I am finally returning to Boundary Waters nearly 20 years after my last trip. This time I will be bringing my son (age 11) and brother along with me who have never been to the Boundary Waters. We are coming for a five night excursion the week of July 4th. My question is I have decided to use a three man canoe instead of having one canoe with just a single person in it. I have never used a three person canoe and wondered if I made the right choice? We will be going from Sea Gull through Ogish through SAK through Hanson and up around monument portage. Is there anything in particular along that route that we should do or see? Its the only route I have ever been on but it has been so long since I have been in the BWCA I figured you all who have been through the area in recent years could enlighten me on fishing spots or hiking locations. My son is really curious about the jumping rocks I jumped off of but I don't remember where they were located along the route.

Last question is how far do you all think is a legitimate spot we could get to if we get to our drop off point at around 8a? I am wanting to go hard the first day and maybe be able to set up base camp for 2-3 nights before moving on to a final camp site for the remaining 2 nights on Sag . I have a campsite on the SAK that I have stayed at every time and I am really hoping it is available for us to use, but I didn't know if it is unrealistic to think we could make it from Sea Gull to SAK in one day????

Thank you all for such a great site, I enjoy reading all the posts daily.

I can't help you very much but the SK/Hanson portage is pretty cool. Portage half your stuff to the top of the falls, go get the rest and do the same thing. Then kinda regroup and portage to Hanson. It's a lot easier and more enjoyable like that. The landing at Hanson is really weird, it's not dangerous or anything like that, there's a tree there that has grown about 8 million roots out into the landing. Do the same thing on the portage from Ester to Ottertrack, take all your stuff to the top of the ridge before you start down. That portage, on the Ester side, is really steep for a very short distance, then you just have to stay on top of your feet down to Ottertrack. One muddy stretch but it's a helluva lot easier from that side than it is the other way. The first camp north of the Hanson portage on SK is a good camp, as are the next 2 on the east side, up in a little bay, but those can be pretty buggy. Absolutely get onto Sag and camp, as opposed to trying to make a whole day run across there. Try to get to American Point sorta late in the day, sometimes the wind gets bad but it will generally settle down in the evening. The last 2 camps before AP are both on a sheltered bay, provided they're not occupied you can wait there til it gets more comfortable. I always stay on Englishman Island, the south camp is nicer but the north has some of the best sunrise/sunset photo ops in the whole place. From there, in all but absolutely life threatening conditions you're 2 hours or less from the Seagull river. If you get into a really bad south wind on Sag, "island pick" your way to the south bank. On the map you will eventually get trapped in a bay, but there's an old portage, about 5 rods that will get you out. I'll go back through my maps and see if I can get you more info on that.






Sunrise on Englishman Island


The GPS on that portage is lat 48.2024, lon -90.9101. You'll find it without that

One more thing. I there's a decent north wind, the waves will sorta trap against the current at the mouth of the Seagull. I makes a weird condition, maybe there's an 18 inch swell but the crests are 20 feet apart. It's not a big deal, it's just weird, that's the only place I've ever seen that.

Maybe a canoe and a kayak.

Welcome back & welcome to bwca.com!

Did that route (in reverse ) several years back. The Trip report should give you some ideas.





Sea Gull to SAK in one day is a loooong haul & I wouldn't recommend traveling that far on day one with newbies/kids on your first trip in 20 years. But, that's just my opinion.

Did that route years ago with my 10 yr. daughter and her 11 yr. old friend. my son was 12 and his paddle partner was about 16. It was a great trip.
To answer your question I would definitely go with the 3 man canoe. It's larger so can handle rougher water. You will go faster because you have 3 paddlers and less boats to portage.
I would try to get across Seagull very early in the A.M. as it can get rough same goes with Big Sag.

The Cavity and Ham Lake fires of 06-07 may have changed some of the views you remember along the route. It's not too bad 10 years later.....but it's different.

You might also find more people than the last time you visited. The holiday will be a busy time and campsites tend to get picked by 3-4 pm even though there is a lot of light left. I would recommend picking some potential camp sites along the way agreeing that is a looong way. Trip reports are great resources and the maps feature has links to comments and sometimes photos of campsites that are helpful in planning where to stop. Pick a couple alternatives and do not travel too late the first day.
Sorry no tips on what to see or do on that route. Enjoy.

You guys are awesome, thanks for the responses. I have looked at the maps for the last several weeks and have made note of a lot of the campsites on Ogish that we can stay at, or if we make it farther I have looked at the campsites on Jenny and Eddy if by chance we make excellent time across Sea Gull(if the weather cooperates). I am planning on pulling into SAK during the second day and making base camp for at least a couple nights before moving on through Hanson and seeing how far we can get for a couple more nights before the end of our trip. My hope is to make it out into Sag somewhere so the final day paddle isn't a grueling one.

The campsite on SAK next to the Hanson portage is the site I have stayed at every time I have been to the BWCA and I hope it is available this time as well. I just hope that the Northerns are biting like they have every other time I have been as well. My boy hasn't caught a Northern yet so I am hoping he can reel in as many hammer handles as his little arms can reel in during the trip.

I've also stayed at the Hanson portage site. I know this probably isn't typical but we saw one boat in 2 days. It rained on us for 3 days and then busted off sunny and 84, we had a large drying out session.

I think you would do well with a three person canoe, especially if your brother does not have much experience paddling. If you were to do a solo canoe and a tandem canoe with an 11 year old, it is basically having two solo canoes. Any forward paddling momentum you get from a first time 11 year old paddler is a bonus and shouldn't be counted on for a full days paddle. I'd say the same thing for portaging. Try to have a smaller lighter pack like a day pack, or back pack for your son to portage.