BLUE LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK
CANOE TRIP
July 15 - 21, 2012
Don, Bill, Dick, Steve, Jim and Terry
| Background | Each year, Don MacDonald organizes a trip of former Northern Tier staff and friends. The locations vary. The 2012 trip started and ended at Blue Water Provincial Park northwest of Dryden, Ontario. The 5-day trip covered 59 miles and had 14 portages. |
| Directions | From Fort Frances, take CN-11 east to ON-502. Go north to CN-17. Go west to Vermilion Bay and take ON-647/Blue Lake Road north to Blue Lake Provincal Park. |
| Maps | 52F13 (Feist Lake) and 52F14 (Vermilion Bay, Optional) All but the first couple miles of the trip are covered by 52F13. 52F14 only covers the first part of the paddle from the Blue Lake Provincial Park campground to the first portage. |
| Jim Varcho Journal | Jim kept a daily journal on the trip which he shared with us later. It is part of the entries for each day. |
| Pictures | Pictures are by Bill, Don, Jim and Terry. |
| July 15 | The participants gathered at the Provincial Park campground. Don drove in from Winnipeg. Dick, Steve, Jim and Bill met at Dick's home in St. Paul on July 14th and then drove to Dick's cabin near Biwabik, MN. On the 15th, we met Terry outside Virginia and we drove two cars to the campground. Gear was sorted, consolidated and packed and plans for the trip were discussed. |
| July 16 Distance: 15.0 miles Portages: 2 |
It was a great day to get on the water. Two easy portages but campsites were are to find come afternoon. This was a recurring theme on the trip. Camped on Cobble lake which had several cottages and resorts. However, the island campsite shielded us from them. |
| July 17 Distance: 15.2 miles Portages: 8 |
This was our heaviest day of portaging. We were treated to an eagle at its nest at our lunch site. Met a group of young ladies starting their trip and they gave us some suggestions for a campsite. Took the second one they suggested. |
| July 18 Distance: 9.5 miles Portages: 3 |
Interesting day. We encountered our most difficult portage and ended up camping on a SMALL island. It was soooooo small that the latrine was on the south river shore. |
| July 19 Distance: 13.6 miles Portages: 1 |
Easy day canoeing. One portage took us to an abandoned village at Forest Lake Dam. The usual problem of finding a good campsite ended well when we found a point site on Whitney Lake. |
| July 20 Distance: 5.7 miles Portages: 0 |
We decided to end the trip at the Indian Lake access. This required a hike to pick up the cars, but it worked well. Set up camp at the Provincial Park, showered and then headed to town for dinner. A great ending to a great trip. |
| July 21 | We broke camp and stopped in Vermilion Bay for breakfast. Good-byes were said and we headed home. The next stop was in International Falls at one of Dick's "Must Stop" at a local coffee house. From there it was on to Cook where Terry headed to Ely and the four of us headed to Dick's cabin. After unloading Dick's gear, Steve, Jim and Bill headed to St. Paul where we picked up our cars and each headed to their homes. |
 Note: Route shown on map is Blue Lake Provincial Park published map. Our trip deviated from it in a couple location (starting point and Little Gordon to Daniels portages). Crew picture taken at Forest Lake Dam by Terry; map anotated by Jim. |
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