Killin' it on Kekekwa

Hey there, André and Tanice checking in! We just wrapped up our three day trip on Kekekwa Lake, what an adventure. We left Atikokan on Tuesday morning, driving through Dryden and then heading southwest from Dryden to reach Kekekwa. Along the way we stopped and did maintenance on portages and worked on signage. We also got to see some moose and bears which was nice! We finally reached our landing point and completed the 700m portage to get everything down to the water. Once everything was loaded up, and with Lise Sorensen accompanying us, we took off on Kekekwa. We weren't on the water long before we realized that maybe we had overloaded the canoe and it was tippier than usual. As a result we scooted to the shore and set up camp on a nice rock face on the west side of the Lake. After clearing the site a little and setting up a tarp we got our tents ready, had dinner and settled down for the days ahead. It started raining while we were putting up our tents and boy was I glad we had a tarp! We got an early start the next day and loaded the canoe with the gear we'd need for the day (brush saw, chainsaw, chaps, gasoline, etc.) and food for lunch and dinner in case we weren't back by dinner time. We headed down Kekekwa and did our first portage, leaving the dinner supplies behind. We were now on Nevimar lake and did a quick paddle on there to our next portage. This was a quick portage to some pothole lakes that once we were through had us facing our first big test. A 1 kilometre portage with some spicy elevation changes that made it a real treat. We were only doing one trip since no one wanted to walk this portage more than once, so with everyone fully loaded in gear we set off. It was a gruelling portage but we all made it through alright. Once on the other side we had another quick paddle across Harper lake and then our destination. The portage between Harper and Upper Manitou Lake was in need of some rerouting as we were to learn as the previous portage had two very steep portions that were dangerous. The loppers and chainsaw were our go to as Lise flagged the reroutes and we got to work. It wasn't fast going and there was plenty of sweating going on, but we got the first reroute done. We started the second reroute when our chainsaw had the chain come off. Without the tools to adjust the bar and get it back on track we had to call it quits. Lise pushed through with the brush saw and we loaded back up to do the journey in reverse this time. The 1 kilometre portage seemed even harder this time as most of the elevation changes had us climbing rather than descending but still we gutted through it and got to the other side. Stopped for snack on the other side of the portage then loading up again we flew through the rest of the portages and lakes as it all paled in comparison to the portage we'd just been through. Back on Kekekwa we saw some beavers ripping around in the water, keeping up company, and had some fish jump out of the water! The sun was also out for the first time in days which was a pleasant surprise. It made for a nice scene to end the day. We got back to base camp and did some swimming then cooked dinner and ate it quick before the cloud of mosquitoes that was forming could eat us! We all slept pretty good that night and the next day the sun had us running from our tent as they began to heat up fast. We loaded the canoe and got back to launch, completing that 700 metre portage again to bookend our 3 day trip. We intended to clear another site but that'll be for another time due to our chainsaw being out of commission at the time. All packed up we drove to Dryden to face the next section of our journey, taking off from Rattlesnake! Special thanks to Lise Sorensen for joining us for this section of our journey and working with us. On to the next one! Until next time, have a good one!

Written by André Edited by Tanice