Spring Trip Report from Drew Brockett

Spring Trip Report from Drew Brockett:

  

2015 Spring Solo Canoe Trip - One Night/Two Days

Day One - April 30, 2015

Today's journey: Mudro - Fourtown - Boot - Fairy - Gun - Wagosh - Niki - Chippewa - Papoose - Friday Bay of Crooked Lake

Paddling miles: 12.5

Portage miles: 7 (eleven portages, 750 rods x 3 because of double portaging)

Weather: mostly sunny and warm, slight breeze from the south, almost perfect

It was a beautiful morning as I left my home at about 5:30am.  I got to the #23 Mudro Lake entry point a little after 6am and started paddling by 7am.  My vehicle was the only one in the parking lot.  It was a wonderful site early in the season since this is one of the most popular BWCA starting points throughout the paddling season. 

  

The day was long as I had a goal to get to Friday Bay.  I just kept paddling and portaging.  It was good to see this area again as it had been a few years since I traveled these lakes.  The highlights for the day included a pine marten that was walking along the bank of a lake, seeing nobody, the many birds either seen or heard (bald eagles, kingfisher, winter wren, loons, and more), and the fact that I was back in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Once I found my campsite on an island in the northeast part of Friday Bay, it was late afternoon.  I had earned an evening of relaxing, that's for sure.  It was a big day for my first trip of the year. 

  

The quiet evening was spent eating dinner and enjoying the view from the rocks.  Tent-time came early.  I needed to get some sleep as I made the decision to try to paddle out and complete the entire loop in one night.  Usually, we tell our clients to do the loop in about 5 days.  My buddy at work, Adam, is notorious for doing big trips and piling on the miles when he solo trips all summer.  It was my turn to try to do that.

Sleep came easy.  The forest went to bed.

Day Two - May 1, 2015

Today's journey: Crooked Lake (Friday Bay area) - Basswood River - Lower Basswood Falls - Horse River - Horse - Tin Can Mike - Sand Pit - Mudro

Paddling miles: 19.3

Portage miles: 4.8 (10 portages, 513 rods x 3)

Weather: Mostly cloudy, wind picked up a bit in the afternoon from the SW, warm

I knew it was going to be a big day so I got up before 5am, took care of taking down camp and getting some food into me, and was paddling by 6am.  It was a perfect morning to be on the water. 

  

 
Crooked Lake is a large lake with many bays and fingers.  I had many miles to go before my first portage around Lower Basswood Falls.  As I paddled, it was amazing knowing I was the only one anywhere near this area.  One man's wilderness, so to speak.  As the canoe glided over the water, I paid attention to the beautiful, rugged shoreline.  When I passed by campsites, I made a mental note about it for future reference.

Sometimes one must get out of the canoe to stretch the legs and reset your body.  I took advantage of the flat rocks at historic Table Rock.  It's an easy place to get in/out of a canoe, plus to know that it's a place of history with the voyageurs and natives, makes it a neat area. 

  

  
After a quick break and walk around Table Rock, my next stop would be the first portage of the day.  But, before I got there, I caught a glimpse of the elusive fisher.

Continuing south, there is a set of pictographs and then Lower Basswood Falls.  

      

  

     

  

Now the day was about more portages and a nice river paddle.  It was such a great day so far and I knew I could just keep going and eventually get to my vehicle.  It's not that I wanted to leave the BWCA, but there are a lot of things I needed to do at my home, plus I thought it would be a good challenge to do this loop in two days.

There are portages marked on the map and then there are little areas that are listed as rapids.  These rapid areas became interesting.  They are small rapids, but rocky.  I was able to paddle up the first one.  Another one, I had to portage around.  The last one I had to get into the water and pull (line) my canoe through the rapids.  I was in the water up to my thighs, but had the Chota Hippie Waders on so didn't get wet at all.  Actually, that was a lot of fun doing that.

Once I got to Horse Lake, I needed to refuel with some lunch.  I found a campsite and enjoyed the food, the view, and the break. 

  

Now the final push, knowing that there was a brutal portage coming up later in the day.  I got to the bottom of Horse Lake, passing a rock on the side that has a metal ring in it.  That's from the logging days of this area.

Eventually I was on the portage from Tin Can Mike to Sandpit.  The first part of it has a fine wooden walkway so canoeists don't have to walk in a wet area.  As I was walking along the portage, I heard something bigger in the woods and move away from the portage.  I stood still...listening and watching.  I heard it again and it moved a little deeper in the woods.  Then I saw something in a slightly different location from the most recent noise.  All of the sudden, I saw two cute little bear cubs climbing a tree.  Then I knew it was the mama bear that had run away.

Uh oh.  Now what?  I need to do this portage and come back and get my canoe and food pack.  I decided to just get going.  As I passed the tree with the cubs, I couldn't believe how cute they were as they climbed and wondered who I was.  Quickly a decision was made to snap a few shots and get to the end of the portage.  Coming back past that area, I had a stick, just in case, and I had my whistle.  When I passed the bears, I saw the mother at the base of the tree sort of in and out of a hole (could be the den?).  Now the mama was with them.  I kept walking.  They were all more afraid of me. 

  

My final time walking past them wasn't a big deal as I had a canoe on my shoulders and figured that was "scary" to them.  As I passed, the same thing happened, the cubs were on the tree and the mama was at the base of the tree.  No biggie at all.  What an incredible site!!  Two little cubs with their mother.  Luck was on my side.  Notice one of the pictures has both of the cubs in it. 

The last part of the trip was tough.  The portage with the bears is the easiest one I know.....flat....as it was an old road during the logging days.  Now, it was time for "Heart Attack Hill".  This is a steep uphill climb and it wears you out.  I just took my time, paced myself, and took small steps.  Once I brought my pack to the end, I knew I had to go and get the rest of the gear.  There is nothing like doing a portage like that twice...up that hill.

That portage ends at Mudro Lake where I hear my first voices since the radio in my vehicle.  It's a family coming in late in the day and staying at the one Mudro site.  I didn't want to see anyone, but what are you going to do.

Once back at the parking lot, there are four other vehicles now.  Wait until summertime, this lot will be packed.  For me, off season is the time to experience the busy areas.  I'm lucky I can do that.

The journey was fantastic.  Spring in the wilderness, before the bugs, the heat, and the crowds, is a special time.  Happiness comes from everywhere you look.  Peace is all around you.  Life is great.

Hope you enjoy this little write-up.  Find something good in each day.

Drew  

BLOG 48. Gray Beards

BLOG 48. GRAY BEARDS

by

Cliff Jacobson

A few years ago, I presented a program for the Minnesota Canoe Association. About 150 people attended.  With the exception of six teenage girls—who were there to show slides of their trip in the Boundary Waters—everyone (including me) had gray hair.  Murmurs of “look at all the gray beards” bounced around the room.

Gray is now largely the hair color of those who enjoy the Boundary Waters Canoe Area each summer. When, in 1968, at the age of 28, I made my first trip into this region, most of the paddlers were not much older than me.  Now, the average age is close to fifty. Where have all the young people gone?

 

Where have all the young people gone?  Cr. Mike Rapatz

To technology, mostly. Today’s kids would rather play on their computer than go outside. Few have ever gone canoeing, fewer still have camped out-of-sight of an RV. They have no use for wilderness. Richard Louve, addresses this concern in his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Louv makes the case that kids are so consumed by TV and video games that they have lost their connection to the natural world—they see no value in wild places and therefore, no reason to preserve them. I taught eighth grade environmental science for 30 years and I can say he is right on target.

 

Cr. Mike Rapatz

What isn’t, is society’s view that kids must be flooded with (mostly useless) information and tested frequently to ascertain their knowledge of it. The result is that teachers have no time for social or environmental concerns. They must teach to tests that are designed by those who don’t hike, camp or canoe or give a wit about wilderness. Teachers who do take their students outdoors without meeting the “approved government objective”, are asking for trouble. If it’s not in the state-approved curriculum—or more accurately, “not on the test”—it’s not acceptable. Even nature centers are not immune from regulation. Where once, they could present a variety of interesting topics, they, like teachers, must now key into the “approved curriculum”.

 

Cr. Zoe Kesselring

Field trips?  What are they?  Or rather, what were they? Schools no longer have money for away-from-school activities. Field trips now are largely self-funded, meaning the kids—not the school--pays for the bus ride. Admittedly, a few (very few) teachers defy the odds and meticulously collect bus fare—usually two to five dollars per head.  Some kids pay, some don’t.  Caring administrators often look the other way. Ultimately, teachers tire of the extra work and the field trips just go away.

Then, there's the matter of party size in the BWCA. In the 1970's, when I began to take kids "up north", the party size was 10 and there was no limit on the number of canoes in the group. Our groups were all co-ed, nine kids and one teacher.  Now, two adult leaders are required for every teen group, and the maximum party size is nine.  This translates into seven paying teens, not nine as in the past. And with two leaders, expenses double.  No wonder school groups are largely a thing of the past.  Nine people and four canoes are the rule in the Boundary Waters, which means someone has to ride "dead weight"--hardly a good time for a teenager who wants to paddle. Frankly, I think that this rule should be re-visited. 

There's also the matter of "fun", or possibly the lack of it.  Get a group of kids together and they'll naturally make noise--singing, dancing on logs and yelling at their friends are part of the growing up game. And so is congregating with their friends. Yes, kids must learn to respect the quiet and sanctity of the wilderness, and it's our job to teach them.  Still, when they do forget the rules, we--and those around them--need to be compassionate.    

When I taught environmental science at Hastings Middle School (I retired in 2001), I offered free after school canoe trips on the nearby Mississippi River. We went twice a week when the weather was good, and always had a full house.  But now, with today’s ludicrous demands on teachers, I’d have no time for it.

 

Cr. Robyn Keyport

When snow covered the ground I took each of my classes on a half-day snowshoe hike.  The kids would ask: “Mr. J, what do we have to write down?”

            “Nothing!”.

            “But what do we have to know for the test?”

            “Won’t be on a test!”

            “Yeah, great, but then, why we goin’?”

            “Just for fun and to learn to love wild places.  Is that okay?”

            “Yeah, man, way cool!”

Get the point?  Too bad our politicians don’t. 

The result is that we’re raising a generation of youngsters who love malls more than trees.  And unless we change our educational expectations, and quickly, I fear that we will continue to lose more wilderness and more of our sanity.

www.cliff-jacobson.com

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How Important is the Boundary Waters to You?

Is the Boundary Waters important to you? Tell us how much in your own words by commenting below! Tell your friends about this wonderful place so that we can increase awareness for preserving this beautiful wilderness area! 

The lakes are calling and I must go!

I always dreamed of living somewhere close to water.  Close to lakes, to be precise because I grew up near the Rock River in Oregon, Illinois.  Back home I would ride my bike over to the Honey Creek on gravel roads that meandered into town the long way; the back way.  I could sit there, when I got the chance, for hours watching a bobber or flipping a Mepps spinner over and over again.  Occasionally Dad and I would park our car near the dam in town, walk down the bank and stand on the rocks to cast for walleye in the rushing water.

We swam in the town pool with enough chlorine to turn your hair green on long summer days.  Those days only made me long for a country of lakes even more.  Just to be able to sit by one.  To cast a line when I wanted, to jump in when it got too hot.  To listen to its songs after the darkness fell.

My dream wasn't huge… I didn't have to own property on a lake or a second home/cabin with my own beach.  I just wanted to be nearer to water than I was.  Preferably water that didn't have its own perfume of "river".  

For many people, Ely, Minnesota is the personification of that dream.  When they think of such a place as I did during my childhood, they ultimately see a green sign with only three letters: "ELY".

As I grew older I thought about how great it would be to leave work at the end of the day and go fishing somewhere.  To grab a canoe and just go.  In my mind I saw only water and endless possibilities.  That was my Ely.  More lakes than I knew what to do with.

Somehow I made it here and began life all over again as a husband and then a new father and life itself got busier and busier.  The dream stayed alive, but now that I was living it, it changed to encompass Little League and ballet and church and friends and family and a career and traveling and art and new books and more art and antiques and hobbies and…

The lakes are calling and I must go.  Yes, it is a take off from a John Muir quote, but it is a fact.  A fact of life.  They call.  Loudly.  So now, I answer the call.

One of the most exciting things is to go to work with the knowledge that when your work day is over a canoe trip awaits.  Portage packs full, family ready, dog ready, canoes on the van, Zups Polish in the cooler, fishing rods and hammocks -- check, check.  I can hardly wait.

When I am loaded up and the afternoon sun is tattooing its mark on the back of my neck as I stretch my paddle to the campsite up ahead, then I relax and think, how lucky I am to be living my dream.

Do the Lakes call you?  We're going to make this design into a t-shirt for next year.  Look for it in a catalog coming to you in March!  Answer the call!

BLOG 16. What Can You Learn From the BWCA? by Cliff Jacobson

BLOG 16. GOING NORTH—WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM THE BWCA?

By Cliff Jacobson

www.cliff-jacobson.com

You’ve made many successful trips into the Boundary Waters. You’ve never gotten lost—maybe just confused for awhile; you’ve weathered storms, made fire in the rain, never capsized or been threateningly cold.  After each trip, you’ve come home smiling. Now you dream of canoeing a wild river in Canada or Alaska. Does your experience in the Boundary Waters qualify you for a remote northern adventure? Yes and no! Here’s what you can learn from your years of canoeing the Boundary Waters.

NAVIGATION

Rivers that flow into Hudson Bay are terribly confusing as they approach the Bay. Here, the delta sprawls amidst a mix of islands and dead-end channels. The flowage changes from year to year so maps can’t be taken too seriously. Still, navigating the Boundary Waters can be equally confusing. Why? Because even the best BWCA maps are no match for the detailed 1:50,000 scale Canadian topos. The Boundary Waters has plenty of islands, bays and channels to confuse you. In short, if you can read a map and compass well enough to confidently canoe the BW’s most complex lakes, you’ll do fine in Canada. However, you’ll need to understand magnetic declination and contour line interpretation and, if you bring a GPS, the UTM system of positioning. 

The Littlbug stove burns hot and clean and uses very little wood. It's the lightest and most compact wood-burning stove available.

FIRE BUILDING:

The ability to make a fire in any weather marks you as an expert.  If you can make fire on a rainy day in the BW you can do it anywhere. Indeed, it’s more difficult in the BWCA than in most other places because  all the good wood on the established campsites has been picked over. On the other hand, fire-making in Canada is easy—there’s so much dead, downed wood everywhere that you can just throw a match into the woods and yell “fire”!  Barrenland trips are the exception, of course.  Here, you may want to bring a littlbug™ stove and rose clippers so you can snip dead willow branches and burn your garbage.

 

LAKE CANOEING SKILLS

Canoeing a big lake like Saganaga or Brule when the wind is up is similar to canoeing a big lake in Canada, with one exception: arctic waters are bitterly cold--a capsize is deadly! You just can’t take chances.

OPEN WATER CROSSINGS

Boundary Waters paddlers often paddle straight across a lake, making a beeline from portage to portage. This procedure can kill you on a wind-tossed northern lake. It’s difficult to estimate distance on the tundra because there are no trees for reference—a  shoreline that appears to be a few hundred yards away may be a mile or more! You must consult your map before you commit to open water crossings!

COOKING SKILLS

Meal preparation and cooking is the same up north as in the Boundary Waters, with one exception: northern waters are very cold so your stove will use much more fuel. Two gasoline stoves are mandatory. You’ll burn about one-tenth of a Liter of fuel per person per day. Pot “cozies” save the day.  See my book, “Expedition Canoeing” for details.

PORTAGING

Some of the portages in the BWCA are as tough as anything you’ll find in Canada. The difference is that Canadian trails are not cleared or marked. Bring tools to clear a portage (axe and saw) and some bright-colored plastic surveying tape to mark the way; and always scout the route before you carry anything across.  Carry the canoe last, which is opposite of what most people do in the Boundary Waters!

DEVELOP JUDGMENT SLOWLY

It takes years to develop good judgment, but you can speed the learning curve if, when you canoe the BWCA, you get off the beaten path. For example, most paddlers blindly take every portage without checking the flowage into the next lake.  Sometimes, you can line or wade your canoe through the connecting rapid. You won’t know if you don’t look.  And by looking, you’ll develop skill and judgment to handle the unknowns you’ll face up north.

FEW SECOND CHANCES

A capsize in the Boundary Waters is usually just a laughing matter; on a cold northern lake, it may be fatal.  When the weather turns sour in the BW, you can just hole up and wait for sun, later shortening your trip to make up for lost time.  On a northern river, you’re generally committed to a time frame: you must be at a certain place at a certain time or your charter float plane won’t find you. This means you may have to travel when you’d prefer to camp, which increases risk. Yes, you may be able to change your itinerary if you have a satellite phone—if it works!  Rental phones are often problematic because their batteries (which are in constant use and re-charge) may not hold a charge for very long.  Campsites, rapids and portages are not marked on northern rivers so every day is exploratory, and exploring slows you down. Indeed, the rule of travel “up north” is to allow “one day down in every five” for bad weather and the unexpected.

The rapids can be long and difficult.  Cliff: 14-foot Pakboat (folding canoe)
Call Steve Schon 1-800-223-6565 to order a Pakboat Folding Canoe or get your questions about them answered.

THE RAPIDS MAY BE HUGE, LONG AND DIFFICULT

You absolutely MUST be confident in Class II-III technical rapids. Portaging and lining aren’t always an option. You can’t learn whitewater skills by paddling lakes in the BWCA.  Best take a class; you can learn a great deal in just one day. The “backferry” is the most important technique. Stress this to your instructor! You’ll also need to practice “lining” your canoe around obstacles. There are some opportunities in the BWCA, but only if you have ropes attached to the ends of your canoe and get off the beaten path.  

Cliff: Lining around a difficult rapid.  14-foot solo Pakboat (folding canoe)

STORM-PROOF YOUR CAMP

You need a seriously good tent, plus the skills to keep it standing in a major blow. Long tent stakes that dig deep and grab hard are essential. The best I’ve seen are 12-inch long arrow-shaft stakes which you can get from Cooke Custom Sewing (you can special order these through Piragis).

CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR

Sandals and sneakers which work for the Boundary Waters are worthless on cold northern rivers. You need knee-high rubber boots, warm insoles and wool socks.  Camp footwear should be tough enough for serious hikes.  Clothes should be wool and nylon.  Reliable rain gear is essential. Provide back-ups for everything. Packs must be waterproofed to the nth degree. The sloppy packing you see in the BWCA won’t cut it up north. A canoe spray-cover can be a life-saver.

Transitioning from the BWCA to a remote northern River requires learning some new tricks.  Except for whitewater and lining skills, you can learn much of what you need to know from books and by attending seminars by those who’ve “been there, done that”. And you can practice your new skills in the BWCA and on local rivers.

Cliff Jacobson

www.cliff-jacobson.com

Cell Phone Tower Project will Shrink Wilderness

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/06/22/piragis/

Commentary from MPR NEWS
Court's decision to allow cell tower makes the wilderness a little smaller
June 22, 2012

By Steve Piragis
Steve Piragis is proprietor of Piragis Northwoods Co. in Ely.

On a clear, moonless night in December last year, I was alone in the middle of Gabbro Lake. The ice was clear and the wind was still; only the rumble of expanding ice broke the silence.

Out of range of all manmade light, the stars seemed to almost hum in the sky. As I walked along, awake and alive in the moment, a new light appeared between low hills on the northeastern horizon: a red, blinking light.

What was pure wilderness, like no other that a person can find in Minnesota, suddenly was interrupted. The Lookout Ridge tower is miles away from Gabbro by Snowbank Lake, yet on a clear night in winter the red strobe demanded my attention and disrupted what Ely advertising calls "the last great pure experience."

Is this experience becoming less pure as more towers and more lights are allowed to infringe on wilderness?

Winter or summer, the Boundary Waters is an escape from the modern world. It's where I go to find a pace of life that is natural. Where my mind can fix on one task or one view at a time. It's really why I love wild places. The gyrations of the mind settle down for a while and we see life in the present.

The sights are subtle here but no less impressive than the Grand Canyon or Yosemite. In summer it's the call of the loons, wings slapping the water as they struggle to lift their airframes off the lake. In fall it can be the glow of golden birches and poplar set ablaze in the late afternoon light and the sting of frost on the gunwales in morning. Winter is the quiet season, when I usually find the Boundary Waters mostly to myself. It takes only one short portage to a lake like Gabbro to find pure solitude. Booms of expanding ice break the silence, but overhead the silence of space seems close. In my mind it's as close as I can get to God, alone, walking on a frozen lake.

If we go to wilderness to find peace, quiet and solitude, do we need to bring with us the devices of our lives we sought to escape? On a calm evening in summer, camped on a wilderness lake, wouldn't it be annoying to hear a fellow camper talking on his cell phone? Do we need our iPads every night to have fun? Is it really the last pure experience if we have towers piercing the horizon with red strobes, reminding us of the jobs and responsibilities we left behind? Won't some of us start to think that maybe we need to find a more pure wilderness?

The profit motive may have made our country great, but now it threatens to impair wilderness like the Boundary Waters as huge corporations like AT&T struggle to compete and look to fill in big gulps of land on their coverage maps. Compromise on the issue of cell towers wasn't good enough. A 200-foot tower with 87 percent coverage wasn't good enough. Any budget for legal fees was OK as long as the corporation won in the end and its right to light up the night sky with red strobes was upheld.

The loons will still call and the fish will still bite and the stars will glow on moonless nights. But to escape the flashing strobes we'll have to paddle or snowshoe a little farther, and the wilderness will be a little smaller.

BLOG 12. The Nine Person Rule, by Cliff Jacobson

BLOG. 12. THE 9-PERSON RULE

By Cliff Jacobson

www.cliff-jacobson.com

Everyone who canoes the Boundary Waters of Minnesota knows that the maximum group size is nine people and four watercraft.  The rule further states that “…you may not exceed either limit at any time or at any place in the BWCA, including portages, campsites or waterways.”  Prior to 1995, a crew of ten were allowed.  The new rule seems to make sense, but it has caused some serious problems.  First an observation: 

Credit: Zoe Kesselring

If you’ve been to the Boundary Waters lately you may have noticed that most of the paddlers have gray hair.  Young people in canoes are rare indeed. We can blame it on smart phones, computers and video games,  but frankly the nine person rule has had some negative impact. A little history:  For 19 years I taught environmental science in a Minnesota school that offered a week-long Boundary Waters canoe experience for tenth-graders. There were nine kids and one teacher in each group. The 1:9 ratio kept the cost down but paid the bills.  Then, around 1995, the “nine person rule” was implemented. There were now just eight paying students, not nine as before. To this add cuts in state summer school funding.  Our program was decimated.  It squeaked on for a few years then quietly died.

Credit: Mike Rapatz

Now, in the age of “everybody sues everybody”, schools and camps are wary of lawsuits so they require two chaperones per group, not one as before. But two adults and just seven paying customers puts the price of guided trips too high for many to afford. The result is that many schools which once offered Boundary Waters programs, no longer do. Once again, the kids lose!

Why four canoes, not five?  I doubt that one more canoe per group impacts the wilderness experience for anyone.  Indeed, with nine people and four canoes, someone must ride dead weight in the middle of a boat.  No teenager I know prefers to ride when he or she can paddle. There’s also a safety concern: 120 pounds of potatoes is a more stable load in waves than an equivalent weight of teenager who moves around! There’s also the risk of hypothermia.  Scenario: you’re canoeing across Gunflint Lake with a rider in the middle.  It’s raining and blowing hard.  Water dribbles through rain gear, chilling bare skin.  But the kids are paddling hard which keeps them warm.  There’s a campsite 30 minutes away; you’ll stop there, build a fire and have some snacks.

A teenage girl is riding dead-weight in the center of an aluminum canoe.  She sits on a thin foam pad, her legs crossed, head down.  She is chilled and shivering.  The leader calls out: “How you doin’ Jeanie?”  She mumbles a polite “okay”.  Ultimately, the campsite looms into view.  Everyone but Jeanie jumps out of the canoe, thrilled to be on land.  The girl can only mumble; she can’t move her legs. Two strong boys lift her out of the canoe. A roaring fire ensues and the girl is warmed. Luckily, she survives. A fictitious tale? Hardly!  It happened just this way to a group I encountered in the BWCA.  Fortunately, we tagged along and built the fire that warmed her!  Notice that only the rider was hypothermic.  The kids who flexed their muscles were just fine.

Some years ago, I guided a canoe trip on Ontario’s Kopka River, which is in Wabakimi Provincial Park. The Kopka has a lot of tough rapids and portages.  Very few people canoe it, largely because it requires considerable skill.  Rapids, portages and campsites are not marked—as in most of Canada, you’re on your own. Over the years I’ve paddled the Kopka four times and have never seen a soul.  When Wabakimi authorities learned that I was going to canoe the river with a crew of nine (ten total people) they called me and said the limit was nine.  I begged them to reconsider, stating that there was virtually no canoe traffic on the river, and a person riding “dead weight” would be a safety concern in the rapids.  No matter: I was told that this rule applied to all provincial parks and the Kopka was no exception!  So much for sense and sensibility!

Cliff Jacobson

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