Our group of four entered Cache Bay on June 1 with the intent of reaching Mack Lake on day one. We were prepared for a taxing day of travel from Hook Island dropoff -> Cache Bay -> Saganagons -> Bitchu -> Ross -> Cullen -> Munro -> Mack.

The weather and wind were unexpectedly in our favor. The entirety of Cache Bay was glass, and there was nearly zero wind the whole day. We skimmed across lakes like water bugs.

In spite of losing ~1.5 hrs due to entering the wrong bay in Cache Bay and locating an erroneously marked portage in the 4-portage chain into Saganagons, east of Silver Falls, we managed to land at our destination campsite on Mack in about 13 hours of travel, about an hour after sunset. We single portage. Had there been any substantial wind or weather, I am not sure would have made it.

Notes for anyone else considering this route:

- If you are planning on taking the 4 portages into Saganagons through the unnamed small lakes to bypass Silver Falls, be aware that the 2nd portage is marked incorrectly on McKenzie maps, GPS, and a certain other website that rhymes with BattleBanner. The portage is actually just EAST (right) of the creek.

- The paddle east through Saganagons is beautiful. I didn't realize how scenic of a lake it was.

- Going Bitchu -> Munro you skirt in and out of the park. Expect to see canoes stored under trees and signs of motor boats. However we didn't encounter any other party through here. This area of the park is also really scenic with a lot of nice topography. I would've liked to have spend more time here as these are lake trout lakes.

- The portage from Munro into Mack is downright dangerous at the end. The trail terminates in a bog of quicksandish muck. We read reports that there is a side trail that cuts west just before the muck, bypassing it into the lake. This is false. There *is* a game trail that leads to a little swampy creek, but you'll need to bushwhack off of it to access the lake as you cannot do so from the creek. One of our 4-man crew charged ahead and immediately got stuck in the quicksand bog, climbed a tree, and then waited 45 minutes while the rest of us found entry into the lake just west and paddled over to rescue him. I could see a solo canoeist getting into major trouble in that muck. On our way out, we reported this to the Cache Bay office ranger. Hopefully the portage crew will adjust the route to bypass this.

- We expected complete solitude on Mack Lake. It was not to be. Right at the end of our long day 1, as we were paddling north up the lake, a raucous group camping in the southern channel greeted us with whooping and hollering and even blew some sort of bugle or horn to herald our arrival. While they were friendly, even offering some of their filets for dinner, we were so tired and stressed from the travel we didn't have the humor to engage them.

- We basecamped at site 221 for a couple of days. This was a decent site and probably the best one on Mack. It was buggy as hell. The mosquitoes were awful, and while I understand they are especially bad this year, this site was by far the worst for bugs of our entire trip. There is a swampy area in a densely forested section just south of the campsite so this was likely the reason. That said, the site was great for swimming, fishing, and canoe landing with access from either side of the peninsula.

- There is a little-known outfitter named "Powell Lake Outfitters" that stores their canoes under trees just outside of this area of the Quetico. They drive their customers all the way up to the Waiwag river where they have an easy 2-hour paddle and dump down into Mack Lake just north of our campsite. You will recognize their aluminum canoes with spray painted lettering advertising Powel Lake Resort. THIS MEANS MACK LAKE IS ESSENTIALLY AN ENTRY LAKE leading to swarms of casual canoe campers with mounds of gear and very little backcountry experience or etiquette. Thus, if you do the physically taxing journey from Cache Bay as we did, do not expect to find much solitude here. The morning we departed, we had no less than 4 canoes vulturing our campsite as we were packing up. One even paddled up and asked us if they could set up their tents while we were tearing down camp.

- In spite of these complaints, the fishing on Mack Lake was INSANE and more than made up for the negatives. Bass, walleye, and pike were found in abundance all within 30 minutes of camp and in larger than average size. It did not matter what lure we tossed: topwater, subsurface, crankbaits...everything worked on all three species. Walleye averaged 22". When moving around the lake I had to make sure my lure wasn't dangling over the water or else something would attack it. We literally had to try to NOT catch fish. And we probably only covered 15% of the lake. I have never in my life experienced fishing that hot. I understand fishing was good everywhere at that time, but I can confidently say Mack was next level.

- Mack Lake really is a beautiful lake, and the paddle down the Waiwag is super nice. No beaver dams or obstructions. We encountered a dead moose in the river.

All in all, I am thankful to have experienced this area of the park, however I don't think I'd go back due to the unexpected crowds from Powell Lake Outfitters.

Good to know about Mack...did not realize Powell Lake Resort was still doing this. Would be disheartening to get there and find all the campsites occupied.

I suspect we (5 in 2 canoes heading south) passed you on the 4-portage chain of un-named lakes between Cache Bay and Saganagons. Between noon and one on June 1?

Regardless, sounds like you had epic fishing - fantastic.

Spent 3 nights on Mack around June 1. SSkin’s report is accurate. Had a hard time finding a campsite. I walked the portage out of Mack to the East headed toward Ross. It has been added to the portage database on that other sight.

You may have passed us on your entry day as we were camped at the Bonsai Site and fished near where you headed up into Bitchu. Would you do the 4 portages again or take Silver Falls? I know what you mean about good fishing that week!

sns: "Good to know about Mack...did not realize Powell Lake Resort was still doing this. Would be disheartening to get there and find all the campsites occupied.


I suspect we (5 in 2 canoes heading south) passed you on the 4-portage chain of un-named lakes between Cache Bay and Saganagons. Between noon and one on June 1?


Regardless, sounds like you had epic fishing - fantastic."

Yes, that was us! Good to brush shoulders with someone else from the site. That was a perfect day to travel. I've never seen the wind and water so calm all day like that.

MagicPaddler: "Spent 3 nights on Mack around June 1. SSkin’s report is accurate. Had a hard time finding a campsite. I walked the portage out of Mack to the East headed toward Ross. It has been added to the portage database on that other sight. "

The one that goes into a small little lake? Looks like a dead end. Anything of interest there?

bobbernumber3: "You may have passed us on your entry day as we were camped at the Bonsai Site and fished near where you headed up into Bitchu. Would you do the 4 portages again or take Silver Falls? I know what you mean about good fishing that week!"

Sure enough, I remember seeing your camp. Looked like a nice site. How was the fishing on Saganagons? Did you get into any lake trout?

If I had to do it over again, I'd probably just go through Silver Falls. Even though we single portage, loading and unloading the canoe 4 times instead of 1 slows you down and wears you out a bit more than just a longer paddle I think.

SummerSkin: "

MagicPaddler: "Spent 3 nights on Mack around June 1. SSkin’s report is accurate. Had a hard time finding a campsite. I walked the portage out of Mack to the East headed toward Ross. It has been added to the portage database on that other sight. "

The one that goes into a small little lake? Looks like a dead end. Anything of interest there?"

It is a small lake at the top of a big hill. We were too exhausted to carry a canoe up to see if there was a portage going out the other side. Maybe another day. If any one does carry a canoe up and check out that lake I would like to know what you find.