BWCA Messageboard |
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Hungry Jack Canoe Outfitters and Cabins
|
||||||
 Boundary Waters Quetico Forum Trip Planning Forum Fourtown portages? With kid? Reply
|
View BWCA Photo and Trip Report Contest Page
Poll: What is your favorite month in the BWCA/Q?
| Previous Messages: | |
| Author | Message Text |
| BWPaddler |
07/30/2012 10:22PM thanks! Glad your crew did well. Trip report coming? |
| Itchy Menace |
07/29/2012 03:38PM Got back Friday. None of the portages are that bad and my kids, 4, 4 and 9 made it no problem. Collectively they kick your butt a bit but I was also triple portaging them all. That said it took us three hours each way from Mudro to Fourtown. And yes you can get around the cliff at the end of the last portage, it's pretty well traveled and you shouldn't have trouble finding your way. |
| ekffazr |
07/27/2012 02:15PMquote ATK: "quote Itchy Menace: "Where are the beaches? My kids will love that!" hmmm now I may need to go through Horse and re-route everything :) not that I had a route |
| schweady |
07/26/2012 03:54PMquote ATK: "quote Itchy Menace: "Where are the beaches? My kids will love that!" :) Seems like I do that a lot with those two lakes, too. This year, my trip detail mix-ups have been coming in fast and thick: men's trip Mudro-Fourtown on Sunday followed by family trip Mudro-Horse mid-August. |
| ATK |
07/26/2012 11:46AMquote Itchy Menace: "Where are the beaches? My kids will love that!" Sorry! Now that I look at the map the beaches are on Horse lake. Got my trips mixed up. It is marked on the maps you pull up on this site. |
| ATK |
07/26/2012 11:31AMquote mnwild: "Any suggestions on finding the beaches and the car on fourtown. I will have 6 kids and 3 adults going in August 11th. The kids will range from 4 - 14. I went with a 15, and 7 year old down the Horse river to the pictographs on Basswood lake. It was a fun trip but pretty long, 15 miles round trip. Left at 9am and returned at 5pm with one hour of fishing. Another nice day trip was paddling up the river/creek at the north end of Fourtown to Moosecamp. We started at 1pm and returned by 7pm, with a nice break at a campsite on Moosecamp. The creek is supposed to be a good area for moose sightings, our group was a bit noisy so we did not see any. |
| ATK |
07/26/2012 11:26AM They were on the east side of the lake about half way up. They are labeled on the map. One person labeled them and someone else said they could not find them. If the water level is high, it looks like they do not exist, but they are there! |
| BWPaddler |
07/24/2012 08:27PM poxy, that would SOOOOOOo be my luck! Turns out one other adult is not looking forward to cliffs. Gonna have to forward geo's link and see if it is doable. Getting excited now!! |
| poxy |
07/23/2012 07:34PMquote Zulu: " I went through there in June, Fourtown to Mudro. There's a path established from a pullout about 200 feet before you get to the little bluff. I hauled gear and canoe up the rock, turned around and saw the group behind me strolling along a flat grassy path. Not sure if the entry/exit is wet or dry (I'm guessing wet, but I had a canoe on and didn't feel like exploring). It definitely looks like an easier option. |
| BWPaddler |
07/23/2012 02:59PM Welcome out Mesaba! I assume you took the portage heading IN based on your description. So there's a way to get down to water around there on the right with boats, then bring them around to cliff. No one should be minding getting feet wet in August in our group. If it's like last August, we'll be TRYING to get wet :) Thanks for the suggestion. Itchy - you're up there now, thinking of you and looking forward to your report! |
| Mesaba |
07/23/2012 08:38AM BWP, just got out yesterday and the portages through there are sort of rocky, which makes parts tough, but if you take your time there shouldn't be any problems. Specifically, if you look at Zulu's photo, that entire landing area where the canoe is and most of the rocks to the right are under water right now. If at least one stronger person is wet-footing it you can pretty easily put in upstream, to the right side of that cliff and just drag the canoe through the shallows to the cliff where the dry-footers can get in. You won't be able to pull the fully-loaded canoe, with people, through there, because of the shallow rocks. With a 72 and a 10 year old along, it was about two hours from the entry point to those first campsites on Fourtown. Have a great trip! M |
| Itchy Menace |
07/21/2012 04:10PM Just wondering where the beaches are on Fourtown. |
| ekffazr |
07/20/2012 01:47PM ekffazr, it sounds like we are heading in the same day. I was thinking of going to boot, how far in are you planning to go? we are 5 adults 1 kids.....dont have any solid plan where to go yet....gonna just wing it. maybe see ya at the EP that morning :) |
| mnwild |
07/20/2012 01:36PM Any suggestions on finding the beaches and the car on fourtown. I will have 6 kids and 3 adults going in August 11th. The kids will range from 4 - 14. ekffazr, it sounds like we are heading in the same day. I was thinking of going to boot, how far in are you planning to go? Any thoughts on the length of travel time from Fourtown to the falls through the horse river? Just wondering if that would be a good day trip, might be a little long. Thanks |
| Itchy Menace |
07/20/2012 12:25PM Where are the beaches? My kids will love that! |
| ATK |
07/20/2012 12:12PM We went through this area in 2010 and 2011. We had two four year olds a 6 year old, 13 and 15 year olds. All went through without a problem. I thought the portages through to Tin Can Mike were much more difficult for the kids. But it was much hotter as well. Side note, don't miss the beaches on Fourtown. They are very nice (we missed them the first year as the water level was high and did not see them!) Have a great trip! |
| BWPaddler |
07/19/2012 11:48PM Thanks Geo! Peeked at it tonight, will find time to look at the whole thing. From the looks of it, I'd have to have her "help me" carry the canoe somehow so she'd be glued to me or something. Maybe she could be convinced to hold on to a painter behind me...? I generally give her pretty much room/freedom up there - she races ahead with the first load (no, I do not worry about bears) and explores and we eventually meet up. Yes, it's a bit risky, but so far so good. In areas where there might be more than one trail so she'd get lost or where there might be trail hazards, that's what I have to be cautious about. Probably gonna depend on whether it's just the two of us at that point or if we have other adults along. Conversely, I know we'll have two other adults going IN... suppose we could consider going in that direction and back out a different way. Lots of info to consider - thanks again! |
| Lazerath |
07/19/2012 03:39PM Thanks for the video GeoFisher. I'm looking at taking the same portage and this helps. |
| boonie |
07/19/2012 01:56PM BWP- Geo's video will give you a good look at the middle portage going out. Looks like a couple of places it was closer to the edge than I remembered, definitely some places where you need to be careful. |
| GeoFisher |
07/19/2012 12:09PM Hey the Video I made this past year, includes the entire Mudro/FourTown portage..... It was pretty tough, and has some areas that are a pretty far drop for someone falling. Take a look........ The portage you are looking at starts at the 22:00 minute mark on my video.... Boundary Waters 2012 I hope this helps. Later, Geo |
| BWPaddler |
07/18/2012 11:39PMquote Itchy Menace: "I'm going on Monday with a 9 year old and two 4 year olds. I'll let you know if we live." Do that and take pics!! boonie - yeah, I "let" her do whatever she wants ;) Zulu, thanks for the photo. Now I don't know whether to hope for low or high water for this trip :) Like the idea of going out that way with smaller packs. Just breathe deep, and take it one step at a time I guess. Thanks all. |
| Zulu |
07/18/2012 10:23PM This is the portage at Fourtown Lake in low water last August. We walked around the cliff through the boulders on the right. I believe you would only have to scale the cliff in high water. The cliff is steeper than it appears in photo. You and the kids will be fine. Have fun. |
| Itchy Menace |
07/18/2012 10:02PM I'm going on Monday with a 9 year old and two 4 year olds. I'll let you know if we live. |
| boonie |
07/17/2012 10:13AM Well, BWP, if you let her do that in CA, I wouldn't worry about this ;). You are probably less likely to have knee problems from slipping if you come out that way since the steep slopes would be uphill, but may require a lot of knee/leg strength...? The northern one was not lineable when I was there late Sept a few years ago. Be aware that way is basically a rock garden, which could be tough on your knee too. |
| BWPaddler |
07/17/2012 08:47AM ok, anyone care to comment on which directionn is easier? Kiddo can stay on a wooded trail, but would likely try to view over the edge of anything "interesting". Couple years ago she "escaped" from the campsite (well OK, they all three escaped in the blink of an eye) and scrambled up to a plateau above limestone ocean cliffs (CA). Off course she had to SPIT off the cliff to the sea sand below, and try to take a picture of it for me. So, I know EXACTLY how close to the edge she was... At least she didn't have a 40 pound pack, 2 life jackets, and 3 paddles to carry at the time. boonie, yep that WV lack of guardrails anywhere in the state is a testament to "personal responsibility"... we still joke about that - you are on your own anywhere that might be risky. It's a cultured ethic and I love it. Knee did fine in May (100+200 rods to Polly). Mainly, I just focus on keeping it in straight line... ankles can twist and bend, but knee should remain straight. Inclines OK, steps up over 12-18" in height hard, crawling on rock NOT GOOD. I amm also nervous about it with wet smooth slick rock underneath - most likely scenario for re-injury that I can see. I'm super cautious at sloped landings. I assume "SOMEHOW" everyone makes it over those portages and lives to tell about it. Don't hear stories of someone stranded for days because it's totally impossible... right? Inclined to plan it for END of trip when loads are lighter... I'm not sure if there will be another adult or not. A friend and college age kid are coming, but may leave after a few short days and we'd stay and continue a loop. Still discussing if college kid can get that time off work... Which one is wet-foot-lineable? The northernmost? ekffazr - funny! meals!! boonie, your friend is BAD! |
| ekffazr |
07/16/2012 06:12PMquote boonie: "effazr- I'll bet you'll have fun. Are you as "bad" as my friend who used to take inner city kids to Algonquin? They'd worry about all the noises in the night being bears, so he'd just tell them "if you hear it, it's not a bear - they don't make a sound when they come into camp" :). Well, it's just the truth. He said the record was the boy who stayed up the first three nights. " I started with the bear and wolf stories in January :) I love those stories funny though her biggest fear currently is the 3 nights its her turn to cook |
| boonie |
07/16/2012 03:00PM effazr- I'll bet you'll have fun. Are you as "bad" as my friend who used to take inner city kids to Algonquin? They'd worry about all the noises in the night being bears, so he'd just tell them "if you hear it, it's not a bear - they don't make a sound when they come into camp" :). Well, it's just the truth. He said the record was the boy who stayed up the first three nights. |
| Mesaba |
07/16/2012 01:13PM We're heading in there on Thursday with a 10 year old who sounds like a carbon copy of yours... 'cept for a few physical details. The portage itself isn't anything. However, the landing is steep and tough and you almost need to stage it. Rest at the top, figure out your way down, and do it. Make sure your 10 year old is behind you to slow her down. As far as your knee, that is a separate concern. Will you have another adult who can carry the gear up and down the slope? And/or how much do you have to baby it? I'll probably let you know how the 10 year old did when we get back! :D M |
| ekffazr |
07/16/2012 12:37PM sounds like fun to me :) taking an 11 year old girl, never been camping (outside a camper) never been canoeing or backpacking......or even in the woods more than 100 yards wide gonna be fun, I will have to keep this info in mind....maybe tell made up horror stories about it before we go......I am cruel that way :) when ya going BWpaddler??? we are dipping in Aug 11-19 |
| boonie |
07/16/2012 12:17PM BWP - +1 sorta ;) The middle portage does run along a gorge, but it's not hanging on the edge of the precipice. Of course, I'm from WV you know ;). If she's prone to not paying attention and wandering off the trail... Another concern would be the end of it - there's a fairly steep drop down a granite slope of about 50-60' maybe to a rocky landing on the creek. Then there's the end of the final short portage that mirth shows in his picture - 10-12' very steep drop. You may be able to go through the creek, but it's rocky and slippery. If you had the chance to do a day trip yourself...? |
| mirth |
07/16/2012 11:57AM BWP - only you know your kids best. Was through those portages last September and I didn't think they were all that bad. Yes, the middle Fourtown portage the trail does drop off but its probably a good 6' or more wide at that point if memory serves correctly. My 10yo often has the impulsivity of a 6yo as well and I wouldn't think twice about taking that route. Maybe the initial carry for you would be light stuff first, so you can walk it with her to experience the drop? The final portage into Fourtown has options depending on water level. You may just be able to wetfoot portage the creek. I do remember thinking it would be gnarly if water was higher.  
|
| BWPaddler |
07/16/2012 10:59AM First trip out of Mudro, still planning route. Should I be scared off the portages between Mudro and Fourtown? I'll have a very impulsive 10yo with me (think more like a 6yo), and I cannot hold her hand the whole way... Also, I have a knee I have to baby a bit. I've read reports of "worst portage landing EVER" and "amazed at how the trail drops off on the side"... am I asking for trouble to go that route with a child like mine? |
Copyright © 2002-2013 www.bwca.com- Legal Notice DMCA