Looking for the voice of experience from anybody who has navigated the Cache River to Kawnipi. How is the travel? Campsites along the way? What is Ferguson Lake like? Campsites? Fishing? We will be traveling mid to late May.
I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, . . , and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Thoreau
The stream into Ferguson from the east is fun, with a couple of beaver pull overs. Ferguson is a nice lake with fair fishing, in my experience. Not much for camping, but a modest site on an island just west of the mid-lake narrows. We have had nice northern action on spoons in the narrows. Leaving Ferguson to the north to the Cache River is the big reason few go there. That is a nasty portage with the northern 300 meters or so being waist deep muck that you basically crawl through and pull your canoe along. (see the discussion on "worst portages in the Quetico" from about 4 years ago. Much worse than even the Yum Yum portage. Once you get to the Cache River, it is about three hours to Kawnipi. There is one very short rapids to portage, then about two hours of winding stream paddling with mud banks. I recall only one rock point on which one could get out, certainly not a camp site. Finally, at the downstream west end is a string of three rocky portages, the last of which goes around a rapids/falls to the northern end of a Kawnipi inlet. If it were not for the bad portage, I would highly recommend this experience. Allow a long half day to go from Ferguson to Kawnipi. You don't want to start this mid afternoon.
I have come down from Cache Lake 2 times in the last 3 years. Last year I camped at the end of one of the portages. With a hammock I do not need much. Bring lots of water the river is nasty. Nice place to see moose.
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MagicPaddler
With lots of rain, be aware the channel in winding streams can be extremely difficult to navigate and you can get lost even as to where the channel is located. Allow much time if a very wet season in May trip time.
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