Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Little Sag East Loop from Sawbill
by hooky

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 05/21/2017
Entry & Exit Point: Sawbill Lake (EP 38)
Number of Days: 5
Group Size: 2
Trip Introduction:
"I'll never do that long 480 rod portage again. I've done it twice and that's enough." - My trip partner a few weeks before we decided on a route that would take us over that 480 rod portage.
Day 1 of 5
Sunday, May 21, 2017

"I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite a while"

After spending a cold, rainy Saturday night in a motel room instead of the Sawbill campground so we wouldn't start the trip with wet gear, we're loading the canoe in the rain at the Sawbill landing. Cold & rainy was going to be the theme for the first half of the trip. We did see our first wildlife of the trip shortly after turning onto the Sawbill trail. Other than ticks, this would be our only meaningful encounter with critters.

Off we go on our way to the evening's campsite on the far north end of Cherokee. It's a steady rain and temp is in the high 30s/low 40's. Thank goodness for good rain gear. We lost a little time when we didn't bear northeast to the Ada Creek portage, but we had all kinds of time. This is the second time I've gone up that way and both times, I've wondered how long it's been since the creek was navigable. We saw a guy trying to line his canoe down it and it didn't look like he was having fun or saving any time. The rest of the short paddles and longish portages happened without incident. Unlike the fall trip down Cherokee creek, there was plenty of water this time to just paddle right over the beaver dam. I wouldn't begin this trip with mud up to my thigh after slipping off the dam.

We decide to look for a campsite as close to the portage into Gordon as possible. We ended up at 895 at the north end right before the portage. It was raining and after we got camp set up, we had a quick dinner and then retired for the night to read and sleep. The campsite is OK. Rated 3 stars by users here and that was probably because it was dry. The landing faces east and was slick as snot from the rain. Would probably have a gorgeous of sunrises.

~Sawbill Lake, Ada Lake, Skoop Lake, Cherokee Lake