Yet another Whitney Loop TR

[sweeper]

There have been some really great TRs about the Whitney Loop, this is not going to be one of them.
We left from the Park Headquarters around 11 AM on the 17th of Sept

R-L Me, my son Josh, and his friend Mike. I'm paddling a Keywaydin 15, They are in a Souris River Quetico 17.
Little Tupper was behaving very well, I read a lot of TRs that start out with being windblown at the start, but we saw none of that. Although we were paddling into the wind the lake was calm.

The paddle down to Rock Pond was great the Swamp Maples added a brilliant splash of red everywhere. We ended up at site 26, a small site with a lot of blowdowns.
The next morning we started out at about 8 AM for the carry over to Hardigan Pond and that's when the fun started. It poured on us most of the carry. Lots of mud.

and carryovers

We push on to the primitive site at the take-out to the carry to Lilypad Pond. Somewhere we lost the water.

After setting camp we carried the canoes over to Lillypad to get a jump on the next day. The put-in at Lillypad was another mudhole
Along with the take-out

Lila also behaved herself and we cross it easily. The rain let up during the crossing.
Shortly after making the RR tracks it started to pour again and continued much of the afternoon

 

[sweeper]

We spent the third night at the primitive site on Bog Pond.

A little note here about the site: There is a fire ring in the field but after the downpour of that day the field was running water and had no place to hang a hammock. We started to look around for a dryer spot to stay. I found what looked to be a Game Trail in the brush that turned into an old road and ended at the campsite.
We were burning through our dry clothes and moisture was getting into the dry bags from the tent and tarps. I listened to the radio that night, 2 more days of rain with falling temps. The next morning we decided to bail out at the Lower Bog River Dam.
Reaching Lowes Lake we paddled against a strong wind trying to get around the Float Bog and rounding the corner we finally had the wind to our backs.
At the Upper Dam, we met a couple of guys who were also headed out for the same reasons. After talking with them I asked the if they were going anywhere near the Whitney Headquarters. They said no but If I needed a ride there they would take me. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In our somewhat limited canoe-tripping careers, we have never had to deal with 3 straight days of rain. Most of the time it starts after setting camp. We learned a lot from this trip and kept it fun even though we were wet most of the time.

 

[TrailBlaser]

Great trip report and photos; thanks for sharing!

 

[stripperguy]

In time, those worst of trips evolve into the best of memories!
Thanks for the TR, glad I wasn’t there

 

[Patrick Corry]

Stripperguy, what you said is the basis of the Fun Scale: the-fun-scale

 

[stripperguy]

Patrick,
A bunch of years ago, I set out with a few buddies and my son to do a quick recon/day trip up the Newcomb River to Newcomb Lake.
This was strictly fast in, fast out day trip to see if it was a feasible route. (it's not)
Well, everything went wrong for my buddy Dave...broke his sunglasses, broke his fishing pole, swamped his solo boat on the first beaver drag.
He was taking forever on one of the carries (all the carries were bushwhacks), and we sent my son back to check on him. Dave was carefully drying between his toes, to switch from crocs to hiking boots, not knowing that the carry was 200 yards long.
He eventually broke one croc, the other floated away downstream.
He broke his portage thwart.
In anger, his tossed his boat into the river, we had to help him retrieve it!

Needless to say, we never made it to Newcomb Lake with all the waiting.
When we came back out to Lake Harris campground (we had reserved a site since we expected a long day) I asked Dave if he was looking forward to the steak dinner that we all chipped in for, then a nice fire and good night's sleep.

"FORK THAT " he said, "I'm tired, sore, and I'm going home!".
With that he drove off...with our steaks and our firewood.

The remaining four of us had Type I fun, and we laughed at poor Dave's misfortunes until midnight. I think it's now been 12 years, and we still laugh about that day.
Dave had Type II fun, but it took 5 years before we could reminisce without him having a snit. A few more years and he could finally laugh about it.

I'm sure most of us here have had those same sort of trips, and those "other" types of fun.

 

[Woodpuppy]

Sounds like many Boy Scout camping trips. Camping in summer and getting thoroughly soaked. From those trips I learned to be fastidious about getting into a tent. I absolutely hate sand and debris in the tent. Taking my own kids camping has been a rough exercise in accepting a level of chaos I wouldn’t tolerate from adults.

 

[Chip]

Thank you for posting the TR.

Multiple, consecutive days of rain has driven me off a few river trips. Most everything is soggy after the second day. So the third day of rain is demoralizing, and causes one to question how much fun is being had, especially if the temps are low. Call me sissy, but by the fourth day, I’m searching for a laundromat with extra large dryers.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

There have been some really great TRs about the Whitney Loop, this is not going to be one of them.

That introduction immediately grabbed me as a different way to start a report. Now I know why. Thanks for allowing us to get some sort of vicarious pleasure from reading about someone else's trials in mud and rain.

I don't believe I'll ever solo the Whitney Loop even if I could ever get back into tripping shape, but I sure enjoy honest trip reports. Believe it or not, someone here reported doing the entire Whitney Loop in one day with daylight to spare. I can't recall who or when.

 

[sweeper]

Believe it or not, someone here reported doing the entire Whitney Loop in one day with daylight to spare. I can't recall who or when.

In one day? I won't do it even if I could, I try to find ways to extend my trips and I like to spend my Carries looking at the vegetation.

 

[Patrick Corry]

Jeez... one day? That strikes me as one heck of an effort; and a wonderful circuit ruined by rushing!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I can't find the post, but it was a regular canoeist who simply decided to try to do the loop in one day as a physical and endurance challenge . . . like a race . . . like the Adirondack 90 Miler or the more aggressive, non-stop Cannonball . . . and he accomplished it.