| Author |
Message |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2008 - 10:55 pm: | 
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I was thinking of driving to Wawiagama, fly-in to Scarecrow with wife and two kids. Two kids and I well experienced at tripping. How would the water levels be in first or second week of August? Is the river passable?
PT |
alscool
Moderator
Post Number: 159
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 - 8:47 am: |
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Wawiagama River will likely be quite low unless there has been a wet summer. I have travelled it in late summer dry conditions. It can be done. There will be a lot of river debris to deal with and and muddy boots. The beavers will help to keep your boat afloat. |
brian
Moderator
Post Number: 852
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 - 10:12 am: |
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Normally the Sturgeon River is fine. If water is low you may have to walk the canoes through the gravel bars (off and on for several miles) below where Pilgrim Creek enters the river |
doug_2
Member
Post Number: 140
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 - 5:05 pm: |
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I've done that trip 2 or 3 times in late summer.
It should be OK in August. The Wawiagama River itself can seem tricky to locate (the first time). It's a creek more than a river and it blends in a little bit with the wetland style shore of the Obabika River. You might find that the location of the Wawiagama is further than you expect up the Obabika. There are so many meanders on the Obabika that the distance is a little greater than it might appear on the canoe routes map.
Some years I have encountered a log jam or two coming up the Obabika from the Sturgeon, before getting to Wawiagama. That slowed progress by an hour or two. When that Obabika River section of the trip can be tough is in the spring. Then there can be a stong current on the Obabika that can make it hard to make headway upstream. That cuurent problem won;t be an issue in summer
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pierre19
Member
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 7:48 pm: |
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Hey thanks for the info guys. Sounds like we have a mission. So will my Chevy uplander AWD be ok on the drive up to Wawiagama Lake? What is the best map to take along?
PT |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 3
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 - 9:39 pm: |
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Oh yeah and the kids are asking if there will be thunderboxes on the Sturgeon River campsites.
PT |
brian
Moderator
Post Number: 855
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 - 9:39 am: |
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The Uplander should be okay, just take it slow after you get past the end of Hwy 805.
http://www.ottertooth.com/Temagami/Maps/Access/rou nd-lk.htm
I don't recall seeing any Tboxes on the Sturgeon. |
ed
Moderator
Post Number: 532
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2008 - 8:18 am: |
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Doug 2 wrote:
"You might find that the location of the Wawiagama is further than you expect up the Obabika. There are so many meanders on the Obabika that the distance is a little greater than it might appear on the canoe routes map."
I might add.... As you travel up stream on the Obabika you will come to a large mass of trees blocking the river. You need to portage around this mess, preferably using the portage on the LHS of the river bank as you travel upstream.The one on the RHS is not much used and difficult to put in from.(look for orange marking tape on a bush for the LHS portage)
The entrance to the Wawiagama River is approximately 100m upstream from the end of the portage.
The portage is pretty rough and runs along the river bank which is collapsing... so be cautious with your children. |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 4
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 8:30 am: |
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Cool. Thanks for revealing that. I will print it onto my map.
I notice there are a lot of swifts and rapids on the sturgeon and with low water I was figuring on many bumps and scrapes that would likely destroy a kevlar.
So I have a kevlar canoe but I was thinking of renting a couple of whitewater canoes and floating/grinding them over some of the small rapids and so on, to minimize the portaging. I took a whitewater canoeing course with my son last year so we know a few manoeuvres. Would all this help on the Sturgeon? Or should I just plan on doing all the portaging and rent a second kevlar for the lightness?
PT |
sundown
Member
Post Number: 321
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 9:37 am: |
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Pierre19
That's a tough one, only because it's a personal-choice thing.
I tend to view all of my gear as "tools".
I care for them, I maintain them, and I dont use them foolishly...
But at the end of the day, they're "tools".
The day I start avoiding using my tools because I love my tools more
than I love what my tools enable...
is maybe the time for me to hang my tool on a wall and just look at it?
That's "my own personal" way of looking at it.
Everyone has a different way.
And, only you can answer "your way", for you.
If it's any help, my kevlar did the Makobe in
low-water season last year, and it's a lot more
serious than the Sturgeon, in my view.
She did fine... shows a bit of "character", but I dont deny my tools that right.
Regards
Sundown |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 5
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 9:55 am: |
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I like your thinking, sundown. My Kevlar is beat up. I have bumped into/ground over a few rocks.
So it sounds like you think that with some care, and an emergency supply of duct tape, the kevlar can survive the encounter with the Sturgeon. It would be a lot easier to portage those longer spots with the lighter canoes.
PT |
sundown
Member
Post Number: 322
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 10:04 am: |
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Pierre19
Yes, I do... and, yes, that's how i would do it.
Sundown |
hillbilly
Member
Post Number: 285
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 1:44 pm: |
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pierre19,
Bring along some other emergency repair kit to repair any problems besides "Duct Tape". A 2 part epoxy or gelcoat repair along with some fiberglass repair may be useful. Bring along what ever is needed to repair you canoe if damaged.
Bill |
ed
Moderator
Post Number: 533
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 3:49 pm: |
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pierre: If you are using Hap's guide book and he says do not run then you should take the portage. As you go down the Sturgeon there are some places where no portages exist. You can run most of these as Swifts or CI's or C11's in the Spring. I am not sure what they would be like in the Summer. If you don't like what you see ( always check before running) then just line or walk your canoe down the river close to the shore and let your family carefully walk along the shore.That way you will not be subjecting your canoe to unneeded stress. |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 6
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 5:29 pm: |
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I like your plan, ed. We have done alot of Algonquin interior and it seems like the best time is when we explore a river by wading/swimming/canoeing. I wasn't sure whether this river could be run like that. I keep hearing about Hap's guide book. Where can I get one? I found out about this route from Kevin Callan's book. He says that this is just about the best route of it's kind in Temagami.
I guess you guys probably get alot of questions like this every year. I am definitely new to Temagami and this is a great help.
PT |
ed
Moderator
Post Number: 534
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 6:23 pm: |
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Go to:
http://www.ottertooth.com/Temagami/Wilson/sneak.ht m
Where abouts do you live Pierre? Most of the outdoor stores catering to canoeists and hikers have Wilson's books for sale....MEC Stores in Toronto, Montreal Ottawa etc would have copies. |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 7
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 - 9:30 pm: |
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Hi Ed,
I am in Port Hope, all the way down on Lake Ontario. I was thinking of trying Wild Rock in Peterborough.
PT |
hillbilly
Member
Post Number: 286
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 1, 2008 - 2:21 am: |
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pierre19,
You can also go to Chapters and see if they have a copy in-house, if they do not then you can order one through them.
Bill |
ed
Moderator
Post Number: 535
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 1, 2008 - 8:22 am: |
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or Amazon.ca usually carries the Firefly books.That is where I bought my copy of the Canoe Atlas of the Little North from at a good savings off the list price. |
Temagami canoe routes & backcountry travel