Iinoo Oowan Adventures
Howdy! Checking in again, this time after our adventures on the Iinoo Oowan section! We started this section by driving out to Whiteshell provincial Park in Manitoba, as this portion of the trail would be completed going west to east! After stopping at the Nite Hawk Café for a tasty dinner we made it to Big Whiteshell Lake where we were launching from.
We were all packed for the big trip ahead of us and in no time were ready to launch. There was a decent wind blowing down from the north, making the water a little choppy, a sign of what to expect on this section with its large lakes. We got through those waves and made it to the portage to Crowduck Lake that first night, camping at the campsite there and settling in early so we could get a fast start in the morning!
The next day, bright and early, we finished the portage and were on Crowduck Lake. We had some island campsites to investigate on Crowduck Lake and quickly got to it, enjoying the nice sunny day. As we got to the first island the wind kicked up and the waves turned to whitecaps. We still wanted to push on and a lot ahead of us so we tacked into the wind and went through it, shooting for the channel leading to the north end of Crowduck Lake, hoping the channel would shelter us from the wind. It was slow going and paddling wasn’t easy but we finally got to the channel and the north end. There we investigated the second island and got to speak with a family also paddling this section! It was great to have a moment to speak with them as we always appreciate the chance to talk with other people paddling the Path of the Paddle.
They’re a group from BC, paddling from Whiteshell to Kenora with something like 11 people and 2 dogs! Impressive! Hopefully their trip was as great as ours! We said our goodbyes and took off from that campsite and set our sites on Crowduck Falls but again we'd run into whitecaps.
This time they really tested our mettle as we noticed that if not giving it our all the shore didn’t move, we could paddle and just stay in place. We persevered and finally got to Crowduck Falls! Feeling emboldened by our success with the waves we decided it was still early enough to keep going and made it all the way to the rapids south of Boundary Island on Eaglesnest Lake. We were back in Ontario already!
After camping there for the night we paddled to the Winnipeg River and on to Tetu Lake, passing White Dog First Nation. We aimed to get to the campsite just outside White Dog Dam and were approaching the site when faced with a strong current. We figured as long as we shot the right of it and paddled hard it'd push us left but we'd get through to the site on the other side. Unbeknownst to us the dam was letting out more water due to high water levels and what looked like a strong current was a very powerful current. We took off into the current and got turned then flipped! As we floated downstream with our overturned canoe, not knowing what had become of our gear, we realized it was quite the predicament as the current made it impossible to pull the canoe to shore while in the water. Luckily a boat from Tetu Lodge was nearby and once alerted they came over and pulled us out! Big shout out to those guys, thanks so much! We got to shore and discovered we had good news and bad news. Good news, we lost next to nothing! Bad news, we were hard pressed to find something that wasn't completely and utterly soaked. We camped at the Tetu Dock that night.
The next day we launched on the other side of the dam and headed on to Roughrock Lake, being very wary of any currents we came across. We learned you can never be too cautious! After getting through Roughrock Lake and then passing through Little Sand Lake we were on to the town of Minaki! The campsite we were aiming for in Minaki we couldn't find so we kept paddling, more frantic at this point as the sun was going down fast. On Gun Lake we found a campsite and cooked a quick dinner before calling it a day. It was a long one!
Launching from our Gun Lake campsite we went through the rest of Gun Lake before getting caught in a thunderstorm. Luckily it passed within an hour and we were back on the water. We went through multiple sets of rapids that day, paddling up all of them but the Kimberly Rapids in Kenora which we portaged. Other than the storm it turned out to be a great day! And we got to the trailhead in Kenora that night.
Finished the section in 4 days, wow was it an adventure! Again, big shoutout to the Tetu lodge guys for pulling us out and big shoutout to Kevin and his group, hope your adventures are as good as ours, though without the tipping! We'd also like to take the time to thank our families and friends (Kevin Paul and Larissa Toman), always being there for us when we need them and giving us something to lean on when things weren't easy or going well. Without family or friends, this trip wouldn't have been the same. Thank you.
Written by André Edited by Tanice