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 Post subject: Pipestone River Report
PostPosted: July 29th, 2005, 9:15 pm 
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Location: Plainfield, Indiana USA
I have a lengthly report posted at http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?1148 for the Pipestone River we recently paddled. Several pictures can also be viewed at http://kayak.defydigital.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5 It rained 6 of the first 7 days on the Pipestone, temps averaged from the low 40's to high 50's and winds were constant. We all swam at least 500M in a CIII.

Hopefully, Richard will post it in the Route Forum.

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PostPosted: July 30th, 2005, 8:44 am 
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Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada
Hey Worth,

Thanks for posting that report and pics. (One day I will have to get a website so I can post pics and share more).

The Pipestone is s riverine Provincial Park. It would be of great service if you could send a small report to Ontario Parks to constructively complain and inform them about the state of the portages. If they don't get the feedback from paddlers, it won't get attention. It would also be great if you could publish a story of your trip in a paddling magazine and let people know about what they can expect for portage quality (or lack thereof). You would be amazed at how media copy makes its way back to MNR and Ontario Parks, and can stimulate action.

In Ontario we have let our once world class canoe route management system fall into disarray. We used to have thousands of young people every summer hired as Junior Rangers, and they would all be out there clearing blowdown and campsites. The program is a shadow of what it once was. We had trips inventory and publishing of route information. Now it’s almost all gone. As Canadians we are sometimes pathetic in how we take these incredibly important resources for granted, and neglect them. We are losing eco-tourism opportunities, and we will live to regret it.


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 Post subject: Jackstraw portages
PostPosted: July 30th, 2005, 9:11 am 
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The lack of portage clearing was one reason I pulled out at the last minute. (There were several other things also, sort of a cascading thing.) Lynn at Canoe Frontier said they "used to clear the trails, but each suceeding party would complain about blowdown so they quit". Part of the river flows through a burn and I guess they just gave up on clearing the route.

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PostPosted: July 30th, 2005, 9:31 am 
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Location: Bancroft, Ontario Canada
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In Ontario we have let our once world class canoe route management system fall into disarray. We used to have thousands of young people every summer hired as Junior Rangers, and they would all be out there clearing blowdown and campsites. The program is a shadow of what it once was. We had trips inventory and publishing of route information. Now it’s almost all gone. As Canadians we are sometimes pathetic in how we take these incredibly important resources for granted, and neglect them. We are losing eco-tourism opportunities, and we will live to regret it.


This isn't the thread to discuss this, but I agree that it's a pathetic situation. Part of the reason is that western culture is becoming lazy and consumptive - about a third of the population is obese, a weekend spent shopping at the mall is considered recreation, more and more vacations are spent in planned and engineered theme parks, casinos, cruise ships, upscale development resorts, and the like. The industry servicing the typically obese tourist has grown to the point where it can bring in billions to an economy, and the profits are plowed back into advertising and creating more lifestyle mindset so that it's even easier to make the decision to let the industry do it all for you.

That industry didn't exist in the past, at least not to the extent that it does today, where mass media and advertising can create a mindset in millions of consumers as to how they're going to spend their disposable income, and easier is always better. The optics created by mass media draw away tourist dollars and the more difficult, more traditional forms of recreation fade out, to be replaced by upscale development and casinos.

...sorry for the rant.

:-?

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PostPosted: July 30th, 2005, 6:07 pm 
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Location: Toronto, Ontario Canada
Frankly, my dear I don't give a damn, If the portages are cleared or not.
This is the fun part of canoeing-making your way and OVERCOMING OBSTACLES (PHYSICAL AND MENTAL) I LOVE IT!!!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: July 31st, 2005, 7:24 am 
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Nice thot Mel, go get 'em. I commend you. While I am not looking for a "Disneyland" experience I don't want to have to battle my way through multiple jackstraw portages over a kilometer long. My days of playing the HARDMAN are long gone. Now I just enjoy being out on the land and moving through it.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: July 31st, 2005, 10:19 am 
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HOOP_ wrote:
As Canadians we are sometimes pathetic in how we take these incredibly important resources for granted, and neglect them. We are losing eco-tourism opportunities, and we will live to regret it.
We are loosing an invaluable piece of the history of people in North America. Portage routes, etched into the landscape by those who came before, were both the backbone and the lifeblood of cultures for millennia, up until well into the last century. No less important than the famed Silk Road on the Eurasian continent.
And we are letting it slide away, to be forever lost.
Some ancient Cree routes east of James Bay can now only be decerned as an intermittent row of Jack pine that have taken advantage of the depression in the ground left by the feet of hundreds of generations of man.
Things change slowly in the north, but they do change. The land will eventually swallow the last traces of this heritage. It is shameful that we let this happen.

Oooppps...off-topic rant :oops:


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 Post subject: mohawk
PostPosted: August 2nd, 2005, 10:42 am 
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Location: Duluth, MN
how did the odyssey fare on this trip? I have one, but have never used it for tripping and am curious...
sounds like quite an adventure! Thanks for sharing.


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 Post subject: Re: mohawk
PostPosted: August 2nd, 2005, 10:59 am 
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tom-o wrote:
how did the odyssey fare on this trip?


My Odyssey didn't make this trip. but I have used it on the Missinaibi and the Bloodvein. It isn't fast, it isn't light and it isn't elegant. But it will carry 300 # paddler and gear combined with enough freeboard to run CII tech.

The Odyssey that did the Pipestone belongs to Jim Shaw. His is Rlite and 13 lbs lighter than mine. It sustained some dents and creases on the Pipestone. Also the gunnels got some gashes when they took the dump.

I like living out of mine.

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PostPosted: August 2nd, 2005, 7:10 pm 
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Jim's Odyssey handled well. I do not remember seeing him take on much water. I do not know how old his canoe is but it has about as many dings and scratches as my 4 old Swift Raven in Roylex has. In other words, it looks well used.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: August 2nd, 2005, 7:19 pm 
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Jims Odyssey is about 2 years old. They bought theirs after they saw mine. His Rlite looks abused compared to my Rx

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...........O
......(___|/____)
.........../


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: August 3rd, 2005, 3:20 pm 
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Worth,

I had a look at your pics of the Pipestone. What is the story behind the cross? It seems a little out of place way up there.

John.


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PostPosted: August 3rd, 2005, 10:30 pm 
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What a great trip log! It will be helpful to future paddlers due to it's detail. The part about the mice had me rolling! Thanks for sharing.

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PostPosted: August 4th, 2005, 7:40 am 
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We were a littled miffed when we discovered the cross. The falls were not on our maps and the outfitter had mentioned other minor obstacles along our route but not the falls. For various reasons we could have been easily fooled into running the falls. After this incident, we assumed the topo maps and any information provided to us was wrong until proven otherwise.

There was a plaque on the cross that read:
Hosea Thomas Mamakwa
Born January 21, 1968
Died May 27, 1996
He left behind his beloved wife, Edna
Son Sean 7 and daugheter Sherri 3,
And also, his parents Jerry and Kezia
Brothers - Johnathon, Solomon and Zack
And sister Ester Sakakeep
May he rest in peace in God's hands!

When we got back I did a search on his name. I did find a living teenager with the same name who lives in Kingfisher and plays hockey. There was a brief mention of praise on one site for the late hockey coach Hosea Mamakwa. This is all I know. We asked about the cross in Wunnummin and no one knew recoginized his name.

I suspect he drowned at the falls. The folks of Kingfisher and Wunnummin routinely travel back and forth from each village by running the rapids in Lund fishing boats with outboards.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: August 4th, 2005, 6:55 pm 
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Very enjoyable read Worth.. thanks for sharing and the pics were eye popping! On another note.. I completely agree with OtterMel, the last thing I want to see is easier portages and therefore, easier access to the more remote places. Besides... blowdowns and overgrown trails are a big part of the experience.

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