Wilderness Canoeing in Canada

Kipling – Burr Lake Portage to Toura Lake

Distance: 3.0km, 2.5 portages – [cumulative total 467 km]

InReach: Day 27 Completed two portages totalling 2.2km plus 3km paddling Burr Lk One more portage will put us in Artillery Lk All well J&K

Camp: 62.825°N 108.568°W

No rain over night, a pleasant change. We paddled across the small lake we were camped beside as this saved us multiple trips of several hundred metres of very wet, spongy walking with all the gear. The portage continued in much the same fashion wet, boggy and uphill, it also involved a second paddle across a small lake. We finally made it through to Burr Lake mid morning. We had a strong tailwind up Burr Lake to the boggy entrance for the one kilometre Burr-Toura Lake portage. Once past the start, the portage proved to be dry with reasonable footing though a steady uphill climb for the whole distance. We had hauled all our gear to a rock cairn about halfway through before stopping for lunch. A long section in the middle of the portage was a field of rocks and the track would have been impossible to follow if it weren’t for the regular stone cairns previous canoeists had taken the time and effort to build. The day was hot however a strong tailwind moderated the temperature and kept the bugs at bay. Still carrying the canoe across the high exposed ground in a strong wind was a real pain for John. We were through to Toura by mid afternoon. Originally we had planned on paddling to the final portage into Artillery Lake but one look at Toura Lake and we decided not to risk getting stuck with nowhere to camp especially as there was a reasonable campsite where we were. John sat in the swiftly flowing creek for a wash and was attacked by numerous tiny leeches, great end to a fairly hard day! The number of trees is noticeably reducing, they now grow in small clumps with nothing much in between, not long now till we reach the barren lands. Tonight the tent is unbearably hot but you are forced inside by the legions of mosquitoes, crazy when only two days ago the temperature went down to seven degrees.