My husband and I spent 11 days in the Temagami wilderness in what turned out to be a challenging and also a most rewarding trip!

Here is the link:
https://backcountrybalkwills.com/2022/1 ... 20th-2022/

Will definitely be returning to Temagami again.

Thanks for a great mid-morning read.

You certainly took on one of Temagami's more challenging routes - it may be the most challenging!

Excellent trip report with a nice mix of maps, pix, and history tidbits that should have others considering a Temagami canoe trip.

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http://albinger.me/canoe-tripping/

Excellent and inspiring trip. It has been a long time since I have felt Temagami pull at me. I'm looking at those maps again.

Thank you for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the read!

I already have maps spread out across the floor thinking about next year's big canoe trip. I have to admit that planning for a trip is just as fun for me as the actual trip itself.

Wonderful report. Thanks for posting. This one has been on my bucket list for a few years, except I was hoping to start and end the loop from the Sturgeon River. Are you glad that you went counterclockwise? I have read other reports of doing it in the opposite direction. Either way, it sure is a poop-load of portaging.

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“A day without canoeing probably wouldn’t kill me, but why risk it?”

Starting where we did at the Montreal River access, we were really glad we did the loop counter clockwise. The portages leading to Solace Provincial Park were generally pretty easy going, and when we got to Solace where they become more rugged, we were into a groove of portaging daily, both physically and mentally. By the time we arrived at the long 3 km portage out of Gamble Lake we felt pretty good, and our packs were way lighter as we almost depleted our food supply by that point.

If we went counterclockwise from our access point I almost feel like it could've set a different tone for the trip. (or at least for the first few days). Starting a trip with full heavy packs at a 1,050 m portage with a steep incline would have been brutal!

I have read of others starting from the Sturgeon River as well. I think we just wanted our first full day of the trip to be portage free with just lazy paddling (and a beach..lol), so starting at the Montreal River with Smoothwater as our first night felt like a good choice for us.