Paddler's Guide to Happy Camping

Kopka River Misadventure - Part 1

• Posted on March 7, 2008 at 2:37 PM
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Kopka region

I gave my canoe mate, Andy Baxter, the job of choosing our route this past season. I’m usually the one who suggests a place to paddle. I always think I have to. Paddling is a part of my livelihood, a job of sorts, and I feel pressured to always lean towards a route that’s more sellable to a book publisher or magazine editor. Truth is, however, Andy characterizes someone who would read the book or magazine article I’m writing; so I figured why not cut to the chase and just to ask him where he’d like to paddle. In a matter of seconds he blurted out “We’re going to the Kopka River and finishing on the north shore of Lake Nipigon.”

When I asked Andy his reasoning he simply handed over a topographic map of the area and pointed directly to the cluster of contour lines along the river, indicating some major drops in elevation, and then the big expanse of blue out across Nipigon. That’s all it took; a river full of whitewater that ended in the largest freshwater inland lake. On June first we headed north for the Kopka - northwestern Ontario’s most doable unsung canoe route.

Joining us was Bill and Anne Ostrom. Bill had done the river twice before – a bonus for sure – and his wife, Anne, was one top-notch paddler. Safety would be a key on this trip. The Kopka is remote, rugged, and full of some nasty unmaintained portages; having a second canoe along was a smart choice.

It took two full days for Andy and I to drive north to the Ostrom’s place near Thunder Bay, and another day to drive up the Armstrong Road to the CN railway which would take us to our access point at the south end of Wabakimi Provincial Park, where a few days of paddling a small unnamed river and chain of elongated lakes would link us to Kopka. Taking the train is one option. Flying out of Armstrong to the headwaters (Uneven Lake is a popular put-in) or starting along the Graham Road are other options. But the train was far cheaper then the plane and a lot quicker then organizing a shuttle from the Graham Road, located over a couple hundred kilometers to the west. A mere $120 dollars took all three of us to an unnamed lake west of Armstrong and just east of where the Lookout River flows under the railway tracks. (mileage 32.3). The train left at 7:30 a.m., so arrangements were made through a local outfitter (Wilderness Connections www.wildernessconnections.ca) to stay at the renovated jail house in town (the outfitter also shuttled our vehicles to the designated take-out).

Everything went as planned; well almost everything. Our group almost missed the morning train because it was on time. The train in Armstrong is never on time. When it pulled in at 7:32 a.m. Andy was calling home, I was getting a second cup of coffee at the local dinner. It was Bill and Anne, catching a nap at the station, who rounded us up before the train left.

What a Canadian experience it is to be dropped of in the middle of the northern bush by train; having all your gear and canoes tossed out of the baggage car and then stand there on the tracks watching your only connection to the civilized world slowly disappear from sight.

The first day paddle from put-in lake to Aldridge Lake was a long one. But like all first days of any trip, we were driven by enthusiasm; and thank goodness we were. That initial gusto, that eagerness we all get to be finally out paddling, was definitely a godsend that first day. The portages on our chosen route connecting the chain of lakes were all clogged with downed trees and the small river was flushing water in the opposite direction. The Kopka watershed was also in flood and the portages around the rapids had to be extended at both the take-out and put-ins. All this mixed in with the fact that it was the first major trip of the season for all of us, and we were a tad out of shape, meant that only our keenness to be out would get us through the day.

The first portage of the trip (350 meters marked to the left) was just a short paddle east on the unnamed lake and was followed soon after by a quick 30 meter lift-over on the right. It became obvious the moment we reached the put-in of the second portage that it would have been possible to have the train stop here rather then further east on the unnamed lake, eliminating the first two portages and the bonus of having a nice campsite (located at the end of the second portage) if needed.

Not far past the second portage a third trail (300 meters) takes the route southwest, to the north end of Beagle Lake and the home of a group of pictographs (search the cliffs along the upper east shoreline).

The portages really didn’t get rough though until the fourth one – a 450 meter trail connecting Beagle Lake with Laparde Lake. A great number of jack pine blocked the take-out and after it crossed an old logging road the portage lead straight through waist-deep muck and water where it became easier to float the canoe rather then carry it.

At the south end of Laparde was another portage measuring 200 meters, located away from the rapids and in the back bay to the left. The take-out led up a moderate slope, found to the extreme right. And immediately after were two short 30 meter portages, both on the left. We lined up the first and waded up the second, where I lost my footing and after floating back down, had to walk up against the hard current once again. Then, thankfully, we paddled half way down Aldridge Lake to make camp on a small beach site.

Our second day in route the portages were even worse. None were recently maintained, pesky deer flies were out in full force, and the temperature rose steadily all day (by mid-day it was thirty-eight degrees Celsius in the shade). The ordeal did have its silver lining, however. At the end of the first portage (a 250 meter steep climb over a granite ridge separating the lower end of Aldridge Lake with an unnamed pond) Bill went in for a quick swim to cool off, and on the way out of the water he discovered a bundle of money stored under a rock at the shoreline. The amount added up to $155!

We considered leaving the money under the rock, for about twenty seconds anyway. Then we came to the conclusion that no one was coming back for it. Besides, the found cash paid for the train ride plus a good tip for our shuttle driver. It definitely was a good day overall.

Only two more portages were marked on our map, separating us from the Kopka. But this stretch was definitely not easy. First, the map had a lengthy portage marked running from the south end of the unnamed pond to another unnamed pond, marked to the right of a creek connecting the two bodies of water. Problem was, we couldn’t find it.

It took a good hour of searching before Andy and I happened upon it on the far southwestern bay – no where near the creek. The good news was that the portage ended up just being a short distance (50 meters), leading us to the creek rather then avoiding it; and at this point the creek seemed navigable. Bad news, a bear was blocking our route! He stood in mid-stream, munching on marsh grass, and only after some loud hand claps and boisterous yelling by all four of us did he manage to move on. We met up with him again though, around the next bend in the creek, motioned him to move on once again, only to have him block our path a third time around then next bend. A fourth encounter, the most unnerving of them all, was had directly on a 100 meter trail which we needed to carry over to avoid the remaining part of the now unnavigable creek (I’ve never portaged so quick in my life).

A lengthy 1800 meter portage, located almost directly across from the last portage, was all that remained before reaching the Kopka River. This one was brutal. The first section was a labyrinth of trials making their way through a large floating bog, and the remainder headed up and through an old burn area. What made it worse was the intense heat and bugs plaguing us the entire time. As I neared the end of the trail I’ve never been so happy to spot the hint of blue – that being the tranquil waters of the Kopka.

Water levels had dropped somewhat by the time we were on the Kopka River but high enough to have the fire ring on the lunch site we made use of just upstream still under water. The take-out for the next portage a couple kilometers downstream (a 70 meter on the right, going through another burned over area) was also tangibly close to the stretch of whitewater it was avoiding. Prior to that we ran three to four drops and after that there were half-a-dozen before the river emptied into Sandison Lake, where we camped for the night. The sets were rated no higher then Class II but all had to be scouted prior to running since more then once we discovered trees had fallen across the river after a blind bend in the river, the last one especially. It wasn’t easy walking through the thick bush along the river bank to cut down moderate-sized jack pine hanging low over boiling whitewater equipped only with a make-shift collapsible hand-saw, but hitting a tree half way through a run wasn’t an option.

The Kopka at this point in the trip resembled more of enlarged creek then an actual river. It was a wonderful place to be, really. Apart from scouting and re-scouting sets of rapids, our day was spent spotting the abundant wildlife en route, including three more black bears and the backside of a woodland caribou as it ran off into the thick bush lining the bank. Birds were more abundant then anything else. Countless warblers fluttered across from bank to bank, bald eagle sightings became common fair, and a group of nighthawks we spotted on one of the portages re-visited us by flying into camp that evening to help us diminish the bug population.

The Kopka began to stretch out its banks the next day, becoming more of a river then a constricted creek. At times it even resembled more of a lake then an actual river. But where it did squeeze together there were plenty of rapids, most of which we ran, and an equal amount of moderate-sized cascades.

With the watershed still in flood, the take-out points for each portage were either tangibly close to the brink of a falls or had become hidden by the rapids themselves, making our progress slow at best.

The day started off simple enough. We rejoined the river where it flushes out of the northwest corner of Sandison Lake by making use of a 40-meter portage on the right, followed by three consecutive CI runs, a 50-meter portage left of a small falls, and a long stretch of swift water immediately after that we half ran down and half lined. We even had a strong tail wind to help us across a large lake-like section.

After our morning sail, however, things started to go down hill. On the northeast corner of the open stretch, where the river gets squeezed once again, we met up with the most complicated take-out spots of the day. Our map showed a take-out and trail to the left of some strong rapids. As we paddled into the inlet to the right, where the river begins to drop, we saw a shoreline thick with boulders and brush, but no portage.

We advanced a little further, navigating a short swift which was uncomfortably close to the major drop, and searched the banks again for any sign of the portage; but still, nothing. Unwillingly we paddled back up against the current, thinking that we may have missed the take-out further upstream somewhere. A half-hour later we had retraced our steps back to the top of the rapids, still with no obvious place to begin portaging.

We ended up making our own trail and later discovered that the portage was actually on the left of an island that sat in the mid-channel, not along the left shoreline. The high water, however, made it impossible to see or even think of using the trail. Cutting our own way through was the only option.

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…to be continued