I'm looking for new ideas for a winter trip of a few nights. Solitude is the most important element, unusually spectacular scenery is second, good fishing would be nice but not critical, & away from renegade snowmobilers. Past trips I've entered at Slim, Snowbank, S. Hegman, Lake One, & Fall. I'd like to stay away from portages with significant elevation change. Would prefer to go out of Ely that way I can chat with the locals who have first hand knowledge of current ice conditions before heading out. Thanks for your thoughts.

I would try LIS N as there is some great scenery when you get in and to the Devils cascade. There will be an elevation change but just at the entry point (downhill) and at the cascade but you don't have to go up there except by foot/snowshoe. You can stay on Pauness, Upper or Lower.

Thanks for the suggestion. Have you been on the Little Indian Sioux in the winter? It's been several years since I've been there in the summer. If I can stay dry and not worry about slushy ice on moving water all in our party would be happy. Thanks again for the idea, travel wise it would be smooth traveling if the river is solid. Seeing the falls would add good diversity to the trip.

I have not stayed on LIS in the winter but Unclemoose went through there on the way to Shell. I think the issue with slush was on Shell for their trip. Since this is such a weather related issue it's hard to tell whether you would have issues. Definitely have to look out for areas around the water falls.

I like the small intimacy to the area since the lakes Upper and Lower Pauness are small. Then you have the climb along the devils cascade up to the overlook and man that has to be something to see in the winter.





LIS Winter trip

I went up two weekends ago. I had ZERO idea of where to go when I started planning. The most helpful thing for me were the McKenzie maps. They seem to have the winter use trails marked on them. Those seem to be dog sled trails between lakes with little elevation change. I basically just sort of followed those in a loop, starting from EP #25 near Ely on Moose Lake. I only saw one other person my first day in, so there was plenty of solitude. You can plan a route like that using the McKenzie maps at REI (buy the one you end up needing), then start calling around (on a weekday when people are around) to check on snow and ice conditions. I planned 3 possible routes just in case, and when I got going on one that worked (parking, etc.), I called home with the route I chose before I lost cell phone signal, so someone would know where I was. Not sure that's helpful, but it's what I did.

I spent 3 weeks on Shell in 2010. Slush is always variable, so no guarantees, but without much snow in late December we only hit slush on Lower Pauness, nothing on the river. Later in the trip after 8" or so there was a lot of slush. Lots of wolf activity. We found 3 kill sites (one half eaten deer), heard wolves many nights, and saw one on Hustler. Last year I saw a wolf on the Sioux Hustler. Devil's Cascade is a beautiful spot. There's a great day ski loop starting on the Sioux Hustler on the north side of Shell, to the Cascade and returning via Lower Pauness. Very fun long hill dropping to the Cascade.

Conditions are good this year. I was able to ski everywhere on the Gunflint side for the last month and hit very minimal slush. It is a great year for travel.