Well, the Wise One has spoken (Sarge) and the trip has moved south to Prairie Portage/Sarah/McIntyre/Brent/Elk/Gardner Bay/Basswood R/Basswood lake. We decided to not lose our "no tow" virginity (unless you count a train ride into Wabikimi).

Anyway: Heading south from Gardner Bay on Crooked, towards Basswood, is there current? If so , which way does it go? Is there any current along this route that poses a problem (Like the Maligne does by Tanner Lake)?

And, will we be able to paddle that expanse of Basswood back to Prairie Portage ?(planning on one day for it) -we've done Kasakakwog and Cirrus against the wind, hopefully the wind will not be from the east.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks Senor Trout Tom Bracken

There will be a bit of current in the narrows of Crooked Lake between Gardner Bay and Lower Basswood Falls, but only in short stretches and pretty weak. You will portage four times between Crooked and Basswood Lakes, but current should pose no problem unless you are traveling during times of very high water (unlikely).

Upper Basswood Falls to PP is very doable in a day--unless you encounter strong east or south winds...

I've done PP to Basswood Falls on first day twice. We did havevrelatively calm days. I suspect on a bad day, it would be tough.

I doubt you could make it from Gardner bay to Moose Lake in one day. The Basswood river and portages will slow you. You could make Fall lake if no weather issues. If you decide to go for Moose, use the Wind lake shortcut. Wind is an issue most days on Basswood. Another possible route is to exit at Mudro.

We took the Wind Lake exit rather than paddle back to PP and get a tow. The only downside was that we hit the portage at the wrong time. The Boy Scouts from Northern Tier were queued up on both sides of the Wind Lake - Moose Lake portage. We sat offshore in the canoe for at least an hour before we could sneak in, and then had to contend with the heaviest traffic I have ever seen on a portage.

The fishing below lower basswood falls was pretty good. The portages around the falls were all pretty obvious except wheel barrow falls. It turned out to be much closer than we thought. Here is a map from wheel barrow falls portage.

One of the things to keep in mind when portaging around falls, is that there are often two portages, a high water portage and a low water portage. That is the case here, in the spring or in cases of high water during the summer, it would be very difficult to paddle to the portage that you identified on the map. Remember anytime we are around waterfalls and rapids that it can be dangerous. Find a safe spot to unload and load your canoe.

We did this during the 1st week of June in 2013. The water level was very high. We thought as you suggested that it was a high water landing. I do not think the location marked as "PORTAGE WAS NOT HERE" was the actual portage though. It looked liked a portage landing; however, we would have had to really bushwack to get to the actual portage trail. Much of it was covered in water and deep mud. There was no obvious trail or opening in the bush and trees to get a canoe through. We spent a while trying to find a trail, but where unsuccessful. This is how we found the actual portage landing. It was closer to the falls then we had expected. The water was raging, but what I think was the actual portage landing was just around the corner and out of the main current. The red lines are our tracks trying to find the portage.

Thanks everybody! I am new to this board and appreciate the quick and thoughtful responses.

We did the Falls chain in high water in 2001; Janice put the fear of God in us; hopefully we learned some lessons about finding portages near waterfalls. (Maybe not too well as Sarge dumped us just above fast water in Wabikimi 2 years ago).

Senor Trout Tom Bracken

When are you headed in?

Not sure exactly when; probably just after Memorial Day, a little late for us. Are you all going to meet up with us again? That was a funny moment, to be paddling through Quetico and have complete strangers greet us with "Hey Senor Trout! Is that Sarge in the back?".

quote srtrout: "Not sure exactly when; probably just after Memorial Day, a little late for us. Are you all going to meet up with us again? That was a funny moment, to be paddling through Quetico and have complete strangers greet us with "Hey Senor Trout! Is that Sarge in the back?". "

It is possible I could see you. I am doing a week solo from Prairie about the same time! I am headed to Piwi and then east, however. I will have to keep you posted.

If the water level is high, the portage between Wheelbarrow and the horse portage can be very hard to reach, you are going upstream into the base of the falls. Stay far river right, next to US side bank. The wind lake way is for sure shorter than all the way to pp, and you will be empty of food, lighter and faster on the portages.

I am just going to include all 3 of these pics from June 2013 for your review. The numbers are from a Garmin GPSMap 62ST and Basecamp.



The water was raging and there was an aggressive current in places. Make sure both paddlers are in synch before leaving shore.

quote srtrout: "Thanks everybody! I am new to this board and appreciate the quick and thoughtful responses.


We did the Falls chain in high water in 2001; Janice put the fear of God in us; hopefully we learned some lessons about finding portages near waterfalls. (Maybe not too well as Sarge dumped us just above fast water in Wabikimi 2 years ago).


Senor Trout Tom Bracken"

I got that lecture last June...and her story about her own "adventures". Yikes. I skipped the falls last year and went into the Sags because I was solo (that's the excuse I'm sticking in)...