This will be our first trip to the BWCA. We have our permit reserved for august 6th and leaving the 9th. It will be my son (5yrs), Father-in-Law(52) and myself (30). Our plan so far is to leave the EP by noon(can't get there any earlier) and head north on the LIS go through Upper and lower pauness and make it to loon the first day. Going to loon because the FIL is worried about the portage to shell lake. Which is the better option. Loon or Shell. Shell looks like it has more opportunities. Any insight would be appreciated. For what its worth, I have plenty of experience in a canoe river fishing and duck hunting around home, FIL not so much. Thanks in advance.

I think the portage into Loon is harder than the one into Shell. The end of the Loon portage is very steep. Also, not much on Loon. Shell has better campsites and opportunities. Also, Shell has better day trip opportunities.

First of all, welcome to the great Northern Woods! Your going to love it! Second, lets get to trip talk. You chose a good beginner path (especially since you are going to have a 5 yr old with you). The upside with this route is you're not going far regardless which route you choose. I feel you should do one of these two options depending on if you base camp or want to portage camp:

1. Lets start with a base camp trip - In this case, I'd chose Shell for the reasons mentioned by Bannock in the previous post. I didn't camp on Shell myself, but did like the lake and based on all the info iv'e received, it has good fishing. It's a very short distance from EP 14, so your son should have 0 issues. Also, on your 2 full days, you could designate one or both of them to go explore the small lakes connected to Shell. (Little Shell, Lynx and Heritage.

2. A short portage trip. - Again, this is a great EP for a portage trip with your son Since you can easily do a 4 day loop from here. On the 6th, go through Lower and Upper Pauness and finish at Loon. If you get a great site and like Loon, stay on Loon a couple nights. If not, just stay one night and on the 7th, work your way into Heritage and then into Shell for the 2nd part of your trip. The total distance from Loon to Shell is just 3 miles, so should only take 2-3 hours. You will encounter a tougher portage getting to Heritage, but since your day trip is so short, just take your time getting through it so you can enjoy it. Trust me, if you try to quickly push through, you'll get frustrated and miss the opportunity to enjoy it.

Hope this helps,
Darin (PointMe2Polaris)

quote Bannock: "I think the portage into Loon is harder than the one into Shell. The end of the Loon portage is very steep. Also, not much on Loon. Shell has better campsites and opportunities. Also, Shell has better day trip opportunities.
"

+1

Shell's a better option. Plus, Loon will bring some motorized traffic your way (not sure if that detracts from the wilderness experience for you). I try to avoid motors especially when I've got my kids along.

my .02. Popular entry point, busy time of year, sunday entry and late day. Be very flexible and don't have any real hard plans. I would start looking for campsites the minute I hit Upper Pauness. Keep heading towards Shell if need be to get a site....or even Lynx. Early August can be peak for numbers of campers and I think you should stay on a course to take you past maximum campsite options. More sites heading through Shell and Lynx then going up to Loon and paddling big water with inexperienced paddlers looking for spread out sites. Sounds like FIL doesnt want to portage a lot so once you find a site, plant yourself, camp, relax, fish.....daytrip if you want. FWIW, if he is leary of the Shell portage, the Devils Cascade portage is just as tough even though shorter and the Heritage portage from Loon is a doozee also.
I don't mean to be a wet blanket for your first trip (I hope it's awesome), but I don't want it ruined by setting hard plans and having them dashed. It is a busy area during a busy time frame, so don't have hard plans and just take what it gives you. You'll be happier.

Thanks everyone for the advice. We'll probably go into shell for sure now. I plan on taking a couple short trips around home with my FIL before our trip.

quote NorEyeWest: "Thanks everyone for the advice. We'll probably go into shell for sure now. I plan on taking a couple short trips around home with my FIL before our trip."

Hey NorEyeWest. Welcome to bwca.com.

Here is a trip report from our trip to LIS N thru shell last May. Camped on Lynx for 2 days, and then the northern site on Con Island and Shell for 2 days.

Trip Report for LIS N - EP 14

I went in at EP14 in 2015. Started before noon. Spent first night on Upper Pauness, although I'm sure I could have gotten further. It was my first solo, so I was still figuring things out.

I did not go to Loon, so I can't compare portages. But from looking at the map, the Devil's Cascade portage is definitely steeper. Because I was soloing, I wanted to stay off of bigger lakes. As things turned out, probably would have been fine with the weather, but couldn't tell that in advance.

The Lower Pauness to Shell portage was longer but not bad in terms of steepness or anything. But part of the portage was covered by a beaver pond about 3/4th of the way through. There was about 100 foot of water that, when I looked in, had tiny leeches who looked like they'd be happy to meet me. So at that point I loaded up the canoe and canoed to the other side, before unloading and finishing the portage. Nothing difficult, just a bit of an annoyance. It looked like there'd been a crosswalk. Not sure if that got remade or anything last summer.

So, bit of an annoyance. Not difficult to get to Shell, Little Shell, Lynx, or Heritage.

Anyway, beautiful area. I'm planning on going back maybe next summer.

Welcome to the family!!

I am going to give you a bit of a different perspective... but I will preface it by say I only trip during the last week in June. I have entered 14 several times, but only on Shell one night in a rain storm and paddled through Lynx. That was at the end of a loop around that area up to Gebe-on-e-quet and back around. My favorite trip for base camping and fishing, actually there are two. One is to go to Little Loon stay at the fartherest campsite across from the portage into Slim. Great little fishing lake with day trips possible. Also very little traffic.
The other is to go up to Snow Bay, you'll have some motorboat traffic getting there if you go via Beatty Portage on Loon and Lac La Croix. Once in the bay we stay Oman island campsite that was great! Just watch out for the poison Ivy. Lots of walleye and smallmouth in Snowbay.

Those are my favorite two options and my wife's as well when she goes with me. Little Loon is a half day getting there leaving at daylight. Snow Bay is about 16 miles about mid afternoon leaving at day light!

Good luck with your decision!

Bruce

I would suggest Shell. The portage to Loon is up then down. Portage to Shell has a special twist. It is pretty flat if I remember correctly. In the middle to 3/4 down the portage to Shell you will run into a beaver dam/pond. You will have to drop the canoe in, pack it up and make your way 100 yards or so and then back out to get to Shell. It is actually pretty cool. This would have been my daughters first trip to BWCA and she got hooked!!!
We saw a mama moose and her baby at the beaver pond. She saw tons of animals, easy portages, and had fun even though it was cold! :-) You can day trip back to Lower Pauness, stash the canoe and walk to Devils Cascade. Lots of options compared to Loon. Loon has a nice scenic entrance and big beaver dam before you get to the open water. Many choices from Shell.
Moose in the beaver pond on portage from Lower Pauness to Shell

This is where you will have to ferry yourself across

East side of Shell close to Little Shell portage.

Have fun!!!

I'll be there at the same time. Say hi if you see 6 ladies and a golden retriever.

NorEyeWest, welcome to bwca.com!

Shell is a great first trip destination. While others make a beeline for Con Island, check out site #0049, south central shore. Lots of open space for tents, a nice exposed rock area for night sky viewing to the north, and good fishing nearby.

This was the spot for my very first BWCA overnight in 1978. Went back in 2013 and loved it just as much.

The first part of the Shell portage is up hill, after that it levels off with some down hill. There is a short "put in" where the beavers have flooded the trail. Load up and paddle. Do not try and walk through the water. Once on Shell there are many great sites. Push on to Lynx where you will find several nice sites.

Thanks Everyone for the help. I can't wait for our trip!

Welcome to the board. I would also agree with the Shell lake advice. That portage is much flatter, and there are more campsite options. It is also a area where I recently took a couple of first timers, one of them being a child. Here is a link to the related report from that trip.

Trip Report

When going from Pauness to Shell - take the 30 rod portage into Lower Pauness. It is flatter & easier footing than the 8 rod (with a beaver dam afterwards) on the south end. Plus you will spot the portage into Shell easier from that vantage point because of the muck & lots of different grasses growing in the lake which make the portage challenging to find sometimes.