Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Day 1: Central Access Road Parking Lot to NW Arm of Lake Temagami CS
• Day 2: Obabika Inlet to Chee-Shon Lake
• Conjuring Rock or Spirit Rock –  Or Just Plain “Huge Rock”?
• Day 3: Chee-Skon To Diamond Lake Island CS
• Day 4: Diamond Lake Picto Site to top of Obabika Lake
• Day 5: Obabika Lake C.S. to Central Access Rd. Parking Lot

Hap Wilson’s Essential Temagami Guidebook

Maps – the first 3 are topos; the last 3 are annotated with campsite and portage info.

• Natural Resources Canada 1:50000 topo sheets
• David Crawshay’s Topo Canada app for iOS
• Toporama Canada Online Map
• ChrisMar Adventure Series Maps
• Friends of Temagami Map
• Jeff’s Temagami Map – RIP

More Sources of Online Information

1. Ontario Parks
2. Ottertooth
3. Canadian Canoe Routes Forum

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Related Posts:  A Visit To Temagami’s Diamond Lake Pictograph Site

+ other Temagami Canoe Trip Posts 

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Introduction:

We got to the public dock and parking area at the end of Temagami’s Central Access Road (the old Mine Road)  on an overcast Wednesday afternoon; it was October 1. Ahead of us was up to a week of paddling and camping in a part of Ontario we have grown to love over the past few years. The plan was to paddle up to the pictograph site on the north arm of Diamond Lake and then loop back through Wakimika Lake and River to Obabika Lake.

The total distance: 100 kilometers. The biggest concern: the weather!

We hoped the two weeks of “Indian summer” in late September would continue for another week. Appreciated was the fact that a six-hour drive from southern Ontario put us on the edge of something approaching wilderness. Since it was autumn, it would mean that we wouldn’t see (m)any other paddlers on Temagami waters which can be quite busy during the prime summer months. And while Temagami fall colours are not as dramatic as those in Algonquin Park, we knew we were in for some lovely splashes of red and yellow to go along with the evergreen.

We left  Toronto at 7:00 a.m. for the 470-kilometer drive up Highway 11 to the Lake Temagami Access Road just south of the town of Temagami itself. (See here for a Google view of the ride.)  When we arrived at 1:00, a few other vehicles were in the public parking lot. We had chosen this starting point instead of Sandy Inlet at the end of Red Squirrel Road because we were a bit concerned about a possible car break-in while we were paddling.

We should have gone with the Red Squirrel Road/Sandy Inlet entry. Fellow paddlers have since assured me that the chances of our vehicle being broken into are pretty low. Also, the 60 kilometers of primarily big lake paddle from our car to the north end of Obabika Lake and back would be eliminated. Given the wind and waves we faced on both Obabika and Temagami,  a Sandy Inlet put-in certainly has its attractions.

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Day 1: Central Access Road Put-In to NW Arm of Lake Temagami – Turtle Rock CS

• distance: 15 km                  
• weather: overcast, windy, drizzling      
• portages: none 
• Federal Gov’t Topos: Lake Temagami 41-I 16; Obabika Lake 41-P 1.
• Google Earth 3-D view: see here

Two and half hours of paddling took us from the put-in up the northwest arm of Lake Temagami to an established campsite at Turtle Rock. Nearby are a couple of pictograph sites, but we had no luck finding them.

As the map below indicates, Bear Island also has two pictograph sites. [Site #41 in Dewdney’s Indian Rock Paintings-p.92]. Paddling along the north shore of Bear Island,  we decided to keep them for the return in a few days. We hoped that the conditions would be more conducive for a search for faint ochre marks on vertical rock.

A bit of rambling around our Turtle Rock campsite did turn up a thunderbox (i.e., box toilet), nicely tucked away in the bush and covered with leaves.

We spent a wet evening under the kitchen tarp testing our new camp chairs. After twenty years of the venerable MEC Senate Seat, we have gone seriously upscale (and “upweight” at two pounds [900 gms]  each). We splurged on the Helinox Chair One for the decadence of off-the-ground seating. The post-trip decision – we’re definitely making room for them on all our future portages!

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Day 2: Obabika Inlet to Chee-Shon Lake

• distance: 20 km
• weather: overcast/drizzle and rain, windy.
• portages: 900 m into Obabika from Obabika Inlet; 760 m into Chee-skon from Obabika
• campsite: the point at the north end of Chee-skon Lake

Going up Obabika Inlet gave us some sheltered paddling, and the portage, a broad and well-trodden trail, even if 900 meters, was no big deal. Just before the somewhat muddy take-out, we did spot the shell of an old 1940’s truck that did duty on the trail back in the days of logging in the area.

We went up the east shore of Obabika, getting out to stretch our legs at a sand spit named Ranger (or Fog) Point. The campsite here has room for several tents and a lovely beach. We continued past the two Grandparent (Kokomis and Shomis) Rocks, which figure in the traditional mythology of the local Anishinaabe.

When we reached the top of the lake, we looked around for the beginning of the portage that would take us into the day’s goal, Chee-skon (also spelled Shish Kong) Lake. It was another landmark of significance in the traditional Anishinaabe world, thanks to a striking rock face and a rock tower on the east side of the lake.

The portage marker told us we were at the right spot. As the photo shows, there is definitely room here for a tent or two if it is too late in the day to contemplate the 760-meter carry into Chee-skon.

We both set off with a Duluth pack (the modern nylon version by the now sadly defunct company Hooligan Gear) on our backs and a duffel on top and the paddles. Since it was hunting season, before we set off, we also had our orange vests draped around the packs and replaced our usual Tilley’s with orange caps.

When we got to what felt like halfway, I put down my load and went back for the canoe while Max carried on to the end. I know we have done a good job estimating when I meet him again at the halfway point, and he is just picking up the pack and duffel. It wouldn’t be happening this time, however.

A “space cadet” moment would have me taking the canoe for a hike far away from the comforting yellow portage markers. Along with the portage trail, the Chee-skon area has some hiking trails that take walkers through one of North America’s finest old-growth pine forests. The map below will show you where I made a right turn and headed towards that creek flowing out of Chee Skon to Obabika!

You will note the orange hiking trail marker on the pics below –

I should have picked up on the difference as I walked along with the canoe over my head. If that wasn’t enough of a clue, then I should definitely have clued in that something was wrong when I crossed Chee-skon Creek in the photo below –

I now get the difference between the orange and yellow markers, but that afternoon, I kept on truckin’ further than I should have as the trail got rougher and rougher. Finally, that “Duh” moment when it struck me that I had left the portage trail behind for an adventure I didn’t want. It sure was scenic though!

Putting down the canoe, I started making my way back until I bumped into my brother, who was wondering what was taking me so long. He offered to retrieve the canoe and carry it the rest of the way while I took a bit of a break, but since it was my screw-up, I went back for it and finished the carry. (Note: the canoe – a Swift Dumoine kevlar/carbon version – only weighs 19 kilos or 42 lbs.)

We got to the end of the portage, and I finally got to see Chee-skon. At the put-in was an overturned canoe, probably left by locals to allow them to paddle to the Conjuring Rock at the other end of the lake without having to carry a canoe the 760 meters from Obabika. Across from the put-in was a small stretch of vertical rock with a nice reflection –

But it was the view down through the narrows to the north end of the lake that really caught our attention.

You can see the rock face, the pile of talus, and the scree in the distance. We would paddle down the lake through the narrows and camp on the small point across from the rock. We then paddled across to look at Conjuring Rock up close. The photo below shows our campsite on the far side of the lake. The green dot is our 10’x14′ MEC tarp.

Max went for a scramble over the broken rock to the vertical cliff face itself; it rises about fifty meters and has a powerful presence. It’s easy to see how it would be considered a special place in the context of the rest of the terrain in the neighbourhood.

This shot was taken from above and north of the tower-like Conjuring Rock with the lake in the background. Looking down the lake, you can see Obabika Lake.

And down below is the entire cliff face with the rock tower – Conjuring Rock – in the middle.

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Conjuring Rock or Spirit Rock –  Or Just “Huge Rock”?

An issue of terminology to explore here – shades of leaving the portage trail for another impromptu hike!

In Hap Wilson’s 2004 Canoeing, Kayaking and Hiking Temagami (and the 2011 edition retitled Temagami: A Wilderness Paradise), the rock tower is called “Conjuring Rock.” Wilson bases this name on a late-nineteenth-century map of the area apparently sketched by the Anishinaabe elder Windaban for the Geological Survey of Canada’s Robert Bell. In a chapter about Chee-skon in his book Trails and Tribulations Wilson writes about the map:

One place of prominent importance was Chee-skon-abikong sakahegan, or, for those not fluent in Ojibwa, “conjuring rock place lake”….Anishnabe linguistic expert and historian Craig MacDonald says of Chee-skon, “The name is derived from the root word for ‘shaking tent’- the seven-poled open-topped used by medicine healers (shamans).”

So there you have the reason why it is called Conjuring Rock.

On the other hand, The Friends of Temagami map has gone with the name “Spirit Rock,” as does Jeff’s Temagami Map. That is a somewhat blander choice.

Both names convey the significance of the rock as a sacred place to the Anishinaabe – but while the first name makes clear the exact nature of the activity,  the second name – Spirit Rock – has a vaguer and general feel to it. One explanation offered for avoiding the supposedly negative term “conjuring” is that it was used by the Christian missionaries, to whom conjuring was an evil thing and who also affixed names like “devil” and “wizard” to other nearby locations.

Oddly enough, the chapter on Chee Skon and the vertical rock in Hap Wilson’s Trails and Tribulations  (2009) is titled “Place of the Huge Rock Lake.” No hint of conjuring here! The reason for the de-emphasis of the claimed traditional view of the lake and the rock is not made clear.

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We would spend the late afternoon paddling around the lake and taking in the views of a spot we were happy to have finally gotten to. Looking south from the base of the cliff, we saw where we had put our canoe back in the water after the portage –

We returned to our camp just as it started drizzling;  our dining room tarp was already set up, so we just deked in under it and stretched out on our plush new camp chairs. After supper – an Indian curry in a boil-a-pouch each and some pasta – we leaned back with our coffee mugs and whisky and contemplated the rock face in front of us. For a moment, we let our thoughts wander to the pair of panties we had found next to the fire circle and wondered what that was all about.

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Day 3: Chee-Skon To Diamond Lake Island CS

• Distance: 10 km.
• Weather: overcast in the morning with one 15-minute slash of sunshine; wind and rain the rest of the day.
• Portages: 840 m from Chee-skon to Mud; 265 m from Mud to Bob; 1175 m from Bob to Diamond.

The day of the portages! We hoped to get to the pictograph site on the north arm of Diamond Lake by early afternoon and then head back down to find a campsite on the west end of Diamond. The morning part – the portages – actually went smoothly, though the Mud Lake portage did live up to its name at both ends!

In the afternoon, a combination of wind and rain starting around 1 meant we set up camp earlier than planned.

The portage trail to Diamond Lake from Bob Lake is in good shape and pretty flat most of the way. Near the end, it crosses an old gravel logging road, as the map below illustrates. We sat at the end of the portage, had lunch, and enjoyed our first sunshine of the trip. It was not to last.

As we paddled out of the shelter of the bay into the open lake itself, we met a fierce east wind and the waves it was pushing our way. Once we committed ourselves to crossing,  we were relieved to get to a small island. It was pretty exposed, but we did find a spot that was somewhat sheltered from the wind and quickly put up our tent and supplemented it with a tarp for extra protection. Propping up the canoe between the wind and the tent made a difference. It would rain most of the afternoon and evening;  we focussed on staying dry and warm.

In retrospect, we should have paddled to one of the two campsites on the mainland. Both are less exposed and would have made for better foul-weather picks.

Our visit to the pictograph site up the north arm of the lake – about 2.5 kilometers from where we were tented – would have to wait until the next day.

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Day 4: Diamond L. Picto Site to top of Obabika Lake

• Distance: 26 km.
• Weather: overcast but calm in the morning; wind and occasional drizzle in the afternoon; rain throughout the night.
• Portages: from Diamond to Lain 450 m; from Lain to Wakimika 435 m;  a couple of 20 m or so carries and liftovers on the lower Wakimika River. 
• Campsite: an established site on the north point across from Misabi and the start of the Obabika River

We got up to an overcast day, but it had stopped raining, and there was no wind. Here is what the north arm of Diamond looked like as I gazed up the lake towards the pictograph site.

Breakfast done and the canoe loaded with the gear, we paddled the three kilometers north to revisit a rock face we had passed by in 2006 and 2009. This time we planned to do a better job getting a visual record. Here is a shot taken a half-hour later when we got to the site’s north end; we’d spend a half-hour there checking things out.

If you want to see more close-up pics of the pictographs, I’ve set up another post that looks at the site in greater detail and provides some background to its history and the interpretation of the various images.

A Return Visit To Temagami’s Diamond Lake Pictograph Site. 

The site represented the turn-around point of the trip; we’d spend the rest of the morning paddling back down to the main body of Diamond and then to the west end of the lake. Luckily the wind had yet to become an issue, so the kilometres slipped by nice and easy.

The pic above is a shot of the west end of Diamond Lake; we rounded the point on the left and headed down to a couple of portages that would take us into Wakimika Lake. Here is a shot of the very scenic bay you paddle into to get to the take-out for the 450-meter portage trail over to Lain Lake –

A part of the route we always enjoy is the stretch on the Wakimiika River. After crossing the lake into a noticeable headwind, it was nice to slip into the narrow confines of the river/creek as it meanders its way to the marshes at the north end of Obabika Lake. Paddling around or slipping under fallen trees is part of the fun –

By 3:30, we were at the top of Obabika and facing a strong wind. We decided to make it to the point on the north side of where the Obabika River starts; we had camped there back in 2006 on another wet and soggy Temagami fall trip! I did, however,  take a closer look at the campsite just north of it to see how it compared. We moved on.

That evening brought more rain and cooler temperatures, but the two silnylon tarps – one as insurance over our tent and the other over our cook area – made things easier to deal with.

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Day 5: Obabika Lake C.S. to Central Access Rd. Parking

• Distance: 32 kilometers
• Weather: intermittent rain and strong winds
• Portages: just one –  from Obabika into Lake Temagami – 900 m.

The plan had been to be out for six or seven days, but here we were at the start of Day Five, having decided to paddle out this very day if possible. It would mean we would not be paddling over to  Alex Mathias’ place to say “hello”;  the visit to the three pictograph sites on the south end of the lake would also be scrapped for another time. So too would spending some time hiking the Old Growth Trails around Chee-skon.

We were on the water by 7:00 and by 9:00 having breakfast at the start of the 900-meter portage into Lake Temagami. By 1 p.m., we were back at the campsite we had stayed at on Day One. By now, the wind was blowing, and the water was rolling from the south. We stopped there for lunch and then knocked off the rest of the distance by 4.

Along the way, we would meet our first person since the start of the trip, a cottager who was shutting things down for the winter. He shouted to us – “You guys are pretty brave to be out here today.”   We thanked him for his choice of words and said we could think of other less positive ones. As the map above shows, we used the series of islands in the middle of the lake to break the wind and waves as we made our way back to the north side of Bear and Temagami Islands to our vehicle.

While the weather had not been the best, and it sometimes felt like we were in an episode of Survivor: Temagami, the pics hopefully illustrate that we got to paddle for a few days through a beautiful stretch of the woodlands of the Canadian Shield.

The next morning, sitting at the kitchen table in Toronto, we considered the thought – “Maybe we were a bit hasty with our decision to pull out a day early?” If nothing else, we have many reasons to get back there someday soon.

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Hap Wilson’s Essential Temagami Guide:

If you are planning to visit the general area that this post describes, there are a few resources that will help you get a handle on routes, campsites, and the like.

Temagami: A Wilderness Paradise (2011) by Hap Wilson is the obvious starting point for any Temagami canoe trip. Drawing on his decade-plus experience as a park ranger in the Temagami area, Wilson provides detailed maps and descriptions of twenty-seven routes, complete with portages, campsites and other points of interest. We used “Route #6: Diamond, Wakimika and Obabika Lake Loop” for our trip planning.

See the Amazon website here for more info on the book.

If you have a Toronto Library System card, you can access one of the 13 copies it has – click here to see. 

 

You can read the entire chapter about Chee-skon from Wilson’s book Trails and Tribulations online. It is available at Google Books. Click here and scroll back to the beginning of the chapter. Oddly enough, the chapter is titled “Place of the Huge Rock Lake.” No hint of conjuring there! You have to wonder if there is a reason for the de-emphasis on the traditional view of the lake.

 

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Maps – lots of choices!

1. The Wilson Temagami guidebook mentioned above

2. Natural Resources Canada 1:50000 topos

The 1:50,000 topo maps that you need for this little trip are these two:

• Lake Temagami 41 I 16
• Obabika Lake 41-P 1.  

Just click on the above map titles to access 4 Mb jpg versions of the maps on my WordPress site. The originals (20Mb+ tif files) can be found on the Natural Resources Canada website. See here and go to the 41 folder.

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5. ChrisMar Adventure Series Maps

I have a half-dozen different Chrismar maps; they are of excellent value and provide you with the portage and campsite information you want. The entire Temagami Area is covered in these four maps, each one of which is plasticized and laminated and will take years of rain and abuse as they serve as your in-canoe maps. For this trip, you’d need Vol. 1 and Vol 2. See here for info on how to order – or look for them at MEC.

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6. Friends of Temagami Map:

 

The F of T has a map titled Obabika Loop / Maple Mountain Companion Map. It costs $18, provides you with all the info you want, and also supports this volunteer group dedicated, as their website says, to “preserving and promoting the Temagami experience since 1995”. You can also support their efforts by buying an annual membership and becoming an active member. See here for the map details.

 

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7. RIP – Jeff’s Temagami Map – Version 1.0 from 2010

Jeff’s Maps had a series of maps specifically covering the Temagami area. Unlike the topos, they were heavily annotated with helpful information on campsites, portages, points of interest, and distances between various points. The website has been dead for a few years. [See here for the home page!]

The map is the 1.0 version; Jeff did not get around to an update with the suggested corrections and additions he planned to make. The map is still quite useful for planning purposes and the info it provides.

You may still find paper copies of some of the Temagami maps at various outfitters. The Central Map is the one you want for this canoe trip.

The KMZ file of the 2010 Version 1.0  of Jeff’s Temagami Map opens in Google Chrome’s web-based Google Earth app.   Note – the file is massive at 178.1 Mb!

The JPG version is much smaller at 77.2 Mb.

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More Information:

Ontario Parks …

A recently-published (2016) map of the Obabika area indicates all the Old Growth Forest Trails, the portage trail from Obabika to Chee Skon and the one from Chee Skon to Mud Lake.   See here for a downloadable pdf copy.

Ottertooth

If you have just discovered Temagami as a paddling destination, the Ottertooth website has enough material to keep you busy for days –

• annotated maps,
• mini-essays on a variety of canoe-related topics,
• a forum area with threads on a wide range of topics.

The forum seems dead these days, but the archived material is worth going through. We took along a printed copy of “Wakimika Triangle” and some related material.

Canadian Canoe Routes Forum

The Canadian Canoe Routes website is another internet resource you should check out. This General Information page of Temagami-related links organized by Allan Jacobs is a great place to start. The Ontario Trip Reports folder has dozens of Temagami-related contributions by forum members;

if you are just getting into wilderness tripping, the website is a great one to visit regularly to read informed views on everything from gear to food to canoe routes and a whole lot more.