- Trip to and from from St. Paul, MN: a little more than 1000 km (600 miles) or 10 hrs. to Manigotagan Village, 12 hrs to Quesnel Lake/Caribou Landing
- Livery charge to Caribou Landing, C&M Shuttle Service, CAD 100. Service nice and accommodating. Charles & Marilyn Simard Ph: (204) 363-7355, Fax: (204) 363-7812, or Chico Simard (204) 363-7535. The last 10 km of the trail is very rough, deep potholes, erosion and some rocks. Our Honda Odyssey bottomed out several times, glad I did not take the Pontiac Vibe, as I had intended to do.
- Trip distance on river, incl. portages, 65 km (40 miles)
- Portage trails were typically well marked and in good shape. A couple of times directions on the write up or in book were wrong as to side of river. Some were muddy due to abundant rains and springs. All were short, the longest we had was 450 m (90 rods), most were between 100 and 150 m. Easy when compared to our BWCA trips.
- Campsites were very nice, most had firewood stacked. How cool is that? Good fire boxes with grates. We saw one site where the fire box was under water due to the high river levels.
- Rapids and falls: even small rapids were noticeable by the noise of the rushing water, the thunder of big rapids and falls could be heard at least 500 m away. Portage take out well marked. Basic ferrying skills should get you to the correct side of the river.
Gear:
- Galyan's Woodsman III. Handled mostly well, turns that should have been quick were a little sluggish, but it tracks well on flat water. A good compromise on a trip like this. Stern and bow suffered some abuse, I will install Kevlar skid plates, probably from Northwest Canoe.
- Katadyn Pocket water filter. During previous trips, we managed to break two water filters, a Katadyn Hiker Pro (broken input nipple) and a Katadyn Vario (broken pump handle axle). For neither I considered that we had been abusive or unnecessarily rough. Fortunately I had bought both at REI and they exchanged, no questions asked. Because I don't like to boil water, I decided to spend a little more and bought the Pocket. What a difference, this is a solid piece of equipment, stainless steel and unbreakable plastic. As easy to use as a bicycle pump. Cleaning is easy, too. See my review at Amazon.
- NRS Neoprene Work Boots: relatively inexpensive and comfortable if you are in and out of the water all they long. During portages, they felt like hiking boots. They never dried out during the trip, but they protected my feet very well. I read reviews about the very snug fit and bought a 13 where I typically wear a 12. Wore them with a thick pair of wool socks.
- SealLine Eco-See dry bag. Brought this to protect my photographic equipment. It did the job but I was worried about puncturing it the entire time as the material is rather lightweight. I liked the transparency of the back so I did not have to fish in the dark. I have three of their Boundary Packs, which I love for their sturdiness, waterproof properties, comfort during portages and volume. I think I will have to exchange this for a Pelican Case or maybe one of the other SealLine products, like one of their Urban Backpacks.
SealLine Boundary Packs, Eco-See bag and NRS boots being tested.
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