Day 6 - Big Winni

Crazy James Camp 

River Mile 1225.5

Days Milage - 18.3 miles

Total miles -  116.3 miles

Today, was the big test. Crossing Lake Winnibigoshish. From our camp we launched at 7:30 am with gentle breeze blowing from the southeast. It didn’t take long for the wind to pick up and for the waves to build from less than 1 foot to 2 ft and even 3 ft swells. We paddled northeast, trying to cut some of the distance off while still being close to shore in the event the wind really took off. 

Winni is a huge lake, in places you can not see the far shore. So we make it a point to be close to shore for navigation as well as safety. If you look at Map 2 on the River Trail site, find Richards Townsite, that is were to launched. Now find the Dam at river mile 1231. That is where we were headed. In total we spent 4 hours crossing 13 miles of open lake with 1 to 3 foot waves. It was  a challenging section, but also one that many paddlers call the toughest single stretch on the river.

The Winnibigoshish crossing ends in at Winni Dam, at 297 yard portage that had a very steep hill just after the landing. I floated my kayak onto the portage wheels rig and with the help of Bill, muscled it up the hill. From there it was another 250 yards to the next put in spot. There was a really nice picnic pavilion and we too advantage of the tables to have some lunch. There was a water faucet too so we were able to top off our water bottles.

After lunch we entered another marshland area that skirted a small lake called little Winnibigoshish. At this point we had a decision to make, camp at Crazy James point which was 5.5 miles from the portage, or continue another 17 miles to the camp opportunity at river mile 1214.5. After the 13 miles on Winni and the head winds we battled after the portage, we decided to call it an early day and landed at Crazy James at 3:00 pm. The site is up a hill with a nice view of the river below.

We will have a good dinner, a little whiskey and then turn in early as we have another big day tomorrow. We have 27 miles to get to School Craft state park where we will spend tomorrow night.