Hello Friends, I am new the community here but not new to paddling or to the BWCA. I'd say I'm somewhere between and intermediate and expert paddler and I do quite a bit of backpacking when I'm not paddling, so I'm not afraid to portage little more than normal. I am retiring my Quetico 17 as my solo canoe and picking up a NW solo this weekend and it's really got the Dopamine flowing.

I'm looking at a Late May or Early June route for me and my canine companion. If we do May I'll go in on Wednesday or Thursday before Memorial weekend to beat the crowds. Thinking about this route, what do you think?:

Entry 54
Seagull > Alpine > Jasper > Ogish > Jenny > Eddy > Knife > Ottertrack > Swap > Saganaga > Alpine > Seagull

Planning on single-portaging now with the lighter canoe, and I bring a single GG superior one which also houses the Ursack. Dog gets tied to my waist strap, and the fishing rod and paddles are up in the canoe. Gameplan is to be on the water off Seagull just before sun creeps up so that we can make it to the first portage before the conga line. Not opposed to the Rog portages into Alpine either if we have to. Doggo isn't super dog friendly so we have to time our portages just right otherwise I have to set the canoe down and get off the trail.

Figure we probably pull up camp each night, paddle at a casual pace, and do some fishing along the way. Potentially put an add-on off of Knife and go explore westward a bit and stay overnight down that way before heading along the border?

Hello. Your proposed route (Seagull > Alpine > Jasper > Ogish > Jenny > Eddy > Knife > Ottertrack > Swamp > Saganaga > Alpine > Seagull ) is a fantastic paddle. I prefer this part of the BW and these are some of my favorite lakes.
If you are on the water as the sun comes up, the portage into Alpine from Seagull and the portage from Alpine into Jasper will be mostly empty. While this is a popular route, it seems most people (myself included) usually don't hit the water until around 9am.
Knife is worth exploring a bit if you end up staying on it. The winds seem to be a coin toss on Knife, so if they are crazy when you go from Eddy to Knife, you might want to ponder the Hansen and Ester lake route. Also very nice paddling that way.

Knife is worth exploring a bit if you end up staying on it. The winds seem to be a coin toss on Knife, so if they are crazy when you go from Eddy to Knife, you might want to ponder the Hansen and Ester lake route. Also very nice paddling that way."

This was my thought as well, there are few ways I could take out of Knife and would take the one that seems best at the time, pending weather. I figure the eastern edge is going to have some wind that time of year and I'd likely camp on the North or Western edge, or find a smaller neighboring lake to camp on. I've considered pushing the trip back to the weekend after Memorial day to get slightly warmer weather and less people but I have another week to figure that out!

Pretty route, but too busy for me. I tend toward smaller lakes when solo. I enjoyed my first solo that started at Bower Trout and ended on Ram Lake (walked back to Bower Trout parking area is easy). This past summer, I entered at Duncan, followed the border out to the Fowl Lakes (but could shorten this by dropping down from Mountain to Clearwater). Saw surprisingly few people.

straighthairedcurly: "Pretty route, but too busy for me. I tend toward smaller lakes when solo. I enjoyed my first solo that started at Bower Trout and ended on Ram Lake (walked back to Bower Trout parking area is easy). This past summer, I entered at Duncan, followed the border out to the Fowl Lakes (but could shorten this by dropping down from Mountain to Clearwater). Saw surprisingly few people."

Been kicking a lot of other options around in my head now that you mention Bower Trout and some of the smaller channel lakes over there. Thoughts on these two?:

Going last week of May for context...

EP 50.

Ham > Cross Bay >Rib > Long Island > Gordon > Cherokee, then reverse it back out

OR

EP 43.

Bower Trout > Marshall > Swan > Vernon > Brule > Winchell (via Mulligan) > Gaskin > Horseshoe > Vista > out through Ram

AlexanderSupertramp: "Hello Friends, I am new the community here but not new to paddling or to the BWCA. I'd say I'm somewhere between and intermediate and expert paddler and I do quite a bit of backpacking when I'm not paddling, so I'm not afraid to portage little more than normal. I am retiring my Quetico 17 as my solo canoe and picking up a NW solo this weekend and it's really got the Dopamine flowing.

I'm looking at a Late May or Early June route for me and my canine companion. If we do May I'll go in on Wednesday or Thursday before Memorial weekend to beat the crowds. Thinking about this route, what do you think?:

Entry 54
Seagull > Alpine > Jasper > Ogish > Jenny > Eddy > Knife > Ottertrack > Swap > Saganaga > Alpine > Seagull

Planning on single-portaging now with the lighter canoe, and I bring a single GG superior one which also houses the Ursack. Dog gets tied to my waist strap, and the fishing rod and paddles are up in the canoe. Gameplan is to be on the water off Seagull just before sun creeps up so that we can make it to the first portage before the conga line. Not opposed to the Rog portages into Alpine either if we have to. Doggo isn't super dog friendly so we have to time our portages just right otherwise I have to set the canoe down and get off the trail.

Figure we probably pull up camp each night, paddle at a casual pace, and do some fishing along the way. Potentially put an add-on off of Knife and go explore westward a bit and stay overnight down that way before heading along the border?


"

I'm planning to do this route in reverse. I also plan for it to take 4-5 days, including a tow to American Point. One appeal to going counter-clockwise is that there are few and short portages to begin with. Leaving the tougher portages to the end of the trip.

My one previous trip in this area included Seagull, Alpine and Jasper. It was busier by BWCA standards, but this amounted to having to pass other parties on portages. I can live with that.

If you're also interested in the Misquah Hills/Mid-Trail area, how about Ham (Cross Bay EP) to Poplar. If you need some help, I know Rockwood will haul you to Ham and be there on Poplar when you're done.

I've enjoyed solo loops from Poplar in recent years. Lizz, Caribou, Horseshoe, Gaskin, etc. Lots of smaller lakes and loop options.