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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 04:21AM
Which way to go?

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
airmorse 10/01/2018 09:04PM
Also. I've been to Good and Indiana. Basecamped on Good. Stayed at the sight by the narrows. Nice site. Almost park like. There is a natural recliner chair that is very comfortable.


Indiana has gin clear water. You can see a long way down.


There are some large northern in Good if you are into that. If you take the small creek out of Good into basswood there is an old steam engine submerged in the water which is cool to see.
HighnDry 10/01/2018 02:06PM
MN_Lindsey: "Ah screw it... Beartrap or bust!!!!

Mudro is and forever will be my favourite! I want to go to Beartrap!

Unless someone convinces me otherwise...
If the only campsite on Beartrap is taken, which campsite on Gull or Gun are the best?"

Beartrap is a beautiful, secluded lake with good walleye fishing. If you choose this route and want to go in via Mudro, there are very good campsites on Gun. Thunder has a couple, but they are reportedly not highly recommended.

I suppose you could get an idea of the camping options if you stop by the ranger station in Ely to see if anyone's pulled permits for the the PMA/Sunday. They would have to stop at Beartrap for a night before heading up that way (or they would be super-human!). I saw no one north of Gun when I came south out of that route last spring. There was only one party camping on Gun and that was late July.

If you are heading there in May, I would think you would likely have your pick of sites. It's a great trip - enjoy!
TominMpls 10/01/2018 01:39PM
I can't speak to the Wood / Indiana option, but having been on most of each of your other two routes this summer, I'll say that Kawishiwi to Malberg sees a lot less traffic than the Mudro route. My daughter and I were on the Lady Chain through Malberg in early July and saw very few other people, and the portages felt like portages and the campsites were in good shape. By contrast, a couple friends and I came (from Quetico) through Gun to Mudro in late August and the portages and sites were like state parks, really worn down. That may partially be because of the time in the season for each trip, and maybe going as early as you're planning it won't matter, but I bet you'll get more solitude going Kawishiwi to Malberg.
tashit 10/01/2018 12:45PM
My wife and I did the loop up through Fairy/Gun/Moosecamp and down the river last year. We stayed on the eastern Fairy site our first night and had our sights set on Beartrap for the second. It was ridiculously windy and once we got to Gun we decided to not fight the wind and stayed there. We had site 1083 that lindylair mentioned and spent two full days there. It's a fantastic site. I do think Thunder sounds like a nice lake and we planned on staying there if the Beartrap site was taken.


We are most likely doing Kawishiwi to Malberg next year.
cyclones30 10/01/2018 07:46AM
I've done a couple Mudro trips and in early June went to Malberg from Kawishiwi. Both great entries and it depends what you want to do or see. As mentioned, on the Malberg trip you'll go through a burn area for an hour or two which was new for me. Good fishing can be had on both trips. 8 portages to Malberg, 10 or 11 to Beartrap it looks. None of the portages to Malberg are as difficult as the ones from Mudro to Fourtown.
airmorse 10/01/2018 07:43AM
Also paddling down the Moosecamp river is very enjoyable. There are a few beaver dams to pull over, but the scenery makes up for that.
lindylair 10/01/2018 05:34AM
MN Lindsey, The Mudro route is great, one of my favorites as well. The site on Beartrap is very nice but I have seen many others as nice. What adds to that spot is the fact that you are the only site on the lake on what is pretty much a dead end route (other than pma seekers), there's a nice island right out in front of it and the fishing is good. If you go that far and it is taken are you sure you will want to go all the way back to gun or gull? Thunder is a cool lake and has a couple nice sites and Moosecamp looks great as well, as mentioned. But if you do go back, the peninsula site on Gull, closest to the portage is an amazing site. On Gun I am partial to site 1083, pictured below.






Kawishiwi to Malberg and beyond is also a great trip and should be on your bucket list if not this time. Seeing a burn area on the couple lakes past kawishiwi is pretty interesting, and then you are out of it. Plenty of cool places to daytrip or continue your route north of Malberg towards Boulder and Adams or west to River lake and the pictos on Fishdance. There are some very nice sand beach sites on Malberg and Amber Lake if you like those.







In any case have a great trip and I will look forward to a colorful trip report as usual!!
airmorse 09/30/2018 06:31PM
MN_Lindsey: "Ah screw it... Beartrap or bust!!!!



Mudro is and forever will be my favourite! I want to go to Beartrap!



Unless someone convinces me otherwise...
If the only campsite on Beartrap is taken, which campsite on Gull or Gun are the best?"



I like your decision making skills. :-)


You could go to Thunder. Or Moosecamp. I like Moosecamp a lot and have stayed on the far eastern site on Moosecamp for a few nights. Lots of "artifacts" from the logging days on Moosecamp.


If the water lever is right you can float down the stream from Bullet into Moosecamp and avoid the portage.
MN_Lindsey 09/30/2018 06:04PM
Ah screw it... Beartrap or bust!!!!


Mudro is and forever will be my favourite! I want to go to Beartrap!


Unless someone convinces me otherwise...
If the only campsite on Beartrap is taken, which campsite on Gull or Gun are the best?
MN_Lindsey 09/30/2018 06:04PM
mr.barley 09/30/2018 02:58PM
In May, I would go lake trout fishing in Gillis, Tuscarora and Crooked.
RMinMN 09/30/2018 01:20PM
In May the water is pretty cold and Snowbank requires a long crossing on a big lake. Dumping a canoe in those conditions could mean death and is possible on a windy day. With a permit only being valid on a specified day, bad weather means risking your life or losing your trip. Other lakes on your list have possible sheltered shorelines to follow.
MN_Lindsey 09/29/2018 08:33PM
Planning a trip next May 2019 with Mr. MN and [adult] friends. No MiniMN on this trip.

Planning to go to:
- Mudro/Fourtown/Boot/Fairy/Gun/Beartrap

//or//

- Snowbank/Disappointment/Ashub/Abinodji
- Wood/Indiana explore surrounding areas
- Kawishiwi up to Malberg to basecamp/explore

Thoughts? We were originally going to Sawbill/Wine/Mesaba loop, but then thought we'd go back to our FAVORITE which is Mudro/Fourtown and really work on getting up to Beartrap lake this time (Which was my goal on our first ever BWCA trip that we never got to). I think right now the Sawbill/Wine/Mesaba is on hold. Really want to go out of Ely.

I think that's where we are leaning (Mudro), but just wondering if these other places (listed above) far outweigh Mudro/Beartrap/Gun, or if that's the crème de la crème?

Please don't offer up other locations (not listed), as I've already ruled them out for this specific trip.

Thanks SO MUCH!