By: Raquel and Connor

The Quetico Foundations’ biology team finished our deepest trip into the park yet, which
required the depth mapping of several lakes including Keewatin, Williams, and Kawnipi. The
purpose of this excursion was to determine what conditions lake trout could inhabit, by going to
lakes confirmed with lake trout presence and collecting data on their bathymetric profiles. This
information will be used for further estimates of lake trout presence in the park and identifying
their breeding grounds and habitat conditions for further study.

To make it this deep into the park, we went to Kashabowie Outposts with our gear and
canoe and prepared for our first float plane flight, with our destination being Kawnipi Lake. The
staff were incredibly kind and professional, tying our canoe to the floats of the plane and taking
our packs into the cargo hold. After getting ferried around the dock for a short duration, we were
quickly off the water with ear protection on, feeling the vibrations of the engine reverberate
through the entire plane and watching the treetops shrink as we rose. The flight was quick and
smooth, with us landing at our destination before we knew it, unloading our gear and departing
for our 4-day trip. We quickly made way for Keewatin through a smooth and picturesque portage
and mapped its depth extensively. After this we went for Williams and saw two river otters near
the coast, with one diving away and the other swimming in front of us, bobbing its head beneath
the waters as it stared our way. We mapped the depth of the lake and set up camp on a cozy site,
with blueberries growing plentifully around us, their taste improving our moods for the days to
come.

That morning, we entered Kawnipi proper, beginning our paddling throughout the various
arms of the lake and finding the deepest portions to be ~30 meters, surprisingly shallow for the
size of the lake. Throughout this stretch, we saw plenty of other campers enjoying their time
fishing in the beautiful sunshine, many eagles and loons hunting for themselves and their young,
and beautiful scenery of the most gorgeous lake we’ve seen yet. At the very last campsite we set,
within Atkins Bay, we spent the evening watching two loons teach their young how to fly. The
next morning, we saw the conclusion to their training, with the young taking off to the southeast
and the parents remaining on the bay, calling out some final goodbyes. At this time, we too said
goodbye to Atkins Bay, as our plane was flying in just as the rain started, putting a perfect
capstone to our best trip yet.