Kaministikwia Route?

[intrepidcamper]

Has anyone been on the Kaministikwia River fur trade route? I would like to hear what it is like. IC

[mapmeister]

I read in a book by Eric Morse (One of the 'voyageurs'- the group that travelled with Sig. Olsen in the 50s and 60s) that they couldn't even find for sure exactly where the trail was over the height of land from the end of Dog river to the Savanne which leads through Lac des Milles Lac.
That was in the 70s and I would suspect there is abs. no trace now, especially when Morse brought many routes back from the dead.
With some pre-planning a short vehicle transfer could be arranged between the two rivers(Probably less than five miles). The Savanne is right at the Trans-Canada highway and lots of logging roads hit the Dog river.
Mapmeister

[HoHo]

Intrepidcamper, I went to camp on Baril Lake in the '70s. I understand this is part of the route - links Lac de Mille Lacs to the French River down into French, Pickerel, etc. My guess is that people at the camp knew the location of the portage mapmeister mentions, because we used to take trips to the Dog River, and I'm guessing it was over LdML. I myself don't remember doing that route to the Dog, though, but I did go several times from Baril Lake through little Brule to Windegoostegwan and over French Portage into French Lake (in the Park), which is the westbound continuation of the route. This is a beautiful chain of lakes, very minimal development in the 70s and I don't think there has been any since.

I'm going to see if anyone knows what happened to the maps and trip records of the camp - they were very extensive, an incredible amount of lore that hopefully still exists.

[intrepidcamper]

HoHo, I've been on French Lake and left from Atikokan and traveled West on Sturgeon Lake and Maligne River a couple of times. I was wondering about the Eastern part of the route, toward Thunder Bay. I imagine it is on Queen's Lands and one has to get the special permits to camp there. I get the feeling from the posts, and lack of them, that this is not a well traveled route. Is the terrain eastward flatter and with scrubbier conifer forest, or does it remain highland granite ledgerock as most of the Park is? IC

[HoHo]

The part I was talking about is the stretch east from French Lake to Lac de Milles Lacs. It's the French River chain. From French Lake heading east you first take long French Portage to Windigoostigwan Lake, which is very long and narrow, then tiny Brule Lake, and then portage over the Canadian National tracks to Baril Lake, which is the very clear spring fed headwaters lake (and a trout lake). From the far end of Baril you go into Lac de Mille Lacs. The French River chain, in my memory, has a lot a great granite-y outcroppings and is very similar to Quetico. In fact, I read somewhere that Windigoostigwan was in Quetcio until they built Highway 11 in the 50s. (The Canadian National "Quetico" stop is on Windigoostigwan.) My understanding is that this is also Crown Land, so as nonresidents we need to pay the nightly camping fee or use a Canadian outfitter. That was not true back in the 70s, I don't think - you could just camp there. (I have to say that these steep fees probably keep a lot of Americans from using this area, and using Canadian services before and after their trip, having the exact opposite effect intended.)

Bottom line: well worth going to, at least if it hasn't changed much since the 70s. I'm planning on going back in a few years. Note that you can also jump off directly from Windigoostigwan from Highway 11 (although I'm not sure where you leave your car) avoiding the long portage from French Lake.