Planning a September base camp trip and leaning towards Gabbro(EP33). I have read a couple of mentions of mining/drilling noise that can be heard on the lake coming from the south. Those posts were a couple years ago. Does anyone know if this is still the case? I know Gabbro area can be crowded, but the noise of machinery would eat at me more than anything.

Don't. Think. Twice.

Life is short, enjoy what you can, and don't sweat the small things you have no control over!!
Many rumors you hear are meant to inflame, not inform!!!
You're already starting off on the wrong foot!! :)

It's not that I am not going to call off the trip. It is more that there are other lakes and EPs that I have on the list that I might consider instead. So I do have control over that.

I don't expect complete solitude and quiet, but I try to get the best wilderness experience that I am able to. I do not get a lot of these trips and it is a long drive from the city I live in with a lot of expense involved. I look forward to turning off my cell phone for a few days and not hearing the sounds of everyday "city life".

I don't mean to start a mining debate or anything like that. I am just trying to personally make an informed decision based off what I expect and hope for in a trip like this.

This is a great EP. I would definitely choose it for your September base camp trip. There’s great fishing for several species, good scenery, good to great campsites in the area, and good day trip options. Whatever you choose, enjoy your trip and happy hook setting!

I dont know status but I was in area in fall three years ago and could hear some noise. I was back a year later and dont recall it that trip.

I have spent much time in this area and never have heard a drill rig. To the best of my knowledge the closest drilling to Gabbro was more then 5 plus miles to the S.W. closer to highway 1. They were logging less then 1 mile south of Gabbro a few years back and you could hear it from Gabbro. The spots they were cutting were at higher elevations just north of Nickel Lake.

Try not let the noise of machinery eat at you. Jets fly over the bwca on an hourly basis. A few weeks ago I was fishing NW of Gabbro and saw- heard a forest service plan three days in a row.

I agree that it was not a huge bother. I thought what I heard was the test drilling near the South Kawishiwi near the River Point Resort, but maybe not.

Moosepatrol: "I have spent much time in this area and never have heard a drill rig. To the best of my knowledge the closest drilling to Gabbro was more then 5 plus miles to the S.W. closer to highway 1. They were logging less then 1 mile south of Gabbro a few years back and you could hear it from Gabbro. The spots they were cutting were at higher elevations just north of Nickel Lake."

We heard this noise in 2013 I think it was?

It was barely audible, but we did pick up the sound of some saws running or something. Not a deal breaker at all.

If you think it will bother you, go somewhere else. There are lots of good fishing lakes elsewhere. No one should travel that far for a little solitude and have to put up with the noise if they don't want to.

Man-made noises bother me while in the BW. I was tripping on the west side just south of LLC and did not realize that I would be bombarded by the sounds of motorboats and float planes from the Canadian side of the border. I loved the area, but will think twice about visiting there again for that reason. And while I have enjoyed tripping from the Gunflint Trail on the east side, I have again been sonically accosted by motorboat noise from Seagull and Saganaga Lake, diesel engines out on the Gunflint Trail, and the beepers from backup warning signals - all several miles from the entry point. I barely tolerate the intrusive noise from passing aircraft. The jets passing overhead at 2 o'clock in the morning invariably wake me from a dead sleep.

Read "One Square Inch of Silence" by Gordon Hempton and John Grossman.

There are not many places in the BWCA that are devoid of human noises. I find the winter time is the best time hear only “natural” sounds.

Michwall2: "If you think it will bother you, go somewhere else. There are lots of good fishing lakes elsewhere. No one should travel that far for a little solitude and have to put up with the noise if they don't want to.


Man-made noises bother me while in the BW. I was tripping on the west side just south of LLC and did not realize that I would be bombarded by the sounds of motorboats and float planes from the Canadian side of the border. I loved the area, but will think twice about visiting there again for that reason. And while I have enjoyed tripping from the Gunflint Trail on the east side, I have again been sonically accosted by motorboat noise from Seagull and Saganaga Lake, diesel engines out on the Gunflint Trail, and the beepers from backup warning signals - all several miles from the entry point. I barely tolerate the intrusive noise from passing aircraft. The jets passing overhead at 2 o'clock in the morning invariably wake me from a dead sleep.


Read "One Square Inch of Silence" by Gordon Hempton and John Grossman.


"

I think you need a good set of ear plugs and head phones if a jet at 35000 ft wakes you up at 2am.

The Great Outdoors: "Life is short, enjoy what you can, and don't sweat the small things you have no control over!!
Many rumors you hear are meant to inflame, not inform!!!
You're already starting off on the wrong foot!! :)"

Please define what we have no control over.

Thread drift can't even be controlled.

Noise is not the only damage jets do to our environment.

Jets won't fly without the metals of those mines. The "irony" on Da Range.

mutz: "

Michwall2: "If you think it will bother you, go somewhere else. There are lots of good fishing lakes elsewhere. No one should travel that far for a little solitude and have to put up with the noise if they don't want to.



Man-made noises bother me while in the BW. I was tripping on the west side just south of LLC and did not realize that I would be bombarded by the sounds of motorboats and float planes from the Canadian side of the border. I loved the area, but will think twice about visiting there again for that reason. And while I have enjoyed tripping from the Gunflint Trail on the east side, I have again been sonically accosted by motorboat noise from Seagull and Saganaga Lake, diesel engines out on the Gunflint Trail, and the beepers from backup warning signals - all several miles from the entry point. I barely tolerate the intrusive noise from passing aircraft. The jets passing overhead at 2 o'clock in the morning invariably wake me from a dead sleep.

Read "One Square Inch of Silence" by Gordon Hempton and John Grossman.
"

I think you need a good set of ear plugs and head phones if a jet at 35000 ft wakes you up at 2am."

I have been woken two nights in row in the middle of the night by jets a lot lower than 35000 feet with afterburners crackling going somewhere in a hurry.

airmorse: "

The Great Outdoors: "Life is short, enjoy what you can, and don't sweat the small things you have no control over!!
Many rumors you hear are meant to inflame, not inform!!!
You're already starting off on the wrong foot!! :)"

Please define what we have no control over."

You do not have control over anything except yourself, and at certain times Mother Nature and fate puts you in a situation where you have absolutely no control over anything. (cancer, accident, etc)
Any noise you hear, whether in the BWCAW or in your back yard, is the result of some activity caused by human demand for the product that creates said noise.
Sorry, It's just the way the world is and you can't do a thing about it except avoiding any and all products created by ANY noise.

Michwall2: "

mutz: "

Michwall2: "If you think it will bother you, go somewhere else. There are lots of good fishing lakes elsewhere. No one should travel that far for a little solitude and have to put up with the noise if they don't want to.



Man-made noises bother me while in the BW. I was tripping on the west side just south of LLC and did not realize that I would be bombarded by the sounds of motorboats and float planes from the Canadian side of the border. I loved the area, but will think twice about visiting there again for that reason. And while I have enjoyed tripping from the Gunflint Trail on the east side, I have again been sonically accosted by motorboat noise from Seagull and Saganaga Lake, diesel engines out on the Gunflint Trail, and the beepers from backup warning signals - all several miles from the entry point. I barely tolerate the intrusive noise from passing aircraft. The jets passing overhead at 2 o'clock in the morning invariably wake me from a dead sleep.


Read "One Square Inch of Silence" by Gordon Hempton and John Grossman.
"

I think you need a good set of ear plugs and head phones if a jet at 35000 ft wakes you up at 2am."

I have been woken two nights in row in the middle of the night by jets a lot lower than 35000 feet with afterburners crackling going somewhere in a hurry."

Probabaly these folks then, I've seen and heard them flying around Isabella.

They (NG) are a rush. We were walking on the beach where the creek comes in south of Glensheen near S 21st Ave E one time. They came roaring down the creek bed about 200 ft high. Made your chest vibrate. They were flying F4 Phantoms at the time, so it was awhile ago.

The 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth flew 2 f-16s over Ely at noon on the 4th. Nothing like the patriotism on the Range on Independence day.

Moosepatrol: "The 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth flew 2 f-16s over Ely at noon on the 4th. Nothing like the patriotism on the Range on Independence day."

Amen to that.
Several years ago Ely was fortunate enough to be the home town of both pilots in the 4th of July flyover. They went the length of Sheridan Street, turned around and came back again about 200 feet above the ground.
Absolutely awesome, and put chills down the spine of anyone that's ever been in the military in a less than desirable location during the late 60's to early 70's!!!
If that sound bothers you, too bad!!! :)

The Great Outdoors: "Absolutely awesome, and put chills down the spine of anyone that's ever been in the military in a less than desirable location during the late 60's to early 70's!!!"

Love the sights and sounds of a fighter jet going through it's paces. Awesome doesn't adequately describe it.

I'm one who has commented about hearing the exploratory drilling on earlier trips. My wife and I based 3 nights on Gabbro in 2017 and didn't hear anything at all like I had previously.

schweady: "I'm one who has commented about hearing the exploratory drilling on earlier trips. My wife and I based 3 nights on Gabbro in 2017 and didn't hear anything at all like I had previously.
"

So far any drilling was core drilling for samples. I think it's odd with all the BWCA has to offer and if these noises would bother you why you'd even consider going there. Personally, I'd be fine.

nctry: "

schweady: "I'm one who has commented about hearing the exploratory drilling on earlier trips. My wife and I based 3 nights on Gabbro in 2017 and didn't hear anything at all like I had previously.
"

So far any drilling was core drilling for samples. I think it's odd with all the BWCA has to offer and if these noises would bother you why you'd even consider going there. Personally, I'd be fine. "

Gabbro is an absolute favorite. I had heard that the core sampling south of there had been completed. My wife and I spent a marvelous 3 nights there. Nothing "odd" about that.

The occasional and muffled but obvious sounds we heard years back did not actually "bother." The reason for their existence did.