MARSHALL LAKE – KAPIKOTONGWA RIVER –
MELCHETT LAKE — META LAKE

[This route was traveled and maintained by Greenstone Wilderness Trails in 2012.]
 Total trip length – 200 k
 ABBREVIATIONS:
 DS = downstream                
WP – GPS waypoint - All waypoints are in Canada NAD 27
 N = north                
NW = northwest                
RR = right side of river bank, facing downstream                
RL = left side of river bank, facing downstream                
m = metres                
k = kilometres
 Portage #1 – WP UTM  0467226   5588409 – Distance 1203 m
 Location:  Ogoki Road, 67 k from junction of Highway 584 and Highway 643. Primary bush road, gravel, usually maintained.  Beginning of portage
is on left of Ogoki Road in a large parking lot.  
Trail:  The portage is actually a road that leads to Marshall Lake. However, no motorized vehicles are allowed on the road.  People caught doing so will be prosecuted by the MNR.
 Landing: Sand beach, below a bank.
 Campsite (A): End of portage, in forest stand, several spaces for tents.
 Campsite (B): Paddle 20 minutes E to sandy beach on same side of lake. 
Good in low water.
 Remarks: 
Paddle generally W. 
Abandoned mining camp on S shore. 
River begins behind rocky island.

Portage #2 – WP  0458402  5586941 – Distance 263 m
 Location: River left at mouth of Gripp River.
 Trail: Dry.
 Landing: Grassy hummocks. 
  Remarks: Old trappers cabin at beginning of port.  Excellent fishing at end of port.

Portage #3 – WP 0456153  5586334 – Distance 180 m
 Location:  RR on Gripp R. about 50 m from head of rapids.
 Trail:  Dry and level.
 Landing:  Small opening in grass along bank.
 Remarks:  Ends at small pond, which leads to next port.
 
Portage # 4 – WP  0455892  5586183 – Distance 102m
 Location:  Gripp R., RL of small pond, a short distance from end of Port 3.
 Trail:  Good, with a few windy sections along a steep bank next to the river.
 Landing:  Good, suitable for 3 or 4 canoes.
 Remarks:  Fishing at end of port is good.  Gripp River widens into Gripp Lake.
 Campsite:  WP 0452942  5583633 – Located on high rocky point 2/3 of way down Gripp Lake.  Space for three tents. 

Portage # 5 – WP  0451683  5582644 – Distance 290 m
 Location:  Paddle down the river out of Gripp Lake for a few hundred meters.  The port starts in a clearing on RR.
 Trail:  Excellent trail
 Landing:  Wide grassy area.
 Remarks:  Fishing at end of port is excellent.  River winds through lots of wild rice
and is an excellent area for Moose sightings.  Summit Lake is a “height of land” lake,
and flows both north and south.  Camping opportunities on Summit are very limited. 
  
Portage # 6
 There is a portage located at the north end of Summit Lake, but it is never used. 
At high water the small rapids can be shot.  At low water they can be walked.
 
Portage # 7 – WP 0446879  5591602 – Distance – 60 m
 Location:  Powitik River, located RR just before the rapids.  Can usually be lined, RR, or shot when water is high enough.
 Trail:  Good trail, dry and short
 Landing:  Suitable for two canoes at a time
 Remarks:  This port can usually be avoided.
 
Portage # 8 – WP 0444175 5592778 – Distance – 183 m
 Location:  Powitik River, RR, just before rapids
 Trail:  Excellent dry trail, one hill in middle
 Landing:  Large grassy area, suitable for three canoes at once
 Remarks:  These rapids can be shot by experienced white water canoeists.  The first part is a straight C1.  However, upon turning the corner, canoeists must eddy out and scout the rest.  Water levels must be high to shoot them, otherwise, they can be lined on RR.
 
Portage # 9 – WP 0444023  5593183 – Distance – 60 m
 Location:  Powitik RiverRR, pool before water falls.
 Trail:  Good trail at first through clearing, then down a slippery rock face to river under waterfalls
 Landing:   Large grassy clearing, used to be a trappers cabin here, only debris now.
 Remarks:  The falls is a spectacular camping site, with limitless places for tents. Plan on spending a night here. Shortly after the falls, you will be joining the Kapikotongwa River.
 
Portage # 10 – WP 445815 5598222 – Distance  ?
 Location: Kapikotongwa River, reported to be on RR, but after much searching on RR and RL, no port found
 Trail:
Landing:
Remarks:  This is an easy C1 rapid, a straight line with a few haystacks. It does not
need a portage.

Portage # 11 – WP (approximate)  444981  5599133 – Distance – 200 m approx
 Location:  Kapikotongwa River, RL before a large set of boney rapids.
 Trail:  Very rough to non-existant
 Landing:  Difficult landing beside large cedar tree

 Remarks:  Rapids can be picked through, with care.  Usually a river left
approach will yield minimum bangs to the canoe.  The trail on river left is rough and
needs further development, but might be worth your while if you are paddling a
  composite boat.
 Campsite:  WP – 0444915  5599754 This campsite is located shortly after rapids 11 on river left.  It is a large rock platform, suitable for three tents.
 
Portage # 12 WP – 0445697  5603759 – Distance – 670 m
 Location:  Kapikotongwa River, RR, begins with large clearing.
 Trail:  Wet and muddy at the beginning, changes to dry and hilly about half way through.
 Landing:  Excellent landing, lots of room, grassy platform.
 Remarks:  Beginning of port can be used for a campsite, although it is very buggy. 
Port goes around some C2 and possibly C3 rapids. It is not recommended to
run these.
 
Portage # 13 WP – 0445204  5604559 – Distance –  120 m
 Location:  Kapikotongwa River, RR by small island.
 Trail:  Excellent trail
 Landing:  Good landing, suitable for two canoes.
 Remarks:  Can sometimes be lined on RL if water is high enough.
 
Portage # 14 – WP  0444938  5605641 – Distance – 155 m
 Location:  Kapikotongwa River, RR. At head of  rapids.
 Trail:  Steep hill leading from water, good trail.
 Landing:  Clay landing, somewhat difficult to get canoe onto port.
 Remarks:  Do not run this rapid.  There is a very bad boulder garden with a high volume of water at the end.  Running this rapid will end badly.  
  
Portage #14 to #15
The distance between portage 14 and 15 is approximately 50 kilometers.  4.5 K
from port #14, you will pass under the Ogoki Road bridge. This will be the last place you can leave the trip for quite a while. Roughly 9.5 k from the bridge, you will pass your first camping opportunity on the Kap.  This is a nice site, but frequently used by fisherman, so it is somewhat dirty.
  WP is 0453253  5612391. 
Six kilometers from the last campsite, there is a small un-named lake.  This lake has
a big sandy esker beach on it, and is a favorite place for canoeists to camp.  At the far northeast corner  of Berger Lake, where the Kap exits, there is another small campsite on RL. 
Eleven k from the campsite after Berger you will reach Stewart Lake.  There are two
campsites on Stewart Lake.  The first one is on the northwest side, past the cabin. 
WP is 467634 5612154.  This campsite is very large with a good landing.  It is also a bug hole.  The better campsite is across the lake on a rocky point just past a cliff face.  WP is 468202 5612128.  This is a rocky campsite with a lot of character, preferable to the one on the NW shore. 

The paddle from Stewart Lake to port 15 on the  Kap is a fairly sedate 8.5 k.  The
distance from Port 15 to Tennant Lake is approximately 10 K, and it has 14 sets
of rapids.  These rapids range from easy C1’s to very difficult C4’s.  Only people with strong white water skills should run this section of the river.
 
Portage # 15 – WP 475135 5613748 - Distance – 250 m
 Location: Kapikotongwa River, RL
 Trail:  Good trail, over a height of land.
 Landing: Rough landing at low water, but fine at normal levels.
 Remarks:  The next port is only 200 meters down the river.  These rapids can usually be shot, at high and low water levels.
 
Portage #16 – WP  475593 5613868 – Distance – 900 m
 Location:  Kapikotongwa River, RL, just before the start of a bunch of haystacks.
 Trail:  Excellent trail that follows a ridge through an old burn over.
 Landing:  Rough in low water, acceptable at normal levels.
 Remarks:  This port goes around a very extensive set of difficult rapids.  There are
several drops and very tight turns, with many boulders and sweepers thrown into
the mix.  These rapids should be avoided by all canoeists.
 670 meters down river will lead you to a nice campsite on top of a jackpine ridge. 
This camp is located on RL, WP 476952 5614467.
 
Portage #17 – WP 479893 5615260 (approximate) – Distance – 500 m approx
 Location:  This port has always been located on RR, 3.79 k from the last campsite. 
However, the port has completely disappeared due to the massive blowdown of 2001.  At high water, the rapids can be easily shot, coming in around C2.  At low water, the rapids can be lined or shot.  Canoeists not comfortable with lining or shooting could carry along the RR river bank for about 500 meters.
 
Portage #18 – WP 480394 5615769 – Distance – 475 m
 Location:  Kapikotongwa River, RR, 500 meters downstream from the end of portage 17.
 Trail:  Good trail for first 200 m, then a new trail through a burn, and then back into a nice trail along the river.
 Landing: One canoe landing at the base of a large cedar tree.
 Remarks:  A decent campsite was established 150 m along the trail on the right side.  This port goes around three sets of large rapids which may be doable by
experienced white water canoeists.  However, they would have to be extensively scouted.  The run down to Tennant Lake involves a few more sets of fun, easy
rapids. Walleye fishing in the pools at the bottom of the rapids is very good. 
The next 24 k of paddling is portage free.  Tennant Lake, Kapikotongwa Lake and
Melchett Lake are all beautiful expanses of water with very little human
activity.  There is a very nice beach campsite on the south shore of Kapikotongwa Lake about three k before the end of the Lake.  WP 494906 5619846 
There is another beautiful beach campsite on the south west shore of Melchett Lake, at WP 497870 5615031.
 
Portage #19 – WP 500898 5615911 – Distance – 400 m
 Location:  RR, beginning of Briarcliffe Lake
 Trail:  Dry, level trail
 Landing:  Rocky in low water
 Remarks:  The Kap River exists Melchett Lake roughly 2 kilometers from the indicated campsite, on the SE shore.  It quickly turns into Briarcliffe Lake.  Once over the port, it is a beautiful paddle down BriaRcliffe Lake, Nass Lake and Durer Lake.   Areas of swift water between the lakes will propel you along at a fast speed.
 
Portage#20 – WP  504095 5611153 – Distance – 2.3 k
 Location:  Boat Launch at SW corner of Durer Lake
 Trail:  A series of bush roads that link together.  The last 700 m heads SW
along a very old bush road, and eventually turns into an actual port, terminating at Terrier Creek.
Landing: Large boat launch
 Remarks:  There is a nice campsite on a point at the first widening of Terrier
Creek. WP 503464 5608265
 Travel continues south on Terrier Creek.  The creek will channel through a very
narrow chasm.  One can usually drag canoes through this section. From here, you will paddle west on Skibi Lake.  You may have to pull over a beaver dam at the junction of Skibi and Terrier Lake.  As you come onto the main body of Terrier Lake, look closely at the rocky cliffs on the north shore.  There is a good example of First Nation rock art located there. Paddle SW on Terrier Lake to the end of the long skinny arm.
 
Portage #21 – WP 497928 5601335 – Distance – 1 k
 Location:  End of south west skinny arm of Terrier lake, north shore.
 Trail:  The first 300 m goes through a cut-over.  It then connects to a good logging road for the next 650 m, heading north.  Watch carefully after the 650 meters for a trail going to the left.  This leads down to a small un-named lake.
 Landing:  Swampy, lots of potholes
 Remarks:  This is the third incarnation of this portage, as it has been cut over twice before.  Once in the small un-named lake, paddle SW to the end of it.

 Portage #22 – WP 496823 5601476 – Distance – 285 m
 Location:  SW corner of small unnamed lake after port #21.
 Trail:  Good trail, straight and flat.
 Landing:  Grassy area at beginning of port.
 Remarks:  After completing this port, you will paddle west on Abamasagi Lake. This Lake is 25 k from portage #22 to portage #23.  There is a very nice
beach campsite located just before the mouth of the outflow of the Kawashkagama
River.  WP 485338 5591054.  Upon reaching the end of the lake, follow the small creek all the way to a set of culverts on a road.  This is the beginning of port #23.
 
Portage #23 WP 474916 5590851 – Distance -  1.4 k
 Location:  End of creek out of Abamasagi Lake where it intersects with the road.
 Trail:  Follow the gravel road north for 700 m.  Watch for a trail on the west
side (your left).  This trail continues for another 700 m to Meta lake.
 Landing:  Gravel bank of road
 Remarks:  The second part of this portage may be the worst port you have ever done.  It involves walking through a track through a floating bog that quickly turns into  a mucky path, often as deep as your chest.  Make sure your shoes are tied on
  tightly. 
Once on Meta Lake paddle west for 4 k and then turn south into a big bay.  Paddle
to the southwest channel of the bay, and follow the river out of it. The portage is approximately 1 k up the river.  It will be on your left, although it is classified as RR because you will  be paddling upstream.
 There is a good campsite at the back of the bay directly north of the bay the portage is located on.  WP 468441 5591223
 
Portage #23 – WP - 468816 5589630 – Distance – 2.2 k
 Location:  RR on creek flowing into Meta Lake, this means it will be on your left- hand side.
 Trail:  Starts off wet, but rises to high ground.  Two more wet spots in the trail further on. Terminates in a parking lot, across the road from the Marshall Lake portage. Good trail, but on the long side.
 
END OF DESCRIPTION