The plan was to drive 10 hours to Wawa Ontario and stay at a motel near the water. We’d grab a meal, relax, get a good sleep and drive the last 7 and a half hours to the Wabakimi Outfitters Lodge. That changed when I got a phone call a little over an hour into the drive from the motel. Our reservation was cancelled due to plumbing issues. In hindsight, I should have pulled over immediately to rebook, but when you have a 10 hour drive in front of you, you just want to keep moving. At the first gas stop just after Parry Sound I started calling motel’s in Wawa… all booked. Of course! Everyone else that had a reservation was smart enough to rebook right away. We got to Sault Ste. Marie around 5pm and decided to get a bite to eat and figure out where to stay for the night. We were about 7 hours in and 2 and half hours from Wawa. There isn’t much between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, and not much after it, so motel options ran out. We decided to stay at motel just down the street from the restaurant. One option was to get a campsite at Lake Superior Provincial Park, but rain in the forecast had us packing up in the wet, it would not be the relaxing evening we wanted before another full day of driving.

We were up early, grabbed breakfast and were on the road for 7am. I’m glad we didn’t rush this part of the drive. The view while driving around Lake Superior is incredible! I would do the drive again just for the sights. After a couple of stops for gas, we went into Thunder Bay for the last fill up before the last stretch up 527. A few kilometers in a bear ran in front of the car. Quick reflexes and good brakes kept him from wrecking my bumper.

We arrived at the Outfitter and did some last minute gear changes for the weather (Tuesday night was forecasted to be 3C). Had dinner, and went over our maps and route with Bruce before bed. The float plane was coming for us at 7am!

Well, 4 months came and went like nothing. Everything is packed and sorted. There is some new gear coming on this trip. I would have liked to test it first but it’s been a busy summer.

I said I would post a gear list, but I don’t really see the value in that without an explanation that would bore most of you. Most of the gear I’m bringing is a result of many trips and figuring out what I like to bring and what I used to bring and don’t use.

First we have the key gear. Transportation, Shelter and Survival followed by food. Then there is Equipment, Navigation, Clothing and everything after that is luxury items.

Transportation is pretty straight forward. Boat, paddles, PDF, safety gear. Shelter is a tent, tarp, sleeping bag/pad. Survival is fire starting tools, first aid kit (I could write an entire article on this, and probably will), and water filtration.

Equipment is quality of life gear. Wood processing tools, stove, pans, pots, chair, bug spray and paracord. Navigation is key. GPS, phone with downloaded maps, printed maps and a compass. Clothing will change with climate, another great article idea.

Luxury items need to be chosen carefully. They are usually heavy, so when you hauling a 60 lbs pack over a treacherous portage, you want to know that when you get to the camp site the extra work was worth it. I like to bring a small table so I’m not trying to cook on the ground. I bring a GoPro with a handful of batteries and a couple of battery packs with solar panel. Some food items like peanut butter and honey are heavy but a joy to eat for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Soap is nice for cleaning clothes, dishes, and smelly body parts. A frying pan, oil/lard and spices are nice for when the fish cooperate and hit the lure you randomly chose.

Packing food for 10 days is not easy. Too much and you get to haul it for the whole trip. Too little and last couple of days are no fun while you consume your last snacks in place of a meal. There is no way to predict fishing success, especially when you aren’t a good fisherman. So, I’m carrying 14lbs of food and there is a good chance I’m taking 8lbs of that home, but I won’t starve to death.

I can’t sleep. I’m starting the drive North in less than 7 hours and decided to write this instead of going to bed.

Over the last few years I’ve stopped by the Wabakimi Outfitters booth at the Outdoor Adventure Show. We’ve been talking about doing a fly-in trip there and this year everything aligned. We decided to fly in and fly out to give us some flexibility in the trip. We have a 6 day trip planned with 10 days to do it. This will allow for zero days if the weather is bad, or exceptionally nice. We’ll take 2 days to drive up, stay at the lodge and fly out the next morning. Apart from our normal 4 or 5 day canoe trips we’ll need to double the food, bring a slightly better first aid kit, and some additional repair items for the canoe. An upcoming post will have a gear list and a rough meal plan.

For a frameless pack this carries weight quite well. The hip strap does an adequate job of keeping the pack on the hips and minimizes shoulder strain. I haven’t tested it for waterproofness, but considering it’s construction I’m not worried. The pack closes like a dry bag and the top can be clipped together or you can roll the top and clip to straps on the side of the pack. The pack weighs about a kilogram which is excellent considering the strength of the material. The front pocket is a little hard to use, Don’t load it up with bulky items, I’m going to use it for first aid gear.

There are two things that would make the pack perfect. The first is a useable water bottle pouch that can be accessed with the pack on. The side pockets are elastic and hold quite a bit and there is a compression strap that goes around them, but they are not accessible while wearing the pack. Consider buying a pouch that clips to the shoulder or hip strap. The second thing is small pouches (or even just one pouch) on the hip strap for snacks. Not a big deal, consider adding a thigh pouch or fanny pack. One thing that makes up for most of the downsides in the price. This pack is excellent value.

Riparia Backpack 45L

I spent a couple of nights on Bentshoe Lake in the Haliburton Highlands. It’s a nice easy hike from the car to do some gear testing. I got to test some gear I wasn’t planning on too.

I had a major stove malfunction just before going to sleep the second night. I used a compressed sawdust log and it expanded and pushed the baffle up to block the stove pipe. The tent was billowing with smoke and there was nothing I could do stop it or remove it from the tent.

Luckily I had the military surplus extreme artic sleeping kit that includes a waterproof bivy and two nested down bags. I normally just use the nested bags inside the tent and brought the bivy to keep the bags dry just in case. It’s a good thing I did, because with no way to stay in tent I moved my sleeping pad outside and slept under the stars. It went down to -6C and snowed a bit but I was comfortable and actually slept better without waking every time the stove went out. I may switch to a tarp system and leave the stove and tent at home next time.

Also, if it looks like you don’t need snowshoes… bring them anyway! I had to leave the sled in the middle of the lake and walk back to the car to get them.