After a a day of weather delays two of us departed Temagami Ontario on the afternoon of the 19th. Our original plan was to head to Amos, Quebec for fuel, but storm activity led us further east to land near Timmins on Porcupine Lake. We gassed up and then headed northeast bound for La Grand 4 in Northern Quebec. An hour outside of Timmins however I noticed my temps doing funny things and sure enough a notice on my engine monitor indicated my right mag was out. I confirmed this by switching mags and noticing a tendency toward silence on the right one. So, back to Timmins and the worry that our trip was done.

When we landed, Mal Ratclif at Ratclif aircraft services jumped on the job, he worked until six and promised to hit it bright and early the next morning. We set up our tent by the lake, then walked around lovely South Porcupine before heading to the Airport Hotel (10 steps from our tent) for dinner and way too many cold beers. We now have lots of friend in South porcupine.

By 10AM the next morning Mal had identified the problem as a worn cam and a bad point, and by noon we were once again headed north. I ran lean of peak for the second half of the flight since it was a long one and everything ran perfect. We landed at LG4, gassed up and headed out into the bush.

I used to guide canoe trips in this area and the normal weather is low ceiling, strong wind, and rain, we were treated to calm winds, few clouds, and unlimited visibility. On our way to our destination we passed by the Great Whale RIver, a river I had guided for a few years.

Here's a pic of one of the bigger falls on the Great Whale, its easier flying over, than walking around.

We crossed lots of great country and huge rivers. Soon we neared our destination a large lake called Lac a L'Eau Claire, or Clearwater Lake.

Here's a view looking out on Clearwater Lake, 7th largest in Canada.

Our plan was to find a spot near the lake where we could access one of the large rivers that drains the lake into Hudson Bay 50 miles away.

We soon found a small lake that seemed to fit the bill. It had access to a small rapid which meant brook trout and had a great beach on the windward side.

Here we are coming in for a landing.

It was a gorgeous spot, of course the lake looked kind of small now that we were on the water. The next morning we built our pakboat and explored the area.


Mist just after sunrise


My friend CG with one of the bigger Brookies


Big falls just downstream


Me and the Pakboat


The view upriver

We had a great time camping canoeing and fishing, when it came time to go there was still no wind and the lake was no bigger, so CG canoed all the heavy stuff downstream while I took off lightweight. We then met up and took off from the main river channel, below the big falls and above a pretty good rapid. We had to film it. The black spot in the distance is not another plane, its a black fly on the windsheild.


After takeoff we headed downriver the scenery was incredible.


The biggest falls on the Eau Claire


Richmond Gulf in the Foreground and Hudson Bay in the background, both like glass.

We then headed back to LG4 for gas. Then we began to make our way south.

We camped on a lake near the Rupert River



The next morning we continued south, gassed up in Moosonee, then flew the Harricanaw River to Val D'Or, Quebec.

It was an awesome trip and we lucked out on weather, I'll be heading that way again next year, hopefully for a longer stay.



Brad

awesome! great pictures!

Those are some great pic's. Those falls are something.

Nice TR, Brad. Looks like you are loving that Skywagon.

Good job Brad. Did you try fishing from the plane? Any walleye up that way? Steve

We tried fishing from the plane on a big lake a bit further south, but it was mostly an excuse to have a beer and hang our feet in the water, we were done flying of course.

As for walleye, in that zone in Northern Quebec I've seen brookies (speckled to you canucks), lake trout, and landlocked salmon. Never a walleye or a pike. Thats fine as far as I am concerned, I love brook trout.



Brad

Great pictures thanks! That is part of the world most of us will never see.

James
Spokane

That's a dream trip for me! I've done a bit of canoeing in N. Ontario (Wabakimi) and it only whet my appetite for trips further North.
Glad you lucked out on weather.

Sounds like a nice trip and of course the weather helped. I go every year from Muskoka area to Matagami - LG4 - Kuujjuaq but last year on the way home I got side tracked and ended up in Amos and highly recommend that stop. Nice float base, although a bit out of town but good restaruant options and accomadations in town. The young lad that met me at the float base and refueled me was great. I was also stuck in LG-4 overnight that trip and they have nice, clean facilities, good dock and lots of fuel. From there north you are pretty much on your own. Never been to the west where you were but it looks to be very interesting country as well.

These are brookies (note square tail, your photo is a Lake Trout=v-tail and no red dots with blue halo) Good eating from that clear cold water, regardless.

If you're heading that way again next summer, let me know. Do you live in the Temagami area? I did my commercial in North Bay. Nice photos, thanks for posting.