DAY 8 BASICS:

• distance: 32 kilometers
• weather: a great day to be on the river
• rapids/portages:  rapids W15 through W26 on the Wilson maps.
• campsites: many to choose from – we were headed for the island portage at X-Rock Rapids (W26)

Previous Post:  Canoeing the Bloodvein Day 7 – Artery L. to Moosebone Rapids 

Canoeing the Bloodvein Day 7 – Artery Lake to “Moosebone” Rapids

a blown-out image as I look east at our Moosebone Rapids campsite

The Bloodvein from east of Bushey to X-Rock Rapids

Our goal for the day was the island in the middle of the Bloodvein at what Wilson called X-Rock Rapids.  He had labelled the campsite a classic, and we liked the sound of that! A Canadian Canoe Routes forum contributor (jjoven) had also posted an account of his 2004 trip down the Bloodvein from Artery Lake and had mentioned camping at X-Rock. His experience left us thinking it was a popular spot and that we might meet some fellow trippers already camping there.

Eight days into the trip, and we had said “hello” to two other canoeing parties – two paddlers at the portage into Hatchet on Day 1 and the couple paddling east on Artery Lake in the pouring rain.  We had also seen perhaps five fishing boats – all in all, not a lot of people. (During the next ten days, we would meet two parties of three canoes each and two fishing boats near the end! The Bloodvein is not a busy river!)

This day was one of those when we postponed breakfast until we were a bit down the river and the sun was really up. After paddling through the rapids marked #15 in the Bloodvein chapter of Wilson’s book Wilderness Rivers of Manitoba,  we spent 15 minutes on a river right portage at W16.  We were getting used to and expecting the orange tape to provide the heads-up – and, true enough, there it was!  Thanks to whoever refreshed the markers earlier this year! Next up was Nutcracker Falls (W18), a ten-minute carry on river left.

Bloodvein Nutcracker Falls W17

W18 P85 “Nutcracker”

Now we were on Bushey Lake and looking for a breezy flat space for our breakfast stop. We found it about halfway down on the west side of the lake.  This spot would also make a decent multiple-tent  “fair-weather” campsite but it is quite exposed. Luckily there are lots of other more sheltered sites available if you keep paddling.

campsite on the west side of the lake – lots of room on mostly flat rock, but little shelter

Below is a shot of Bushey Lake I fluked on our flight back to Red Lake from Bloodvein village ten days later. It was only later, when I looked at the flight path and GPS info, that I realized that I was looking at Bushey Lake. It is about 2.5 kilometres from one end of the lake to the other.

Bushey Lake on the Bloodvein River system – we crossed the lake from the middle left and exited middle right after a breakfast stop down from the point in the centre of the image

W19 P90 “Bruiseasy” Falls

After our usual breakfast – that would be our oatmeal concoction and large mugs of filtered coffee – we were off again. There was a pictograph site coming up – but first, we had to deal with what Wilson nicknames “Bruiseasy” Falls. Doing a fifteen-minute version of our  “beast of burden” routine got us to the put-in spot below the rapids.

Bruiseasy Falls – W19

Around the corner from the rapids on river right was the pictograph site.  In terms of the number of images or markings, it would rank third among all the sites we were able to find in our trip down the Bloodvein.

As we paddled away from the put-in, we headed for the rock face on river right and followed it down, scanning above the water line for traces of ochre. Here is our first reward- three sets of vertical marks all by themselves.

the first pictographs below Bruiseasy Falls

With Bruiseasy Falls still visible in the photo above, we stopped to take a close-up of our first pictographs of the day, knowing all the while that this was not all there was to it!

Still recognizable are three sets of vertical lines – a set of four on the top and two sets of three below that. Tally marks of some sort – days fasted, moose killed. Or maybe levels of attainment within the world of the Midewiwin? Who can say for sure?

We paddled on and came to the main site as pictured below.

looking back up to the Bloodvein pictograph site below Bushey Lake

checking out the Dewdney sketch of the Bloodvein pictograph site below Bushey Lake

We had with us selected bits of the writings of Selwyn Dewdney, whose visits to the many pictograph sites in the Canadian Shield in the 1960s had initiated the systematic recording and analysis of these mostly Anishinaabe cultural expressions. Of this particular site, he wrote in a pamphlet  [Stone Age Painting] published by Manitoba’s Department of Mines and Natural Resources in 1965 –

Bloodvein rock paintings below Bushey Lake – close up on face A on the left and face B on the right

the sketch that Dewdney refers to as Figure 14 in the quote above

Dewdney makes an interesting point about the image he names “the bow and arrow on Face B” (but note – according to his own sketch he meant Face A). The point is that it might be used to date the painting to pre-contact times since it depicts the bow as a symbol of power.  This assumes, of course, that it actually is a bow. It could be a turtle!

Dewdney’s “bow and Arrow on Face A” at the site below Bushey Lake

Bloodvein pictograph site below Bushey Lake-

Dewdney refers to the human figure below as “the bird man”  and compares it to a similar image from Tramping Lake that you can see on the right.  Its colour is not the same as that of the other pictographs, probably because a different formulation of ochre and fish oil was used in its making.

Bloodvein pictograph site below Bushey Lake- a human figure with outstretched arms

For some reason, Dewdney does not comment on the two crude figures at the bottom of Face A.  A cross and a Thunderbird perhaps?

Bloodvein pictograph site below Bushey Lake- cross and thunderbird figures

That was it for the site.  We continued on, totally taken in by the beauty of the river and the day itself.

Bloodvein River paddling – truly beautiful

a stretch of the Bloodvein before Stonehouse Lake

Shortly before entering Stonehouse Lake, we passed yet another pictograph site – our eighth since Red Lake.  While none of them are as awesome as the one at the east end of Artery Lake with its shaman and bison figures, they all elicit a sense of wonder and an appreciation to be able to paddle by and see them.

Bloodvein Pictograph Site about 1.7 km up from Stonehouse Lake

pictograph site just above Stonehouse Lake on the Bloodvein

Bloodvein Pictograph Site about 1.7 km up from Stonehouse Lake – detail

Bloodvein Pictograph Site – different angle

Perhaps more time spent with Grace Rajnovitch’s book will help me make some sense of what we were looking at here. The white granite face certainly provides a striking “canvas”.  On the left is what seems to be a thunderbird; the H figure with the line across the top could be a version of the “bird man” that Dewdney identified at the site a few kilometres upriver.

site at the north end of Stonehouse Lake

Next up was what should have been our ninth pictograph site –  it is apparently located at the bottom (ie, the north end)  of Stonehouse Lake.  We paddled down the right side of the lake all the way to where we thought we’d see some ochre.  No luck.  We continued another 200 meters but came up empty.  Turning south and rounding the point to enter the channel leading to our next portage, we figured lunch was in order. After all, it was 2 o’clock! An hour later, we got back to work, and over the next four hours, we dealt with five portages that brought us to our campsite at “X-Rock” Rapids.

the bottom of Bloodvein Rapids #21 – See Wilson’s drawing for the rock on the middle left edge!

Max firing up the ol’ Etrex Legend at the put-in at Bloodvein W23

W24 portage

W25 P255

W24P180 C3

Looking down from the W25 portage trail – dramatic! It reminded us of the Bad Medicine Lake portage on the Pikitigushi.

X-Rock-island and rapids

Shortly before seven, we floated down a Class 1 set of rapids and approached the island. It sits in the middle of the river with a set of Class V rapids on either side.  What we found is a site that could host a canoe trippers’ convention! There is room on the flat top of the island for fifty tents. Of course, we had the entire site to ourselves and made ourselves at home.

our campsite on the island at X-Rock Rapids.

It had been a long day and the 32 km we had knocked off were more than double the distance we had done the day before – even with the two hours added to deal with the portages.  Still, it had been an A+ day of scenic river paddling with a couple of bonus pictograph sites thrown in.

W26 camp set up

As luck would have it, a few days later during our flight from Bloodvein First Nation on Lake Winnipeg to Red Lake, our de Havilland Beaver flew over the island, and I got this shot –

X-Rock Rapids /Island campsite – the view from our de Havilland Beaver – upriver is at the top

Wilson and Aykroyd attached nicknames to some of the rapids they sketched and described in their guidebook.  We did puzzle over the name “X-Rock” for this location, but had that “Aha” moment during our post-supper ramble around the perimeter of the island.  Down below at the start of the river right set of rapids, we saw this –

The X-Rock at the top of the right channel of W26!

The campsite capped off a terrific day on the Bloodvein.  We counted ourselves fortunate to be there.  The next day would present us with another great day which would make us question our grading system.  Where do you go after A+?

W26 – the falls on river left

Looking down the Bloodvein from X-Rock Island

Next Post: Canoeing The Bloodvein Day 9 – X-Rock Island to just before Goose Rapids

Canoeing The Bloodvein Day 9 – X-Rock to Just Before Goose Rapids

Table of Contents:

• Artery Lake – Both The End And The Beginning
• The Day’s Basic Data and Map
• Checking Out A Minor Pictograph Site
• Paddling By Other Possible Picto Sites
• The Marine Rail Portage Into Lower Artery
• Crossing the Ontario-Manitoba Border
• Info On Upcoming Rapids And Portages
• Stopping At “The Jumping Rocks”
• W14 And The Fineview Campsite

FIRST POST: Canoeing The Bloodvein River System: Introduction, Planning, and Map Resources.

Canoeing The Bloodvein River System – Intro, Maps, Planning and Access

PREVIOUS POST: Bloodvein Headwaters Day 6: Barclay Lake to Artery Lake

Bloodvein Headwaters Day 6: Barclay Lake to Artery Lake

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Artery Lake:Both The End & The Beginning

Artery Lake – the Bloodvein River

Artery Lake with its pictograph sites sits on the Ontario side of the border in Woodland Caribou Provincial Park with just a bit of it in Atikaki Park on the Manitoba side.  For canoe trippers doing the entire length of the Bloodvein, it represents both an end and a beginning.

our route from Douglas Lake off Red Lake to Bloodvein First Nations village on Lake Winnipeg – Artery Lake sits right on the Manitoba-Ontario border. Click on the image to enlarge!

It is the end of the headwaters section of the Bloodvein River.  We had spent almost a week paddling across Woodland Caribou Provincial Park from Douglas Lake. The six kilometers or so of portaging in the first three days and a wind that was often blowing east meant we had paid some dues to get to Artery. The hours spent on some very scenic flatwater stretches had been our reward and paddling by two major pictograph sites of the entire Canadian Shield was an appreciated bonus.  But now we were in for a different trip.

Artery Lake is also where the Bloodvein as a river, as opposed to a series of lakes joined by the occasional narrow channel,  begins. From Artery Lake to Bloodvein Village there are 80 sets of rapids to deal with.  Sloping or vertical granite rock face lines the shoreline – sometimes on one side and occasionally on both –  and creates that closed-in feeling that makes river paddling special. As for portages, we would do half as much during the ten days from Artery Lake to Lake Winnipeg as the six kilometres we did in the first two and a half days of the trip through the headwaters. We were looking forward to the change!

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The Day’s Basic Data and Map

distance: 15 kilometers

weather: cloudy with a wind from the NW in the  morning with a bit of sun later on

rapids/portages: W10 (the marine railway!)  through W14 (“Moosebone” Rapids)

campsite: above W14.  We called it the Fineview; it was our best campsite so far.

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Checking Out A Minor Pictograph Site

In the original plan,  Day 7 had been set aside as a spare/rest day on Artery Lake.  We decided that instead of sitting around for the day on Artery we would put in a leisurely day on the water and see how far we got.

Before we headed downriver we had one more Artery Lake pictograph site to visit. We paddled up the north arm of the lake about two kilometers, passing a battered cabin on the east shore –

As we looked up the lake shoreline we were not seeing much of that essential ingredient of any pictograph site – a bit of a rock face!

looking up the north arm of Artery Lake

We had the location for the site – taken from the Wilson map – entered as a waypoint on our GPS units.  We eventually did paddle up to a section of rock that definitely stood out from the reeds and otherwise flat shoreline.  Scanning along the rock we noticed the following –

Artery Lake north arm pictograph rock

A bit closer and it looked like we had found what we were looking for. To the right of what almost seemed like an entrance into the rock face for the maymaygwayshi who were believed to live there, were a few ochre markings. The images were barely discernible  – see below for what looks like a crudely drawn Thunderbird (?) and an arch with lines or figures standing on it.  There were a couple of other vague marks but that was it.

pictograph site on Artery Lake – north arm

This humble site was more in line with the site on Red Lake and the one at the east end of Murdock Lake that we had seen earlier in the trip.

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We didn’t know it at the time but the site at the east end of Artery Lake that we had visited the day before would be the #1 site of the trip.  This makes it that much more of a “must-see” for those canoe trippers flying to Artery Lake for the beginning of their down-the-Bloodvein adventure. The post below has the pix and discussion.

Anishinaabe Pictographs On The Bloodvein: The Artery Lake Site

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Paddling By Other Possible Picto Sites

Artery Lake North Arm rock face sans pictographs

Wanting to make sure we hadn’t missed something, we paddled another half-kilometer up the arm,  checking out a couple of other rock faces but we came up empty. Then it was time to paddle back down the shore across from where we had camped the previous night and on to the Ontario/Manitoba border as it crosses Artery Lake.

pictographs at Artery Lake central

canoe pictos below the “star” – click on images to enlarge

As we rounded the corner and headed west we noted the vertical granite on our right and remarked that this would make a much more obvious – and dramatic – place for someone to place a pictograph than the dead-end north arm of the lake we had just checked out. Sure enough – we paddled by the rock paintings you see above. Perhaps the small stick figure represents a maymaygwayshi? The very common canoe image is faded but visible, even if half the canoe seems missing!

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The Marine Rail Portage Into Lower Artery

Artery Lake’s marine rail portage – satellite view

Note: the Garmin topo map, as well as others like the NRC topo, give an incomplete view of the rapids and the mini-islands which frame them.

Three hundred meters further on we came to our first portage of the day – W10.  We had been curious about exactly what the fifty-meter marine rail involved and now we got to make use of it.  In a little more than a minute, we had dragged our canoe over and were on the west side of the island in Lower Artery Lake.  There we saw a couple of fishing boats.  We waved as we paddled by but they were some distance away. They were probably staying at the Jackson’s outpost about 2.5 kilometres further down the lake which we paddled by a half-hour later.

W10 – the marine railway – the view from the bottom

rapids to the north of the island with the marine railway

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Crossing the Ontario-Manitoba Border

A bit more paddling and we came up to the Ontario/Manitoba border; it was marked with the signs below.

the Jackson’s outpost on the Manitoba side of Artery Lake

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Info On Upcoming Rapids And Portages

W12 P250

We relied on the Wilson/Aykroyd maps for all of our rapids/portage info. As I have noted elsewhere we’ve numbered the rapids the way they appear in the Wilson book (that is where the W comes from).

Also appreciated on the entire Manitoba stretch of the river was the orange prospector tape which indicated 95% of the upcoming take-out points.  While the Wilson book provides the info and it was usually pretty obvious, it was still reassuring to know that we were on the right track.  Unlike the purist who huffs and puffs as he takes down all the orange tape he sees, we are not offended by these “heads up” indicators!

Using the Wilson drawings of the various rapids as a starting point and adding our own assessment of the situation after a quick look, we came up with one of three or four answers:

• at one end was  “let’s run it”;
• at the other was “let’s hoof it”.
• Lifting over, lining, running/lining and other combinations filled the in-between options.

After the first three days in WCPP, it was mostly a piece of cake.  (Spoiler alert: we would make a lazy call a week later at W84 and get to test our new Kokatat life jackets, as well as the “waterproof” pack liners and Pelican cases!)

down the Bloodvein – lining W13

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Stopping At “The Jumping Rocks”

Near the end of this day’s paddle, we approached “The Jumping Rocks” on river left. It is a 15-meter high rock face with a vertical split separated by about 3 meters of empty space. According to Wilson’s trip notes, there are Ojibwe stories of people jumping the gap. Maybe a test of manhood in the tradition of bungee jumping in Polynesia? More likely just a tall tale told by a local to a gullible non-Indigenous listener just to see how much he would actually believe.

coming up to the split rock

approaching the split rock with the gap visible

looking back upriver through the gap

looking downriver from the top of Split Rock

the view west from the top of the rocks

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W14 And The Fineview Campsite

W14 P50

Not long after our brief pause to take in “the Jumping Rock” we were back on the river for the last stretch of paddling. Fifteen minutes later we pulled up to the take-out spot above the set of rapids you see in the pic below. Our first day in Atikaki was done and it had turned out to be a nice day after a not-too-promising rainy start.

The excellent campsite (we called it the Fineview for the vista it provides) sits on the flat top of a hill and is a 40-meter walk along a trail above the rapids named “Moosebone” by Wilson/Aykroyd.

“Moosebone” Rapids (W14) on the Bloodvein

Since we had stopped in the early afternoon we had lots of time to scamper about and point our cameras in different directions. A few of the shots can be seen below.

“Fineview” Campsite

checking out the view from the campsite above W14

the patio at “Fineview” – looking down the Bloodvein

“Moosebone” Rapids (W14) …rock and rapids

canoe at rest at Moosebone Rapids on the Bloodvein

Next Post: Canoeing The Bloodvein Day 8 – Moosebone Rapids to X-Rock Rapids

Canoeing The Bloodvein Day 8 – “Moosebone” Rapids to “X-Rock” Rapids

Contents:

• The Day’s Basic Data and Map
• The Impact of the 2021 Fire On the Day’s Route
• Deciding To Pass On Two Picto Sites
• The Day’s One Portage – W08
• The Bloodvien’s Major Pictograph Site
• Checking Out Another Reported Picto Site
• Our Center-of-Artery Lake CS
• Campsites on The Bloodvein River System

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The Day’s Basic Data And Map

• distance:  27 kilometers
• weather: the worst so far – intermittent rain and a north wind put an edge on things!
• rapids/ portages: W08 …125-meter carry
• campsites: a decent one on a point at the center of Artery Lake

Previous Post:  Day 5: Larus Lake to Barclay Lake

Bloodvein Headwaters Day 5: Larus Lake to Barclay Lake

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Impact of the 2021 Fire On the Day’s Route

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Deciding To Pass On Two Picto Sites

Musclow River Pictograph 

The plan had been to paddle up Barclay Lake and the Musclow River to the pictograph site near the top of the river; it was ten kilometers from our Day 5 campsite. Morning drizzle and spit which became rain with some North wind thrown in for good measure is what we had to deal with as we broke camp at the start of Day 6.

We decided to pass up on the Musclow pictograph site and the twenty-kilometer detour it would have required.  There was also one portage that we’d have to do twice – once to get up there and once on the way back down.

Included in our photocopied pages of Selwyn Dewdney’s book was a drawing of the one pictograph at the Musclow site – that of a moose.  Given the weather and given the meagre reward, it seemed like a long way to go. Instead,  if we just kept paddling down the Bloodvein we would be at the #1 pictograph site on the entire Bloodvein system in a few hours. So off we headed for the famed Artery Lake pictograph site.

The Mary’s Lake Pictograph

The Bloodvein took us southwest from Barclay Lake. The wind and drizzle hit our backs as we made our way to the bottom of the upside-down “U” that would take us back up to Mary’s Lake and then, after a short portage, into the narrow stretch of the river leading to Artery Lake.

But first another decision – yet another pictograph site!  In a bay in the NE corner of Mary’s Lake, the Wilson map indicated a site of interest.  From where we were it was four kilometers up to the site on some pretty open water with rain and  NW wind. We took a Gorp and Bloodvein Nouveau break with Max kind enough to let me make the call.

My good Roman Catholic upbringing reinforced with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) did serve up a generous serving of guilt about not getting done what I said I’d do – that is,  seeing every single rock painting on the Bloodvein!  However, I turned around and said something like, “Max,  paddling four km. into the wind up to the end of the bay – a lot of work for god knows what…probably a very minor site.  How about we pass this one up?”  You can see his response in the image below.

my brother Max on July 13… this is where he got to celebrate his 60th birthday!

As for the Mary’s Lake pictographs, I have since learned that there is one to be seen.  Hap Wilson describes it this way –

Maybe there’ll be a next time!

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The Day’s One Portage – W08

the core of Artery Lake – Lower Artery Lake leads to the Manitoba border

There was only one portage to do this day. We headed for the portage at the north end of the island, W08 in our numbering scheme.   There is another approach if you choose to paddle around the south end of the island.

Bloodvein – P out of “Mary’s Lake”

The pictograph site is another two kilometers down from the W08 portage.

But first – the portage.  Max put the video mode of his camera to use to show a real “pro” getting the job done. I know for a fact that the guy carrying the canoe (it weighs all of 42 lbs.)  was just worried his no-grip  L.L. Bean boots would slip on the moss-covered rock!

W08 P125

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The Bloodvien’s Major Pictograph Site

As you will have noticed if you watched the video clip, the rain had stopped!  In fact, except for the occasional drizzle it was mostly dry for the next four hours – long enough for us to visit the famous pictograph site, search for a second one,  and get up our tent and tarp.

First, we paddled up to the imposing rock face pictured below –

Artery Lake Pictographs – looking south to Face II

Artery Lake Face IV – shaman panel with bison panel

While the pictograph site between Murdock and Larus Lakes had been impressive (see here for some pix), this stretch of vertical granite at the east end of Artery Lake has one of the more famous pictograph faces of the entire Canadian Shield.  The image above shows two of them side by side;  Selwyn Dewdney labelled the one on the left  “the Bloodvein shaman” and the one on the right “the Bloodvein bison”.

Appreciating the turn in the weather, we spent some time here taking in the images and trying to figure out what they all meant. Without a doubt, these images had a spiritual significance to those who put them there. Just as clear is that our paddling up to them three hundred years later elevated our canoe trip for a while to another level.

I’ve created an entire post that looks at this Artery Lake rock painting site in much more detail. If you’re interested, just click on the title below –

Anishinaabe Pictograph Sites On The Bloodvein – The Artery Lake Site 

Anishinaabe Pictographs On The Bloodvein: The Artery Lake Site

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Checking Out Another Reported Picto Site

We moved on a half-hour later, heading for the NE arm of Artery Lake and a reported pictograph site there. The pic below was taken from the point on the east side of the narrow entrance to this arm – we had pulled in there to stretch our legs and have a bite to eat.

Break Time – Artery Lake

Up the arm we paddled, not really sure about what we’d find. On the west side of the arm, we approached this rock face, thinking that it might be one that would meet a shaman’s requirements for a spirit rock where he might petition the maymaygwayshi, the underwater spirits who made the rock their home, for the medicine or other favour he needed.

Artery Lake NE Arm rock face

There really wasn’t another rock face like this on the west side so we were sure we were heading in the right direction.

part of the Artery rock face we scanned

What We Found

As at the main Artery Lake site we had been at a couple of hours before, there was evidence here of the flaking off of the surface rock face.  What we didn’t find was evidence of ochre on rock. Perhaps any pictographs that had been here were on those pieces?  The fact that someone had chosen this spot to scribble down their notices (I think I am reading the numbers “1973” and “1983”)  would seem to be an indication that there was something else here that drew them here – that is, a pictograph or two.

writing on an Artery Lake rock face – two different handwritings

Picto Fever

One of the weird things that happens if you stare at rock faces enough in search of pictographs is that you start seeing them everywhere.  We called it “picto fever”; I’ll admit that I seemed to have a worse case of it than Max, who more than once went along with a detour knowing full well that there was nothing there that wasn’t a geological feature or rusty red lichen!  Here is a natural streak in the rock face that caught my eye from about forty feet away – I could have sworn it was a human figure with outstretched arms!

an example of what “picto fever” can create meaning of

To make sure we hadn’t missed the actual site, we did end up paddling another 700 meters to the end of the arm but came up empty.  Back down the west shore, we paddled, checking other rock faces as we did so. No luck!

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Our Center-of-Artery Lake CS

X marks the spot – our Artery Lake CS

By four our campsite located on a point was up; it sat almost in the middle of an Artery Lake which branches out in all four directions like a twisted cross.

Artery Lake Campsite locations

We had just gotten the tent and tarps up when the rain started again. The reprieve of the past four hours was over. Now it came down steady and strong for the next few hours.  From under the “dining room” tarp we watched as a couple, the first canoe trippers we had seen since Day 1,  paddled east towards the pictograph site.

If they got there without pulling over first to get out of the rain, their experience would be very different than ours. We had not really noticed any potential campsites as we had paddled west to our spot and we hoped that their outfitter had applied some accurate and nearby campsite markers to their map. The map above shows three to the east of the point where we were camped.

Time to celebrate a birthday! Out came the bottle of brandy; combined with a Harvest Foodworks “Blueberry Crumble”.  Bro, may you paddle ’til you’re 100!

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Campsites on The Bloodvein River System

Maps – online or paper –  indicating campsite locations

• make it easier for canoe trippers to plan their routes,
• make them less dependent on local outfitters for information
• encourage paddlers to choose established sites instead of setting up a new one 200 meters away from an already existing one, thus reducing environmental impact.

It makes no sense that the official park map – since 2015 it has been the Chrismar map – does not indicate these sites. See here for a generally positive review of that map.

For those who like the idea of a map with locations indicated, here are two older ones from Parks Ontario.

The first will give you a  rough idea of where to look in the Artery Lake area –

Also, click here to access a copy of the 2017 Parks Ontario campsites map (a 4Mb pdf file) for most of WCPP.  The map below is just a lower-resolution JPG version of that pdf file.

Click on the header to access the site.

For more info on campsites, the Paddle Planner website is a useful source.  It has compiled all the available data from maps and submissions by paddlers to create an up-to-date resource. Note: the 2021 fire destroyed portage trails and campsites so it will take a few years to recover.

Paddle Planner’s Woodland Caribou Map

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Next Post: Day 7 – Canoeing the Bloodvein From Artery Lake to “Moosebone” Rapids

Canoeing the Bloodvein Day 7 – Artery Lake to “Moosebone” Rapids

last revised May 5, 2024.

Table of Contents:

• The Day’s Basic Data and Maps
• Putting In Some Pre-Breakfast Kilometers
• Paddling Past Now Growth Three Years After The 2011 Wildfire 
• A History of Wildfires Along The Bloodvein
• The Murdock-Larus Pictograph Site
• Dealing With The Portages Into Larus
• Strong Winds Mean an Early Campsite
• A Bear Cub Pays A Dusk Visit

Previous Day:  Day 3: Knox L.  Portage to Murdock Lake

Bloodvein Headwaters Day 3: Knox Lake Portage to Murdock Lake

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The Day’s Basic Data and Maps

• distance: 20 kilometers over five hours
• weather: overcast; mid-morning thunderstorm; then sunny with a worsening west-north-west wind
• rapids/portages:  three sets of rapids W04, W05, and W06.  One portage of 850 m dealt with all three rapids. (A reminder: the W refers to Wilson and the numbers are based on his rapids/falls numbering system for easy cross-reference.)

• campsites: a good one at the end of the spit on the east end of Larus Lake
• Natural Resources Canada topo maps:  052 M 02 (Murdock Lake) and 052 M 07 (Sabourin Lake)

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Putting In Some Pre-Breakfast Kilometers

One last look at the small pictograph site around the corner from our campsite on the point and we were off at 7:15.  The goal for the day was to paddle through Larus and find a campsite a few kilometres further downriver. The highlight promised to be the pictograph site on a narrow stretch of the river as it flows from Murdock to Larus. And while there was a portage this day, we knew that the worst of the hauling was done.

the Murdock Lake pictograph site at the east end of the lake – the campsite is on the point to the left

This day was one of those when we just broke camp and did some paddling before having breakfast.  We covered a bit over ten kilometres to the north end of Murdock Lake,  looking for a nice spot to pull over. The flat rock and potential campsite on the shores of a small island we were approaching were just what we needed as we heard the sound of thunder in the distance. We soon had the tarp up and the food bag out. We used the butane stove to boil a liter of water, enough for the usual oatmeal and the mugs of filtered coffee. In the hour that we were there, the storm blew over and when we left it was sunny and a bit windier than it had been.

breakfast stop with lightning and thunder as a backdrop

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Paddling Past The Results of The 2011 Wildfire 

The beautiful light that bathed the lake after the mini-storm gave me every reason to haul out the DSLR and frame a few shots of the scene.

looking south on Larus after the storm passed –

taking advantage of the light on Lake Murdock after the storm

We then paddled along a stark shoreline lined with blackened tree trunks which had seen a major fire three years ago. What we saw was the result of 2011’s massive Red Lake Fire #124 in the Murdock/Larus area illustrated by the map below.

Murdock Lake – evidence of fire…and new growth

Bloodvein Headwaters Fire History Map with 2011 Fire in red

Already the new growth blankets the area and you can see that a new cycle has begun.

Red Lake 124 impact on the west shore of Murdock Lake

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A History of Wildfires Along The Bloodvein 

2022 Update: The 2011 Fire was followed by yet more severe ones, with 2021 being the worst one of all.  Here is a fire map showing forest loss up to 2021. On it, the 2011 Fire is indicated in orange and the 2021 Fire in red.

Fire Map 2010 to 2021 – from pale yellow to orange (the 2011 fire) to deep red (2021)

Visit the Global Forest Change website to zoom in or out of the above view.

For more background on the 2021 WCPP Fire see this section of my Bloodvein planning post –  A Decade of Wildfires in WCPP.

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The Murdock-Larus Pictograph Site

At the north end of the lake, we headed west.  Ten minutes later we were face to face with the most dramatic and extensive pictograph site we had ever seen.[It would only be topped by the one on Artery Lake and the Mazinaw Rock site.]

Here are a couple of the pix we took during the time we spent scanning the vertical granite rock face for any ochre-coloured images put on the rock by Anishinaabe medicine men and still discernible after 150 or more years of exposure to the elements.

Bloodvein Pictographs (Murdock-Larus site)

human figure holding a small human(?) in outstretched right arm – most likely interpretation is that of a shaman holding an otter skin medicine bag

I’ve put together about twenty images in the sequence you would see the various pictographs if you were paddling down the river.  Also included is some related material (text and drawings) by Selwyn Dewdney.

 Anishinaabe Pictographs On The Bloodvein: the Murdock – Larus Site 

Anishinaabe Pictographs On The Bloodvein: the Murdock – Larus Site

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Dealing With The Portages Into Larus

After our time with the pictographs, we continued on. The pics below show the take-out of the one portage of the day, an 850-meter carry which would take us around three sets of rapids. The photo also shows me standing next to our empty 42-lb. Swift Dumoine. I left it there while I did my first carry – one of the Hooligan packs, a duffel and the paddles – halfway across the portage.

Bloodvein W04 to W06 P850

W04 take-out on the Bloodvein River

the start of the day’s one portage

Unfortunately, deadfall across the trail meant some trail maintenance. It was a while before I got back to the canoe.  The Garmin in my pocket graphically captured the WTF moment when I returned to get the canoe! It had floated upriver about thirty meters, and I waded out to fetch it, feeling pretty stupid – and very lucky – at the same time.

Our Dumoine on the loose!

a cross-river view from the portage trail

The portage done by one, we had a leisurely lunch at the put-in point below the Class IV rapids nicknamed “The Cauldron” in Wilson’s book.

lunch at the end of the 850-meter portage – evidence of  Red Lake Fire #124 all around

the bottom of “The Cauldron”

The 1:50000 topo has a water level of 339 meters for Murdock Lake; at the bottom of W06  and the start of Larus Lake, it is 331 meters.

An eight-meter (26 feet) drop in less than a kilometre of river will definitely remind you that you’re paddling a river and not just a series of interconnected lakes, which I’ll admit is my overriding impression of canoeing in Woodland Caribou Park.

the wind and waves of Larus

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Strong Winds Mean an Early Campsite

While we indulged in a noontime cup of filtered coffee, the west wind had continued to pick up.  Noticeable on Larus were whitecaps as the waves came rolling to the east shore.  With lunch done, we set off.  As the day’s maps show, we really didn’t get very far before deciding that doing a four-kilometer crossing of  Larus to the west end could wait until the next day.

We ended up at a campsite that Wilson had recommended if the wind on Larus was of concern. – It is located on the tip of the spit just a kilometer from where we had stopped for lunch!

Larus Lake CS on the spit – see Paddle Planner for map source

Tent up and canoe put into use as a windscreen, we rambled around the spit. A bit of bushwhacking and we were on the east side of the spit with a view of where we had lunch a couple of hours ago. Looking back was also the last reminder of Fire 124’s impact on the area we had just paddled through. As the fire map above makes clear, while we would be seeing some more evidence of fire, Day 4 presented us with the worst of it.

The Cauldron as viewed from the Larus Lake spit to the west

checking out Larus Lake as the sun sets

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A Bear Cub Pays A Dusk Visit

Our evening on the spit on the east end of Larus Lake ended with our first bear sighting of the trip.  It was a bit after dusk when we heard a racket in the mess of deadfall down the spit a bit. I popped out of the tent to see a bear cub – but no mama – about twenty-five meters away.  A few shouts and hand claps and it was gone – hopefully scared after her first human encounter; to reinforce it, I fired off a Bear banger.  We’ll admit to sleeping with ears wide awake that night – but also on our minds was the west wind.  We hoped to get across Larus the next day nice and early.

looking west on Larus Lake at sunset

Next Day: Day 5: Larus Lake to Barclay Lake

Bloodvein Headwaters Day 5: Larus Lake to Barclay Lake

Contents

• The Day’s Basic Data and Map
• The Impact of the 2021 Wildfire On The Day’s Route
• Our Taking-Down Camp/Breakfast Routine
• A Messy Start To the Portage Into Knox
• W01 – W02- W03 Portages Into Murdock Lake
• Making Use of Hap Wilson’s  Rapids Numbers
• The Murdock Lake East End Pictographs
• Our Murdock Lake Campsite

Previous Post: Day 2: Crystal Lake to Knox Lake Portage

Bloodvein Headwaters Day 2: Crystal Lake to the Knox Lake Portage

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The Day’s Basic Data and Map

• distance: about 17 km.
• weather: sunny in the morning; noticeable WSW wind once on Knox Lake
• rapids/portages  3 – all portaged around + the one into Knox L; distance: 1935 m
• campsites: our best one so far at Pictograph Point at the east end of Murdock Lake
• Natural Resources Canada Topos: 052 M 01 (Pipestone Bay);  052 M 02 (Murdock Lake).

Topo Canada view of the day’s portages – data from Paddle Planner

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2021 Fire Impact On The Day’s Route

Note: We did this trip in 2014, three years after a wildfire which affected a section of our Murdock to Larus.  However, that fire was minor compared to 2021’s far-reaching impact. The map below shows its effect on the Knox to Mary Lake stretch of the Bloodview.

The 2021 Wildfire’s Impact – from Knox Lake to Larus to Mary Lake

The Park office should have up-to-date info on the state of portage trails and the safety of campsites along the route. Seeing new growth and some green along with the charred tree trunks and scorched rock will make for an interesting experience in 2024, three years after the great burn.

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Our Taking-Down Camp/Bkft. Routine

Day 3 – getting breakfast ready – tent spot was behind the canoe

The empty area behind the canoe is where the tent had been; now it was tucked away for the day and the canoe was put into temporary service as a table.

Our breakfast is definitely low-fuss.  A serving of instant oatmeal, supplemented with cranberries, raisins, chia seeds,  hemp seeds, and walnuts – individual servings all prepackaged at home in small plastic zip-lock bags – is the daily fare.  While we’re taking down the tent we put a liter of water to boil on the butane stove. After the tent is down and packed away, one of us takes care of the breakfast – preparing the oatmeal and setting up the coffee filters and mugs for the main course!

Meanwhile, the other person is getting the lunch bag ready – instant soup packages, Wasa bread, different spreads (peanut butter, dehydrated black or pinto bean spread, or mushroom pate). Also laid out on the table are the snacks for the day – a Clif Bar and another zip-lock bag with mixed nuts and fruits for each of us.  It means that during the day there is no need to go “furkling” (Thanks to the mountain guides in the Canadian Rockies for teaching me that word!)  through every bag to find a snack or to put lunch together.

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A Messy Start To the Portage Into Knox

In a few minutes, we were at the start of the day’s major undertaking – the big portage into Knox Lake. We would spend two hours getting everything to the shore of Knox Lake.  Our usually efficient portage system broke down pretty quickly.

The first 500 meters or so looked pretty much like what you see in the image below. Carrying a 60 lb. canoe pack and then a 30 lb. duffel on top of that was not possible, given the absence of any sort of predictable footing!  After about thirty meters we were down to one bag per carry – and even that was a challenge.

Knox Lake portage – the first stretch

Eventually, we got the packs beyond the initial muddy stretch.  That still left the canoe! Impossible to walk up the middle of the trail with it and impossible to walk along the side of the trail, we were reduced to dragging it through the mud.

hauling the canoe through the mud

The other two-thirds of the trail was quite walkable and helped us forget the mud pit we had just experienced.  At the end of the portage, there is room for a couple of tents if a campsite is required for paddlers who take on the portage at the end of the day.

the put-in at the end of the portage into Knox Lake

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Using Hap Wilson’s  Rapid Number Count

And then it was north to the outlet of Knox Lake and the first three of the eighty-nine rapids we would face for the rest of the trip.  The “89” comes from the Wilson/Aykroyd guidebook Wilderness Rivers Of Manitoba.  Their chapter on the Bloodvein is in the essential category for planning a trip down the river.  In it, they identify 89 different sets of rapids that paddlers will face in getting to Bloodvein Village on Lake Winnipeg. For most of these rapids, they provide a grading system (using the Class 1 to Class V system), accurate drawings of rocks and channels to be dealt with,  information about what to look out for and what to avoid, as well as various portage options.

We’ve used their numbering system – and the names which they gave to some of the rapids – in our posts.  So – W01 125 refers to the first set of rapids described in the Wilson/Aykroyd guidebook.  We added our estimate of portage length at the end.  The length is in meters – one meter equalling 1.1 yards if you want to make the conversion into a measure you understand better. For the Headwaters section of the river you can also find rapids/portage information on the official WCPP Map and on the Chrismar Adventure Map for the park.

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W01 – W02-W03 Portages Into Murdock L.

the bottom of W02

We will admit to really liking the feel of being on a river, as opposed to paddling a series of lakes connected by portage trails, which is what the first couple of days from Douglas Lake to Knox Lake mostly felt like.

the middle section of W03

Looking SW on the Bloodvein from the put-in spot at the bottom of  W03

Lunch at the end of W03 and then it was time to move on. We had a stretch of actual river to paddle down – being able to see both sides of the river as you move down creates a sort of intimacy that you don’t get in the middle of crossing a big lake.

outpost/cabin on Murdock Lake

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The Murdock Lake East End Pictographs

Coming out into Murdock Lake, we soon paddled by the outpost (nobody home!) on our left.  Our eyes were on the lookout for a pictograph site indicated in Wilson’s book. We realized later that he only provided a general indication of where they were.  The first one ended up being maybe 200 meters further south than we had estimated from looking at his map. Perhaps this is his way of making sure that everyone still gets to experience the thrill of discovery!

Screenshot

approaching the Murdock Lake pictograph site – our campsite would be on the point to the left

Murdock Lake pictographs

Murdock Lake pictographs – the entire panel up close

Murdock Lake pictographs – two up close

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Our Murdock Lake Campsite

We got to the point just south of the pictographs around 4. Thinking that it might make a good place to stop for the night, I scrambled up to the sheltered area above the sloped rock face on the shore. I found the best campsite so far!  Had I looked closely at the WCPP Campsite Map I would have seen that it was on it! It is the red dot on the map snippet below.

See here for the full 2017 WCPP map

The significant SW wind that we’d have to deal with if we continued down Murdock Lake convinced us to call it a day – and take on the next stretch early and well-rested the next day instead.  it was an excellent choice.

Murdock Lake campsite – tent is tucked away on the top of the hill

Day 3 camp on Pictograph Point

looking up Murdock Lake at sunset

sunset on Murdock Lake

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Next Post: Day 4: Murdock Lake to Larus Lake

Bloodvein Headwaters Day 4: Murdock Lake to Larus Lake