- KogalukMap.jpg
3 Routes to the Kogaluk River.
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3 Routes to the Kogaluk River (detail).
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Waiting to put the canoes on the train in 1994.
Wendy Scott photo. - Kogaluk-10.jpg
Al and Wendy on the De Pas in 2000.
Dave Brown photo. - Kogaluk-11.jpg
Dave and Ann on the De Pas.
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A rocky section of the portage out of Indian House Lake.
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Camped near a frozen stream near Lake Palatin.
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A brief rest on the portage out of Indian House Lake in '94.
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Dick and Al haul over the ice on the portage
out of Lake Mistinibi. - KogalukOrig-21-2.jpg
Leaving Indian House Lake.
Dave Brown photo. - KogalukAdd-2.jpg
Morning on Hawk Lake.
- KogalukOrig-10.jpg
Wendy enjoying a portage in 1994.
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Wendy with a roughed-out paddle found above Indian House Lake.
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Wendy on Dihourse Lake.
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Dick heading towards the south rim of the Kogaluk, 1992.
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Dave going overland.
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Dick bringing in firewood on the northern tributary.
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Going from pond to pond.
Dave Brown photo. - Kogaluk-15.jpg
Dick and Wendy scouting the route in the barrens.
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Nearing the south rim, 2000
- Kogaluk-14.jpg
Dick near the eastern edge of Mistinibi Lake.
- Kogaluk-21.jpg
Dave and Ann on the northern tributary.
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On the south rim looking across to the northern tributary, 1992.
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On the south rim in 2000.
Dave Brown photo. - Kogaluk-22.jpg
On the rim of the tributary and the Kogaluk.
- KogalukTall-12.jpg
Wendy and black flies.
- KogalukOrig-13.jpg
Dick and Al at a lunch stop on Mistinibi Lake, 1992.
Wendy Scott photo. - KogalukOrig-14.jpg
Sunrise on Hawk Lake.
- KogalukOrig-15.jpg
Wendy on the south rim, 1992.
I fell in love with this barren landscape. - KogalukOrig-16.jpg
Portaging towards an esker in 1994.
Wendy Scott photo. - KogalukOrig-17.jpg
Tracking upsream towards Brisson Lake.
- KogalukOrig-22.jpg
Dick and Al hauling over the ice, 1992.
Wendy Scott photo. - KogalukTall-13.jpg
Looking at the Kogaluk from the north rim, 1994.
Dave Brown photo. - KogalukOrig-18.jpg
On the Quebec-Labrador border, 1994.
- KogalukOrig-19.jpg
Wendy scouting the northern tributary.
- Kogaluk-24.jpg
On the Labrador Sea.
- KogalukTall-14.jpg
Al with mussels, 1994.
Dave Brown photo. - KogalukOrig-21.jpg
The Taverner in Nain.
- KogalukOrig-20.jpg
On the ferry from Nain,1992.
Al Stirt, Wendy Scott and Friends: Canoe Tripping in Northern Quebec and Labrador
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Kogaluk River
My article, Losing the Trail:Wandering the Quebec and Labrador Barrens about our trips on the Kogaluk, is in the Spring, 2016 issue of Nastawgan. You can see a low resolution pdf version of it HERE.
We've been down the Kogaluk River 3 times. It flows from The Quebec-Labrador highlands to the Labrador Sea.
We fell in love with the stark, barren country we travelled through to reach the river. The country evoked an image of seeing the bones of the earth.
In 1992, Al and Wendy and Dick Irwin travelled from Schefferville to Nain on the Labrador coast following the De Pas River to Indian House Lake and then went overland through several ponds and lakes to Lake Mistinibi. From the east end of Mistinibi, we headed north to get to the south rim of the Kogaluk River.
We fumbled our way down to the river from the rim of the 800' deep canyon. At the mouth of the river, we stopped at a fishing camp owned by Chesley Anderson. He arranged a motorboat ride to Nain for us (and our canoes) so we could catch the coastal ferry down to Goose Bay.
Two years later, in 1994,we went back to the Kogaluk. We started again from Schefferville and made our way to Mistinibi Lake, following a different portage route out of Indian House Lake. From the west end of Mistinibi, we headed north, eventually getting to the headwaters of a northern tributary of the Kogaluk. This was very remote exquisite country with few signs of previous travel except for a few ancient tent rings and a scrap of green canoe canvas on a hillside.
We visited the river again in 2000. This time we followed a portage route out of the De Pas River to the Upper George. We followed the George down to the junction of the Dumans River, went up the Dumans, and then portaged into a southern bay of Mistinibi Lake. From there we followed our route from 1992.