BWCA Trip Report - Quetico Solo w dog McIntyre Woodside and Sunday Lakes Boundary Waters Trip Reports
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12/24/2016 01:08PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
New Trip Report posted by TomT

Trip Name: Quetico Solo w dog McIntyre Woodside and Sunday Lakes.

Entry Point: G

Click Here to View Trip Report
 
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12/24/2016 07:38PM  
thanks for sharing...enjoyed the journey...
missmolly
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12/24/2016 08:12PM  
Terrific trip report, Tom. I especially enjoyed reading about Luna. I'd like to profile you for Canoe & Kayak magazine. Look for an email from me!
missmolly
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12/24/2016 08:17PM  
Tom, I just tried to send you an email, but your email address didn't work for me. Do you mind sharing it?
bwcasolo
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12/25/2016 06:38AM  
nice read tom, saw many sites of previous trips for me, good memories.
yes, surprised to see a tent with you. were you able to get the same rest in it as your warbonett?
blutofish1
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12/25/2016 07:52AM  

Very nice, thanks for sharing
12/25/2016 08:03AM  
quote missmolly: "Tom, I just tried to send you an email, but your email address didn't work for me. Do you mind sharing it?"


It must be a site bug as I tried yours and it wouldn't come up. Mine is tomnmia@comcast.net

Thanks
12/25/2016 08:05AM  
quote bwcasolo: "nice read tom, saw many sites of previous trips for me, good memories.
yes, surprised to see a tent with you. were you able to get the same rest in it as your warbonett?"


Thanks.
I only am in the tent when I take Luna. Last year I was in the warbonnet and your answer is no, I really don't enjoy sleeping on the ground. I had a new exped 7 pad and I love the tent it's just a big hassle with all the crawling around. And the sleep is very restless for me because of arms and hands going numb.

No, I think Luna is going to get a mini tent and I'll be back between the trees from now on. Don't tell my wife this though. :)
Northwoodsman
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12/25/2016 09:14PM  
Nice report. Luna looks to be the perfect trip partner.
CityFisher74
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12/27/2016 01:08PM  
This was so much fun to read, I will take notes for my next report. Luna must be in absolute heaven up there. I must admit I have thought about bringing my cat - he loves going on walks and being in the park by our house and sits on the patio any time we allow it. He loves the outdoors, but I fear he may put a hole or two in the tent otherwise I would have brought him already. Thanks for the report.
12/27/2016 03:16PM  
Great trip report, I really enjoyed the stories and photos.
12/27/2016 04:41PM  
nice report as usual Tom
12/29/2016 11:46AM  
An excellent read and fine photos. I have got to get myself up onto that side of the boarder sometime. I was surprised how open some of the sites looked, and I loved how Luna curls up in the woods! Thanks for sharing.
phisherman
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01/01/2017 08:40AM  
TomT,
Love your reports! Thanks for taking the time to share with the community. I was wondering if you left the kayak paddle at home on this solo? I didn't see it in any pics/vids. Happy New Year.
Phish
woody066
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01/01/2017 05:15PM  
Another excellent trip report Tom. I went through part of your route a couple of days after, didn't miss you by much! Very inspiring stuff. Might see you next year.
Thanks for sharing.
01/01/2017 06:18PM  
quote phisherman: "TomT,
Love your reports! Thanks for taking the time to share with the community. I was wondering if you left the kayak paddle at home on this solo? I didn't see it in any pics/vids. Happy New Year.
Phish"

Thanks for the kind words. I did leave the yak paddle home. I bought the new zaveral paddle and knew it's what I wanted to use. I was inspired by watching the BeaV videos of his huge Alaska trip to get a carbon paddle and use a racing "hut" stroke. It worked well and I'm now sold on lightweight paddles.
01/01/2017 06:23PM  
quote woody066: " Another excellent trip report Tom. I went through part of your route a couple of days after, didn't miss you by much! Very inspiring stuff. Might see you next year.
Thanks for sharing."


We're you solo? What did your route look like?
01/01/2017 08:38PM  
"My thoughts for this trip is I need to go lighter. Lighter canoe, maybe return to hammock camping, leave the chair and get a smaller/lighter depth finder."

I noticed that you decided to take the chair, Tom ;). How much did everything weigh? Does Luna carry any of hers?

I've been getting lighter stuff for several years now and just not taking some things. Even with my menu, food weight adds up for that many days, so I've worked to cut down in some areas. I've cut pounds on the sleeping bag, pad, tent, etc. I got a lighter (& smaller) tent for the last trip and replaced bear canisters with Ursacks. As you know, I don't take an axe or saw. I was surprised to find that I dropped 5 1/2 lbs. when I quit fishing. I don't even take much camera gear anymore.

Even with 12 days of food this last trip, my packs weighed 49 lbs. The canoe was 29 lbs. Plus the PFD, paddles, yoke, and what I wore and carried on me. I probably had 85 lbs. to carry to start and that made it a lot easier to handle, especially at awkward landings. Less stuff and lighter stuff means smaller packs.

That's probably the lightest load I've started with, and it was the longest trip with the most food. It definitely makes thing easier.

That's a good bit less than I used to carry. Sounds like you could lose a lot with the canoe and the other changes. I'm sure you could find a few more places to whittle ounces here and there. They do add up.

01/02/2017 05:50AM  
quote boonie: ""My thoughts for this trip is I need to go lighter. Lighter canoe, maybe return to hammock camping, leave the chair and get a smaller/lighter depth finder."

I noticed that you decided to take the chair, Tom ;). How much did everything weigh? Does Luna carry any of hers?
"


Luna wears the pfd so it would be unmanageable to switch to a pack at the portages. She does have a pack though. Hopefully we can backpack in the future and I'll let her carry her food.

The chair. I got a great price on the chair and pulled the trigger. So how could I leave it home? I also paid $50 this summer for a monocular but I did leave that in the car at the last minute.

The depthfinder works great but is 18 years old and pretty heavy. I really never weigh my stuff, so don't know exactly what my pack weight was. The big pack was a beast this trip. I had to have it propped up on something or I physically couldn't put it on. That's a bit heavy IMO. :)

My next solo I will impress you Boonie, I promise.
woody066
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01/02/2017 05:53AM  
quote TomT: "
quote woody066: " Another excellent trip report Tom. I went through part of your route a couple of days after, didn't miss you by much! Very inspiring stuff. Might see you next year.
Thanks for sharing."



We're you solo? What did your route look like?
"

I was in a group of four. Our route was from Beaverhouse to Prairie Portage.
Thanks.
01/02/2017 07:22AM  
I'm already impressed by your solos, Tom! :), but I'll look forward to hearing all about the next one.

"The big pack was a beast this trip. I had to have it propped up on something or I physically couldn't put it on. That's a bit heavy IMO. :)" It sounds a bit heavy IMO, too :).

I'll bet it weighed more than both of mine ;). Maybe almost as much as my whole load . . . ? I probably couldn't even have lifted it :)

A couple of years ago, I started weighing my packs by getting on the scale after I had them all packed. I never had anything over 30 lbs. to lift, although I did carry 50 across in one load. I discovered that it's a lot easier for me to carry 50 lbs. than it is for me to lift it.

I also started carrying the canoe and small pack across on the first trip to reduce the number of times I lifted things. I found that to work well to reduce the work load.



napinch
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01/13/2017 09:43AM  
Great report Tom!
I would love to have a dog like Luna to trip with - She looks like a great companion. I also enjoyed your pictures and daily notes. Thanks again for posting
Luke
01/14/2017 01:14PM  
Thanks for the trip report Tom. I wish I could have made that one with you or at least met up someone on McIntyre or Marj. Beautiful country. Good photos and I loved your dog Luna. What a sweetheart she is!
01/14/2017 04:49PM  
Thanks napinch and highndry! Luna IS really good on these trips. Her only fault is getting startled seeing people after we go a few days without seeing anyone. It took her a little bit to warm up to having another person camping with us for a few days. She really loves people and hung around Pineknot more than me because he would pet her when I wouldn't.

Look for us to be featured in Canoe and Kayak magazine soon thanks to Miss Molly.
01/15/2017 07:26AM  
Let us know when you know which issue of C & K, Tom, I'd like to go find a copy.
01/15/2017 07:43AM  
quote boonie: "Let us know when you know which issue of C & K, Tom, I'd like to go find a copy."


I'll search out a copy of that issue whenever it comes out too!
01/15/2017 11:22AM  
quote HighnDry: "
quote boonie: "Let us know when you know which issue of C & K, Tom, I'd like to go find a copy."


I'll search out a copy of that issue whenever it comes out too!
"


Pretty sure there will be others from this board featured with their dogs as well. Maybe Miss Molly can give us a heads up.

Jim1955
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01/20/2017 09:09AM  
Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed the report completely.
01/20/2017 02:35PM  
quote Jim1955: "Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed the report completely."


Thanks Jim!
paddlefamily
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01/30/2017 04:34PM  
Love reading about solos' with dogs. I took my first 1 wk solo last fall with our 2 year old chocolate lab. I can't believe I haven't soloed sooner. It's such a unique experience. Thanks for sharing all the great pictures.
02/03/2017 12:13AM  
enjoyed your report. have paddled some of that area and hated those boulder strewn portages, they take the steam right out of a person! your dog is right at home in a canoe! do you think she recognized the places you two have been in the past?

good luck on your future solos. i always like seeing the photos, you have some very nice shots in your report.
02/03/2017 11:04AM  
Thanks Mocha! Luna acted very differently this year vs. 2013 when I took her for the first time. You can see by the pics that she was laying around a lot. She loves to portage and would perk up for that but around camp she never wandered off on her own to explore like in 2013. Maybe it's because she's 5 now and very much an adult in dog years.

It's hard to say if she recognized Prairie Portage. She was definitely more "chill" this time around. I left her outside when I was at the ranger station getting my permit and when I came out she was surrounded by 6 people waiting in line. She was loving that. She's a very affectionate dog and will nuzzle right up to a stranger looking for a good rub.

I do like having her with for company. She had some trouble like myself with the rocky landings of the low water levels. I'm fortunate we didn't get hurt.

A funny story that I didn't include in the report was when Luna was napping in a grassy clearing at the Sunday Lake site. Two red squirrels were chasing each other around our site and they both were running full speed and went right next to Luna missing her by two feet. She just lifted her head and watched them. Never even bothered to get up. Now that's a chill dog if I ever saw one.

SaganagaJoe
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02/22/2017 12:08AM  
A little late to the party here, but I really enjoyed your report. Thanks so much for sharing your travels with us. I have to get up to Quetico someday.
02/22/2017 01:59PM  
Nice report, Tom - yours are among my favorites to read!
02/22/2017 07:10PM  
Thanks for the kind words guys. Joe, it cots a bit more but for me it's a different experience. Way less people once you get in a ways. I have no doubt you will get up there. Maybe take your Grandpa?

03/11/2017 10:24PM  
Nice report and I can relate to much of your report as I have been to many of your sites and areas,but never could do the nice photography and report you done. Yes when you left Woodside going toward Silence that route is very rocky.

I liked your blue tarp. What make is it and approximate weight?

Nice job.
03/12/2017 10:14AM  
Thanks Pinetree. The tarp is a Warbonnet "Superfly". It's the tarp I use for hammock camping but take it when I go solo in a tent too. It's cool because it has four door sections that snap on to the ends of the tarp if I need extra coverage. The pullouts are real nice to attach lines to so it doesn't collapse from wind or puddle in a rain.
Alan Gage
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03/12/2017 12:34PM  
Fun report to read, Tom. Looked like a beautiful area. Nice to see the dog out having fun. They're great companions to have along. I'm always surprised how Sadie just settles right into the swing of things.

Alan
03/23/2017 08:55PM  
Awesome! What a great trip. You and Luna sure are a handsome pair. I had a border collie lab mix that was a nervous Nellie tyoe and hated being in the canoe. Great frisbee dog and somehow I taught her to bring in the Chicago Trib every morning in trade for a piece of salami. Very smart animal, but hated being in the boat or even a car ride. Well done. Bravo!
03/24/2017 05:42AM  
quote Alan Gage: "Fun report to read, Tom. Looked like a beautiful area. Nice to see the dog out having fun. They're great companions to have along. I'm always surprised how Sadie just settles right into the swing of things.
Alan"


Yeah, dogs just take it as it comes. They don't complain and I actually fed off of her excitement on the portage trails. I could see how happy she was to be out exploring and it kept me from focusing on how hard the trails were. If only I was as agile as she is! I wasn't going to take her this year but changed my mind. I bought her a little "pup tent" so I can go back to my sleeping hammock which I prefer.

Thanks for the kind words Scat. I hope you can recover fully from what you're dealing with and hit the trails again in 2018.



 
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