Poplar Loop - Quick, relaxing trip
by TominMpls
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
08/08/2019
Entry Point:
Lizz and Swamp Lakes (EP 47)
Exit Point:
Skipper and Portage Lakes (EP 49)
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (7 messages)
Part 5 of 5
Day 4 - Rush Lake to EP49, 5 miles
With the long drive back to the Cities looming, we always start our last day a bit earlier than the others, but this time we still enjoyed our morning first, having a proper breakfast before hitting the water at 8:30.
The Rush to Little Rush portage is tiny and quick. Last year going the other way, my group had come to the opinion that there really isn't a portage from Skipper to Little Rush, believing it to be meant to be a lining job through the rocks of the channel, but had found it to be a pretty rough lining; both the maps and the GPS track had reinforced that idea. This time, approaching the same area from the other direction, we were about to try and do the same when we noticed a landing to the north of the bend in the channel, and discovered a very straightforward little portage. Coming out on the Skipper side, I completely understood the confusion of last year - there's a little bay away from where the map shows the portage, and the portage really goes from there, but from the Skipper side you can't see the portage landing when you have to make the choice, and the map appears to send you toward the channel. I'll know this in the future, and will share the tip that there really *IS* a proper portage from Skipper to Little Rush, and it's easy.
The long portage from Skipper to Poplar is a really easy and pleasant portage despite its length, yet again confirming to me that usually hard portages are short and long portages are easy. I'm sure that's not a universal rule, but so far Quetico-Superior has let me think that. We got through it very quickly, loaded for the last time, paddled to the exit, and were done. We took our time with a nice lunch at the Angry Trout in Grand Marais, then headed back home.
M and I have done a lot of BWCA trips and while it's always a little melancholy to reach the exit, we usually have the feeling like we're ready to leave, like we've accomplished what we wanted and can head home. This time, neither of us wanted to leave. We're accustomed to longer trips, and I think four days simply wasn't enough time. We were lucky to be able to squeeze this trip into a very busy summer, but we definitely both could have used another couple days in the woods.
~Rush Lake, Little Rush Lake, Skipper Lake, Poplar Lake
With the long drive back to the Cities looming, we always start our last day a bit earlier than the others, but this time we still enjoyed our morning first, having a proper breakfast before hitting the water at 8:30.
The Rush to Little Rush portage is tiny and quick. Last year going the other way, my group had come to the opinion that there really isn't a portage from Skipper to Little Rush, believing it to be meant to be a lining job through the rocks of the channel, but had found it to be a pretty rough lining; both the maps and the GPS track had reinforced that idea. This time, approaching the same area from the other direction, we were about to try and do the same when we noticed a landing to the north of the bend in the channel, and discovered a very straightforward little portage. Coming out on the Skipper side, I completely understood the confusion of last year - there's a little bay away from where the map shows the portage, and the portage really goes from there, but from the Skipper side you can't see the portage landing when you have to make the choice, and the map appears to send you toward the channel. I'll know this in the future, and will share the tip that there really *IS* a proper portage from Skipper to Little Rush, and it's easy.
The long portage from Skipper to Poplar is a really easy and pleasant portage despite its length, yet again confirming to me that usually hard portages are short and long portages are easy. I'm sure that's not a universal rule, but so far Quetico-Superior has let me think that. We got through it very quickly, loaded for the last time, paddled to the exit, and were done. We took our time with a nice lunch at the Angry Trout in Grand Marais, then headed back home.
M and I have done a lot of BWCA trips and while it's always a little melancholy to reach the exit, we usually have the feeling like we're ready to leave, like we've accomplished what we wanted and can head home. This time, neither of us wanted to leave. We're accustomed to longer trips, and I think four days simply wasn't enough time. We were lucky to be able to squeeze this trip into a very busy summer, but we definitely both could have used another couple days in the woods.
~Rush Lake, Little Rush Lake, Skipper Lake, Poplar Lake
Lakes Traveled:
Rush Lake,
Little Rush Lake,
Skipper Lake,
Poplar Lake,
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