New Trip Report posted by DeterminedOrange

Trip Name: First Solo: Seagull to Ogish.

Entry Point: 54

Click Here to View Trip Report

Wow! Pretty nerve wracking with that wind. You are braver than me. My first solo is in 2 weeks and I'm sticking to small waters. Hope your chest heals up.

BEAUTIFUL CANOE! Thanks for sharing your report.

that is a beautiful canoe. nice route for a solo. good thing you got off the water tuesday, cuz wednesday was horrendous wind!

Great looking boat and it seems to perform very well also.
Thanks for sharing.
Two questions...
1. Do you tie up your canoe when you are unloading it?
2. Does the In-Reach give you the (false) confidence to do things that are maybe a bit above what you should do solo?

Thanks for the report, DeterminedOrange-

I enjoyed the pictures and reading the story of your first solo. Sorry to hear about your physical problems - I hope everything heals up well.

You had quite an adventure and a "learning experience". I can relate to your "realizations" and "adjustments" from my first solo experiences.

quote Doughboy12: "Great looking boat and it seems to perform very well also.
Thanks for sharing.
Two questions...
1. Do you tie up your canoe when you are unloading it?
2. Does the In-Reach give you the (false) confidence to do things that are maybe a bit above what you should do solo?"

I did tie it up to myself near moving water but I was never more than two feet from it. I tried to keep the canoe in just enough water to float, grab the pack out and swing it over right on the edge of shore often with the other hand on the gunwale. It would be way easier to just let it get scratched and park it on the rocks.

The InReach was nice when I cheated and got more updated weather forecasts to make the trip out easier. Other than that, I see it as a way to TRY and get help should a person get in trouble. I was really worried that if I hung around Ogish too long I would stiffen up and not be able to get out at all, even if the weather was perfect. I feel I messed up heading into Sea Gull when it was windy and that judgement call was based on a guess that the southwest shore would be better, I was wrong on that.

Thanks for sharing and what a nice looking canoe. Always hurts to put the first scratch in something so nice but after a while it's going to happen. (need to remind myself that sometimes..)

Enjoyed your report; been to that area many times, but not since the fire. Reading about Seagull reminds me of the many close calls we've had there. Hope your back and chest heal soon!

Thanks for the answers...
I would NEVER even put that boat in the water...ballsy move and I commend you for your efforts. Now get to fixing that scratch...lol

I am glad to hear you made it out OK? My wife Cheri was worried about you. Everyday she would think of you and wondering how you were coping with the wind. We stayed at one of the hotels in G.M. and were greeted with a note the next morning from (D.S.) on our windshield. He was stating that he also spotted the flying moose on our canoe and wished us a great trip. Cheri has made the comment, from meeting you and the note from D.S. what a great group of people that we are associated with via the BWCA blog site.

Nice Report....I can relate. I was on my first solo out of entry 14 during the same time period and faced similar wind issues too. I ended up having to alter my trip plans / route because I felt like I could not make enough headway pushing against the wind everyday. It made it virtually impossible to go out an fish too...

Glad to hear you made it safely out....

quote retired55: "I am glad to hear you made it out OK? My wife Cheri was worried about you. Everyday she would think of you and wondering how you were coping with the wind. We stayed at one of the hotels in G.M. and were greeted with a note the next morning from (D.S.) on our windshield. He was stating that he also spotted the flying moose on our canoe and wished us a great trip. Cheri has made the comment, from meeting you and the note from D.S. what a great group of people that we are associated with via the BWCA blog site. "

Thanks. It was very nice to meet you and hope to cross paths again. Couldn't agree more about the quality of the people on this site.

Great report! Thanks for sharing. I was on Gunflint just car camping with some clients that weekend. Beautiful weather, but windy as all hell. We didn't even want to go out in a 18' fishing boat until Sunday afternoon. Certainly some tough decisions when your solo and there's that much wind, not to mention in pain. You certainly earned those memories!

Nice report and glad you're healing and nothing was serious.

Jasper Falls is really grown up now. Man.

I've heard the best strategy for large lakes is to travel at night and in the early morning when the lake is calm.

I'm getting ready for my first solo trip and I wanted to thank you for sharing your experience. I'm glad you weren't severely injured in your ribs. I'm also glad you were able to paddle out with your back injury. And the wind. Holy cow you really fought adversity. It sound slime you still managed to stay positive about the trip. Thanks for the report

Wow. Brought back flashbacks from crossing Seagull last June. The "protected" side of 3mile island is no joke with the easterly wind.

VERY NICE CANOE!