I'm looking for any recent experiences from Entry Point 52 (Brant Lake). My wife and I will be staying at Tuscarora Lodge a night, as per the usual, then shoving off the morning after.

At this time, I'm considering paddling Cross River to take the route through Cross Bay Lake into Long Island Lake as a Day 1. Does anyone have any experience or recent information on fishing, bugs, weather, water levels, or any other information?

Second route option is to take the West Round Lake route to Gillis as a Day 1. I've read some trip reports on this route that it's rather rocky along some of the route, and overgrown in other places. Can anyone confirm this? I've looked at the topography and it seems to me that the hills aren't the worst thing I've seen. I'm also concerned with water levels on this route; anyone have recent experience on this route?

As usual, I'm also concerned with fishing, bug reports, and any insight as to weather for this route.

Respectfully,

StoicPrimate

Call the outfitter, they're right on that lake and KNOW the current situation as good or better than anyone. If you're on social media they share some pretty cool current stuff too.

Just clarifying. Do you already have an EP 52 (Brant) permit? Brant is EP 52 and Cross Bay is EP 50. You can't use a Brant permit to go in through Cross Bay and vice versa. If you want to go in through Cross Bay, you have to have an EP 50 permit. If I am misunderstanding your post, please forgive me. Thanks.

Tom

Your first route option would be going against the spirit and the letter of the law. The permits are split up the way they are for many good reasons. Brant Lake is often the last of these 3 EPs to fill up as it is quite a slog to get to Gillis with lots of rocky portages and that staircase between Flying and Gotter that must be near impossible with low water. I did this leg twice (in and out) in 2016. Water levels were OK at the time (early July). I don't remember any of it being overgrown or having difficulty finding any of the portages. It was easier on the way out but if I get another EP52 permit some day I will probably exit another way, and if we were packing heavy I would hope for a night on Brant lake to split it up. I hear about a lot of groups preferring the long portages in/out of Tuscarora to the Brant lake route. You'd need an EP51 permit to enter that way but you can exit that way on any permit. Bugs are especially bad this year but should be settling down soon.

As quark and z4k said your EP #52 permit takes you through Brant not Cross Bay, which is EP #50. I've done Brant a little more recently than z4k and water levels at the time were a little on the higher side, which ironically made the staircase portage awkward for me as a solo since the landing was one of the lower steps. Otherwise there's nothing terribly difficult about the portages if the hills aren't worrisome. If you get a Cross Bay permit and go to Long Island, the travel is about the same as Brant to Gillis, about as many portages (load/unload) and maybe a couple are longer through from Brant.

Just returned from a trip that direction.

Brant Lake EP --> Peter Lake (night 1) --> Gabimichigami (night 2) --> Little Sag --> Tuscarora (night 3) (+ many other lakes in between). Overall, 20+ portages with that giant Tusc portage to cap of the trip and a paddle to a shower at Tusc Lodge.
Friday, July 22 - Monday, July 25.

Excellent Lake Trout fishing, abundant blueberries. The past weekend had all sorts of conditions -- including some very windy paddles and a few wind/rain events that caused us to pull off the water a couple of times. Overall, an awesome trip.

Portages in that area are definitely rocky -- a bit more challenging than some other EP's. Bugs were noticeably less than what we experienced in June, though you'll want to pack your bug dope. No issues with water levels that we experienced.

Will post a trip report sometime in the next couple of days.

Just got back from this area. As mentioned, if you have a Brant Lake EP, you can't go in via Cross Bay Lake, you have to enter thru Brant. We had a late start our first day (11:40am) and made it to Bat Lake. I won't kid you, we were tired out. The portages between Round and Brant are relatively flat, though rocky and somewhat muddy (especially with the rain this year), but no deep mud and many stretches have boardwalks. The portages between Brant and Gillis have technical, rocky footing and some challenging landings. It was too rocky for me to carry 2 packs so we had to 1.5 portage. The stairs from Gotter to Flying were just rebuilt in stone (they were just finishing when we went through) and have a slightly better landing than before (doesn't just go from last step to water any more. Note, that there are only 3 campsites on Brant and they generally fill so there aren't a lot of options until you reach Bat or Gillis.

If you aren't base camping, I recommend traveling to Little Sag the next day. Nice lake with a lot of privacy. You can then loop back up and exit via Missing Link.