Lake Winnipeg/Lake Superior

J

journey on

New member
I'm planning our Lake Superior trip this summer. Coincidently, I'm reading "Winner Take All, a History of the Trans Canada Canoe Trip." I realize a CD25 ain't a canoe, but:

Is there any possibility of going from Lake Superior to Lake Winnepeg by the Rainey river, Lake of the Woods, Winnepeg River? There is the Great Portage, so where would I have to haul out and put in? Any advice? Bill/El?

Also, is there a Quimby's or something else for Lake Superior/Georgian Bay?

The southern Boris
 
The most upstream point to access with the type of boat you have would be at Crane Lake, east of Orr, MN, and about 100 road miles from Duluth. From there you can proceed through Crane, Sandpoint, Namakan, and Rainy Lakes, about 75 miles, with one short truck portage around Kettle Falls. There is no mechanical portage over the falls/dam at International Falls. But if you can arrange getting around it, the Rainy River is navigable, with two rapids and given the right water conditions, all the way to Lake of the Woods, about 80 miles. LOTW, of course, is navigable all the way to Kenora, ON, and there terminates the extent of my knowledge. I think there are at least seven power dams on the Winnipeg River between LOTW and Lake Winnipeg, but I have no idea if they are passable.

And while I don't have the foggiest what a Quimby's is, I'm going to assume it's a guidebook. In that event, order a copy of Bonnie Dahl's Superior Way; it's invaluable. I don't know what is available for Georgian Bay.

Good luck with your planning and keep us posted.
Al

PS- Lake Winnipeg is 270 miles long with an average depth of about 40'. Reefs abound and storms can be rough becasue it's big and shallow. It also supports quite an algae bloom in the summer (as does LOTW).
 
Hi Journey On:

There sure is a lot of water to cover in Lakes Winnipeg and Superior. If you are just in the planning stages and are looking for specific areas to explore may I suggest the following sites to peruse:

http://www.photography-plus.com/harbors.htm
http://www.fishweb.com/recreation/boating/boating.html
http://www.noaa.gov/
http://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/coastpilot.htm
http://www.midnrreservations.com/harbors/index.cfm
www.marinasontario
www.boatsandplaces.com
www.freeboatingcharts.com

Check out my photos and you will get an idea of what the St. Mary's River
and the North Channel areas look like. A couple of my kayaking pictures were taken in Georgian Bay, south of Parry Sound, in the 30,000 Island area.

I keep my laptop on my boat and refer to these websites often. In particular I find the Coast Pilot, MapTech and the NOAA charts very helpful.

I have some other information that I can share with you. If your are interested just let me know.

I have not been to Lake Winnipeg but do boat on the Great Lakes and you do have to be careful, choose you days, pay attention to the weather and plan you trip accordingly.

I know that there are a lot of other C-Brats that spend a lot more time in Lake Superior than I. I am sure you will be hearing from some of them regarding your proposed trip.

Best regards,
Rollie/C-Batical
 
'Southern Boris' --
You have opened up a great thread. This is an area El and I have been interested in exploring by water and have yet to get there. So our knowledge is near zero, but we are now all getting some good ideas from local C-Dorians. Thanks for starting the thread, and we look forward to absorbing all the knowledge we can get -- and doing the trip!
So, as you do your own research, please post up your findings as well. Thanks.
 
Southern Boris,
What a great trip that would be! I used to live in the area, and services were pretty thin on Lake Winnipeg. I believe there are clubs/marinas in Gimli and Heckla Island. Lake Winnipeg is largely under-cruised. It would be great if you could get all the way to Norway House. The rivers/lakes from International Falls and Kenora would be impassable without several portages. The Winnipeg River has large dams in Pine Falls and Lac du Bonnett, if memory serves me correctly. The southern river, the Red, flows North into the lake has large unpassable dams in Selkirk and Lockport. This lake can kick up and get nasty in a hurry! It is similar to Erie (shallow and big). My two cents would be a Lake of the Woods cruise and then trailer to Gimli, Manitoba to begin a Lake Winnipeg trip. I believe the Western half of the lake has more services than the Eastern half, which is nicely undeveloped! Check out Grand Beach on a weekend, you would think you are in Miami.
 
Journey On,

To give you an idea of what to expect in Georgian Bay, Canada, I just thought I would share some more pictures that I took on my kayak trip to Missasauga Provincial Park. This area is just north of the western entrance to the Trent-Severn River lock system. It is typical of the wonderful scenery you see. Another good link describing cruising this area is:

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/rendezvous/NC2000

Please forgive me, it happens to be a Boston Whaler site; but it is good one.

Best regards,
Rollie/C-Batical
 
Boris/ Journey On,
I've boated Lake Superior for the last 5 years and that's pretty much my experience. Lots of time at Isle Royale and the Canadian shore from Grand Portage to Wawa (trying to eventually circumnavigate the Lake Superior shore) Cool cruising waters in more than one sense. I would love to canoe Grand Portage to Norway House but I can't help you much with doing it the CD way; except there is a boat ramp at Grand Portage that would mimic a true start to a great northern journey. Also near Grand Portage is the Spirit Tree, a must see before attempting Lake Superior and probably a wise visit before a great northern journey, especially in a CD. For guides Bonnie Dahl is very good but being a deep keel sailor she spends way too much print on getting deep draft boats into harbors, bays, etc. For charts there is Richardson's Chartbook + Cruising Guide - Lake Superior, an 18" x 12" book with all the US and Canadian charts plus marina info; saves lots of $'s over buying individual charts and book size is right size for space conscience boats. Bonnie and Richardson's are always on my boat. Another extensive guide ($435 for all 5 Great Lakes) is the Great Lakes Cruising Club guides which like Bonnie are very detailed and unlike Bonnie will make you want to build a library on your boat. Get info on them at www.glcclub.com . I could talk about this all day. Ask more specific questions on this thread or pm me. If you do make Superior this summer maybe we can connect up.
Jay
 
Thanks to everyone who posted a reply. I really needed the references and comments. I guess that the Superior to Winnipeg is great if you're on a canoe. Which was the way the voyaguers did it. On the portages they carried 2 ea. 90 lb packs. The thought makes me weak.

Next question: can one get from Georgian Bay to Toronto by canal? Does the Trent Severn Canal go close? Or is that only good if you can carry 90# packs?

See you in Superior this summer,

Boris
 
As far as I know, you could take the Trent-Severn to Lake Ontario and would then need to go about 85 statute miles to the southwest along the Lake Ontario shore to reach Toronto; otherwise it's 90# packs or the long float through the St. Clair River, Lake Erie, Welland Canal and then Lake Ontario. Hope to see you on (not "in") Superior this summer.
Jay
 
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