I have a Memorial Day trip with my father. We are camping on Alpine and/or Ogish.

This will be my 4th trip but my first trip that is not out of Ely.
This will be my father's first trip.

I've done some research about the Cavity Lake fire. Here are some maps:
cavity lake fire maps

It seems that Alpine was nearly entirely affected and Ogish was about 50% consumed.

What does the area look like now?
Would it still be good choice for someone's first BW trip?

Alpine and Jasper Lakes did get burnt pretty badly. Jasper got it far worse. Here's a map of Ogish showing the fire line. I stayed on Alpine last year and day tripped to Jasper. If you don't mind seeing a forest recovering from a forest fire, you'll have a great time. Still a pretty area in my opinion. Many of the campsites in the area are still fine.

I'll tell you what. I was on Jap Lake last year and there was NOBODY around that area. Most campers tend to stay away from burned areas as if there is something wrong with them. Quite the contrary, they are just as beautiful just in a different way.

If your goal is solitude...head towards the burnt lakes.

I travelled through the cavity alke fire and the ham lake fire areas. It is a unique landscape, but far from barren. It was actually really neat to see the little hidden treasures of nature that you would have never seen if there was a ton of undergrowth.

On a high ridge on Kek lake, there was a lone boulder about the size of a VW bug sitting perched on a high "lion's back" type ridge. All by itself. We never would have seen that if there hadn't been fire.

You will have a great trip. Check with the Grand Marais ranger station about closed campsites if there still are some.

Contact outfitters in the area they will have knowledge of these lakes and some may even have first hand information.
I know Dave and Nancy from Hungry Jack Outfitters paddled through an area of the Cavity Lake fire.

If you are interested in knowing precisely where the burned-over areas are, voyageur maps (www.voyageurmaps.com) shows the boundary line of the cavity/ham lake fires very accurately.

I went thru Seagull, Alpine and Ogish last year. I thought it looked interesting, but I was ready to see trees after a couple of hours. If you camp in the burnover area, bring a tarp 'cause there won't be any shade!

I am a newbie to BW. My first trip was a road trip last August up the Gunflint trail. The fire along the Gunflint could only be described as devastating. And that coming from an ex-forester.





In spite of the drive-in campgrounds being burnt, the area was still awe-inspiring and motivated me to come back for a paddle trip this spring. The views are tremendous only because of the fire removing the canopy. You can literally see miles and miles of wilderness in all directions and in all its glory. The blueberries were fantastic, too.



I saw Yellowstone shortly after their fires, and Mt. St. Helens ten years or more after its blast and it was absolutely incredible to view the utter devastation and how nature still rebounds. The vistas were beyond description, similar to the BW. I am looking forward to the remoteness and solitude unattainable in other locations.

so why exactly am I trying to convince you to go there?

I will be waiting to hear about your trip. Heading into that area in late June for 10-12 days.

I also traveled through Alpine to Ogish last year. We stayed on Jasper Lake on the north west shore. It was neat to watch the moon rise over the area. It will definitely give you a different look but is still a good experience.

Have a great trip!

Since this is your fathers first trip, I would make sure to get to some of the area's that were not affected by the blow down and/or the fire. I traveled thru that area this past fall with my wife, and while it was some what interesting for a while, I was glad to get back to the unaffected lakes. We also saw more people on
Alpine and Jasper then rest of the trip.

Here's another map showing the extend of the Cavity Lake Fire, plus the Ham Lake fire. It also shows the fire history over the years.

What is interesting to me is that you'd be hard pressed to find a region of the BWCA that hasn't burnt in the last 150-200 years. The entire wilderness is a forest in recovery, so really the phase in recovery you will see depends on where you go.

Kiporby,

My proposed trip is quite similar in scope and duration to your "Paddling Partner for Life" trip. In hindsight, would you change anything...

Absolutely not. Perfect route for a first timer, with an easy out back to civilization if needed. Let me know if you have any questions about the route. Most of Red Rock Lake was not touched by the fire and you can hide away amongst the islands and bays in northern Seagull Lake to escape the fire damage as well. Some of the campsites on Alpine were not touched by the fire.

The campsite we stayed at on Alpine (pictured above) was great. If you don't believe me ask Izzy about how good the fishing on Alpine Lake can be. Walleye, bass and pike. Seagull, Red Rock and Ogish are also good.

We camped on Rush Lake last summer, which is along the very southern edge of the cavity Lake fire burn area. Right behind our campsite was where the fire stopped. Alot of new green vegetation was already growing last July. The trees were all burnt up and stood out like burnt toothpicks. The fishing was not effected at all from what we could tell. Dave

Well, I just got back. The cavity lake fire was certainly devastating.

I was expecting it to look like a clear-cut: nothing too tall but zillions of young trees growing in all the new sunlight.

It did not look like a clearcut. Dead trees stood up like toothpicks. There were green bushes and grasses on the ground but VERY few young trees. I guess the fire was too hot and burned the soil too deep.

It was still interesting. Our camp site was right on the edge of the fire (stayed on Red Rock). It was interesting to see burned and unburned areas.

One thing, there were VERY few people. It was Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday, we paddled through Alpine to Jasper. We did not see a single group camping on Alpine and had great fishing. We did not see a single other person on Jasper. (On Saturday evening, we saw one group camped on the north site on Alpine).

On Red Rock, we stayed on the south end. We were the only group camping. The other 3 sites on the south end were empty. Based on the pit toilets, no one had camped on the south end yet this year...

So if you don't mind the fire, you will find great fishing and very few people in that area...