Day 6: Oliver – Kenoji – Scrag Lake

27 km, 5 portages, 2 line

Route:

Oliver Lake

Ogoki River (upstream)

Lined

P29 – walked on banks for ~500m

Lined ~ 50m

Kenoji Lake

P30 – hard to find

P31

Little Scrag Lake

P32 at pinch

P33 at pinch

Scrag Lake scrag for the night

It was a chilly night with more northern lights.  As we left Oliver Lake we were once again traveling upriver on the Ogoki River.  There were only a couple narrow sections where the current was too much to paddle into.  We lined the boat for one of the areas, found the portage around the next rapid set, walked the shore for a bit, paddled through the forks and lined another 50m or so above the forks before entering Kenoji Lake.

North of Kenoji things got interesting.  We knew there must be a way into the Scrag Lake system – we just didn’t know where!! Portage (noted P30 on map) was through a recent burn area (imagine!!!) into a small unnamed lake/pond.  A second portage (P31 on map) takes you out of the unnamed lake into the Little Scrag area – not sure if was low fall water levels (September trip), but had a difficult time working through a creek area into Little Scrag proper (liftovers and some wading).

Entire Scrag/Little Scrag Lake area has been burnt recently, very open and very windy.  Winds forced us down the east arm of Scag Lake to try and find a campsite as large waves on the lake prevented us from crossing.  Ended up finding a “site” or flat area with good water, access and a flat spot for a tent – all in all it was a good place to rest up!