Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: How late in fall is
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housty9 |
geotramper: "For those who go in October and later but also wet-foot during the summer - how late in the season do you wet-foot? Do you switch to dry-footing or tough it out?"the last few spring and fall trips I wear neoprene socks and water shoes, this fall I'm trying a neoprene diving boot, these have a little harder soul for helping with rocks, trying to get away from water boots because of weight. |
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Lailoken |
geotramper: "For those who go in October and later but also wet-foot during the summer - how late in the season do you wet-foot? Do you switch to dry-footing or tough it out?" I do 100% dry foot by using Chota boots post September and take full redundant set of clothes, as if you fell in at 28F wearing everything you have, want a second set. I've had mid September trips that are 33 -43 low high with rain, drizzle, snow before in last ten years. If weather good, it is great, but you are way into shoulder season and one day last October, was unnaturally warm at about 75 F but cold front came in day later when we paddled out and snowed next day. |
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poxy |
AmarilloJim: "I usually go the last week of Sept. and I wet foot. Water temps are around 60 +/-." Same here. Neoprene socks help but need two pair. Temps and short days mean they don’t always dry and half frozen socks SUCK. |
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egknuti |
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Pinetree |
Lake trout season closes Sept 30th if you were going fishing for them. |
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Tman |
In 2012 I did a solo October 5-13. Temperatures were highs in the 40's and two nights it was down in the teens. The narrows between Trease and North Hegman were frozen over with about 1/4" of ice the late morning of the 12th. I was able to paddle "ice breaker" style through it but it is not a good sound with a kevlar canoe! (My profile picture is from my campsite on Angleworm from that morning.) A couple of thoughts for tripping that late: 1. Leaves are pretty much down by then. 2. Days are short. 3. Nights are long. Collect plenty of firewood during daylight and have some reading material. 4. It is very quiet. Most of the birds, frogs, insects, etc. are gone so about the only sound you hear is the wind in the trees and occasional migrating ducks or geese. I missed the call of the loons and it was kind of creepy. 5. You will pretty much have the place to yourself. I was in the Fourtown area for much of the trip and saw nobody from Sunday morning to Friday night. I was prepared and had a great time. No regrets and I would absolutely do it again. |
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Pinetree |
Talk about ducks in the area than,everything came south. |
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hawleycanoeguy |
Last fall, I went for five days/four nights during the first week of October. The leaves had barely even turned colors, so it was disappointing that I didn't get to see much color. There was light to moderate rain for parts of four of the five days. Temps were very comfortable - highs from mid-50's to around 60 with lows in the upper 40's to about 50. good light by 7AM and dark by 7:30PM. I went in Mudro up to Horse-Basswood River east through Jackfish Bay and then out through Mudro. The Basswood River is a MUST SEE if you like waterfalls/rapids/rivers!! Good time to go because it gets busy there in summer. Water levels were high and portages were a mucky mess. Fishing was good. Here is a video I made of my trip last October to get a better visual - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyF9CNa8H24 I was also in this area in 2010 from October 20-24 - it was a very different story! We entered with snow on the ground, paddled through a heavy sleet shower on Horse Lake where we ended up base camping for four nights. It was dark by 6:30PM, so that was really weird at first. We had supper, talked, laughed, told stories, and I recall saying, "I'm beat - time for bed." AND it was 8 PM! That first evening was windy and cold - temps got down into the mid-20's every night. Full moon, heard wolves the first night, drank tons of hot chocolate, ate like kings. Highs were 40, 60, 45, and 40 - the 60 degree day for that late in the year was unreal - calm, clear, sunny. The final day was 40 and steady rain as we paddled out - plus we got lost on Fourtown trying to go south to Mudro, which was a little panicky! Water levels were low. Here is the trip report of that adventure for more information - http://bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=trip.report_view&sel_trp_id=4991 Some great advice by other posters here - if you plan ahead and pack smart, and adjust to a lot more darkness, you won't regret going up there in October. Pick an entry point that gives you options and I would recommend not going too deep into the wilderness. Mudro would be a great option - Little Indian Sioux north would be as well. Weather forecasts are so much better than they've ever been - so knowing that will dictate where you'll go or even when you'll go depending on your flexibility. |
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Banksiana |
Wool is your friend. Rain makes travel difficult and even dangerous. Quiet takes on a whole new meaning. Swimming hurts. |
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Canoeit |
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KarlBAndersen1 |
Take that for what it's worth. Go prepared. |
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DanCooke |
People have been frozen in and pulled out by helicopter when they were so far in and the ice became too thick to break through. MEA Weekend I pulled out early from a trip and the next morning ice would have been too thick to paddle through in the eastern part of the BWCAW. |
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poxy |
DanCooke: "I believe what is safe depends on a persons skill level, judgement and equipment as much or more than the weather. What Dan said, but for me the forecast is key. I bailed at the last minute on what looked like a good window in mid October when the forecast turned to a couple of days of snow and sub-freezing temps in what would have been the middle of a Kawishiwi Triangle trip. No regrets and I’ll try it again this year. Bottom line: Be flexible and call it off if you have doubts. |
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mooseplums |
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Eric1614 |
How late in the year can I go and still have a safe fun trip? I'm not worried about being a little chilly, but I do want to make sure I'm not being foolish with the weather as I will be solo. My thoughts are mid-October, but I'm excited to hear what others think. |
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jwartman59 |
Edit: I have been on lake one mid October when all sites were full. |
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RetiredDave |
Dave |
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walllee |
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billconner |
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Jaywalker |
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The Great Outdoors |
A heavy snowfall will obliterate the portages, both in finding where they are, and walking them, as the Halloween Storm in the early 90's showed. Last year had Shagawa Lake freeze solid on November 10th, which is not unheard of. What is unheard of is the fact it never re-opened, something I have never seen in my life. Be careful, and use common sense. |
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Blatz |
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RRHD |
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OldTripper |
The latest trip I made was started on Halloween and we came out Nov 10th. The weather was perfect for the most part, no rain or snow, just cold. We had very thin ice on the water a couple mornings causing a late start. We enjoyed the shorter days as we spent more time around the campfire soaking up the solitude and sharing conversation. Truly the best part was not seeing other people. We felt like we had the whole BW to ourselves. |
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carmike |
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newguy |
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housty9 |
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geotramper |
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AmarilloJim |
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bwcasolo |
The Great Outdoors: "To be safe, I would not recommend taking a trip deep into the BWCA once you get to the 4th week of October. word's of experience. october is a great time in the north woods. changes can occur quickly. |
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AmarilloJim |
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bhouse46 |
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SevenofNine |
However, I have been up other times like MEA weekend and it was great weather. I had to break a small amount of ice at the portage put in but nothing serious. Keeping track of the weather both before and during your trip is important so bring a weather radio. Take TGO's advice to heart, we may not see another Halloween snowstorm like we had but anything with moderate amounts of snow could really make it hard to get out. |
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housty9 |
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