Return to Nakina
Aug 19, 2009 17:18:06 GMT -5
Post by traplines on Aug 19, 2009 17:18:06 GMT -5
RETURN TO NAKINA
A couple of months ago I had an email from Chris Lenard from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, saying he was planning a trip to Nakina and, more specifically, looking for the Vanderbeck Winter cabin on Lake Waba. Our dates didn’t jive, but as I was also planning a trip, I sent Chris some information I had on just where I thought the cabin was situated. Chris had made it up to Nakina a week before us. He found the cabin site right where we thought it was and spent four nights there. You can read Chris’s post WABABIMIGA LAKE WINTER CABIN VISIT.
On August 3, 2009 my daughter Julie Crutchley and I loaded up our canoe and camping equipment and headed for Nakina. 17 hours of driving time later we pulled in to Jo Ann and Bob Rotz’s yard who own and live on what was the Vanderbeck homestead. We said a quick hello and headed next door and did the same with Bill and Lois Hoff. Julie and I made camp on Cordingley Lake for the night. Surprisingly, the bugs weren’t bad.
The next morning we headed across Cordingley Lake on a mission to see and get some pictures of Cranberry River as it left Cordingley Lake. As Nakina area didn’t have a great snow fall last winter the water levels were considerably lower than last year’s visit. That same day we broke camp and headed for Wababimga Lake. On the way we once again checked out the high hill climb. This year we actually found the exact trail the Vanderbecks would have used. At the bottom of the hill there is a portage sign as this is classed as a heritage trail. It was tough just climbing that hill and I can’t imagine carrying a canoe and packs up it. The raspberries were ripe, and with a bit of picking, we had a great snack to munch on as we headed to the Waba Lake access road just as a lynx stepped from the bush and meandered down the road in front of us for enough time for us to get excited, but not enough time to find the camera.
We were able to drive to the west end of Waba Lake and made camp there for the night. We found all the mosquitoes and rest of the bugs that seemed to be missing from Cordingley Lake. It has been raining all summer up here and today was no exception. After making camp we canoed to and took some pictures of where Wababimiga River comes in to Waba Lake. Not far back out in to the Lake is a cabin that Emile Cote had built. The cabin has not been used for quite some time and has fallen into disrepair.
You’ll see in some pictures that I will be posting that the deck on the front has rotted away. The door has a lock on it but someone has kicked the door open. The door is also in pretty rough shape. This cabin is not made of logs but chipboard. There are still beds, table and other paraphernalia and a very good looking wood stove. While we were in the cabin we could hear scratching sounds, coming from where? The eaves? The floor? We assumed mice, but, we were wrong. On the way out I was having trouble trying to get the door to close and all of a sudden bats started exiting the top right hand corner of the door, some hitting me on the way. The door was a hollow door and full of bats - hence all the scratching sounds we were hearing. Julie just happened to be taking a picture when the bats started coming out of the corner of the door. Eek!
The next morning, Aug 5, we headed up the lake in search of the Vanderbeck winter cabin site. I had the co-ordinates of where I thought the cabin was entered in my GPS and it was just a matter of following the GPS to the site. It had rained heavily in the night, but by the time we put the canoe in the lake, while cloudy, it was not raining. The lake was calm as glass, but the bugs had us paddling hard initially in hopes of a breeze.
It was about 6 miles as the crow flies and took Julie and I about 2 ½ hrs to paddle up the lake to the site. We made one stop halfway up the lake at a large dock and cabin site. Waba Lake is fairly large and you have to be careful not to get caught very far from shore. We landed on a big sandy beach and got a tarp up just as the rain came down. We waited it out and then we went exploring, with lots of bug spray….
In the four day’s he had been there, Chris had made the searching easy for us. He had already found what seemed to be the cabin site and where the Vanderbeck’s dumped their garbage. You will find most cabins of the era had a garbage dump just the same as most farms had their own place they dumped their garbage which really isn’t any different, I guess, than towns or cities having their own dump sites. The Vanderbeck garbage dump is a gold mine of information. Glass bottles, jars, cans, boots, tar paper, you name it and it’s probably in that dump somewhere. We spent our days going through the dump - just barely scratching the surface of it, visualizing where the cabin was, swimming off the beach, hiking the old logging roads that have just about grown in, while Julie forced me to slow down and do a little raspberry and strawberry picking, and doing a little fishing. Not to mention some wonderful campfires while gazing out at the lake, in what had to be a similar view all those years ago for the Vanderbecks. Mink ran by on the beach, a family of 3 otters stopped to check us out, bald eagles flew over, the loons called and the fish jumped on an evening. On our walks we saw tracks and scat, including some pretty fresh bear scat but we were happy we didn’t see any bears. One morning we woke to moose tracks in the sand of the beach. He’d stepped in close to take a look at the tent, before going on his way – what else did we miss while sleeping!
In Chris’s post you will already have read about how the cabin burnt down, so I won’t go in to that story. I have talked to Millie and Don Bourdignon. Don trapped with Emile Cote and still has the trapping rights to some of the old Vanderbeck line, including Waba Lake. Millie told me the cabin burnt down at least 50 years ago. Bill Hoff told us he had taken Jim and Hellen’s daughter, Mary Sue out to the Waba cabin site around 1980 and you could then still see the outline of where the cabin had been. Today you can’t tell. The cabin site was determined by finding melted glass from a very hot fire, an old stove, a burnt log, and wire from Miranda’s cage. Chris had uncovered most of these things in his 4 days at Waba. We explored by canoe where Waba River leaves the lake. We were unable to find exactly where the portage trail from Waba Lake led back to the river. However, by using the GPS were able to locate Waba River downstream from the cabin site. The thick bush was very intimidating to striking off a known path, trying to locate the river. Even though we had a GPS and a compass there was a real – and valid, fear of getting lost. I always wondered how in the fall before freeze up Jim crossed Waba River on his way to his line camp on Pennock River. Most places that we viewed Waba River it was no more than knee deep and in places blowdowns completely bridged the river. Now I know!
The plan had been to spend 2 nights at Waba and 2 nights on Hoff Lake but it was so beautiful and so much history at the cabin site we spent 4 nights there. We could have stayed longer, but raspberries and the promise of fresh fish only take you so far….
The morning of Aug 9 we packed up and headed back down the lake. We followed the opposite shore, as once again, the lake was calm as glass. Our canoe was fairly loaded as we had bottles, jars and a few things that we hoped could go in to the museum in Nakina. Last year we had not made it to where Pennock River enters Hoff Lake. The main reason I had wanted to make it to Hoff Lake this year was to get a picture of the river entering the lake. We traveled to the bridge that crosses Pennock River and unloaded the canoe. We parked the truck a half mile back down the road where there is a dock. We canoed down the Pennock River and out in to Hoff Lake. It was a pretty neat experience as time has changed nothing on this river and lake system. We took some pictures and canoed past the spot where the boy’s had put in their fish nets back in 1932.
We loaded the canoe and headed back to Cordingley Lake. We pitched our tent on a very nice spot down by the lake. Although we encountered a lot of rain and at times a lot of bugs, we were equipped for it. We also had one nice day of hot sunshine. Because the forest was so wet we were able to have a fire every night without the fear of starting a forest fire, something you need to be concerned about.
We spent our last day, Aug 10, visiting with friends Bob and Jo Ann Rotz and Bill and Lois Hoff. Bob and Jo Ann went through some of the things we had brought back that could go in to the museum. Bob gave me a trap that had belonged to Emile Cote that now hangs on the wall in my shop. On the morning of Aug 11, Julie and I headed for home. This was a very special trip for me - not only did we spend time at the Vanderbeck winter cabin site on Wababimiga Lake, but I got to do this with my daughter, Julie. Something I will always cherish.
Russ Kerr
A couple of months ago I had an email from Chris Lenard from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, saying he was planning a trip to Nakina and, more specifically, looking for the Vanderbeck Winter cabin on Lake Waba. Our dates didn’t jive, but as I was also planning a trip, I sent Chris some information I had on just where I thought the cabin was situated. Chris had made it up to Nakina a week before us. He found the cabin site right where we thought it was and spent four nights there. You can read Chris’s post WABABIMIGA LAKE WINTER CABIN VISIT.
On August 3, 2009 my daughter Julie Crutchley and I loaded up our canoe and camping equipment and headed for Nakina. 17 hours of driving time later we pulled in to Jo Ann and Bob Rotz’s yard who own and live on what was the Vanderbeck homestead. We said a quick hello and headed next door and did the same with Bill and Lois Hoff. Julie and I made camp on Cordingley Lake for the night. Surprisingly, the bugs weren’t bad.
The next morning we headed across Cordingley Lake on a mission to see and get some pictures of Cranberry River as it left Cordingley Lake. As Nakina area didn’t have a great snow fall last winter the water levels were considerably lower than last year’s visit. That same day we broke camp and headed for Wababimga Lake. On the way we once again checked out the high hill climb. This year we actually found the exact trail the Vanderbecks would have used. At the bottom of the hill there is a portage sign as this is classed as a heritage trail. It was tough just climbing that hill and I can’t imagine carrying a canoe and packs up it. The raspberries were ripe, and with a bit of picking, we had a great snack to munch on as we headed to the Waba Lake access road just as a lynx stepped from the bush and meandered down the road in front of us for enough time for us to get excited, but not enough time to find the camera.
We were able to drive to the west end of Waba Lake and made camp there for the night. We found all the mosquitoes and rest of the bugs that seemed to be missing from Cordingley Lake. It has been raining all summer up here and today was no exception. After making camp we canoed to and took some pictures of where Wababimiga River comes in to Waba Lake. Not far back out in to the Lake is a cabin that Emile Cote had built. The cabin has not been used for quite some time and has fallen into disrepair.
You’ll see in some pictures that I will be posting that the deck on the front has rotted away. The door has a lock on it but someone has kicked the door open. The door is also in pretty rough shape. This cabin is not made of logs but chipboard. There are still beds, table and other paraphernalia and a very good looking wood stove. While we were in the cabin we could hear scratching sounds, coming from where? The eaves? The floor? We assumed mice, but, we were wrong. On the way out I was having trouble trying to get the door to close and all of a sudden bats started exiting the top right hand corner of the door, some hitting me on the way. The door was a hollow door and full of bats - hence all the scratching sounds we were hearing. Julie just happened to be taking a picture when the bats started coming out of the corner of the door. Eek!
The next morning, Aug 5, we headed up the lake in search of the Vanderbeck winter cabin site. I had the co-ordinates of where I thought the cabin was entered in my GPS and it was just a matter of following the GPS to the site. It had rained heavily in the night, but by the time we put the canoe in the lake, while cloudy, it was not raining. The lake was calm as glass, but the bugs had us paddling hard initially in hopes of a breeze.
It was about 6 miles as the crow flies and took Julie and I about 2 ½ hrs to paddle up the lake to the site. We made one stop halfway up the lake at a large dock and cabin site. Waba Lake is fairly large and you have to be careful not to get caught very far from shore. We landed on a big sandy beach and got a tarp up just as the rain came down. We waited it out and then we went exploring, with lots of bug spray….
In the four day’s he had been there, Chris had made the searching easy for us. He had already found what seemed to be the cabin site and where the Vanderbeck’s dumped their garbage. You will find most cabins of the era had a garbage dump just the same as most farms had their own place they dumped their garbage which really isn’t any different, I guess, than towns or cities having their own dump sites. The Vanderbeck garbage dump is a gold mine of information. Glass bottles, jars, cans, boots, tar paper, you name it and it’s probably in that dump somewhere. We spent our days going through the dump - just barely scratching the surface of it, visualizing where the cabin was, swimming off the beach, hiking the old logging roads that have just about grown in, while Julie forced me to slow down and do a little raspberry and strawberry picking, and doing a little fishing. Not to mention some wonderful campfires while gazing out at the lake, in what had to be a similar view all those years ago for the Vanderbecks. Mink ran by on the beach, a family of 3 otters stopped to check us out, bald eagles flew over, the loons called and the fish jumped on an evening. On our walks we saw tracks and scat, including some pretty fresh bear scat but we were happy we didn’t see any bears. One morning we woke to moose tracks in the sand of the beach. He’d stepped in close to take a look at the tent, before going on his way – what else did we miss while sleeping!
In Chris’s post you will already have read about how the cabin burnt down, so I won’t go in to that story. I have talked to Millie and Don Bourdignon. Don trapped with Emile Cote and still has the trapping rights to some of the old Vanderbeck line, including Waba Lake. Millie told me the cabin burnt down at least 50 years ago. Bill Hoff told us he had taken Jim and Hellen’s daughter, Mary Sue out to the Waba cabin site around 1980 and you could then still see the outline of where the cabin had been. Today you can’t tell. The cabin site was determined by finding melted glass from a very hot fire, an old stove, a burnt log, and wire from Miranda’s cage. Chris had uncovered most of these things in his 4 days at Waba. We explored by canoe where Waba River leaves the lake. We were unable to find exactly where the portage trail from Waba Lake led back to the river. However, by using the GPS were able to locate Waba River downstream from the cabin site. The thick bush was very intimidating to striking off a known path, trying to locate the river. Even though we had a GPS and a compass there was a real – and valid, fear of getting lost. I always wondered how in the fall before freeze up Jim crossed Waba River on his way to his line camp on Pennock River. Most places that we viewed Waba River it was no more than knee deep and in places blowdowns completely bridged the river. Now I know!
The plan had been to spend 2 nights at Waba and 2 nights on Hoff Lake but it was so beautiful and so much history at the cabin site we spent 4 nights there. We could have stayed longer, but raspberries and the promise of fresh fish only take you so far….
The morning of Aug 9 we packed up and headed back down the lake. We followed the opposite shore, as once again, the lake was calm as glass. Our canoe was fairly loaded as we had bottles, jars and a few things that we hoped could go in to the museum in Nakina. Last year we had not made it to where Pennock River enters Hoff Lake. The main reason I had wanted to make it to Hoff Lake this year was to get a picture of the river entering the lake. We traveled to the bridge that crosses Pennock River and unloaded the canoe. We parked the truck a half mile back down the road where there is a dock. We canoed down the Pennock River and out in to Hoff Lake. It was a pretty neat experience as time has changed nothing on this river and lake system. We took some pictures and canoed past the spot where the boy’s had put in their fish nets back in 1932.
We loaded the canoe and headed back to Cordingley Lake. We pitched our tent on a very nice spot down by the lake. Although we encountered a lot of rain and at times a lot of bugs, we were equipped for it. We also had one nice day of hot sunshine. Because the forest was so wet we were able to have a fire every night without the fear of starting a forest fire, something you need to be concerned about.
We spent our last day, Aug 10, visiting with friends Bob and Jo Ann Rotz and Bill and Lois Hoff. Bob and Jo Ann went through some of the things we had brought back that could go in to the museum. Bob gave me a trap that had belonged to Emile Cote that now hangs on the wall in my shop. On the morning of Aug 11, Julie and I headed for home. This was a very special trip for me - not only did we spend time at the Vanderbeck winter cabin site on Wababimiga Lake, but I got to do this with my daughter, Julie. Something I will always cherish.
Russ Kerr
