Planning a six day trip in late August out of Mudro, and we'd like to spend most of our time on Crooked. We'll likely do a loop, going via Wagosh in one direction, and Horse river in the other. A couple of questions...

Is doing this clockwise or counterclockwise better (and why?)? I've been on Horse river and Crooked before, but can't remember

Second, if we get an early start (7am at EP), is it feasible to get from EP23 all the way to Friday bay in one day? Or if we decide to to go in via Horse river, how far up into Crooked can we get?

Third, what might the water levels in Horse river be, and how might that affect this route? Our permit is for Aug 22 entry.

By way of background, there's just two of us, reasonably fit middle age guys, and with a decent amount of experience paddling/portaging, but double portaging.

Jim

It took our group of 4 about 10 hours to get from the 'table rock' site near Wednesday Bay to Mudro, split over a day and a half. But, that was with the Horse River being extremely low. So, Horse River was slow, but we were moving fast the rest of the time.

BTW, we are going to do the same loop about a week later. We'll go clockwise and will take about 2 days to make it to Friday Bay, but that is at a medium pace as we'll be 6 this year.

If going from Mudro to Friday I would go up the Moosecamp river
the water levels are good for Moosecamp and Horse river. You could
do Friday bay in one day depending your group and experience.
IMO I would stay on Moosecamp theirs 2 nice campsites and would
you would be fresh for the mile portage(the mile portage is easier
this direction). If you want to go farther I would continue to
Niki lake if your group is 4 our less. that campsite on Niki is
Nice but small for a large group. Going all the way to Friday would
put you their mid to late afternoon and finding a open site might
not be possible. I was on Friday bay in June and I got the last site
at 2PM.

Darcyn:
Were you on the Horse River lately? Our family trip is mid-August and hoping to base camp on Horse Lake and day trip down the Horse to see Lower Basswood Falls and the pictographs. I'd love to continue to hear promising information on water levels over the next month or so.

I'll be going up the Horse river next week and can tell what the levels are when I get back, but the water levels can change a lot by mid august if it is really dry during that time.

If your goal is going to Friday bay then head up the portage through Gun lake. I wouldn't waste my time going through the Horse river if that's the case. You can hit Friday bay in one day but you would be working hard to get there. My plan would be to paddle to Gun lake, camp then hit the mile portage the next day.

quote schweady: "Darcyn:
Were you on the Horse River lately? Our family trip is mid-August and hoping to base camp on Horse Lake and day trip down the Horse to see Lower Basswood Falls and the pictographs. I'd love to continue to hear promising information on water levels over the next month or so.
"

schweady I was through mid june so the water levels could change
alot by that time.
what I can say is I went through their prior to the big storm
and the water levels were quite high at that point. I would have
liked to see the water level change after 8" of rain. I was on
fourtown and paddling out when that storm came in and it was impressive to see that much rain so quickly. below is basswood
falls on 6/11 prior to the big storm

Thanks, Darcyn. I think I saw that picture of yours on another thread, but couldn't remember the date it was taken.

So, that loop is best done clockwise?

Also another one hoping water levels hold for August... but locally in Twin Cities, my lake (1100 acres) has gone down OVER a foot since the 4th of July. Just had to spend an evening shoving the lift out farther so the boat would float. Hope the water is still coming down up north on occasion. This heat down here is seriously evaporating stuff quickly!

ThEric, what is your entry date? Mine is Sept.3 on Labor Day. Perhaps I will see you. I'll be the guy from Nebraska.

I have not done the loop your are talking about, but I have traveled the Horse River in both directions. The river is a much easier paddle going toward Crooked. Coming back down the river, you will be against the current (it is light but it is there) and will likely have to walk the canoe around the smaller rapids you would normally have just paddled coming up. I would say go counterclockwise.

I'm gonna be doing this loop solo in my Kayak starting on the 30th. I'm planning on going counterclockwise just in case the Horse is low. It's alot easier to go down it. I also figure once I reach Crooked it will be all paddiling. So I will be a able to judge by how much daylight is left , how far up into crooked I will make it. I'm gunning for Thursday bay. But if I end up camping by the falls or Wednesday bay, so be it.

Not sure if you're planning to paddle the Moosecamp River, or what "normal" water levels are like, but we came through there a week ago and had to push through lily pads most of the way. Also, 5 or 6 beaver dams some of which I could pull through in my solo, but my two buds in a tandem had to get out for. Probably took us between an hour and a half to 2 hours, so not terrible by any means, and it's a really scenic paddle, but if water levels get much lower I can see how it might turn into a slog.

I did that loop last year. It was a solo and I single portaged and I was in a kayak. It took me 8 hours with stop at table rock for lunch to get from Mudro to the west side of Friday Bay. I went counter clockwise so I did the Horse River on the first day.

On the way back I went on the Papoose Creek and Wagosh. I purposefully took two days to get back. I made it from Friday Bay to Boot Lake in 5 hours. The long portage is very nice and manicured. Papoose Creek was beautiful and had plenty of water. There was just one beaver dam pull over.

Hope this helps.

Just for reference, relatively high water on the Horse River made for a pleasant day trip down to the falls and the pictos this past Friday (8/17).






Picket Creek seemed to have dropped 4-5 inches between Thursday and Sunday, tho.