A friend and I are thinking about taking a 7-10 day trip E to W across the BWCA in mid August, with three adult paddlers (his high-school-aged son is #3) in one canoe (my NW18). We'd like to see how far we can get with long days of steady effort, but not trying to go all out all day, every day.

Single portage, small water. E->W is preferred because we don't want to decide ahead of time where we end, and we know the west side very well. We don't know the east side. We're considering EP 47 or EP 51. EP 47 to Mudro (the shortest we expect) is 70 miles of paddle plus 12 miles of (single) portage, while all the way to LIS is 110 miles of paddle plus 20 miles of portage. I expect we'll end up somewhere between those two, and we've been in at almost every EP there in the past.

I like 51 because it gets us right into the core area between the two sides, while my friend likes 47 because it gives us a lot of the long, narrow east-side lakes. Thoughts? Things we should consider?

I dont have much to add but....

I have heard frost river is nice and while 51 is closer 47 could get you there with a more true east to west route....

I have always wanted to go between snowbank and seagull via kekekabic. South arm of knife can be on the way along with wisini which have been on my list for a while.

Would you consider switching west to east in hopes of favorable winds?

Turn your trip around, start in the West and paddle East. You will thank us later and might even get to use a tarp sail.

I'm not one to talk here as I have done shuttles from Rainy Lake to Grand Portage, but you are going to spend two days doing shuttles that you could spend on the water. That "core area" that you mention provides for numerous long loops in wonderful country full of small lakes. What is even nicer is you can design your loop as you go as there are many ways to shortcut a longer loop. You also have "near loops" like starting at your #51 and ending at Seagull or Sag. I have always hitch-hiked back to Round Lake, but any of the outfitters at Trailsend will drive you back.

I don't understand the small lake issue. The big ones are beautiful and fun and almost always have a bigger variety of fishing opportunities. A Voyageurs Highway run of 7-10 days could start at one of your familiar entries on the west side and end at Saganaga or Gunflint depending on how well you do. Way more paddling than portaging. Just a different kind of trip.

Even small lakes catch at least some wind and some narrow ones act like a wind tunnel. Consider west to east. Your likely hood of a forced layover day is considerably less.

There are a lot of options, given your time and travel. A lot depends on what you want to do . . . ? see . . . ? What you want to avoid . . . ? Do you want to avoid the border lakes? Tough portages? Lots of portages? Have you ruled out any exit points that are within your range? Have you ruled out any entries on the east? How did you pick the two you picked?

Personally, if you've been in most places on the west, I'd say spend as much time on the east as possible while you're there. I'd start far east and wander around and see as much as possible. For example, of the two entries you listed, #47 will allow you to access the same country as #51 (or#50 or #52 for that matter), but you'll see more country before you get there and won't run out of places on the east to see as soon.

Did you consider entering at Meeds or Portage/Skipper? What about Morgan, Ram, or Bower Trout?

Would you exit at Lake One? South Kawishiwi/Little Gabbro? Snake River/Little Isabella River?

Sorry about all the questions - just having trouble wrapping my head around all the possibilities! :)

With that much time and a desire to see the east side of the BWCA, why not just enter at Clearwater or John or Pine or Daniels and go/see wherever your fancy leads you? Or is the goal to travel the entirety of the BWCA from one direction to the other?

I would go West to East also. Chances are the wind would be in your favor more times than not.

Carmike, I think our "goal" has been pretty muddled and evolving. We've been on several trips together (he's my second-most common trip partner, after my daughter), but on previous trips we've always had several boats, and others who were less interested in covering ground, so I think the primary goal is to see how much ground we can cover when we're setting the pace. There's something more satisfying about an end-to-end than a loop, for me at least, which I think is where the idea of going lengthwise started. E->W was considered because we don't know the east side, so it seems a better place to start, while the west side has many options that we know well for coming out.

But Boonie, Sedges, and others, besides the prevailing winds issue, you raise good questions about actually exploring the east side. I'm floating the idea now of a giant loop through the east / central instead.

Regarding small water, I'm a runner, and I legit enjoy portaging. I also like the way it breaks up the day to be paddling for a while, portaging for a while, paddle, portage, paddle, portage, etc., as opposed to just paddling across big water for hours. Also, I've never been wind bound on small water, and I hate being wind bound. But bwcadan, you're probably right that I'm underestimating the chance of being wind bound on small water, especially the narrow E-W oriented east side lakes.

Thanks for all the feedback! The goal is to have enough of a route plan by Jan 31 to pull our permit then; we can figure out the rest later.

I track the guys doing the border Challenge in the fall. They make some serious miles - 260 mile in 8 days or less. International Falls or Crane to Grand Portage. You three might make a great team and think about doing the Challenge. Shuttles are shared at both ends to reduce the cost and the time factor. If you are after miles, this might be an option.

Savage Voyageur: "Turn your trip around, start in the West and paddle East. You will thank us later and might even get to use a tarp sail. "

First thing I thought about when you mentioned your travel direction.

My first BWCA trip was a small lake trip due to my partners concern with sitting in a boat to long. It was a fiasco........paddle 10 minutes, get out, double portage and rinse and repeat. Way to much fishing equipment, bad case of blisters, etc.etc. But it was a good learning experience.....
.i learned I don't particularly like lots of small lakes.

Any ideas, Tom, about where you might begin, end, what you'd like to see? A lot of options, a lot of places I've been, a lot I haven't but want to see.