Hello there,

When I was 14 I did a 30 day trip with Outward Bound, this experience really changed my life. This summer I'm returning with my partner to recreate that experience in a 21 day voyage. I'm having issues finding articles of people that have done this, I'd love to learn from their mistakes and maybe find tips on how to make the trip as smooth as possible.

A few concerns I have:
-Food, packing that much food sounds difficult, I'd like to suppliment our meals with fishing(I'm a commercial fisherman) and foraging for berries/mushrooms(I'm an experienced forager). I've ruled hunting out as it seems too difficult as I'm not an experienced hunter.

-The best route to take entering from Northern MN

-How to rent gear/find gear. I don't want to purchase everything just for 1 trip. I live overseas in New Zealand now so bringing a canoe back isn't an option.

-Do I need a special permit for voyages like this? I could only find entry permits.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

Oh wow that sounds fun. Is this a solo trip? If not how many? You will need your entry permit into the BWCA along with an annual MN fishing license. I am not aware of any other paperwork besides Passport to get here.

I have little experience having only done one 11 day trip with a group of nine, but I have almost memorized the maps. If it was me, I might enter on the Western side of Ely and head North to the border and follow that past Curtain falls, Basswood falls and then toward the South Arm of Knife Lake. Then perhaps head south on some route that would have you coming out the Kawashiwi river perhaps near Lake One. Others here with more experience could probably suggest better routes.

Most outfitters that I have seen rent gear by the day and so for most small things, I would want my own gear. There is a list of outfitters off this site to check out and depending upon what route you take, would somewhat determine what outfitter to use for canoe rental. Get in touch with a few and see what they may suggest.

For food, our group of nine used up about 200 pounds of food over eleven days packed in blue barrels so figure about two pounds of food per day to pack. That does not include fishing. So if solo you would have a food pack plus pack with other gear, at least until your food load lightened up. Maybe you can figure out a way to lighten the load and single portage. Don't count on fish for every meal.

Oh, reread it and see you are coming with your partner. That would make single portaging much easier to accomplish. If you don't have a set of maps already, buy some. It is tons of fun planning your own route.

I did a 21 day trip the summer before graduating college. We packed all of our food, which was quite heavy but as the trip went on, it obviously got significantly lighter. We brought a lot of dried food, rice, bannock mix, oatmeal, etc. We supplemented with Fish roasted over the fire when possible.

As far as permits go, you just need a permit for your entry point and date as long as you are staying within the BWCAW the entire trip and not venturing into the Quetico or outside the park at any point.

The tough part for you will be the gear if you have to rent it. Cost is going to add up for a trip that long. Depending on when you are taking your trip, I may have some gear you are welcome to borrow. Blue barrel with harness, cooking gear, etc. I'm located just West of Minneapolis if you happen to be coming through the area.

Routes and entry points; there are endless possibilities. I would suggest a large loop where you start and end in the same location. Unless you are planning on a shuttle from an outfitter, then your options are even more plentiful. Our route was starting at Mudro EP, paddled to Basswood, followed the border to Saganaga and then headed back Southwest towards Ely via Ogish, Thomas, Insula and out the South Kawishiwi River. We had more than enough time to complete the route and ended up traveling only 10 out of the 21 days,. The other days were spent exploring on day trips, fishing, and hanging out around camp. With only 2 people you'll be able to cover a lot of ground.

Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions.

Food-

You can do it. You'll want to take dehydrated foods and calorie-dense (calories per ounce) foods that are compact and light. Nuts and nut butters are examples of foods with a high caloric density - about 175 calories per ounce. Fat is even higher, so oil and butter can be used to add calories if necessary.

Everyone's appetite and caloric needs are different, so part of the process is to know how much food you'll each need and pack enough, but not way more since food weight (and bulk) adds up. Mine usually comes to about 1 1/4 pounds per day. It was right around 15 lbs. for my last 12-day trip. Alan [Gage] took 42 days of food on a solo last year, so it can done - you and partner will need 42 person-days of food also, so it will be worth reading his comments and trip report.

Even doing this, you'll start out with a good bit of food weight. You should plan on double portaging, certainly in the beginning.

Here's a discussion you might find helpful.

I prefer the "freezer-bag cooking" style of dehydrated meals for weight/bulk reduction, simplicity, time savings, fuel savings, no clean up, etc.

You just need to go to the trip reports section to read about others' experiences and trips. This will give you some ideas on routes. You will have 21 days , so you'll be able to cover a lot of territory if you desire. You should figure in a few layover days for rest and when you can't travel due to weather conditions. Beyond that, you'll just need to try to get some idea of how fast the two of you will paddle and portage, as well as how many hours per day you'll want to travel. You should keep in mind that you must camp at a designated campsite and they are first-come, first-served; therefore, it's best to find one before too late in the day. It's also usually less windy in the morning and liable to be more problematic in the afternoon.

You can rent a canoe and any gear you need from an outfitter, but some things may be cheaper just to buy, especially used gear, for a 21-day trip. You'll want to get your canoe and gear from an outfitter near your entry point and not one hours away on the other side of the BW.

Just keep searching this site, reading, and asking questions and you'll get lots of help from people here.

Thanks for all the great information, I'll take a look into that route and buy some maps tonight! I'm pretty excited about planning the route out, but I don't want to do all the planning without my partner. It'll be her first time in the BW :) Great information on the Lbss per person, I figured 42 pounds should hold us over.
My sister might be joining in the last week of the trip, so we might be able to get a re-stock that way.
Thanks again!

quote BigCurrent:
The tough part for you will be the gear if you have to rent it. Cost is going to add up for a trip that long. Depending on when you are taking your trip, I may have some gear you are welcome to borrow. Blue barrel with harness, cooking gear, etc. I'm located just West of Minneapolis if you happen to be coming through the area.
"

Wow man thanks! I never expected this much hospitality in a forum. But I guess that's minnesota haha. Yeah we will be heading through mid july! I grew up in Bloomington so most of my family is located in the area, I was thinking of avoiding the loop and just getting a ride from my sister or something.

quote boonie: "Food-

Everyone's appetite and caloric needs are different, so part of the process is to know how much food you'll each need and pack enough, but not way more since food weight (and bulk) adds up. Mine usually comes to about 1 1/4 pounds per day. It was right around 15 lbs. for my last 12-day trip. . .

Thanks for the great information on the food. I was thinking of dehydrating the food for the trip, vacuum sealed bags are an excellent idea too. I'll have to look into Alan Gage's trip. This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for :)

I don't rely on nor follow route plans too much anymore. I take a few extra maps and make it up as I go. Assiduously avoid if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium trap. In your time frame, Crane Lake or LLC or even start near International Falls and head to Grand Portage would be a neat trip.

Don't rule out a resupply mid-trip. Either get some assistance - a friend or an outfitter - to bring you a food pack or two permits. Travel across BWCA and pass through Shagawa and shop, but two permits. I am considering having an outfitter drop a pack at Prairie Portage on a tow run.