico's efforts to preserve a true wilderness experience should be applauded. Besides, in my case, I have had enough experience on crown land and lost canoe routes that I was somewhat used to looking for signs of a portage without there actually being a sign marking the portage. This particular portage sign from the parking lot to Stanton Bay would be the only one I would see on the trip. 

Before 10 AM, I had locked up the car, consolidated all my gear into the proper place, and had everything portaged to the put-in. I was happily ready to embark on an intense solo journey through a good portion of the eastern side of the park. 

On the water, I could feel it getting breezy, but Stanton Bay is relatively small and the wind was not an issue. 

However, after I got through the swampy narrows, I could see Pickerel Lake ahead to the south, and the wind was stronger. 

Luckily, the northern section of that part of Pickerel Lake has a number of islands. As I made it around the point coming out of Stanton Creek, I felt the wind slam into me from Pickerel Narrows to the west. I paddled hard against that headwind to get into the lee of a small island that was occupied by some campers. From there, I made a beeline for the east shore of Emerald Island, the large island that dominated the western end of the lake. It was a tough paddle against the wind that was now coming at me from the northwest and I was forced to tack to the north so the wind and the waves wouldn't be hitting me broadside. I was paddling in a direction that was out of my way, but it was definitely the safer option. 

Once next to Emerald Island, I could breathe a sigh of relief as I was now in the lee. It was a nice little paddle down the eastern shore to the south end of the island. By that time it was nearly noon, and I was getting a little peckish having had my breakfast quite early. I looked at my map to see if there was a campsite nearby where I could take a break and get some lunch. There were two islands just to the south of Emerald Island, and I saw that there was supposed to be one on the smaller of the two. I made my way there. 

On a small side note regarding maps, I'll explain what I used for the trip. I make my own topographic maps for every canoe trip outside of places like Algonquin (Maps by Jeff reign supreme for that place). I download them from Caltopo at a scale of 40,000: 1  and mark them up with trip notes and details based on research. After colour-printing them on letter-sized paper, I laminate them and put them in a waterproof map case that I affix to my canoe pack. As a self-designated map geek, I enjoy the process of researching the routes and creating the maps. I do this during the winter months in preparation for canoe trips that are on my bucket list. 

For this Quetico trip, I used a variety of sources in my research. I purchased the Chrismar map of Quetico which I also brought along on the route. It proved to be useful in portage location and portage distances but had no details of campsites or portage conditions. I marked possible campsite locations on my topos using Paddle Planner, Kevin Callan publications, and other online trip reports that I could find. In the end, I was able to create some accurate maps for my trip.  One important source I used for my maps was the Ontario Parks 2021 Fire Map. I surely didn't want to plan my days camping in areas that were recently burned. (More on the 2021 fires on Day 3.)

I found the campsite at the south end of the small island. As I was pulling ashore, the sky became very dark and I knew I would likely be getting wet soon, so I donned my raincoat. It began raining almost immediately; however, I got very lucky with that. Where I was on the south side of the island, it was just spitting, but 50 meters away at the north end of the island, it was hammering. It soon passed, and I barely got wet at all. Had I arrived at the campsite 5 minutes later, I would have gotten soaked. Nice one! 

I enjoyed some meat and cheese wraps on the rocks at the water's edge. 

Then I poked around the site a bit to see what a typical Quetico site might look like. It was spacious, clean, and nice in a lovely grove of pines overlooking the water. This instilled some optimism regarding the types of sites I would enjoy on the trip. 

Before departing, I fired up my Zoleo satellite device to check the weather. That little rain burst and the wind was a little foreboding. Indeed, I discovered that the weather looked like it would be getting nastier as the afternoon progressed, with the possibility of storms. Learning this, I didn't dawdle and got back in the boat quickly to get some more distance behind me. 

The paddle west from that campsite through Pine Portage Bay took much longer than it would have normally. I battled a gusty headwind the entire time. The skies to the northeast were looking ominous and I could hear thunder from that direction. Once I was in the middle of the bay and trying to get to my portage into Dore Lake, I could see that it was raining hard to the northeast.  

As I arrived at the portage to Dore Lake, a couple of young ladies were taking their last load into Dore Lake. I greeted them and learned that they were an 8-lady crew from a girls' camp on a 34-day trip through the park. 34 days! Sweet Jesus! Your humble author's creaky 53-year-old knees would barely last 10 days as was soon to be discovered. Oh, to be young again. I sincerely hope those young ladies had a fantastic trip that would provide them with wonderful memories for a lifetime. 

The 520-meter portage from Pine Portage Bay to Dore Lake is called Portage des Morts or "Portage of Deaths". The story goes that back in the day, a voyageur was crushed to death on this portage by the weight of his own canoe. Yikes. I was thankful my dainty 15-foot Swift Prospector in Kevlar Carbon Fusion only weighed 42 pounds. Hmmm...Carbon Fusion Voyageurs...good band name! What? If the Butthole Surfers can get away with it, so can the Carbon Fusion Voyageurs! Ironically, I found this portage to be one of the easiest en route despite its ominous name. 

By the time I made it out into Dore Lake, the wind was formidable. There were whitecaps on the lake that were growing larger and the sky was overcast and grey. Although it was only 2 PM and I was looking to get further into the park, I decided to get to a campsite while the getting was good. 

There was a nice site on the point on the eastern side of the lake but it was occupied. There were a few more sites closer to the portage into Twin Lakes, but I could see one site was also occupied and the group of ladies were onshore there and looked to be making camp at another. My map showed a site on the far side of a crescent-shaped island near the western shore so I decided to head there. I wouldn't have great views over the main expanse of the lake but I would be well-protected from the nasty weather that was moving in. It was a dicey and difficult crossing to get there, but I was happy to discover a vacant campsite protected in a grove of beautiful red pines. 

I quickly made camp and was able to erect both my hammock and bug shelter before any rain came. The wind only seemed to get stronger and although I was in a grove of pines, the campsite was high on a bluff above the water and the wind was literally howling through the site from the main part of the lake. I pulled all of my guy lines extra tight to stop the flapping. Hmmm...Stop the Flapping...another good band name? Maybe, not so much. 

It started raining shortly after I set up camp and the windy conditions certainly prevented me from being bothered by mosquitos. While this negated the necessity of my bug shelter, I was still happy I put it up since it allowed me to sit comfortably in my camp chair to read my book and enjoy an adult beverage without getting wet. Afterward, feeling a little sleepy, I tried napping in my hammock for a bit but the wind kept jolting me awake. 

By 5 PM, the dark clouds had all but blown away and the sun emerged. The wind died down a bit but was still intermittently gusty. I took the opportunity to walk around the island and take a few photos in the nicer weather.