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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 04:22AM
Impromptu Trip Ideas

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
bwcadan 05/19/2019 06:42AM
Go to Base Camping Basics Forum which is located just below "For sale or wanted" at the bottom of the Forum page. Many things to consider for your base camp experience.
lindylair 05/18/2019 08:23PM
Baker Lake up to South Temperance Lake. Could make it in one longish day or take two leisurely days up, stopping to camp on Kelly or Jack. Mostly short and easy portages, scenic area, good fishing, known as an area of frequent moose sightings, small to medium sized lakes with long stretches of narrow, river-like paddling.


South Temperance is a classic BWCA lake and one of the prettiest. At the north end of the Kelly to Jack portage there is a short trail to the left to an old abandoned gold mine which is kind of cool to see, lots of artifacts lying around. At the entry point(Baker) there is a small national forest campground, rustic but with solar water pump, be a great place for a car camping gig and daytrips in for another option.


Great underrated route and entry point.
Exo 05/18/2019 02:52PM
+1 - I will add that you can try to call around for tow up Moose, but they like to charge solo canoeist's double. Perhaps they have an odd group to fit you in and you can pay single.


If you layover on Vera you could daytrip into the nearby PMA.


lskidder: "I had a similar short time frame once. I left my vehicle at the Moose Lake landing and paddled a route to Newfound, Sucker, Birch and Knife Lakes; Vera, Ensign and back to Newfound. Vera is a beautiful lake, isolated by two fairly long portages and a great place to spend an extra day. I was portaging my Alumacraft Quetico back in the day, but now we have lighter Kevlar options. "
lskidder 05/18/2019 12:43PM
I had a similar short time frame once. I left my vehicle at the Moose Lake landing and paddled a route to Newfound, Sucker, Birch and Knife Lakes; Vera, Ensign and back to Newfound. Vera is a beautiful lake, isolated by two fairly long portages and a great place to spend an extra day. I was portaging my Alumacraft Quetico back in the day, but now we have lighter Kevlar options.
billconner 05/18/2019 12:41PM
Mocha: "i'd go to Ely and either tent camp and do day trips to different places to get a "feel" for future longer trips, or choose and entry and just paddle and camp, no schedule or plan.
or, with tent camping you can canoe or if weather is nasty you can take in the wolf center, bear center, dorothy molter museum and not sure if a person can just paddle to the Sig Olsen place. then you can eat the Brittons, the Steakhouse, or look for a job in Ely! not trying to be funny, sorry you lost your job. getting the the woods and breathing some fresh air for a few days will be good."



Add the museum at Vermillion CC to Mocha's list of Ely sights. Neat artifacts.


But just find an EP - I use Moose and Snowbank a lot since I'm usually last minute - and a bunch of maps.
boonie 05/18/2019 09:32AM
I don't fish or basecamp, so . . .


Go in Cross Bay to Snipe, south to Copper, Hubbub, across "Howl Swamp" to Tuscarora. You can exit through Missing Link to Round Lake and a short walk back to your car, or go from Missing Link back to Snipe and out the way you came. If you can spend a night on Tusc, you can day trip to the east . . . or just do nothing :).
TuscaroraBorealis 05/18/2019 09:02AM
One recommendation
OldTripper 05/18/2019 07:31AM
I have done many solo trips using Moose, Snowbank and Lake One as entry and take-out points. I mostly did loops so I would have to walk, or catch a ride, from where I ended my trip back to the EP. Worse case scenario the most you'll have to walk is about 8 miles or so. If you are not opposed to out and back trips then you could eliminate the issue of walking or catching a ride.
If you check out the map you will see many options for making it a long trip if you are into paddling and seeing the sights (Lake One to Moose via Insula, Fraser, Kekekabic, Knife and border water back to Moose), or there are many shortcuts you can take (Lake One, Insula, Thomas, Ima, Snowbank or Lake One, Insula, Thomas, Ima, Ensign, New Found, Moose) It all depends on how many hours a day you want to paddle and how many days you want to be out.
Sorry you lost your job. I hope you find another soon.
Would love to see some pictures if you take any of these routes.
Enjoy your journey!!!
walllee 05/18/2019 06:26AM
Moose River south, Big Moose Lake
djwillco 05/18/2019 06:20AM
Sorry to hear about losing your gig! Hope finding a new position works out well for you.
A great little solo loop would be Crab-Cummings-Buck-Western-Glenmore-Schlam-Lunetta. Great scenery and solitude, particularly on the back end of the loop (Western through Lunetta you're unlikely to see anyone and most of the lakes have a single campsite that are almost guaranteed to be open as they are small, underused sites, except for lunetta which is a larger site). Good fishing on all those lakes (northern, walleye, bass, bluegill). Beautiful area that's less travelled.
You could do this loop in as few as 3 days if you wanted to leave a couple of days to hang in Ely as suggested by others.
Recommend taking the tow across Burntside to get to portage into Crab Lake.



Mocha 05/17/2019 09:32PM
i'd go to Ely and either tent camp and do day trips to different places to get a "feel" for future longer trips, or choose and entry and just paddle and camp, no schedule or plan.
or, with tent camping you can canoe or if weather is nasty you can take in the wolf center, bear center, dorothy molter museum and not sure if a person can just paddle to the Sig Olsen place. then you can eat the Brittons, the Steakhouse, or look for a job in Ely! not trying to be funny, sorry you lost your job. getting the the woods and breathing some fresh air for a few days will be good.
paramedicscan 05/17/2019 05:59PM
Hi Guys,

I suddenly have some free time, as I just lost my job. I had a trip planned in July, but thought why not go twice this year. Its not like I have anything better to do.

I am going solo so maybe this would be better posted there, but do you guys have any suggestions for a quick 3-5 day trip?

Feel free to suggest anything that might involve base camping, moving everyday, fishing or lack there of, Portaging, lakes, rivers, whatever. The only real requirement is that it can only be for a few days.

Thanks much!