Day 5: Obabika Portage to Wawiagama Lake

A little low on pictures today I am afraid, as the camera was kept safely away in preparation for what was meant to be our toughest day yet... But before we get on to that I should probably tell you a little bit more about Camp 4. Put simply, it was crap! Small, on the trail, tonnes of mosquitoes and worst of all it didn't even have a good view. The night before I was exhausted and quickly erected my hammock. It didn't take too much for me to convince myself that there was no chance that it was going to rain tonight, so I didn't bother with the tarp. As the clock drew closer towards 9pm, the clouds overhead began to darken. Yet I remained resolute ( or was too lazy) and did not put up the tarp. Apparently I slept through the first shower, despite Ray trying to wake me. However the sleep was short lived as soon after the heavens opened and I was rudely awoken. Within seconds I was sneaking into Ray;s tent with my tail (sleeping bag) firmly between my legs. Despite being slightly damp and having a very lumpy bed, I slept like a baby, much to Ray's annoyance. Although I am sure he was slightly happy with my predicament.
The night before, we had planned to break camp early knowing full well that today was going to be an uphill battle. Literally. The plan for today was short and simple, we had to navigate more than 12km upstream on a river with a considerable amount of flow. Every person we had explained our route to since arriving in Temagami had commented about how "interesting," or "how much of a challenge" or "fun" this section might be in the high spring water levels. In preparation, BA's and helmets where donned from the start and all the kit was securely lashed in place. We broke camp at 7:30am and the challenge began. The river was narrow, deep and windy in nature making it possible to eddy hop our way up cutting from meander to meander. It was not to dissimilar to paddling into a constant headwind, however this required a bit of skill making it considerably more enjoyable. Before long, after only 3-4 lift overs and another bear sighting we had made it to the confluence of the Wawiagama river. To call this a river we be to do a disservice to every other body of water in the world. On average the creek was around 4 meters wide and was absolutely chocked with mosquitoes, beaver dams and log jams. We never travelled more than 100 meters on the creek without having to avoid some kind of hazard. The deep water and the silt was also waiting to punish you the instant you made a mistake with your footing. Knowing that are day was over when we reached the end, Ray and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and with little fanfare after only a couple of hours we arrived on Wawiagama Lake around 12:30pm, feeling good (despite the boat looking slightly worse for wear).

Floating down Wawiagama Lake.

The aftermath of the upstream journey.

Having arrived at our intended campsite far too early and being followed by a strong tail wind, we decided to take advantage of the free power and continued our journey to the other end of the lake some 7km further on. In very little time and even less effort we had arrived at the eastern shore of Lake Wawiagama, where we would spend the night. It was upon landing and exploring the site that 5 days of solitude would come to an end. Following a track leading out of the campsite we came across a father and son who had driven up from the south and had spent the last 10 days at this campsite. Despite their brother/uncle (who was originally on the trip) dying of heart failure on the second night, they returned from hospital and continued their camping trip. They have left a brilliant memorial at the campsite to John Propper.
I thought I would be sad about seeing people again however it felt good as it was a major indication that we were no longer in the back country and now on the home straight.
The campsite was brilliant, and more importantly mosquito free. Ray and I spent the rest of the day chatting and being lazy whilst watching the waves crash against the shore. Day 5 was possibly my favourite of the trip.