Pukaskwa - Day 6

White River to Hattie Cove

August 11, 2017

It poured rain all last evening and all night until finally stopping in the wee hours of the morning. We wet packed camp in the morning and hit the trail a little earlier today as everyone was up and at it quickly due to being rain bound in the tents for so long. We hiked back up the portage trail, which would have been very nasty to carry a boat over due to the steep ascent and slick muddy surface, and then continued on the hiking trail to the suspension bridge across the White River. This crossing was quite spectacular as we swayed high above the river gorge. Another couple of kilometers brought us to the Mdaabii Miikna trail. At this point our group had a little bit of a disagreement. Our trip plan was to hike the Mdaabii Miikna and camp out for one more night, but most of the group felt the lure of burgers and beer only 5 km away, by skipping this loop. In the end we put it up to a vote. With only Debbie and myself wanting to complete the hike, we were massively out voted, so reluctantly I turned towards the parking lot with everyone. I found this a little disapointing as I was really looking forward to another night camping on the coast and hanging out around the fire. We stopped for a final break at the last bit of shoreline before the tree tunnel to Hattie Cove. From here, I decided to scoot ahead as I wanted to walk my own pace and plunge into my own thoughts for a while. The remainder of the trail was fairly level with lots of slipery boardwalks spanning the swamp around Hattie Cove. An hour later I arrived at the visitor center, and met some forest fire starters who were doing a photo shoot and training session for prescribed burn activities. I browsed around the gift shop and finally sat down with a coffee until the others arrived. We drove into Marathon to try and get the burgers and beer everyone so wanted, but failed in this endeavour, settling instead for coffee and sandwiches at a small deli which seemed to be the only gig in town. We drove to the Sault and finally got the post-hike meal we had been waiting for, followed by dancing at a local music hall.

Crossing the White River.

Pretty trail through the forest.

Slightly overkill bridge across a creek. Your Canada 150 money at work.

More appropriate backcountry planking across the swamp.

Controlled burn fire excercise.

Success!

[Home] [Main] [Prev]