Nopiming Canoe Trip 2018
Following the success of our canoe trip on
the Stewart Lake Loop
in 2017,
Sophie, Celeste and I again paddled with Aaron and Genevieve,
this time in Nopiming Provincial Park on August 28-31, 2018.
The park is on the eastern edge of the Canadian Shield, with small lakes
connected by rivers and plenty of large, exposed granite.
We accessed the park at Tulabi Falls, paddling through Tulabi Lake, the Bird River, and Elbow Lake to McGregor Lake, before reversing the route back to Tulabi Falls. We spent nights at Elbow, McGregor, and again at Elbow Lakes.
- Nopiming Provincial Park
- interactive map of Nopiming Park canoe routes
- map of Nopiming Park canoe routes
photo:
We make our way along the Sand River on Day 1. The kids took
turns paddling in the middle seat, swapping at portages;
here it's Sophie's turn. Aaron is in the stern, Celeste and Genevieve
are seated on the floor between Aaron and Sophie, and I'm in the bow.
We rented a 17' kevlar canoe from MEC
which we picked up on the afternoon before our departure.
We left Winnipeg on Tuesday morning for a 2.5 hour drive northeast to
Tulabi Falls in Nopiming Provincial Park.
We were on the water on Tulabi Lake by 10:30 am.
We (unintentionally) visited the eastern bay of Tulabi Lake before
finding the opening through the reeds northward into the Bird River.
The river has three portages, 150 m, 375 m, and 30 m, before reaching
the winding Elbow Lake, which has 15 campsites.
The girls were great at partitioning the gear between them for
the portages, and we did each in a single carry.
We paddled around the first peninsula to campsite #4 (the middle of the
three sites in the small bay) which we reached at 4 pm.
photo:
The girls enjoyed playing in rapids at the portages.
These are at one of the portages along
the Bird River on Day 1.
On Day 2 we paddled for two hours through the winding length
of Elbow Lake.
Along the river before the first portage we were required to walk the canoe
on two occasions due to the low water level and the many large rocks,
once while the kids remained in the boat, and the second time
while they walked along the shore.
We had two portages between Elbow and McGregor Lakes.
These could be connected as a single longer portage,
but we decided to break them
up into two shorter ones with a 50 m paddle between them.
The second portage ends on McGregor Lake,
where we decided to camp at a beautiful site (#16) next to the portage.
photo:
our first campsite on Elbow Lake (campsite #4) on the morning of Day 2
On Day 3 we left the campsite at 11:30 am to reverse our route
back to Elbow Lake. The wind was strong today, but the many bends in Elbow
Lake provided shelter along the shore, and we only had a few stretches
of challenging paddling a loaded canoe into strong wind.
I have few pictures of Day 3 due to the constant effort required to
keep the boat heading into the wind.
Genevieve did a tremendous job paddling the entire length
of Elbow Lake to get us through the wind to our site.
We stopped at #3, the site next to our site from Day 1.
photo: The canoe is packed as we're about to
leave our campsite on the morning of Day 2.
On Day 4 we had a 3.5 hour paddle back to Tulabi Falls.
A light rain started as we left the campsite; conveniently, the rain
held off until after we'd finished cooking and packing.
The paddle was enjoyable, with plenty of ABBA songs sung along the way.
Partway through the kids put rain jackets on; the rain remained light for a few
minutes,
before stopping and revealing blue skies and hot sun.
We encountered several large groups heading into the park for the
long weekend.
After loading the car we stopped for a late lunch in Lac du Bonnet
before returning to Winnipeg.
photo:
This is the western end of the second portage on Day 2,
as we prepare to unload the packs for the portage.
The weather was great: sunshine on Day 1, mostly sunny on Day 2,
windy and sunny on Day 3, and 30 minutes of light rain on Day 4,
followed by sunshine for the remainder of Day 4.
Similar to last year, there were very few bugs.
Thanks Aaron and Genevieve for another great week paddling together!
photo:
The kids loved
the campsite (#16) across the river from the end of the portage, at the west end
of McGregor Lake. The site faces rapids on the northwest side (seen here)
and McGregor Lake on the northeast side.
photo:
The kids worked on their paddling skills without
their dads at the campsite on Day 2.
photo: We had dinner on a rock overlooking
the rapids near our site on Day 2.
photo: After whitecaps in the winds for all of
Day 3, Elbow Lake is calm at dawn on Day 4. I took this photo
while the kids slept on the morning of Day 4.
(The singularity has occured: I now wake up
before my kids on most days).
photo:
One of the portage landings on the
Bird River was particularly muddy due to the
low water level.
photo:
We eat a snack/lunch on Day 4 before our final
paddle back to the car across Tulabi Lake.
