Trip Summaries
Since its inception, The Wabakimi Project has grown at a phenomenal rate. From the initial two trips in 2004 that spanned 32 days and involved a single participant on each, it has expanded to a full 4-month season that involves up to 57 participants.
Below is a description of the routes covered each year supported by maps created by Barry Simon. The first map summarizes the routes covered to date; the second map depicts the routes yet to be explored.
Completed reconnaissance expedition routes are indicated in black on the annual route maps; since 2009, contributors' routes have been added in red as trip reports are received.
These maps are PDF (Portable Document Format) files. To view PDF documents you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have the Reader installed click here to download your free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
2004-2012 Summary Map
The routes shown on this map represent the accumulated coverage of volunteer reconnaissance expeditions since The Wabakimi Project was inaugurated in 2004.
2004-2012 Summary Map (PDF - 5MB)
Work Required & Improvements Needed
This map shows what remains to be done in order to complete exploration and documentation of the routes that lie within Wabakimi Provincial Park and on adjacent Crown lands.
Work Required Map (PDF - 5MB)
2012
In an shortened season of 13 weeks totalling 93 days, 11 new participants joined 25 past participants on 12 trips to work on the canoe routes that link the Albany and Ogoki Rivers to Lake Nipigon east of Wabakimi Provincial Park. Reconnaissance of the route from Whiteclay Lake on the Ogoki River to Gowie Bay on the Albany River via the Witchwood and Attwood Rivers was completed and all but 2,400m of the Opichuan River route between Abizotikichuan Lake and Kagianagami Lake were completed too.
Low water levels and the condition of portages and campsites again limited the overall distance covered. In all, 119km (74 miles) of canoe routes were documented, 40 campsites located and cleaned and 30 portages cleared that measured 10,006m (10,943 yards or 1990 rods).
2012 Route Map (PDF - 5MB)
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2011
In 13 weeks (94 days), 12 trips involving 31 participants completed reconnaissance of the Misehkow River and the Albany River from Achapi Lake to Frenchmans Rapids below Fort Hope. Two canoe routes that lie on Crown land near Armstrong, ON were also explored and documented.
Extremely low water levels, an intense forest fire season, the condition of unmaintained portages and the volumes of trash on campsites and along shorelines that needed to be collected severely limited the overall distance covered. As a result, publication of Volume Four of the Wabakimi Canoe Routes booklets will be delayed until reconnaissance of the southern tributaries of the Albany River is completed in 2012.
2011 Route Map (PDF - 5MB)
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2010
Over a total of 114 days, 14 trips involving 38 participants covered 512km of canoe routes across the southern part of the park from Smye Lake west of Heathcote Lake to Maggotte Lake south of the Kopka River. Not all of the routes planned were completed due to weather and the condition of many of the portages encountered. Several sheer wind occurences dictated the need to revisit some routes completed earlier in the season to ensure they were again safe to use.
Beside the overall distance covered, several other records were set this year: 160 campsites were inventoried and cleaned; 153 portages whose lengths totalled 39,990m were cleared and measured.
2010 Route Map (PDF - 4.9MB)
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2009
Over 104 days, 13 trips involving 35 different participants covered 397km on the Caribou Forest from the CN railway line north to the Albany River. Unusually wet and bitterly cold weather coupled with extremely high water levels and the deplorable condition of many of the portages encountered conspired to limit the work completed and the total distance travelled. Reconnaissance of the Albany River was abandoned at Achapi Lake as it was too dangerous to proceed any further downstream.
Despite these setbacks, reconnaissance of most of the canoe routes south of Savant Lake was completed, 96 campsites were identified and cleaned, and 74 portages whose lengths totalled 17,123m were located, rehabilitated and measured. The number of routes visited and the overall area covered was substantially augmented by contributors who mounted their own self-directed trips and afterwards submitted detailed trip reports. Their routes are depicted in red while the routes followed by the reconnaissance expeditions are shown as a single, continuous black line.
2009 Route Map (PDF - 4.9MB)
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2008
Fifteen trips involving 44 participants ran continuously for 17 weeks (121 days) and, for the first time, involved leaders other than "Uncle" Phil. Barry Simon led an 8-day trip in early July to give Phil a break and Doug Blount led a 2-week trip in mid-August while Phil attended his daughter's wedding in Thunder Bay.
Most of the canoe routes in the Caribou Forest from Savant Lake to Pashkokogan Lake were completed including the Little Pashkokogan River that runs through St. Raphael Provincial Park on the west side of Highway 599. Doug's trip crossed the entire width of the park all the way to the Ogoki Reservoir.
2008 Route Map (PDF - 5.2MB)
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2007
The same schedule as in 2006 (see below) was continued but with no 2-week trips, 33 different participants were involved two of whom returned for a second trip.
The first 6-week series of trips were spent exploring the Crown land canoe routes between the western boundary of Wabakimi Provincial Park and Highway 599 in an area known as the Caribou Forest. The second 6-week series involved crossing the entire width of the park from Rockcliff Lake to the Pikitigushi River.
2007 Route Map (PDF - 5.2MB)
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2006
Trips were standardized into two six-week blocks with a 4-week hiatus in July for Phil to rest and re-pack. Nine 8-day trips and one 15-day trip involved 30 different participants over a total of 87 days.
The summer's routes included reconnaissance of the entire length of the Flindt River from the railhead to Wabakimi Lake as well as initial exploration of the western approach to the park from Greenbush Lake via the Misehkow River to Rockcliff Lake.
2006 Route Map (PDF - 5.2MB)
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2005
The initial trips in 2004 convinced Phil that, without better organization, more people and a more ambitious schedule, reconnaissance of all the lost/abandoned routes of Wabakimi would never be completed. Two 'series' of trips each involving 3-person 'teams' of volunteers led by Phil were designed. Seven trips varying in duration from eight to fifteen days were blocked into two 'series' involved 21 participants over a total of 76 days.
The focus of these trips was to complete work begun in 2004 and extend the scope of reconnaissance to other northern tributaries of the Ogoki River. The Ogoki-Albany Height of Land was crossed twice--once from Colehouse Lake into Rockcliff Lake and again from Davies Lake into Muskiga Lake.
2005 Route Map (PDF - 5.2MB)
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2004
The Wabakimi Project had its genesis in an early Spring fly-in/fly-out trip when Phil and his friend, Wes McCoy, undertook an exploration of Corky Creek. In 22 days, starting from Winn Lake, they paddled the entire extent of this abandoned waterway and discovered no less than four links to other routes. In August, Phil and his son, John, conducted a 10-day reconnaissance of Webster Creek to establish three of the four links to Corky Creek.
2004 Route Map (PDF - 5.2MB)
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