Table of Contents:
Why an Ogoki River Headwaters Put-in?
Day One: By Beaver To Endogoki Lake – Basic Data, Map, and Pix
Previous Post: The Ogoki From Top To Bottom: Intro and Basic Route
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Why An Ogoki River Headwaters Put-in?
At 982 kilometers/610 miles, the Albany is the longest river in what is now the province of Ontario. During the fur trade era, it was one of Canada’s most important water highways, giving the British quick and easy access to western Canada. It was at the mouth of the river that the Hudson Bay Company set up Fort Albany, one of their first fur trading posts, in the 1670s.
The Ogoki River (480 km/300 miles) is one of the major tributaries of the Albany. Mostly bypassed in favour of the Albany during the fur trade era, the river came to people’s attention in the early 1940s, when the Federal Government decided, as a part of the WWII war effort, to divert the Upper Ogoki’s water flow with the construction of a dam at Waboose Falls.
Albany and Ogoki Rivers
The Dam redirected its water (95%+ of it) from the Albany watershed into the Great Lakes basin via the Little Jackfish River. These days a mere trickle passes the Waboose Dam on its way down the Lower Ogoki to Ogoki Lake and eventually the Albany River.
The Ogoki River – top to bottom
Our goal: to paddle the Ogoki from its headwaters in Endogoki Lake to the Dam at the east end of the Ogoki Reservoir. Then we would paddle back and follow the Upper Ogoki’s water through a channel excavated across the height of land to the South Summit Control Dam, where it merges with the Little Jackfish River for a final run down to Lake Nipigon’s Ombabika Bay.
We had fourteen days to git ‘er dun!
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Day One: By Beaver To Endogoki Lake
- distance: 2 km plus 105 km Beaver flight from Mattice Lake
- time: 45 min flight; 1hr. paddling down the Lake for a campsite
- portages/rapids: 0/0
- weather: hot! 30ºC+ hot! sunny late afternoon and evening
- sightings: none
- campsite: room for 1 x 4p tent, possibly 1 or 2 x 2p
- Natural Resources Canada archived 1:50000 topo maps: Neverfreeze Lake 052 J 09 b&w 1970).
- See Toporama (here) for NCR’s current interactive coloured mapping and print what you need.
- Our Garmin inReach-generated GPS track (here)- (Click on View All Tracks at the top right-hand corner)
We woke up in Marathon, ON, at the top of Lake Superior around 5:30 a.m., keen to get on the road and finish our long drive up to Wabakimi. The day before, we had already done 1200 km.; still to go were another 600 to Mattice Lake just south of Armstrong. Then we could put away those car keys and switch into canoe trip mode for a couple of weeks. We did hang on to the COVID masks for the plane ride!
flight path – Mattice Lake to Endogoki Lake
By 4 p.m., we were airborne. Our pilot was Yves, who had dropped us off at Cliff Lake on our last visit to Wabakimi three years before.
Canoeing From The Pikitigushi’s Cliff Lake to Echo Rock on Lake Nipigon
When he asked, “Why Endogoki?” I told him we wanted to do the Ogoki River from the very top, and since it was the headwaters lake, it was the spot we needed to start from. Besides bush plane insertion, there is no easy entry, and there would be no other reason to paddle up into the dead-end Lake. The once-upon-a-time fur trade route into the top of the Ogoki River system bypassed Endogoki Lake and instead involved a 700-meter portage from the northeast arm of Savant Lake. [See below for a map with the 700-meter historical portage indicated.]
De Havilland Beaver at the MLO dock – ready to be loaded
the De Havilland Beaver instrument panel
The Endogoki is a long narrow sliver of a lake, about four kilometers from north to south. Our goal for Day 1 was simple enough: paddle north on the Lake until we found a decent campsite and then celebrate our arrival in Wabakimi for another excellent adventure!
a view of the Endogoki Lake from the south
a view of the south end of Endogoki Lake
At the end of our trip, while sitting on the front porch of the Mattice Lake Outfitters office, Don Elliot remarked that he could not recall anyone ever having been dropped off in Endogoki Lake before. We would soon find out why!
Yves wishing us a nice two-week trip
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Setting Up Our Endogoki Tentsite
By late afternoon our tent was up on the east side of the Lake, and we had set up our Helinox chairs. We looked west towards the only possible sources of man-made noise –
- traffic on Hwy 599, some 25 km. away and
- motors at the two lodges on the west side of Savant Lake 17 km away –
and remarked on the absolute stillness of the neighbourhood. It was quite the contrast to the two days and 1800 kilometres of road hum and the thirty-minute De Havilland Beaver rumble to get to Endogoki.
The next day the adventure would begin. We would finally get to add the Ogoki to the list of “top to bottom” trips along with the Missinaibi, the Coulonge, the Little Missinaibi, the Steel, and the Lady Evelyn.
our Endogoki Campsite late afternoon
In the image above, the top of our tent is in the bush – a flat spot for our four-person MEC Wanderer. Given the weather forecast for the next six days -clear, sunny, and very hot – we did not bother putting the 10’x14′ silnylon tarp over the fly.
looking across Endogoki Lake at dusk – absolute quiet
our Endogoki Lake tent spot
sun setting to the west of Endogoki Lake
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Day Two: Basic Data And Maps
- distance: 6 km
- time: 9.5 h
- portages/rapids: 2/0: two major shallow/no water areas that took most of the day to navigate around, plus many shallow lift-overs etc.
- weather: 18 to 31 ˚C; hot, clear and sunny; humidex 33 ˚C; wind SW 17 kph
- sightings:
- campsite: point on an unnamed lake; 1 x 4p and maybe another 2p tent
- Natural Resources Canada archived 1:50000 topo maps: Neverfreeze Lake 052 J 09 b&w 1970).
- . See Toporama (here) for NCR’s current interactive coloured mapping and print what you need.
- our Garmin inReach-generated GPS track (here)- (Click on View All Tracks at the top right-hand corner)
We were keen to get started and got up at 6:15. [Note: we were in the Central Time Zone but did not bother adjusting the time, so it was actually 5:15.] The cool in the early morning was a treat. It would get much warmer as the day progressed, with temperatures in the low 30ºC range with an additional wallop provided by the humidity.
sunrise on Endogoki Lake – our tent spot
our Endogoki breakfast table
Our goal for the day was a modest 15 km or so. This would take us down the initial narrow outlet section from the Lake to a widening of the river before we paddled NE towards the logging road and then headed south to a campsite on the unnamed Lake. The topo map shows where we expected to be –
our first Day on the Ogoki – the 15 km. goal for the day
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The Reality: No Water to Paddle In
What unfolded over the next eight hours was something entirely different! While anticipating some challenges, we had not imagined spending an entire day moving a mere 6 kilometers downriver from our Endogoki Lake campsite!
We were at the north end of the Lake at 8:30; we did not get to the open water until 4:20 in the afternoon! According to the topo data, there is a one-meter drop from Endogoki Lake (402m) to the nameless Lake beyond the initial narrow stretch.
We had never spent a day putting so much time and effort into moving forward so little, about two kilometers over seven hours. Looking back at the experience, it still seems difficult to believe! It was worse than our all-day tussle with Petawa Creek; it was many times worse than the four hours we spent on the initial few kilometers of the Lady Evelyn’s South Branch.
our first day on the Ogoki River’s headwaters stretch
The following three photos are the only ones we have of our memorable first day on the river. All show a river with next to no water to float a canoe in, lots of deadfall and boulders impeding forward progress. It was mid-August in a low-water year – we had no reason to be surprised.
the Ogoki River – initial stretch out of Endogoki Lake
the choices – bushwhack or walk down the river bed
Since it was our first day on the river, we were travelling at maximum weight. The terrain was such that we did multiple carries since we could not stick to our usual double-pack system. The 30º+C temperature didn’t help, and neither did the fact that we hadn’t put in enough time yet to get into trip shape.
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Wildfire Smoke At Our Day 2 Campsite
By 4:30, we were paddling towards the point on the east side of a wider but still noticeably shallow section of the river. We found a decent spot for our spacious MEC Wanderer 4 tent; there was no sign of anyone having stopped there before.
our tent on a flat spot on the Ogoki headwaters – Day 2 CS
dusk with smoke on the Ogoki headwaters – Day 2
On another mosquito-free evening in Wabakimi, we leaned back in our decadent Helinox chairs – two kilograms of portage weight! – as we sipped on our consolation shots of Crown Royal. While the chairs would still weigh the same at the end of the trip, at least the Nalgene bottle with the whisky would have lightened up by 1 kg.!
As we watched that sun sink below the horizon in the haze, we wondered how close we were to the bushfire creating the smoke. Before the day ended, I emailed Don Elliot, our outfitter at Mattice Lake, about the wildfire situation. We would learn it may have been from the Quetico Park area, blown 275 kilometers by the southwest winds. The other source was the massive wildfire eating up Woodland Caribou Park to the west.
wildfires
We hoped the next day would bring a more manageable workload than the one we had just lived through!
dusk on the Ogoki – Day 2
Next Post: Bushwhacking the Ogoki Headwaters – Days 3 and 4.
Back around 2009 as we sat around our campfire on the South East Arm of Savant Lake, Phil Cotton shared this romantic notion that one could start an Ogoki River Trip trip from Endogoki Lake, probably just because of the name. (After paddling with him and The Wabakimi Project for 13 summers I realize he had a lot of romantic notions about travel in the Wabakimi Area). If the lake had been called Gates of Hell Lake he might not have had those notions. Thanks for letting us all know about the conditions in there. It reminds me of a few places I’ve been in the Wabakimi backcountry.
Ken, I totally get Uncle Phil’s “romantic notion”! My brother usually supplies the necessary dose of reality but in this case went along for the ride!
Re: 2009. Were you guys looking for the portage from the NE arm of Savant into the Ogoki system? That portage – and the other three or four that take you to the Ogoki by Tew Lake – all appear in Canoe Atlas of the Little North. Berger and Terry got those portage locations from some old topos. I found a 1965 topo with those portages marked on them. (See here.)
I don’t think those portages exist any more – there is no reason why they would since no First nations local in the past 75 years – i.e. since Hwy 599 got started – is going or coming from Savant Lake to Wabakimi Lake. Back in the 1800s it was likely the route used by the Hudson Bay Company to transfer furs from the HBC post at Nipigon House to the post at Osnaburgh for shipment down the Albany to Fort Albany.
Re: 13 summers! Your line – It reminds me of a few places I’ve been in the Wabakimi backcountry. – needs to be expanded upon in a few WordPress blog posts with the relevant photos in your collection! It would make for great reading!
You and the trail clearing and recording you did made our canoe trips much less daunting. Migwetch!
2009 was a leisurely(?) paddle and portage clearing trip down the Savant River, through Jabez Lake, Velos Lake to clear some portages into McCrea Creek, then back up the Savant via Redmond Lake, Takeoff Lake and on to Davies Lake. The next crew paddled two weeks over to Whiteclay Lake.
In 2008 we worked on the Virginian Lake, Silver Lake, Pride Lake route plus Virginian Creek, then we went a bit south trying to connect Savant Lake via 3 ponds to Smye Creek. The next week the crew was planning to try to connect Savant Lake to the Pashkakogan River via trading post bay to Elwood Lake, Seldom Lake, Neverfreeze Lake to Fitchie Lake. A rainy week kept us on the trading post bay campsite and we almost cut through to Elwood.
Funny you should mention those spots! My brother and I are contemplating a trip down Savant Lake to the AlbanyRiver and then down to Miminiska Lake and were looking at the Volume 2 maps, the ones you guys were working on in 2008-2009!
Don’t think those ports have seen much traffic in the past dozen years! Too much work for the fishermen with motorboats or for the locals with SUVs and not exactly a big draw for recreational paddlers. Sounds perfect!
Hi Ken, I’m planning a trip next summer by flying into Jabez Lake and making my way north to Velos Lake. From there a want to go through Redmond Lake into Takeoff Lake and keep working east to Kenoji Lake. Do you know if the portage into Redmond Lake from Velos Lake is still there? How is Redmond creek for traveling? Would I be better off going through McCrea Lake instead? Do you think traveling from Jabez Lake to Pikitigushi Lake in 12 days is feasible? Sorry for so many questions. Thanks Curtis
Hi Curtis,
1st let me say that Jabez Lake to the Pikitigushi is do-able… if you like to paddle 6-8 hours a day. The team after mine at Davies Lake took two weeks to paddle to Whiteclay Lake. above Ogoki Reservoir. They only had to work on a few portages. The portages on the connecting route had only been cleared 2-3 years earlier. It has been 15-16 years since they were last cleared by the Wabakimi Project teams. Expect quite a few to be in less than perfect shape.
Our team in August 2008 started on the North Arm of Savant Lake and proceeded down the Savant River from there. Nice paddling in there, shortish portages, most along side the rapids if needed. The water was high that year. The portage from Velos L. to Redmond L. starts in the top right corner of the bay above where the Little Savant R. comes into Velos. It was a sandy/muddy landing that needed some brush clearing and clean up of small fallen trees. After that it was a bug infested, muddy, calf deep slog through shoe sucking muskeg in the shade of spruce and tamarack that kept the wetness at springtime coldness. After the 500m of buggy, muddy slog you keep to the right tree line for 100m or so then head left out to the bay. It’s about 100m of marsh till the last 20 feet or so where find yourself on floating muskeg, reeds and moss that gets very floaty by time you reach the water. Be careful. Don’t fall through.
The island campsite on Redmond had room for two 4 man tents, but after sunset the mosquitos descended like a buzzy blanket making for an early evening.
Next day we headed north on the creek out of Redmond L. to the pond after which we had to carve a new-ish portage, the old one long grown over. After that we got into the windy creek which takes you to Takeoff L. The first 1000m were a nice paddle. Beaver dam at the end. After that it was dry as a bone, well a wet bone, we could tow the canoes through sections of it…but mostly unnavigable to the end of the open marshy area. Then we carved and cleaned the rest of the portage along a curvy wooded slope to Takeoff L.
The portage into Davies L. required a fair bit of clearing, it’s a tight wind through scrubby woods along the creek.
I cannot claim any knowledge as to the conditions of the portages. We did our usual Wabakimi Project clean, brush cut and measure on all the portages through there, but… it’s been 15+ years since we went through. There have been reported trips through the area and it seems the portages, when found need cleaning and clearing, but there they remain.
canoeing with no water … tough
“Bushwhacking” the Ogoki Headwaters would be a more fitting title! Days 3 and 4 would be more of the same!
Thanks for the detailed description! I picture what this will be like and it definitely helps with my trip plans. I was hoping to save a day by cutting through Redmond Lake but with what you’re describing sounds like a full day of tough traveling. It may take longer to go through McCrea Lake but will be easier on the body. When we stay on Velos for the night I’ll scout the portage into Redmond and see if it’s improved any and worth attempting. I will also increase our trip to 16 days to make it more enjoyable.
Curtis.
Curtis, you should be able to go from Velos into Greenbush in one day. Our Sept 2023 report on our trip from East Pashkokogan to Kenoji will give you a good idea of what you will face. The Ogoki from Kenoji to White Clay Lake involves a few sets of rapids. We did the stretch from Whitewater to White Clay in 2021. These two posts describe the route –
https://albinger.me/2021/10/03/a-two-day-paddle-across-the-ogokis-whitewater-lake/
https://albinger.me/2021/10/06/down-the-ogoki-from-above-ogoki-falls-to-whiteclay-lakes-ne-arm/
The route from Whiteclay up the Raymond, over the height of land via the Annette Lakes, and into the Pikitigushi River system is described in these two posts:
https://albinger.me/2014/05/16/up-wabakimis-raymond-river-to-cliff-lake/
https://albinger.me/2014/12/26/down-wabakimis-pikitigushi-river-from-cliff-lake/
Amazing that it is already a decade since we did that route!
Enjoy your Wabakimi adventure. You will be hitting a lot of its highlights – and a few of its challenges!
Thanks True North! I’ve been reading through all of your trip reports (a very impressive catalog you have) to help plan this trip and that was definitely one of the gaps I had. I found your report on the French River a few years back and that inspired my cousin and I to take on the challenge and it was one of our most memorable trips so far. We were able to get a shuttle from Britt to the west end of Lake Nippissing and having your report was a huge help in planning. Thank you for posting these.
Curtis.
Curtis, it’s nice to hear you find the reports useful in planning your own adventures. I actually enjoy putting them together. It also means that, rather than just dumping the photos and occasional videos we take onto my hard drive, I make use of them!
Re: the French. That is an epic little canoe trip, isn’t it! The French has multiple layers of history that one gets to contemplate as we paddle along. Wabakimi is a bit more off the grid but it’s got its stories too.
All the best with your upcoming trip up there!