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6/16/2020 1:00 pm  #1


Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

Has anyone done this series of low maintenance set of portages recently? Is there a better direction to tackle this route? North or south? And what site is better Papukeewis Lake or Iagoo Lake?

Kicking around some new loop ideas. I am thinking about starting at Tim Lake to Long Bow, Long Bow to David Lake then finally David to either one of the low maintenance sites then out to Tim.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Last edited by Abe Froman (6/16/2020 1:01 pm)

 

6/25/2020 7:49 am  #2


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

I went from Mubwayaka to Tim in 2014 and there were no issues. Looking at time stamps on my pics it took less than 4 hours doing single carries. Looking at Jeff's map version 5 on Google Earth it shows the Papukeewis Lake site on the south side of the lake but I believe it's actually on the north side at the start of the port to Mama Lake. The firepit is about 4-6 ft from the water and you wouldn't want to swim at that site. I don't remember anything about Iagoo but it has to be better than Papukeewis. If I have time to re-figure out how to post pics again I'll upload some.

 

7/07/2020 12:07 pm  #3


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

Thanks for the info Corey, much appreciated. So you went from Mubwayaka to Tim in 4 hours? Jeffs map is showing around 8 hours, if I can do it less than 8 hours I will just run the distance in one day

     Thread Starter
 

7/07/2020 8:24 pm  #4


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

Abe Froman wrote:

Thanks for the info Corey, much appreciated. So you went from Mubwayaka to Tim in 4 hours? Jeffs map is showing around 8 hours, if I can do it less than 8 hours I will just run the distance in one day

 Jeff’s Map gives 4:20 for single carries and 8:10 for doubles. Also, I feel Jeff’s Maps overestimates the time needed to transition from paddling to portage so doing this in less than 4 hours is very feasible.

 

7/08/2020 8:30 am  #5


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

Thanks solos, will definitely be single carrying!

     Thread Starter
 

7/08/2020 12:13 pm  #6


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

I think I read in the past that low maintenance areas were on a 5 year schedule. On that trip in 2014 I went from Longbow to Devine and Stag to the Tim River and the trails were cleared that year.. Whether work was done that year on the Mubwayaka to Tim Lake stretch I can't remember. The trails were in excellent condition though but a few hard winters can change that. I just did a section in Temagami that was cleared in 2018 that was not possible to solo carry this year and that was just 2 winters. The less than 4 hour time frame I guess was possible by light pack at the end of the trip and having  the portaging system well oiled at the end.

 

7/09/2020 11:16 am  #7


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

CoreyTrevor wrote:

I think I read in the past that low maintenance areas were on a 5 year schedule. On that trip in 2014 I went from Longbow to Devine and Stag to the Tim River and the trails were cleared that year.. Whether work was done that year on the Mubwayaka to Tim Lake stretch I can't remember. The trails were in excellent condition though but a few hard winters can change that. I just did a section in Temagami that was cleared in 2018 that was not possible to solo carry this year and that was just 2 winters. The less than 4 hour time frame I guess was possible by light pack at the end of the trip and having  the portaging system well oiled at the end.

Every 5 years for maintenance so they should have gone through there recently. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again, shooting for August sometime.

     Thread Starter
 

7/18/2020 11:56 pm  #8


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

Abe Froman wrote:

Thanks solos, will definitely be single carrying!

This week we added 8 pounds 4 ounces To our portage weight but the plan is still to single carry. It’s just so much better!

 

7/28/2020 10:26 am  #9


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

Hey Folks! 

Just did this route this past weekend! 

The route was: 
Day 1 - Tim Lake Access Point to Rosebary L (stayed on Rosebary L, South Eastern most campsite) 
Day 2 - Rosebary L to Ralph Bice L (via Tim River to Little Trout L) (stay on Bice, Northern Island site)
Day 3 - Ralph Bice to Tim L via Mubwayaka, Papukeewis etc. (stay on Tim, snagged the South Eastern Island site!)
Day 4/5 - Stayed on Tim 

I'll focus on the day 3 here, but can elaborate on day 1 and 2 if there's further interest. I have some notes on the Tim River between Tim L and Little Trout. 

To answer the specific questions re: campsites 
Papukeewis:
- I could not find the southern campsite on Papukeewis that is marked on Jeff's map, but there is one on the North side on the portage between Papukeewis and Mama 
- The area surrounding this site is MUDDY (and it had not rained for three days at this point). The bridge just off the portage is completely underwater and a wrong step puts you knee deep in bog
- Papukeewis was also very buggy 

Iagoo:
- I took a very quick glance at this site, and it looks like it has good coverage
- Bugs were not bad on Iagoo itself, but the surrounding forest area was bad 

Trip time from Bice to Tim (5hrs 30mins including a lunch and a couple snack and water breaks) 
- BUGGY, BUGGY, BUGGY. This might not be an issue later in the season, but I was fully covered in head to toe and still got completely eaten alive. 
- The portages themselves were in relatively good shape. Downed trees on the portage between Pezheki and Iagoo was tough to navigate the route at times 
- Most of the portages were muddy (contributing to the bugs as well), nearly lost shoes a couple times, but otherwise passable. There were mostly sides you could step on the outsides of the main path to get around the worst bits
- Portions of these portages were very overgrown, but I couldn't tell if this was just yearly growth or if we're at the end of the maintenance cycle 
- My partner and I were able to single shoot all of these portages with the exception of the 1685m between Iaggo and Papukeewis where the canoe and pack had to be carried separately for some portions for a semi-double back method. This was also probably just due to the fact that we had just done the two 935m and 955m back to back, and a little fatigued. 
- Pezheki is a nice lunch spot as it's the largest lake in between Mubwayaka and Tim. I pre-made wraps so these could be eaten in the canoe on the lake away from the majority of the bugs. Though if you have the stamina to get to Iagoo, this was also a nice spot to eat on the lake. 
- The portage between Spit Pond and Pugawagun was the most technically challenging, but it's only 255m, so not so bad 

Later in the season, I would say the bugs would be better, but mud could be a further issue, making some of the downward slopes on portages more treacherous. This loop was definitely doable in three days, but it was tough! ~5-6hrs of active paddling or portaging all day. We were a party of two, with two canoe packs and one day pack so shuttling everything in one go was at least on paper...easy. 

I'll also note that the falls just off the Tim going into Little Trout are a very nice swimming and lunch spot. If you haven't visited them before it is worth the visit!

Hope that helps! Happy to answer anymore specific questions, and hopefully I remember! At some point, all the portages just kind of blend together 
 

 

11/19/2020 8:04 pm  #10


Re: Mubwayaka to Tim Lake

THANKS @MadsLiddy, Sorry for the late response, covid changed tripping plans this year. I really appreciate the detailed report. This is great information. I will have to revisit this next season.

Thanks again! Cheers Abe

     Thread Starter
 

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