I'm not doubting you Red, perhaps it is just our new Conservative government either not telling the truth or they just don't go out in the woods to have a look.
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Fire in WCPP
- Thread starter red langford
- Start date
That is great news! Thanks for the update.
I managed to swing a helicopter ride over part of the fire today. And I'm not going to lie, some of it looks terrible, but other spots just patchy.
It is my understanding that they will not declare the fire out for some time. 86,000ha is a huge area and if something flares up after they called it out it would be bad. So they'll just leave it in the "Under Control" status but there is nobody actively fighting the fire. There are a few crews in the park but mostly doing training from my understanding. More rain today and more in the forecast.
We went over Optic towards Glen, I think. I have a .gpx file I'm trying to figure out how to put onto google earth to see where we were. Quite the perspective and a heck of a cool experience. i think the 60 years until things are good again premise may be a bit pessimistic. I think it will only be a few years until the regeneration process really grabs hold and things look like a forest again.
I'll see about getting some pictures up tomorrow.
It is my understanding that they will not declare the fire out for some time. 86,000ha is a huge area and if something flares up after they called it out it would be bad. So they'll just leave it in the "Under Control" status but there is nobody actively fighting the fire. There are a few crews in the park but mostly doing training from my understanding. More rain today and more in the forecast.
We went over Optic towards Glen, I think. I have a .gpx file I'm trying to figure out how to put onto google earth to see where we were. Quite the perspective and a heck of a cool experience. i think the 60 years until things are good again premise may be a bit pessimistic. I think it will only be a few years until the regeneration process really grabs hold and things look like a forest again.
I'll see about getting some pictures up tomorrow.
Yes Thanks for those pictures and keeping us posted. Although it looks like some areas really took a hit, the park is so big that it appears that one could plan a trip there without being in recently burned areas for all the long. That's not bad at all.
I agree, while it seemed devastating at first I think it isn't that bad. And in 15 years it will all be green again with a nice young forest. I am eager to get out there and see what the fresh fire looks like from the ground before the fireweed takes over.
Thanks for getting in there and snapping photos Red. It really helps to get a perspective of fire ecology with aerial pics. We easily forget how fire is an integral part of a natural process, despite it's damage. Someday I hope to make it to WCPP to see for myself.
You're in the same province. You can do it. 
Thanks Red, I hope so. Our dream trip is to fly-in and paddle out.
Drop me a line if you need any logistical help.
Thank you Red, I'll do that.
It would be interesting to see the regrowth in those burnt over areas in a year or two.
It would be interesting to see the regrowth in those burnt over areas in a year or two.
That's what I'm doing with my son in 2.5 weeks or so...
Can't wait to get back in there! My livingroom is full of gear already - much to my wife's pleasure. We're flying into Knox and paddling out of Johnson.
Look forward to hearing about the trip. Are you flying with Chimo?
I'll be sure to share it when I'm done. I'm not 100% sure who we're flying with - I organized it through Harlan.
Have a good trip Vern. Catch lots of fish. Take lots of pictures.
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We are planning to head to Wallace Lake for the July long weekend. I am headed up through Birch Falls to hack out some ports through a burn from 4 years ago, and Karin is going to day trip out of the Park if she can get a site. She may be able to get pictures of the Burn around Wallace if all works out.
Iwant to get some pics of the Birch Falls mess, and revisit the portage from hell where we got lost and rained on all day while exiting.
Christy
Iwant to get some pics of the Birch Falls mess, and revisit the portage from hell where we got lost and rained on all day while exiting.
Christy
A friend from work recently had a trip up the Bird River in Manitoba and encountered 5 bears in the first two days. At first I thought it odd, but then it occurred that perhaps they are misplaced due to the fire north and east of that area. It could be that many animals have been displaced from their normal home territory due to the size of the burn so there may be more encounters this Summer in areas adjacent to the fire perimeter.
The Broken Arrow area is where we saw the Caribou and Cougar back in 2012 and although it is possible many animals perished in the initial wind driven days, perhaps those tripping in the areas close by will have more sightings than usual.
Karin
The Broken Arrow area is where we saw the Caribou and Cougar back in 2012 and although it is possible many animals perished in the initial wind driven days, perhaps those tripping in the areas close by will have more sightings than usual.
Karin
I am just back from a two week canoe trip in WCPP with my son. We purposely avoided the recent burn area by entering and egressing at the Onnie Lake entry. I've attached an image of our route and will be updating this thread with a detailed trip report once it's complete later this week in case anyone's interested.
We found all portage trails on our route to be in good to excellent condition with the worst being up Haven Creek and into Haven Lake from Rostoul. The only recent burn area we saw was on the east end of Mexican Hat Lake, but I was also surprised by the extent of fire damage around the Jigsaw (2005), Wrist and Nutria (2015). For the most part, portage trails that we took were unaffected by the fires, I was very impressed with the 825m portage from Jigsaw to Wrist, it's been kept clear and is well marked with ribbons and rock cairns. One thing that kind of amused us was the fact that the only reason the 2016 fire didn't burn more was because the areas it abuts are already burnt for the most part! Put it this way, the southern portions of WCPP are now covered in large swaths of burn areas - much larger than implied by the 2016 fire alone. The good news is that obviously some of these burns are growing back for 10+ years already and there are still many patches of green in the burn areas, including some of the portage trails. I have to say, our favorite areas were Onnie, Telescope, Optic, Glenn, Hanson, Rostoul, Hatchet and Douglas - these lakes all have many kilometers of mature forest and plenty of campsites everywhere. The fishing was insane everywhere - as usual.
Harlan indicated that travel from Leano Lake to Kilburn is still good to go, but told me to avoid anything from Bunny to Mexican Hat. My son and I hiked up the portage next to the falls into Mexican Hat and saw firsthand the damage from the recent 2016 fire there. Somehow the excellent campsite next to the "Walleye Factory" was preserved - although the trees are mostly dead from pine beetle anyway. The road was rough but drivable. I was happy to be in a high clearance 4x4 with larger tires due to the loose and sharp rock everywhere.
We found all portage trails on our route to be in good to excellent condition with the worst being up Haven Creek and into Haven Lake from Rostoul. The only recent burn area we saw was on the east end of Mexican Hat Lake, but I was also surprised by the extent of fire damage around the Jigsaw (2005), Wrist and Nutria (2015). For the most part, portage trails that we took were unaffected by the fires, I was very impressed with the 825m portage from Jigsaw to Wrist, it's been kept clear and is well marked with ribbons and rock cairns. One thing that kind of amused us was the fact that the only reason the 2016 fire didn't burn more was because the areas it abuts are already burnt for the most part! Put it this way, the southern portions of WCPP are now covered in large swaths of burn areas - much larger than implied by the 2016 fire alone. The good news is that obviously some of these burns are growing back for 10+ years already and there are still many patches of green in the burn areas, including some of the portage trails. I have to say, our favorite areas were Onnie, Telescope, Optic, Glenn, Hanson, Rostoul, Hatchet and Douglas - these lakes all have many kilometers of mature forest and plenty of campsites everywhere. The fishing was insane everywhere - as usual.
Harlan indicated that travel from Leano Lake to Kilburn is still good to go, but told me to avoid anything from Bunny to Mexican Hat. My son and I hiked up the portage next to the falls into Mexican Hat and saw firsthand the damage from the recent 2016 fire there. Somehow the excellent campsite next to the "Walleye Factory" was preserved - although the trees are mostly dead from pine beetle anyway. The road was rough but drivable. I was happy to be in a high clearance 4x4 with larger tires due to the loose and sharp rock everywhere.
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