BWCA Seagull to Kekekabic Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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NursePaddler
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05/31/2018 02:59PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
So my wife and I will be putting in at Seagull and headed to the Kek/SAK area. We'll be single portaging, both of us are in our late 20s, 1 canoe. How long would it take us to get to Kekekabic? Also, where do you think would be less busy, Kek or SAK? Kinda wondering where we should try to base camp for a few days.
 
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05/31/2018 04:07PM  
Hello,

I have done that route many times. If this is not your first trip to the BWCA and you push off from Seagull's docks at 8am or 9am you will reach Kek by 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

The portages are all very easy. The only point that will be annoying is the Kek ponds area. It is a bunch of small lakes and even smaller portages. Some of which you can just walk your canoe up the stream.

About halfway down Kek on the northern shore there is a pretty good camp that has some high cliffs attached. It is a great place to swim and sit on top of the cliffs.

On Knife there is a lot of great site. One of my fave is on a little island just before you reach the narrows of the lake (going east to west). Large and grassy.

Both lakes are great for base camping. You will see more people on SLK just because it is on more routes.

RT
TuscaroraBorealis
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06/01/2018 10:04AM  
No guarantee but, I'd say most days Kek will almost certainly be less busy.
06/01/2018 02:02PM  
NursePaddler,

I'll be taking that same route with 2 kids, double portaging, on July 15th. Let me know what you think of that route, how long it takes, etc., we're not sure, weather aside, if we're trying to make Kek on day 1 or day two. May layover on Ogish if we're taking too long.

Thanks.
06/02/2018 01:08PM  
i havent been through the ponds to kekekabic , but have done seagull to the SAK many times and with double portaging it's usually 8 to 8 1/2 hours , it's a little farther but having to go through the ponds it would be about the same distance/time barring any major wind issues.
you said your single portaging, so you could take maybe an hour and a half off that time ? my best time out of the south arm was 6 hours 20 minutes (we were lighter and less portaging and it was a very cold opener everyone wanted to get back to the vehicles) you didnt mention if your seasoned paddlers ?
And with doing this route , my best advise is to be in the water close to day break and get seagull behind you ASAP , been stranded at the end of 3 mile more than once when the winds have kicked up. depending on wind direction the north side of 3 mile does provide a little more shelter.
best of luck and be safe ;)
Z4K
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06/02/2018 10:42PM  
I took this route a couple of years ago in late May. Two guys in their 20s and one canine in a tandem. We stayed at the far west end of Ogish for two nights before moving to Kek for the next 4 or 5 nights. We pulled into camp our first night around 3pm after getting a 9am tow, but we had done some fishing along the way.

I recommend the longer portage from Seagull to Alpine. Very wide, well maintained path.

Water levels were high so we could skip unloading the canoe (one way or another) at almost half of the portages between Ogish and Kek. They are all fairly easy and by that point in the trip you should have loading-unloading streamlined pretty well. I recall one portage being a boulder field but it didn't slow us down very much.

We made a mad dash out, leaving #1424 at 4pm and getting to the truck at Seagull Canoe Outfitters at midnight under a full moon. We were one-and-a-half portaging on the way out and had a strong SW wind at our backs pushing us up Ogish. SCO is most of a mile farther than the public ramp, but considering that we had less than a mile of Kek to paddle before hitting the portage, our trip was still shorter than most coming off of Kek. We did take a half hour break to eat.
Otherwise we were very efficient and it still took all of 8 hours.

JohnDKU, I would suggest planning for day two if the "kids" aren't "teenagers."

I've never been to South Arm but have always imagined it being one of the busiest lakes around from all the discussion about it. Kek was fairly quiet for us but if I was seeking seclusion I'd go to Barter. Maybe check out the better (middle) campsite on Eddy if you can't decide between Kek and SAK. However, it is only a quarter mile or so from a travel route/waterfall... The odds of spending a day or two windbound on Ogish/Barter/Jenny/Eddy are also much lower than Kek or SAK.
 
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