This May will be my fourth time going into the BWCA. This time it's 3 of my other buddies and we are planning on finding a new entry point for this trip.

The past three times I have gone to EP 54 (I believe) on Seagull, and the route is becoming so easy to navigate that the last time we went without a map, and never got lost once!

We are looking to do a 7 day trip with a maximum of 3-4 portages (we usually double or triple portage our gear) and with a nice base-camp lake. We tend to set up camp and the venture off into smaller day trips from one location.

We don't mind smaller secluded lakes. Trying to avoid lakes such as Moose and other busy lakes, but I doubt that traffic will be a problem in mid May.

Any suggestions?

We are going in the middle of May, 15-23. What are the chances we will need to outfit our canoe with an ice-breaking hull? ;)

You said avoid places like Moose, but going there gives you access to Ensign or Knife in a few easy portages. Shouldn't have a ton of traffic that early

You might find entering Little Gabbro works well. One longish portage to landing, and then find a site on Gabbro or Little Gabbro - plenty of good ones. The opportunities for day trips - Isabella River, Gull to Turtle loop, Kawishiwi River in several directions.