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Ottertooth Forums * Temagami canoe routes & backcountry travel * Archive through February 3, 2011 * Florence to Katherine trip report < Previous Next >

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dergon_darkhelm
Member

Post Number: 56
Registered: 06-2008
Posted on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 7:41 am:   Edit Post Delete Post

((Lots of pics.....dial-up warning.))

We were pressed for time this year with lots of work at the cottage and my coming wedding next weekend, so we had only three nights of camping ahead of us. We decided to splurge and have Lakeland take us both ways with a drop off in Florence Lake and a pick up in Katherine. Dates were Tuesday Sept 7 through Friday the 10th.

The last time I had been on this route was 1998. I was looking forward to seeing it all again.





It was dark and misting as the Beaver picked us up from our cottage on Lake Temagami. We had nothing but overcast, lots of rain, or a light steady mist for nearly the entirety of the trip. It would Thursday evening by the time the sun finally cracked.

It was early in the afternoon in Florence Lake by the time the third flight of our arrived. Separately we made our way out the FLorence river with an easy paddle to Duff Lake. We fished a bit without luck, but spent most our time just keeping a fire going and keeping our gear dry and tight.

The next morning we headed out the Florence river toward deep Lake Road and the Lady Evelyn river.


We had a wet lunch on the remains of the old road, rigging our tarp to get some break from the rain.

The lift over just downstream from the road is still there, but ths time none in our party got a wet foot while crossing.



We made some of the swifts as we approaches the junction with the Upper Lady Evelyn River. After all the talk of low water this year, with the rain leading up to and during our trip, we had the highes water levels ever. We had to line only one Class 1of the rapids on the whole trip....a pleasent upside to wet.



We made camp just East of the junction of the upper and main LE rivers at that large multi-site site on the north.



We had to rig the tarp again to stay out of the rain, but had enough periods of not raining to make a nice fire and have some great Speckled Trout fishing by just casting from the shore.

The next morn I awoke to the sound of a moose crossing the river. I was the only one of our group to get out of his tent in time to see him and his big rak standing quietly in the middle of the River. After 10 seconds of direct eye contace, the moose returned to the underbrush and we reading for the next day.



We started making the series of rapids and portages into MacPherson. I was pleasently surprised at how much evergreen growth there had been in the area of the burn. The place had looked scarred the last time we were in. The burn area had great late season bluberries, which we picked for our oatmeal.



The wet weather made that 55 meter boulder crawl of a portage one of the most challenging.





We enjoyed the day despite the weather making it hard to find the right portaging gear......cold, wet but exerting yourself heavily. We each went with different options...none good.


We made it through MacPherson into Shangri la with the skies still dark and misting/raining.

In Shangri-la we finally got a break from the rain. At around 5 pm the skies broke and I saw some sun lgiht. We were able to dry gear, relax out side and break out fresh socks. :-)


The site there looked as wonderful as ever.



Come Friday morning, all had fresh clothes and smiles on their faces.



We had a late day pic-up, so we took a liesurely paddle into Katherine, and some made a short trek down to Hap's to pass the time in the sun.

All in all, despite some rough weather we had a lot of fun. And since we always go late season and usually have to deal with very low water, the elevated levels made for great fun in the swifts and rapids. :-)
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dergon_darkhelm
Member

Post Number: 57
Registered: 06-2008
Posted on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 7:48 am:   Edit Post Delete Post


oh well...a few were too big ...will crop and repost the rest later
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alscool
Moderator

Post Number: 271
Registered: 02-2004


Posted on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 8:18 am:   Edit Post Delete Post

Wow, check out the low water at Shangri-la !

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