To answer my own question…

I decided to brave the road -even though a (potentially tree-knockdowner) storm went through less than two days before.

It wasn’t bad at all.  Definitely a few dicey spots but nothing crazy.  Just be careful.  Some spots were clearly prone to washing out.

iainwf wrote:

How was the trip itself? 

I had a wonderful trip…
It was the solitude that is what i need. 

The route from Brain to Stretch Lake has a considerable amount of portaging & plenty of beaver dams.  Being May, there was lots of water but sections of it looked like it might be a nasty slog beyond springtime.

The area just north of stretch is a wonderful delta-like maze of creeks.’in two day trips, i mate it a fairly long way up Villeneuve Creek (not a canoe route) before i got tired of the alder and beaver dams… and much further up Hurdman Creek beyond the park.

It isn’t an area of classic Algonquin campsites with lakeside sunning/stargazing rocks, under an obligatory massive white pine.
But i like it enough for this to have been my 3rd trip in the general area in 2years.


 

Thanks bheard, this is great info. We tripped to Hurdman several years back via Cedar and planned to go to Stretch on a day trip. We decided to stop at West Corbeau though as the water levels combined with dams made us think otherwise to try and navigate to the portage landing. Sounds like dams may be a challenge on the other end as well during summer months, so something to consider if we decide to try it one day. Agree that the solitude in this area is amazing. For anyone reading this, do not under any circumstance book the West Corbeau site . We checked it out during our day paddle, and to say it's neglected/overgrown is an understatement. 
Cheers,
Rich