Is there anything that makes Cache Lake special? That question may be too simple what I mean to ask is Cache Lake just another check mark on your Quetico checklist, and the only reason it holds special prominence is the added effort required to get there? I understand that all places in Quetico are special, but as I begin my research for the next adventure, I am always nagged on the Cache question.

per sig olson cache lake was one of the best pine forests in the superior/quetico. they have logged some of this area since then.

Chicken: I have not been there, so this is just my opinion from having several trip reports and all of the portage descriptions (found online via the "other" forum). I have NEVER read that Cache Lake was something "special" and therefore "worth" the effort. I believe "the effort" IS the main attraction. Once done, you belong to an elite club with few members. I for one won't miss not going there. (That said, I would love for someone to chime in and correct me.) Cache Lake reportedly has lake trout and some sand beaches. --Goose

Kinda what OGG said. We went through there in the mid-1990s (French Lake looping through the Poets and out via B Lakes to Stanton). The only thing my paddling partner and I reminisce about that trip were the miserable portages in and out of Cache, and the great fishing and island campsite on McKenzie. More for the achievement than anything else - now it's crossed off the bucket list. YMMV.

I have been there each year for the last 3 years. There are a few lake trout but not many. The trip down the Cache river is the best part of Cache Lake.

Thanks for the thoughts. Your sentiment is inline what I was thinking. I tend to be the main planner in my group and usually present options a few options to the group. If we decide to undertake Cache Lake, I just wanted to make sure that I am not overselling the lake. I do enjoy this portion of the park, we have been both McKenzie and Ferguson Lakes. Although we came up through from the south and exited through the lower Cache River. Ahhh so many options. Thanks again

The reason I went through Cache years ago was the loop option it provided (we were on the water for 33 days), as well as the "bucket list" factor. The portages in and out of Cache Lake are arguably the toughest in the park--at least they were back in the day.

quote arctic: The portages in and out of Cache Lake are arguably the toughest in the park--at least they were back in the day."

The Cache Lake portages are the longest but I do not think they are the toughest. There is some mud but only at the river will you go more than ankle deep. There are no big elevation changes or steep sections. The first time I got to camp with my pants pockets full mud was after doing he portage between Munro and Mack.

I wonder if the portages have been "upgraded" over the years, like the Badwater Portage has?
Back in the mid-80s the Trousers-Cache Lake portage was a muskeg slog where you spent much of your time in knee to crotch-deep muck. Double portaging, it took my group of experienced trippers 4 hours.

As a comparison, on the same trip I carried a Grumman canoe across the entire Grand Portage in less than two hours.

The Cache-Lindsey portage was drier, but so un-maintained that we had to put down our gear at times to find the trail.

It would make sense to keep those portages in good shape to keep paddlers entering from the north well distributed.

I was on Munro to Mack last in 2013. It was muddy, but we didn't consider it bad at all. Funny how perspectives change from year to year, under changing conditions, and different paddlers!

quote arctic: "I wonder if the portages have been "upgraded" over the years, like the Badwater Portage has?
Back in the mid-80s the Trousers-Cache Lake portage was a muskeg slog where you spent much of your time in knee to crotch-deep muck. Double portaging, it took my group of experienced trippers 4 hours.

As a comparison, on the same trip I carried a Grumman canoe across the entire Grand Portage in less than two hours.

The Cache-Lindsey portage was drier, but so un-maintained that we had to put down our gear at times to find the trail.

It would make sense to keep those portages in good shape to keep paddlers entering from the north well distributed.

I was on Munro to Mack last in 2013. It was muddy, but we didn't consider it bad at all. Funny how perspectives change from year to year, under changing conditions, and different paddlers!"

Janice (Cache Bay ranger station) called that portage (munro-mack) the "man-eating swamp" portage. She chuckled when I replied that it got it's name because women walk around it and only men try to walk through it....

Last year the trail from the river to the woods on the north side had been changed. It is now straight across the river and straight into the woods. Still wet but shorter.

From the north side just out of the woods looking across the river at the trail entering the woods on the south side.

quote HighnDry: "

I was on Munro to Mack last in 2013. It was muddy, but we didn't consider it bad at all. Funny how perspectives change from year to year, under changing conditions, and different paddlers!"

Janice (Cache Bay ranger station) called that portage (munro-mack) the "man-eating swamp" portage. She chuckled when I replied that it got it's name because women walk around it and only men try to walk through it...."

You can avoid the man-eating swamp by veering left at the base of the last hill going north into Mack and putting in on a narrow bay of Mack. A bit of semi-bushwhacking, but well worth it.

quote MagicPaddler: "
Last year the trail from the river to the woods on the north side had been changed. It is now straight across the river and straight into the woods. Still wet but shorter."

Back in the day you had to ferry across the river with the canoe--kind of awkward as it was only about a canoe-length wide. NO one dared to wade it--it looked DEEP. A buddy of mine found a narrow enough spot so he could use his canoe as a bridge to walk across, although balancing a load while portaging on the canoe-bridge took some serious concentration!

I still had to put everything in the canoe to cross the river but it is not a canoe length wide.

quote MagicPaddler: "I still had to put everything in the canoe to cross the river but it is not a canoe length wide. "

More evidence that the portage route has been changed. I remember reading a post years ago of someone getting diverted for a bit on a logging road along one of the Cache Lake portages. I don't recall seeing any sign of a road, even though I know the surrounding area had a significant amount of logging up until the early 1970s.

That is on the Lindsay to Cache portage and it crosses the logging road. Also on the Belair to McKenzie the portage goes down the logging road for a distance. When KF and I bushwhacked into the McKenzie from outside the park (story in the spring 2009 BWJ) we got to Mckenzie on that portage. A large part of the portages into and out of Cache are blazed. I do not think any portages have been blazed in the last 50 years.

Yeah, I don't recall crossing a road, but 1984 was a long time ago...and I didn't mention it in my trip journal. I've seen remains of the old logging road network along Baptism Creek and where it crosses Ferguson Creek, although when I went through Ferguson last year the old road crossing had been converted into a beaver dam--which raised the level of Ferguson Lake more than a mile away!

That beaver dam raised the level of Ferguson so much the island camp site is less than half it original size.

+1

quote arctic: "

quote HighnDry: "

I was on Munro to Mack last in 2013. It was muddy, but we didn't consider it bad at all. Funny how perspectives change from year to year, under changing conditions, and different paddlers!"

Janice (Cache Bay ranger station) called that portage (munro-mack) the "man-eating swamp" portage. She chuckled when I replied that it got it's name because women walk around it and only men try to walk through it...."

You can avoid the man-eating swamp by veering left at the base of the last hill going north into Mack and putting in on a narrow bay of Mack. A bit of semi-bushwhacking, but well worth it.
"

Thanks arctic. This one is still on my list. The Cache Lake route also is intriguing perhaps because of the solitude or the river route into Kawnipi which would be a good paddle.

HighnDry

Trip report including down the Cache River

quote MagicPaddler: "
HighnDry


Trip report including down the Cache River "

Thanks MP! I read this through another link you shared ...and enjoyed it again this second time around! --- Nanda :)

I'm a big NE corner guy in terms of my Q experience. Fell in love with that area just looking at maps as a kid, before I ever went. Been through or to Cache a number of times now, but not since around 2000 I think.

Some folks have it right - the appeal of Cache isn't Cache itself - it is making your way through the emptiest (most "wild" if you will) part of the park, accomplishing something few do (those two nasty portages), and getting to truly cool places like MacKenzie, Ferguson, Cache River. I for one love being in the wildest corners of places, but that may not be as much of a priority for others.

Also, someday, my launch pad for getting to Zephira. Some day.

Here's a whole stream of info that may help...

--Cache itself has some nice lakers, and I've heard some say it is one of the best in the park for them - but my experience is minimal. We caught some nice ones once. But we don't usually fish a ton.

--There is a really nice camp site on the tip of that penninsula that sort of separates the north and south parts of the lake. Landing is on south side just around the point.

--Cache can get a little dicey in a big wind, so be careful with that.

--The Trousers-Cache portage, at least 15 years ago anyway, was one of the two worst portages I've done. Big boggy mess for nearly 2 miles. The other bad one is the one on the other side of Cache - Cache-Lindsay(MacKenzie). That second one is longer, and did have a beaver-dammed swamp, but overall was easier walking.

--Finally - and I can't emphasize this enough - Cache was part of the WORST mistake I've ever made in Quetico. I'll add a post to the Worst Q Experience thread to detail this, but for now I'll just say... if you are doing the Trousers-Cache portage, and see that creek and think "hey, that empties to Cache Lake and looks like plenty of flow and depth to canoe down"... DON'T DO IT. Just finish the portage.

quote DancesWithTrees: "
--Finally - and I can't emphasize this enough - Cache was part of the WORST mistake I've ever made in Quetico. I'll add a post to the Worst Q Experience thread to detail this, but for now I'll just say... if you are doing the Trousers-Cache portage, and see that creek and think "hey, that empties to Cache Lake and looks like plenty of flow and depth to canoe down"... DON'T DO IT. Just finish the portage.
"

DancesWithTrees
I know one other person that did that section of the Cache river. He rates the experience lower than you do.

quote MagicPaddler: "

quote DancesWithTrees: "
--Finally - and I can't emphasize this enough - Cache was part of the WORST mistake I've ever made in Quetico. I'll add a post to the Worst Q Experience thread to detail this, but for now I'll just say... if you are doing the Trousers-Cache portage, and see that creek and think "hey, that empties to Cache Lake and looks like plenty of flow and depth to canoe down"... DON'T DO IT. Just finish the portage.
"

DancesWithTrees
I know one other person that did that section of the Cache river. He rates the experience lower than you do.
"

Someone else did it? That makes me feel a little better, haha. Seriously though, total disaster.