BWCA Lake One Alternatives for Rookies? Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Trip Planning Forum
      Lake One Alternatives for Rookies?     
 Forum Sponsor

Author

Text

mvgarceau
member (21)member
  
04/14/2009 11:51AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I will be doing a 3 or 4 day/night trip this 4th of July with two canoe rookies- my wife and her brother. Neither of them have any canoe experience, but my brother in-law should pick it up rather quickly.

I have set Lake One to Insula as our default route simply b-c it does not involve a lot of portaging and there is plenty of good scenery and side trips (Indian pictographs off of Insula.) The plan is to blast out early on Day 1 and make it to Hudson, or possibly Insula where we'll base camp prior to our trip back in. No pain no gain...

I like the idea of the Numbered Lakes for the rookies, but it would be nice to get away from the crowds a bit.

The two other options I am thinking about are:
1) Moose River to Nina Moose Lake and then up into Lac la Croix.
2) Duncan Lake area to Rose / South / North lakes or down to Bearskin, Hungry Jack or Daniels.

My concern with the Moose River is the initial portage. This could be a bad way to start out for these rookies, and if the water is low on the Moose River and we have to drag the canoe a lot, it could spoil the fun for them.

My concern with Duncan Lake is the extent of the blowdown and/or any fire damage. Bearskin and Hungry Jack look to be OK based on sat. images, but Rose Lake and South Lake look like they got blasted pretty hard.

I suppose my questions are as follows:
1.) How suitable would the Moose River/Nina Moose to LLC trip be for rookies? Is an out-and-back possible? How is that initial portage?
2.) How bad is the blowdown / fire damage around South / Rose / Duncan / Bearskin / Hungry Jack? Are motor boats allowed along South lake? We don't want to exchange canoe traffic for the smell and sound of motors.

Thanks in advance for any answers. Any input on the Insula route option is welcome as well.
 
Reply    Reply with Quote    Print Top Bottom Previous Next
04/14/2009 12:10PM  
I do know that the Moose River entry is pretty full around the July 4th time, being they only allow one permit per day. And Lake One entry is going to be CRAZY that week. If you can get them into Moose River they are truly going to see to BWCA as it is, quiet and vast. The portage from echo trail is about 140 rods, which is an average size portage. Also the Nina Moose area has a lot of rivers which I always enjoy (trout are here).
04/14/2009 12:25PM  
The Moose River N (EP-16) has a daily quota of 7. Even though the numbers lakes are busy I don't think this entry point will feel much less crowded. In Sept of 2005 we began our trip at EP-16 on a Saturday morning. Between the entry and Lake Agnes we counted 17 - 18 groups exiting that morning (we couldn't tell if one group of 4 canoes were together or 2 different groups). That was more groups than we usually see during an entire week. We've used this entry other times and usually only meet about 4 - 5 groups on the way in. This route would also be much more portage intensive. Even though none of the portages are difficult, if you're unsure how they will take to portaging the numbered lakes may be a better option.

04/14/2009 02:29PM  
Moose River first portage is a breeze. Wide, flat, slightly downhill. LLC will be crowded though, as will Agnes.
Do the Insula trip. I took newbies there...made it easily the first day. You'll just have to manage the crowds as you blow through the numbered lakes. Even if Insula has some people, the sites are more spread out.
Cant speak for Duncan/Rose.
Original Author
Guest Paddler
  
04/14/2009 09:40PM  
Thanks for the responses. We're going to stick with Insula as a base camp with side trips to the pictographs and Hope lakes and then a return to the numbered lakes through Fire Lake.

If anyone knows of a really superb campsite on Insula, please let me know.

Again, thank you for your responses.
Dbldppr1250
distinguished member(1284)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/14/2009 10:47PM  
If you return from Insula to lake One Landing through Fire Lake, are the portages tough or is there anything that would make this route tough on the way out?
04/15/2009 12:16PM  
The portages from Hudson to Fire and from Fire back to Lake 4 are all short and level; no problem at all. The only thing that would cause you to have a tougher portage is if you go thru Rifle Lake to get back to Lake 2. The portage you would be taking to enter Rifle is fairly long with a short but very steep rock surface to get up in the middle.
Dbldppr1250
distinguished member(1284)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/15/2009 05:17PM  
That route from Hudson to Fire and then to Bridge to Rifle to Lake 2 looks like a great paddle. Only one tough portage? Sounds good to me.
Dbldppr1250
distinguished member(1284)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/15/2009 05:21PM  
Can you tell me if that camp site on Rifle is any good? Thanks for the extra info.
mvgarceau
member (21)member
  
04/15/2009 05:40PM  
We had actually planned on going into Lake Four, but I think I'll make them portage to Rifle Lake just to toughen them up for next time. Hopefully that camp site will be available so we can spend the last night in solitude. I will report back on the camp site there regardless.

Thanks again...

mapfreak
Guest Paddler
  
04/15/2009 09:23PM  
Rifle has a real wild feel to it. The campsite is the only one on the lake so that adds to the feel. We portaged in and checked out the camp site a couple years ago and I remember it being nice enough. We didn't stay there but, I would probably rate it a 3.5 out of 5. It sits on a slight point with a canopy of pines.
04/16/2009 11:52AM  
We stopped at the site on Rifle for lunch on our way through. I thought the site looked very nice and if you get it you have the lake to yourself. It is very close to the portage so if any groups are passing through they go right past your camp. A lot of open space under a canopy of pines and several huge boulders around the site. It's a site we hope to use during some future trip.
Guest Paddler
  
08/03/2018 08:59PM  
 
Reply    Reply with Quote    Print Top Bottom Previous Next