3 buddies and I are entering the BWCA from Brule in a week. We'll be canoeing around for 5 days. For 2 of us it’s the second time we've been in the BWCA, the first time for the others. We have been looking into loop options over the past few months. We've found two routes we're debating between and recently discovered a third that we're unsure is even possible.

Route A: Brule > South Cone > Middle Cone > North Cone > Davis > Kiskadinna > Muskeg > Long Island > Gordon > Cherokee > Sitka > North Temperance > South Temperance > Brule
Day 1: 4.1 (S Cone), Day 2: 9.6 (Muskeg), Day 3: 7 (Cherokee), Day 4: 8 (Brule) Day 5: 3.2 (EXIT)

Route B: Brule > South Temperance > North Temperance > Sitka > Cherokee > Town > Vesper > Gasket > Cam > Brule
Day 1: 3.2 (Brule), Day 2: 6 (N Temp), Day 3: 4.3 (Cherokee), Day 4: 8 (Brule), Day 5: 5 (EXIT)

NOT SURE IF THIS IS POSSIBLE
Route C: Brule > South Cone > Middle Cone > North Cone > Ida > Cucko > Cam > Vesper > Town > Cherokee > Sitka > North Temperance > South Temperance > Brule
-The Ida through Cucko to Cam is different on a lot of maps I’ve looked at, unsure if that’s a possible passage.

Main draw is lighter travel so we can spend time fishing and relaxing at the campsite. We’re really intrigued by the Cones, Temperances and Cherokee. Any tips on the routes, fishing or portages would be really helpful. Thanks!

"Main draw is lighter travel so we can spend time fishing and relaxing at the campsite."

I assume you are double portaging . . . ?

First, I would forget Route C. To the best of my knowledge there is no route through there. You would be bushwhacking through the middle of the Famine Lake fire (2006), which is likely thick, brushy, and littered with downfall.

Route A: Your second day will be a long one, mostly portaging, and most of that tough portaging. I have not been across the Davis portages, but am aware of them. On the Kiskadinna-Muskeg portage you'll at least be going downhill, but the steepness of "The Wall" will make that awkward at best and treacherous if wet. If you want to keep with Route A, you might want to try to shorten this day by lengthening another.

If you haven't done so, click on the "Maps & Entry Points" tab at the top of the page, select Brule Lake, scroll the map up to these portages, and click on them to bring up comments. The Davis route is not heavily traveled; the two commenters on the Davis-Kiskadinna portage are highly experienced and knowledgeable. I'd take their word for it.

Route B will probably meet your objective best.

These are really great areas, some of them not heavily frequented, some pretty heavily frequented. I have been in almost all of the areas you mention in both route A and B. I went there on two separate occasions with my then 15 year old daughter about 8 years ago. It was in the fall, we traveled light, single portaged and moved along. We did take time to do some short side routes for the sights but did no fishing.

First, this area is not known for great fishing. Brule has good fishing and perhaps the Cones and Long Island Lake but Cherokee is not known for fishing, there are reportedly only NP and LT in there but I have not fished it myself. The Temperances are supposed to be good, especially South I think. A lot of the other lakes are pretty small.

Secondly, This is a very rugged area. I think that is a plus, others say maybe not so much.
Our first trip was up to Cherokee from Sawbill then around through the Vesper, Gasket and Cam and back to Sawbill.
Our second trip was a loop from Brule and back to west end of Brule.
We launched on Brule in the afternoon and camped on Davis. The portage into Davis is long and a bit rugged but we liked it. Davis had been burned on the north and west sides, the center campsite was ok, didn't look like it got much use. The West end campsite was burned out at the time. The portage out of Davis to the north is long, and not hardly traveled at all. It was very wet when we went, many of the portages were underwater all over and this one ended up in a wade up a stream at the north end. We really liked this portage, very remote, hardly a path, a lot of it through some open areas.
We left Davis in the am and paddled & portaged to Townline east of Cherokee. Some rough portages, some burn on the entire area near Long Island. Previous mention of the hill going into Muskeg. A neat portage quite steep but very scenic. Camped on Townline after going through Gorden and Cherokee. Have been to Cherokee several times, very beautiful lake. Townline is intimate, the campsite is ok, a bit sloped with a stunning view from the throne up the hill.
From Townline down to Brule is one of my favorite areas in the BWCA. The lakes are fabulous little jewels with incredibly steep hills around them. Vesper, Gasket, Cam. We have named these portages something like this: Jungle Portage (in a valley with a ton of ferns and moss and wet roots), Up and Down ( over the Laurentein Divide), Rocky Road - ( just as it sounds, no where to place your feet except on basketball size rocks). Note there is no place to camp from Townline (one campsite) till North Temperance or Brule. This is a fairly long stretch but really nice. We did side trips up the west talus slope in Gasket to the top of the cliff and worked our way around to the west side, to the top of the really tall cliff in Cam, to the waterfall in Cam and a few other stops. Like I said, get your mind past the rugged portages and this place is heaven. Maybe there are fish in these small lakes, should be, they certainly look deep enough, supposed to be NP in Cam.
Again, did not fish, moved fast and light, spent little time in campsites, too much to see!

Route A is your most viable option I think based on many trip reports that I have read in the past and my brothers recent trips through that area numerous times. The portage between Sitka and Cherokee is likely your hardest on the route. Don't bother fishing on Cherokee. You'll catch a few NP but will spend a lot of time trying. I heard that the Temperances are beautiful and have good fishing. I'm sure you've read reports of how bad the wind is on Brule. Plan your day and route accordingly and be safe!

Thanks for all the information! Brule is the only part of the trip that makes me nervous. High winds and stormy weather will make crossing the lake a challenge. The last time we went we ran into some bad waves when caught out on a lake during a storm. Any tips on navigating Brule if the weather and winds aren't cooperative?

quote Northwoodsman: "Route A is your most viable option I think based on many trip reports that I have read in the past and my brothers recent trips through that area numerous times. The portage between Sitka and Cherokee is likely your hardest on the route. Don't bother fishing on Cherokee. You'll catch a few NP but will spend a lot of time trying. I heard that the Temperances are beautiful and have good fishing. I'm sure you've read reports of how bad the wind is on Brule. Plan your day and route accordingly and be safe!"

Sitka to Cherokee is a walk in the park compared to Davis to Kisk and Kisk to Muskeg (The Wall). Route will be rugged, few people, crappy fishing. Brule, Cones and Temperances will be best fishing chances.

quote Greeny10: "Thanks for all the information! Brule is the only part of the trip that makes me nervous. High winds and stormy weather will make crossing the lake a challenge. The last time we went we ran into some bad waves when caught out on a lake during a storm. Any tips on navigating Brule if the weather and winds aren't cooperative?"

The best way to deal with Brule is to be on the lake as early as humanly possible when the winds are typically calmer.

The other option is if you go with route A you could modify your route a little to get off of Brule sooner. You could take the route through Lily, Mulligan, and Wanihgan. Then head west into Cliff and connect to Upper Cone that way. It greatly reduces your time on Brule, avoids having to paddle into a west wind, and also provides more shelter from any wind you might have since there are more islands to hide behind. The downside of this route is that the longest portage on the route into Wanihgan is a lot longer than the maps show. This portage and the one before it are all now one long portage. Talking with some FS people I met on this route we compared notes and guessed the new longer portage at 300 rods at least but probably longer. Its not overly difficult in terms of terrain, its just long. You also add a longer portage out the west end of Cliff into Upper Cone. It will be up to you whether you'd rather portage more or paddle more. If Brule is really blowing out of the west you may find that your only option is to go this alternate route and deal with the portages. I've been on Brule in some rather unfavorable conditions and its really no fun.

After looking at the map a bit more I thought I'd add another suggestion. If you want/need to avoid paddling the open stretches of Brule the alternate route I posted above leaves you with very few camping options since upper cone doesn't have any sites which I forgot about. I'd suggest instead of going through Upper Cone and Davis you go up into Winchell and on into Omega and then west into Kiskadinna. You'll skip the rough portages in and out of Davis. Ive made the trip from EP 41 to half way down Winchell in 3-4 hours while double portaging so you can easily make Omega your first day and Long Island on day 2.