Previous Post: Wabakimi Canoe Trip – From Flindt landing To Collins – Intro, Logistics, Maps
Day One: Flindt Landing To Flet Lake
distance: 25 km.
Flindt Landing and the CN rail tracks cross Heathcote Lake about three kilometers from its south end. Its 16 kilometers length makes it the main wider section of the Flindt River system. The Flindt’s actual headwaters is Vanessa Lake, another thirty-five kilometers further south of Heathcote. [See here for an overview map.] We would spend the first three days paddling down the Flindt River system to where it merges with the Ogoki River below Tew Lake.
We started a bit late on our first day out, still tired from that 27-hour train ride! Nice sunny weather and no wind made for a gentle introduction. Within three hours we were 16.5 km. downriver. We would stop for a leisurely lunch on the far side of P01. Including the short carry, we spent an hour and a half there, enjoying the shade and very fact that we were finally in trip mode.
Flindt P01, P02, P03
We portage when we have to, run or line & run when we can, always making sure to check things out beforehand. Sometimes the carry is actually more efficient than an attempt at lining the canoe down a difficult stretch of river.
P02 was one of those we lined and ran without difficulty. P03 was a quick carry and we were back to cruising speed.
our canoe waits while we scout some rapids on the first day out.
my brother Max double-bagging it on the portage trail
Flindt – P04, 05, and Day 1 CS
P04 was a portage that took us about a half-hour; we lined and ran through P05 in about ten minutes. Then it was time to look for a campsite, given that it was already 6:20. (We had moved the hour hand back by one when we entered the Central Time zone somewhere near Collins on the train in.) We found our spot in the small bay on the west side of Flet Lake indicated above; we were done for the day.
Late-ish start and late-ish finish to Day 1 but it felt great to be back in Wabakimi!
rockin’ reflections in the mid-afternoon
the east side of Flet Lake at 8:00 p.m. from our campsite
Day Two: Flet Lake To NE Corner of Big Island on the Flindt River
distance: 26 km.
we got to share our portage trail with this local.
P06 RR 110m – a 35-minute hauling job
We did a bit of this during the trip- here is Step one! The new L.L. Beans boots passed the test as we lined our canoe.
It is great when there is somewhere to walk on the side of the river!
Almost through – although I need to pay more attention to my rope!
This morning we lined through P07 in ten minutes and did the same with the next set of rapids. When we came to the rapids indicated by P09 we did a carry. P1o we paddled right through.
a portage trail that had that Lord of the Rings look about it
We did waste some time this day! When we got to the south end of Big Island, we took the left-hand turn and paddled up for about forty minutes. Not having a complete map view of the island, we thought we had paddled into a long narrow bay! Back we went to the bottom of what we only later realized was an island. Back home in Toronto my wife just happened to be monitoring our progress at this time and having a WTF moment as she tried to figure out what was going on!
our Wanderer 4 tent in the background and our Woods Pack replacement, the Hooligan, in the foreground
We paddled down the right-hand side of Big Island to a decent campsite just above a set of rapids. It was 6 p.m.
our front yard at the end of Day Two on the Flindt River
Next Post: Days 3 and 4 – Down The Flindt and Ogoki Rivers Into Wabakimi Lake
I have only been there in the winter, filming herds of caribou. Any sign of them?
Lloyd, sad to say those woodland caribou are no longer there. I think that locals have hunted them out. My brother and I have spent at least 75 days paddling the Wabakimi area over the past decade and have never seen a caribou. Even moose and bear are pretty scarce.
Last time there we did paddle into a massive gathering of maybe 150 pelicans in Wabinosh Bay on the west side of Lake Nipigon. Click here for a pic!
The caribou situation reminds me of the situation in the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve. We spent 10 days there in June of 2017; I even got cans of bear spray for the first time ever, expecting some close encounters. Well, we saw one moose and two bears in ten days – and they were not close! A study of the actual situation in the Game Preserve – still being logged and sprayed – by a Quebec team paints a worrisome picture. See her youtube video here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLNLb8WGVXg
I just received this sad note. I’m not that familiar with word press
Thank you for your trip report. We are planning a trip this summer beginning at the Savant access point on the Flindt R. south of the tracks.
My wife and I have been to Wabikimi twice, both from the east side leaving from Armstrong via Little Caribou Lake. We spotted woodland caribou both times, once on Whitewater Lake in 2016 not far from rapids draining the Ogaki, the second (2018) was a very brief citing on a hill top off Caribou River. So they are still there but very elusive and rare. Our citing on Whitewater Lake in 2016 was truly majestic. The buck was vary curious about us watching us from the shoreline and as we paddled by (about 500 m away) he kept pace with us along the shore for half a minute before slipping into the bush. We camped out not far from the Wendall Beckwith ruins and will alway remember and cherish that moment.
Does anyone know of any recent information about burn maps in the area and impacts on the west side of the Wabakimi. We paddled woodland caribou last year and it was for the most part a moonscape with thin ribbons of green snaking through the entire park. Sad, it will take two+ decades for that park to come back to its former glory with all the fires in the past 5 years and I won’t be alive to see that again..
Anon – The Flindt River makes for an excellent four or five-day paddle to Wabakimi Lake. We did it in 2011. It was our second trip to Wabakimi, having done the Allanwater to Whitewater Lake the summer before.
July 2023 saw a massive 260 sq mile fire just west and north of the Flindt and the river and the impacted area was shut down for six weeks. We had to postpone our trip down the Savant River and then east to the Palisade until that section of the Park reopened.
Here is a map indicating the extent of that fire. The moonscape you mention in Woodland Caribou will probably be on the lower Flindt too. It might mean a day or so of paddling by the beginning of a new boreal forest growth cycle!
Canada wildfire map
Your best source of information on the condition of the Flindt would be the Park Superintendent. The current Park superintendent is Shannon Lawr. He can be reached at 807-475-1634.
You can speak with him directly or leave a message on his answering machine and he or one of his assistants will get back to you.
Given the lack of snowfall over the winter and continuing drought conditions, I don’t expect the summer of 2024 is going to be better than last summer. We had a couple of days on the Savant River when the smoke and haze from the NWT and Alberta were visible. Here is a section from our Savant River report on the fires –
Northern Canada Wildfires 2023
and here is a section dealing with the fires in the Burntrock/Palisade area within the Park.
Burntrock/Palisade Fire Map
I got the fire perimeter information from a Federal Government website –
Canadian Wildfire Information Website
By playing around with the dates and the overlays, you can extract all sorts of info. No overlay on what is coming up this summer though!
Re: your woodland caribou sightings! Fantastic! While we have spent over 100 days in the Wabakimi area, we have yet to see any! It has me wondering if locals had hunted them out.
Our best experience was seeing five moose on a trip down the Misehkow a decade ago. More recently we have not seen more than one or two.
I hope the situation is such that you can get up there this summer.
All the best,
Peter Albinger.