AUGUST 1999
CANOE TRIP TO QUETICO PROVINCIAL PARK

Participants:
Jim Bailey  
Jim Glimm
Don Gfroerer  
Bill Yacovissi
Bob Alspaugh
Gary Goodreau
Ed Owlett
Jay Owen
The Route:
From Sea Gull by water taxi to Cache Bay, up through the Falls Chain to Kawnipi Lake.

Distance:  
60.5 miles by water and 3.6 miles of portaging

The Here we are at Sea Gull Outfitters, north of Ely to begin the trip.  On the left is Gary Goodreau, then Ed Owlett, Jim Bailey, Jay Owen, Bill Yacovissi, Jim Glimm, Don Gfroerer, and Bob Alspaugh
The water taxi to get across Saganaga Lake.
Most of this area had been subjected to the blow down earlier in the summer.  Apparently a front came through creating huge winds.  The forest for miles was just blown down.  An amazing thing to see.

This is normally a heavily wooded shoreline

Cache Bay Range Station

The upper reaches of Cache Bay
Bob viewing the falls on the Chain of Falls section of the trip.
Impressive volume of water flows over the falls

A typical camp in Quetico.  Mostly you camp on islands or at the end of peninsulas.  Campsites are usually excellent.

Meals are kept simple.  Fast to prepare and few dishes.
After dinner we gather on the rocks to watch the sun go down.  People think we do nothing but talk about sex and sports.  Actually each night of the trip is assigned a different topic of conversation.  I believe this night's topic was French philosophy and New England transcendentalism.
Typical day on the lakes.

Does Anybody Know Where We Are.

Some of the lakes have beautiful connecting channels.
Sooner or later you have to pick your stuff up and carry it over to the next lake.  Here we see Bill and Ed happily carrying their stuff through the woods and up a hill.  A big hill I recall.  Notice the smile, grimace on Ed's face.  Bill just looks stunned.
Here we have our good friend Jim Glimm happily portaging the canoe.  Jim died of cancer a year after this trip.  He is missed very much on the trips.  I'm sure his stories, and Jim was quite a story teller, still echo around the woods and lakes of Quetico.
Here we see Don showing that an old man can still hump it.

Gary Goodreau trekking up a steep portage.

Sometime the view from the top of the hill is really worth it.
It's strange to paddle past a bull moose.  They are so big, especially when you are looking up at them from a canoe.  Fortunately, they never seem to aggressive.
This otter looks cuter than the moose, but look at those teeth. Grrrrr!
On this trip bald eagles were common.  Every lake had four or five eagles and a couple of nests. 

Another eagle in a tree.

Paddling on a beautiful lake.

A little rain is falling as we leave camp in the morning.

Back at the Cache Bay Ranger Station.  Waiting for the outfitter to pick us up by motor launch for the trip back to Sea Gull Lake and home.