A couple of recent posts indicate that portions of this portage are again under water due to beaver activity. There are older maps that show portions of this portage could be bypassed by paddling. I was wondering if anyone had tried to paddle a portion of this? As I recall this is a large grassy area. Is there enough water to float a canoe?

I came down the trail from Zenith on June 7. Yes water over the new bridge is about knee deep. We thought about launching the canoes and paddling through the flooded forest, but I am not sure how much time that would save........ maybe more frustrating than rewarding. We ended up wading in and carried rather than paddled. I liked the trail from Zenith to the beaver pond, but after that, not so much.

The week before our trip I asked Sawbill about the trail. The only thing they told me was that there was a new bridge. They didn't tell me or didn't know that it was underwater. Beavers work fast.

Beavers also did one fine job of raising the water levels on Duck and Hug. Duck was a pretty sad pond when I last came that way in spring 2013.

Went through there June 4th. Paddling it looked like more of a hassle than wading, and definitely not a time saver. The underwater path is solid, not mucky, knee deep at most. The boardwalk leading to the bridge was about a foot under water and the bridge itself was barely out of the water. I videoed the walk across but have not loaded it to YouTube yet. It's wet......but not nasty.

Thanks HPD and CD. Cowdoc -The photo reminds me a lot of Howl Swamp. HPD - I wonder if they rerouted the portage south of the beaver pond? I think it used to run next to the old wet area with the path only a few inches higher than the water. Lots of exposed roots.

We are entering July 29 out of Sawbill with a Louse River route in mind. If we do that, the question becomes how to return. Up to Little Sag and down through Mesaba and back over that 460 again or back through the Lady Lakes? I haven't been through the Lady Lakes in a while, but I always hate to miss the chance to spend a night on Little Sag or Mesaba.

I loaded it to youtube swamp crossing

Thanks. It looks doable without the float

quote Michwall2: "
We are entering July 29 out of Sawbill with a Louse River route in mind. If we do that, the question becomes how to return. Up to Little Sag and down through Mesaba and back over that 460 again or back through the Lady Lakes? I haven't been through the Lady Lakes in a while, but I always hate to miss the chance to spend a night on Little Sag or Mesaba. "

I'll be keeping an eye open for your trip report Michwall2! We're planning on heading in on Kawishiwi Aug 19th and back to Sawbill via the Louse River/Wine/Lujenida route. If it's a skunky mess for you, we may just change plans and go over the top through Little Sag etc, and drop down through Long Island/Cherokee, saving the Louse for another year.

quote Michwall2: "Thanks HPD and CD. Cowdoc -The photo reminds me a lot of Howl Swamp. HPD - I wonder if they rerouted the portage south of the beaver pond? I think it used to run next to the old wet area with the path only a few inches higher than the water. Lots of exposed roots.


We are entering July 29 out of Sawbill with a Louse River route in mind. If we do that, the question becomes how to return. Up to Little Sag and down through Mesaba and back over that 460 again or back through the Lady Lakes? I haven't been through the Lady Lakes in a while, but I always hate to miss the chance to spend a night on Little Sag or Mesaba. "

I used the Howl swamp portage June 17 2014 going from Tuscarora to Hubbub. Then you could walk the beaver dam to get to the other side with mostly dry feet.

This year, we came through the Howl swamp on June 3 going from Hubbub to Tuscarora. The beaver have stepped up activity at the dam and now the water is into the trees on the SE side. Getting to the dam would be tough and there was no solid footing when you got there. We launched the canoes and paddled to the the NW side.

The trail from Hubbub to the pond was pretty good with no trees across the trail. The trail from the pond to Tuscarora had several trees across the trail but generally good

You will also find high water (beavers again) over the Copper Lake side of the Copper to Snipe portage.

quote 1bogfrog: "

quote Michwall2: "
We are entering July 29 out of Sawbill with a Louse River route in mind. If we do that, the question becomes how to return. Up to Little Sag and down through Mesaba and back over that 460 again or back through the Lady Lakes? I haven't been through the Lady Lakes in a while, but I always hate to miss the chance to spend a night on Little Sag or Mesaba. "

I'll be keeping an eye open for your trip report Michwall2! We're planning on heading in on Kawishiwi Aug 19th and back to Sawbill via the Louse River/Wine/Lujenida route. If it's a skunky mess for you, we may just change plans and go over the top through Little Sag etc, and drop down through Long Island/Cherokee, saving the Louse for another year."

The Louse was a long day for us. We went from Wine to Malberg in just about 10 hours. Beavers have re-arranged the 105 east of Bug. You have to float over to a 6 foot dam and get your stuff over the dam and pick the trail up again and then walk with one foot in the river for a while on a partially flooded trail. Beautiful, wild area but it was a tough day.

I have been through the Wine to Trail route before and do not remember it fondly. I was thinking of going up to Mesaba and over to Dent and Bug to Trail. Although I would miss the falls on Mug Lake if there is enough water for it to be running. Trade offs.

I will try to take lots of notes either way.

I'm sitting on a hill just south of Sawmill heading in today. Appreciate the info and will post when I get out. Heading to Wine with day trip to see the falls on Mug.

I did it at the end of May and just assumed it was underwater due to multiple days of rain in a row leading up to our exit. Stay on the trail or you'll end up kneed deep or better.

Rain happened and Lujenida is wet. Not only the foot bridge which is much like pictured, but in several other areas. Generally if there is water standing the footing was solid although difficult to see the rocks and logs, but several areas of knee deep muck. I had several slips on rocks or muddy slopes. As always the advise to plant one foot before lifting the other pays profits. Long, but not really that difficult.
Beyond Lujenida the portages were overgrown and often it was not possible to see the actual trail so footing was an issue. The path was clear enough to follow, but grew more wild all the way into Mug where water was pouring over the falls. A second smaller falls was obvious to the left the main falls. A group coming out from the Louse River system noted finding the route and all the beaver activity made that part of their journey slow and difficult. Very beautiful up there and the group I mentioned was my only sighting of people once I left Kelso.

Thanks. Sounds like it will be a different trip than the last time I went through. I am excited about the possibility of falls on Mug.

The falls on Mug were flowing well in June and I don't think it's gotten drier.

Much greater flow than in June. I will get a picture posted, but there is a second falls to the left just under the birch in cowdoc's pic. Definitely worth the trip up to Mug. That portage is pretty grown over and hard to see for foot placement. I stepped of a couple drop offs I did not see due to ferns growing over the trail.

Last time I went through from Wine to Mug I slipped and fell on my butt twice on a steep, solid granite pathway. There were also oodles of blueberries. It was too early in the morning to spend much time eating them but we grabbed a couple of hands full. I hope to find a few this time through. Should be about the right time of year.