Day 13

Day 13. Lower Wabakimi Lake to Smoothrock Lake.  8.8 miles.


We woke up to clouds again, although rain never materialized. Today we planned to paddle down the river between Lower Wabakimi Lake and Smoothrock Lake.  We guessed this would be fairly well-travelled because it's on a main route.  Of course nothing is ever easy.

We couldn't find the first portage, so we bushwhacked along the middle rapids instead. This turned out to be just fine, although it was time consuming.  The second portage was long with lots of downed trees and many ups and downs.  And, it landed in fast water.

While we were eating lunch, we saw a canoe being carried down to the water in the distance.  Two paddlers got in and rounded a point, seemingly heading back downstream in the direction from which they had come. We were somewhat puzzled and looked forward to meeting them.  When we got to where we'd seen them, however, not only did we not find the paddlers, but we didn't find a portage either!  The rapids were easily negotiated, and we found the next portage without incident.  We never met the phantom paddlers, though.

At Smoothrock Lake, we paddled several miles down the west arm to the first campsite we saw.

Rapids before Smoothrock Lake

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