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PostPosted: December 12th, 2020, 3:29 pm 
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There is an enormous wild area east of James Bay that looks excellent for canoe triping, but I never see any trip reports of this area except for reports highlighting the many rivers that weave through it. I'm taking about the area from the eastern shore of James Bay to roughly 200 km inland. It appears to have excellent access with the James Bay Road and there are countless lakes (and reservoirs) that seem to be all mostly interconnected. And as far as I can tell it's mostly crown land. Why aren't more people tripping through those lakes and reporting back? What am I missing in my research? Thanks!


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PostPosted: December 12th, 2020, 6:41 pm 
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The drive and shuttle are lengthy if your on the Quebec side. James Bay itself is a Beast. Most rivers start as alder choked creeks with blowdowns and beaver dams. There are reasons why they aren’t paddled often.

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PostPosted: December 12th, 2020, 9:49 pm 
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Are you specifically looking for flatwater trips? Any specific areas that have caught your eye as having "excellent access"?

Best access might be off the Route du Nord rather than the James Bay Highway.

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PostPosted: December 13th, 2020, 7:45 am 
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Yes, I am looking specifically at flatwater trips near Lac Sakami. There is boat ramp access to Sakami off the Trans Taiga hwy. The lake is large, but is also broken up enough that I suspect one could find enough lee on a windy day. Plus there are countless smaller lakes to the east of it where a loop trip could be created, negating the need for a shuttle. I understand that these waters all drain into the hydro project and that they are trapped by local Cree families that live in the vicinity, but are there any reasons why one shouldn't trip through there?


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PostPosted: December 13th, 2020, 4:24 pm 
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In the past I've also looked at that area but mostly further east on the Trans Taiga. No special reasons for not paddling there, just the usual issues which include crazy bugs, not particularly exciting scenery and probably areas where the shoreline isn't great for camping given that much of the natural shoreline of Lac Sakami is underwater since being incorporated into the James Bay Project.

If you are looking for a large area of flat water paddling "in, around and out" style it would probably be a good experience. I doubt you will see many(if any) people which would be the whole idea of going that far north.

I would recommend mid-August as the best time, fewer bugs and lower water levels would likely open up many beach camping options.

If you check this Surficial Geology map:

https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/starweb/geo ... 1=R=205040

You can see that most of Sakami is surrounded by peat bog with some sand/gravel areas. if you travel to the southeast section you may find some exposed rock.You will also notice it is in a small area that is devoid of eskers which leads me to think that off the water exploring opportunities are very limited. I've used this map for several trips and found it useful and reasonably accurate for determining the best potential locations for camping and/or hiking.

My guess is that the local Cree mostly travel the area in winter, I've paddled similar areas in Labrador, fly-in fishers are about the only people there in Summer, the locals only access the area by snowmobile and question the judgment of "foreigners" who want to go there during bug season.

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PostPosted: December 13th, 2020, 5:41 pm 
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This trip report is south of there between Lake Mistassini and the North Road. The pictures and satellite images make it look like a great tripping area to me. This past summer we were supposed to do a big loop in the Region on the Demaures, Natastan and Martin Rivers but decided to stay in Ontario instead.

https://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewto ... 16&t=47687

I also met some folks who travelled East on Eastmain accessing via route 167 north east of Lake Mistassini. The paddle a route to the Otish mountains. That looked pretty interesting too.


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PostPosted: December 14th, 2020, 9:39 am 
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Thank you for the map and trip report. The map is particularly helpful. I haven't come across this one before. I'm glad to see that there are no reasons not to camp there, except for common sense! Let's hope that by the next paddling season things will have returned to something akin to normal!


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PostPosted: December 14th, 2020, 3:07 pm 
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When I canoed the Seal River in northern Manitoba I accessed it via Southern Indian Lake, which was super cool to see as it had been flooded because of hydro development but I’m not sure I’d return because such an alternation doesn’t make it appealing to wilderness canoe tripping whereas I’d happily return to the Seal River including its unaltered watershed areas.

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PostPosted: December 15th, 2020, 1:03 pm 
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Location: Eganville, ON
When I first started exploring the area 15 or so years ago we were going to head to exactly the area you are looking at. We changed our mind upon finding a very small clause in the regs that forbids non residents from fishing north of the 52nd without a local guide.

We've been spending time exploring the area between the route du Nord and the Rupert river for the last decade. There is a lot of beautiful topography around the river and the big lake. The area is now largely part of the newly created Nibiischii reserve. There are endless navigable interconnected lakes, rivers, creeks. The boreal forest is relatively sparse; so easy to bushwack a portage where required. I'll PM you a link to our map if you like.

Cheers, Simon


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PostPosted: December 15th, 2020, 3:31 pm 
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Thanks, Simon. I'd like to see that!

As much as I like fresh fish on a trip, I'd pick quiet solitude over it any day. And it sound like this area has that in spades.


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PostPosted: December 29th, 2020, 3:13 pm 
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Here's a useful map of routes in the James Bay area covering the area south of Lac Sakami: http://cartespleinair.org/Canot/08/Moye ... nerale.pdf

The waters in this area are generally less impacted by hydro than further north near Lac Sakami, so make for good river/lake circuits off of the James Bay Road and North Road. There are many branches of the Rupert system to paddle around. A good example: the large Lac Mesgouez on the Rupert River is very accessible, is not dammed, and has excellent high water beaches. Some maps can be found here:

http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/canorama.html


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PostPosted: December 30th, 2020, 9:46 am 
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clesk wrote:
Here's a useful map of routes in the James Bay area covering the area south of Lac Sakami: http://cartespleinair.org/Canot/08/Moye ... nerale.pdf

The waters in this area are generally less impacted by hydro than further north near Lac Sakami, so make for good river/lake circuits off of the James Bay Road and North Road. There are many branches of the Rupert system to paddle around. A good example: the large Lac Mesgouez on the Rupert River is very accessible, is not dammed, and has excellent high water beaches. Some maps can be found here:

http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/canorama.html


This map is interesting. Do you happen to know of any written accounts of these routes detailing portages or rapids?


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PostPosted: December 30th, 2020, 10:47 am 
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Location: Kingston, ON
I used Caltopo to consolidate route information for a trip we were supposed to take last summer. The information was taken from trip reports, maps found on-line and some personal correspondence. I have NOT been to the area. None of this information is from personal experience!

https://caltopo.com/m/D20N


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PostPosted: December 30th, 2020, 11:36 am 
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Thank you MartinG! I don't know if I'll ever get up to that area again, but I've saved the information to my routes folder.


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PostPosted: December 30th, 2020, 1:42 pm 
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Brad,
If you click on the links you'll see all the info - usually where the rapids, campsites and portages are. It is usually all in French, but Google translate does a good job.

rab


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