Got to thinking more about the "one lake off" subject and thought you might be interested in more info on one of my favorites -- Polaris Lake. It is a gem, barely more than a lift over from the Birch Lake thoroughfare, and it has one good campsite. (The PCD showed 2 "legacy" campsite locations, neither of which had been reviewed.) I spent a morning catching SMB on Polaris -- none over 16," though. I ate lunch at the "obvious" campsite. There was a good landing in a cove, good log seating/nice fireplace, and one really lumpy, big pad near the fireplace. Back in a ways is a mossy pad. (I did not GPS it, but think this is site 1CZ.) East of here there was another site with an old weathered tree down across it.(1DH?) Apparently, this lake was once more popular than it is today, and further East, while fishing the shore, I spotted a third, old campsite. Polaris is well worth a visit if you're coming or going from Prairie Portage or Indian Portage, e.g. to/from the Border route, or Man Chain. Pics are of portage, scenic West end, good campsite, and inflow pool below un-named lake in East end. (You could even go one more lake off.) --Goose

Thanks for sharing that info. We've paddled past the portage to Polaris several times in the last few years, and at times I've thought of exploring it. But it also seemed to me that the adjacent area of Birch was pretty heavily affected by the big blowdown, so I assumed Polaris was too. Blowdown areas can be interesting, but with the rest of Quetico waiting, it didn't seem that enticing. Your pictures suggest that the blowdown didn't affect Polaris that much, but it can be hard to tell from a few photos. What do you think?

How was the fishing there?

HoHo, I didn't notice any blowdown evidence on Polaris (or that part of Birch). Funny, when I first got to Polaris, the sky was gray and ugly, but when it cleared up -- wow -- it was beautiful, especially the west end.

Goby, I caught about 25 smallmouth in a just few hours -- semi-steady action as I cruised the shoreline -- but none were over 16-17." There may be bigger bass there, but I did not find any. (I didn't even hook and lose a big one.) I was just casting topwater lures, which got me bigger fish elsewhere, so the jury's still out on deeper fishing.
--Goose

Nice lake,I skied to it one winter and fished it for a hour on my way to Emerald lake and the Man chain winter camping. Beautiful in the winter also.

Thanks for the info, OGG.