I have heard that there is a big beaver dam that has made entry point 23 a bit of a hassle. Any updates on this? Any tips on best way around it?

One week till we leave, can't wait!

Brian

My wife's friend just exited through there last weekend. I'll see if I can find anything out for you.

The hassle is having to get out of your canoe and drag it over and get back in. The bonus is that it has raised the water level in the creek making travel to and from the beaver dam that much easier. Once over it it you have to cope with low water and rocks (another pull over) until the lake. Be thankful for the dam.

quote Banksiana: "The hassle is having to get out of your canoe and drag it over and get back in. The bonus is that it has raised the water level in the creek making travel to and from the beaver dam that much easier. Once over it it you have to cope with low water and rocks (another pull over) until the lake. Be thankful for the dam."

Thanks for the tip, I had read on another thread it was a major hassle getting around it so I am a bit relieved!

My wife's friend pretty much echoed what Banksiana wrote.

When I was there in May you could see a beaver damn was being started. I've heard horror stories of people needing to drag, pull, and wade all the way through Mudro Creek in low water which would be much worse than pulling over a beaver damn.

quote ducks: "My wife's friend pretty much echoed what Banksiana wrote.


When I was there in May you could see a beaver damn was being started. I've heard horror stories of people needing to drag, pull, and wade all the way through Mudro Creek in low water which would be much worse than pulling over a beaver damn."

I went in through mudro in 2011 while the pagami fire was in full effect. Extremely dry year so the water was extremely low in the creek and I had to wade through the creek for a long ways which was extremely difficult since the bottom is pretty much just decaying vegetation. If there had been a beaver Dam at that time things may have been easier...

I just did this trip the 19th-22nd. It is no big deal. Just a quick get out and pull the canoe over the beaver dam. Be careful a little east of there where it gets really rocky before the first portage. My wife and I got out of the canoe and pulled it through an area where there was very large rocks that the Kevlar canoe was going to hit for sure.

Mike

quote Bigbriwi: "I have heard that there is a big beaver dam that has made entry point 23 a bit of a hassle. Any updates on this? Any tips on best way around it?

One week till we leave, can't wait!

Brian"

Just went over it yesterday. Easy paddle to dam. Then a fairly easy pullover. Watch your step pulling through. You might get your boots wet. After that there are probably two places you'll have to get over and pull the canoe through. A minor inconvenience. Just part of the experience.

The dam is a big plus because it keeps water levels high on the creek above it, starting at the entry point. It is also easy to pull over. (We encountered it going upstream - going downstream from the entry point, it would be even easier). What's a pain is that below the dam the water level is very low and hard to paddle, and in the rocky narrows out to Mudro could be a hassle depending on how deep and wide your canoe is. But that's because water levels on Mudro itself are low, not because of the dam on the creek. Once you are out on Mudro, paddling is fine. Pulling over a beaver dam is a key boundary waters skill so enjoy!

I was in there at the end of July and there wasn't a beaver dam on Picket creek to Mudro. I had clear sailing along the creek up to the lake.

quote HighnDry: "I was in there at the end of July and there wasn't a beaver dam on Picket creek to Mudro. I had clear sailing along the creek up to the lake."

We were there August 12, so the dam must be new from late July. I was very surprised to see the low water levels on the lower part of Picket Creek into Mudro, as we paddled 18+ miles that day from Quetico and water levels did not seem low anywhere else. Also I live nearby, and water has been high in the area all summer. It made me wonder if the beavers had lowered their dam at the outlet of Mudro into the creek that flows into Fourtown lowering the level of Mudro and the lower part of Picket Creek, but that's just conjecture.

I was through in late May and the dam was there both on the way in and on the way out.