Personal preference for me is to take one if available if paddle would be over an hour.

what are you talking about?

I think I understand what you're asking.
I always take a tow to Crooked though Anderson's. They're great.
But taking a tow to Crooked, while costly, saves hours and eliminates several portages.
For me to pay for the tow, I need to save several hours.
Plus, the tow from Crane to Bottle is a cool experience in itself.

krick has pretty much caught the essence of my meaning for the post.

We talked about this the last 3 years on Seagull. Paddling to the base camp was 3 hours each way. That's 6 hours that could have been spent fishing or relaxing in camp, or exploring. This year we are using a tow at dawn. ..getting us to within 30 minutes of the base camp. We would arrive at base camp by 8 AM vs 11-noon. Meet the tow at 4 PM on the last day allows us to spend the last day doing what we want, vs paddling all day back.

Maybe its age.. . .but spending all day paddling to get to a base camp. . .then another long day paddling back. . .along with several portages each way. . .in our thinking just cuts into the time we could have spent just fishing, exploring or relaxing.

La Tourell - Moose Lake tow to the border

I'm a fan of the Moose lake tow as well - Tanner from La Tourell's took us to Ensign in May. Great guy from a great outfitter, I will absolutely do it again.

I'm a fan of the Moose lake tow as well - Tanner from La Tourell's took us to Ensign in May. Great guy from a great outfitter, I will absolutely do it again.

quote GoSpursGo: "I'm a fan of the Moose lake tow as well - Tanner from La Tourell's took us to Ensign in May. Great guy from a great outfitter, I will absolutely do it again."

Thank you! This was exactly what I was looking for at this site. My wife and I just booked a week with La Tourell's in September knowing little of them. We're planning day trips only and the tows will be necessary. We've blind booked vacations in the past that didn't turn out as anticipated, so it's encouraging to hear a couple of positive reviews.

Bwcadan... you the man. Throw it right back at em... I like that in ya...

quote yogi59weedr: "Bwcadan... you the man. Throw it right back at em... I like that in ya..."

Did you type in the wrong name? Not sure I am throwing anything "back at em". Anything posted is an opinion and is not worth much more or less than anyone else. Nothing in this thread from me was aimed at anyone. Sorry if you think so.

Jim: We have used La Tourer's in several times and you will get what you they do at the best it can be done. In our case, it was for bunk house before our trips and a tow the next morning. We have always gotten what we booked for and right on time.

Having said that, We have used other outfitters over the 26 years to these parts, and have received good service. I would suggest, the outfitters in the Boundary Water area as a group are as good as it gets. Hope you have a great vacation.

I also just came back and used the tow to Splash/Ensign on the way into my trip. Had a nice conversation with Tanner, and then the next morning Austin was my tow man, and he was great! My school group that I used to take to Ensign many years always used Latourell's tow service, ad we never had any problem at all - wonderful people!

Another tow option for those wanting to save a days paddle up to the basswood river area exists. A certain outfitter on fall lake offers a great tow to goose narrows. Takes about 75 minutes over some very big open waters.