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EP 45 Morgan Lake

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Date/Time: 04/29/2024 11:49AM

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EP 45 Morgan Lake

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Previous Messages:
Author	Message Text
ozarkpaddler	02/03/2016 12:02AM Thanks, but as I sit here with a foot the size of a deflated football that's throbbing like a big lineman has been dancing on it, I felt canceling was the proper thing to do. My second choice has reservations available, so I will wait for now. THANKS!
Bannock	02/02/2016 05:58PM quote lindylair: "I also agree that, for its length, the Morgan portage is not that bad and pretty scenic. " Not bad at all. It should be noted that the BWCA doesn't begin until you're merely feet away from Morgan Lake. Nearly the entire portage is outside the BWCA and therefore is easily maintained by the FS and they are able to use equipment, etc. not allowed in the BWCA. Thus the boardwalks and cleared, level trail.
Mocha	02/02/2016 04:33PM you're just out $6 which is a lot cheaper than reinjuring a foot that hasn't finished healing.
ozarkpaddler	02/02/2016 02:39PM I am wishing I'd waited a week to pull the trigger. Been off work for 10 days and just found out today I'm looking at a minimum of 2 more weeks due to damaging my foot with some "Ice dancing." I've never cancelled a permit, but am thinking about it now, since I'm dealing with this ortho injury.
mooseplums	02/02/2016 11:09AM quote boonie: "quote mooseplums: "quote boonie: "I have not entered at Morgan, but I did walk the portage in October on a day after my trip. It's a nice long walk in the woods, but not bad at all otherwise. The trail is good, inclines are gradual, and the low spots mostly have boardwalk. " Put a pack,and a canoe on your shoulders on a hot sticky day, and you'll change your tune :) Coming out was a breeze...it's mostly downhill" Yeah, harder then and harder going in than out, but . . . it'd still be easier than several others I've done - like Tuscarora-Missing Link, Muskeg-Kiskadinna (that day whipped me), Fente-Hub, Zenith-Lujenida :). And they're getting tougher every year ;). Tougher than a lot of them though; certainly not one of the easiest." Muskeg/Kiskadinna is one I have vowed never to do again.
greenandblackplaid	02/02/2016 11:01AM I did this trip a few years back - the Morgan Lake hike was long but benign. On the Morgan end my group encountered one of the strangest sights we've ever seen in the BWCA - the first clue was a canoe sitting across the trail about 3/4 to Morgan, and on the Morgan landing was a large man passed out among scattered poles/crumpled tent/fly in what was clearly a failed drunken attempt at setting up camp (there was a nearly empty 1.75 L "handle" of vodka there, too). We woke him up and made sure he was OK before going on our way. Misquah is a pretty lake but was hit by blowdown. The campsite is rocky. We didn't catch anything on Misquah but had a great time bushwhacking to Lantern Lake and climbing some bluffs over Misquah. Carl, Lux, and Jake (we paddled through all of them) were pretty bland VW lakes.
luft	01/30/2016 07:13PM I went in at Morgan twice last year because I wanted to be in that area and it was the only EP open at the last minute. The first time was a bit of a slog as I was single portaging with 2 packs and a light solo canoe. I only stopped once for a rest but it was a hard enough portage that I opted to head out Poplar and sweet talked Mike at Rockwood into giving me a ride to my car at the Morgan EP. I paid him of course. The second trip in I was with the kids and I was carrying a large pack and a tandem canoe. I seriously felt like I was going to have a stroke:-) I must have stopped to rest 10 times! The kids begged to head out Poplar again rather than do the Morgan portage and Twins87 was nice enough to offer me a ride back to the Morgan EP to get my car. I didn't fish so I can't speak to that but will say that I thought the camp site on Lux was a much nicer site than the site on Carl when I toured them the year before that. The Carl site was over grown, the fire grate was up a hill and full of weeds and I think I remember there only being one small tent pad that was mediocre. The Lux site was much nicer with more options for tent pads. I remember thinking that I would stay there.
ozarkpaddler	01/30/2016 12:21PM quote head2north: "Remember there are only three parking slots at Morgan. They were all full when I entered last year. I parked at Poplar and rode my bike back to Morgan in less than an hour." I was going to ask our friends at Boundary Country Trekking to drop us off and we'll be paddling north to end at their place. Worst case scenario is we come out the way we went in and someone has to walk back to their place at Poplar Creek Guesthouse.
head2north	01/30/2016 10:57AM Remember there are only three parking slots at Morgan. They were all full when I entered last year. I parked at Poplar and rode my bike back to Morgan in less than an hour. Overnighted on Lux that night. Next day over to Vista in less than an hour. Hindsight, I wished I would have jumped over staying at Lux that first night and traveled the distance to Vista. The Lux campsite was snug and pleasant, but Vista much better. and BTW, the western terminus campsite on Vista is in my top ten worse in BW. Met a couple that had a cabin on Twin Lakes. They had just day tripped Morgan, Carl, Lux, Jake and they had only caught small Northern. They said the trout days were long gone for those lakes as they are nor longer stocked. Nice lakes to travel through.
ArrowheadPaddler	01/30/2016 06:50AM quote ozarkpaddler: "quote ArrowheadPaddler: "quote ozarkpaddler: "quote ArrowheadPaddler: "I have never portaged to or paddled Morgan Lake, but when I saw the OP I was immediately reminded of this old trip report (at least I assume it's old as the participants corresponded by mail and phone). I have always enjoyed reading it-it's an entertaining tale. Apparently the entry portage has improved since this: Morgan Lake Trail " (LOL) I wonder if they meandered onto a moose trail? Sounds like the portage is markedly better now. Having "Sampled" those "Portages" up the Brule to Horseshoe, I cannot imagine that portage being WORSE? Here's a sample of the route they came back on: " Wow, that looks like an interesting canoe route. More wading than paddling, or did you find spots you could wet your paddle for a while?" Yeah, we decided to abandon the idea of getting all the way up to Horseshoe soon after those pics. But it did plant the seed that MAYBE, in high water, coming DOWN out of Horseshoe may not be so bad?" You don't know, unless you try. Looks like burn went through recently?
ozarkpaddler	01/29/2016 10:55PM quote ArrowheadPaddler: "quote ozarkpaddler: "quote ArrowheadPaddler: "I have never portaged to or paddled Morgan Lake, but when I saw the OP I was immediately reminded of this old trip report (at least I assume it's old as the participants corresponded by mail and phone). I have always enjoyed reading it-it's an entertaining tale. Apparently the entry portage has improved since this: Morgan Lake Trail " (LOL) I wonder if they meandered onto a moose trail? Sounds like the portage is markedly better now. Having "Sampled" those "Portages" up the Brule to Horseshoe, I cannot imagine that portage being WORSE? Here's a sample of the route they came back on: " Wow, that looks like an interesting canoe route. More wading than paddling, or did you find spots you could wet your paddle for a while?" Yeah, we decided to abandon the idea of getting all the way up to Horseshoe soon after those pics. But it did plant the seed that MAYBE, in high water, coming DOWN out of Horseshoe may not be so bad?
ArrowheadPaddler	01/29/2016 05:50PM quote ozarkpaddler: "quote ArrowheadPaddler: "I have never portaged to or paddled Morgan Lake, but when I saw the OP I was immediately reminded of this old trip report (at least I assume it's old as the participants corresponded by mail and phone). I have always enjoyed reading it-it's an entertaining tale. Apparently the entry portage has improved since this: Morgan Lake Trail " (LOL) I wonder if they meandered onto a moose trail? Sounds like the portage is markedly better now. Having "Sampled" those "Portages" up the Brule to Horseshoe, I cannot imagine that portage being WORSE? Here's a sample of the route they came back on: " Wow, that looks like an interesting canoe route. More wading than paddling, or did you find spots you could wet your paddle for a while?
pswith5	01/29/2016 03:07PM Stayed on Carl many years ago. I know there were walleye in there because our youngest member tipped over the canoe excitedly netting this fish. Right around May 10 so water was very cold. Fortunately everyone acted quickly and was well. Memory maker for sure.
LetsGoFishing	01/29/2016 02:02PM Last mid-June, I took my 6yo daughter on her first trip to the BWCA. We entered through EP47, shooting for a site on Vista. They were all taken, so we had to fall back to Horseshoe. Saw lots of moose from our site on Horseshoe. We took a day trip to Vista and Misquah. Had a nice lunch on the tall, bare hill just NE of the southern campsite on Vista. There's a nice ramp to pull the canoe up on, and it's a simple climb to the top. Reminded me of a closed campsite. The portage to Visquah is a pain. The landing on the Vista side is very rocky. The path is entirely up hill and has lots of roots and large rocks. Then, at the Visquah end, it branches off. Take the straighter of the 2 paths (don't turn left - shallow and lots of overhanging branches). Visquah is a beautiful lake - as close as you're going to get to a mountaintop lake in MN. We trolled for an hour or so during the mid-afternoon fighting the wind while my daughter took a nap. My wife hooked up with a 3-5lb lake trout, but it spit the hook. I didn't hook up that day.
boonie	01/29/2016 10:08AM Well, ozarkpaddler, maybe mooseplums is right and my perspective is skewed by being a "hillbilly" :) From Pauly's guidebook: "The Morgan Lake portage used to be one of the least welcoming in the BWCAW. It started with a 100-foot-long mud hole that had to be waded through, followed by a 330-rod hike in muddy boots. After the Forest Service started collecting user fees, one of the first expenditures of funds was for installation of a boardwalk over the low-lying muddy area. Today the start of the portage is quite pleasant and the remainder of the trail after the boardwalk is a nice walk in the woods." Beymer says essentially the same. I assume the guys in the story were there before the improvements ;). It's pretty much like the Crab Lake entry portage, I think, maybe a little more rolling than that. Definitely longer and tougher than Moose River North. You will definitely be going uphill going in as mooseplums said.
ozarkpaddler	01/29/2016 07:05AM quote ArrowheadPaddler: "I have never portaged to or paddled Morgan Lake, but when I saw the OP I was immediately reminded of this old trip report (at least I assume it's old as the participants corresponded by mail and phone). I have always enjoyed reading it-it's an entertaining tale. Apparently the entry portage has improved since this: Morgan Lake Trail " (LOL) I wonder if they meandered onto a moose trail? Sounds like the portage is markedly better now. Having "Sampled" those "Portages" up the Brule to Horseshoe, I cannot imagine that portage being WORSE? Here's a sample of the route they came back on:
ArrowheadPaddler	01/29/2016 06:11AM I have never portaged to or paddled Morgan Lake, but when I saw the OP I was immediately reminded of this old trip report (at least I assume it's old as the participants corresponded by mail and phone). I have always enjoyed reading it-it's an entertaining tale. Apparently the entry portage has improved since this: Morgan Lake Trail
boonie	01/28/2016 09:12PM quote mooseplums: "quote boonie: "I have not entered at Morgan, but I did walk the portage in October on a day after my trip. It's a nice long walk in the woods, but not bad at all otherwise. The trail is good, inclines are gradual, and the low spots mostly have boardwalk. " Put a pack,and a canoe on your shoulders on a hot sticky day, and you'll change your tune :) Coming out was a breeze...it's mostly downhill" Yeah, harder then and harder going in than out, but . . . it'd still be easier than several others I've done - like Tuscarora-Missing Link, Muskeg-Kiskadinna (that day whipped me), Fente-Hub, Zenith-Lujenida :). And they're getting tougher every year ;). Tougher than a lot of them though; certainly not one of the easiest.
mooseplums	01/28/2016 06:40PM quote boonie: "I have not entered at Morgan, but I did walk the portage in October on a day after my trip. It's a nice long walk in the woods, but not bad at all otherwise. The trail is good, inclines are gradual, and the low spots mostly have boardwalk. " Put a pack,and a canoe on your shoulders on a hot sticky day, and you'll change your tune :) Coming out was a breeze...it's mostly downhill
lindylair	01/28/2016 06:31PM We have camped on Carl and Lux, many years ago. On the way in or out, you can go directly from Morgan to Jake or through Carl and Lux and back to Jake to take three shorter portages as opposed to one longer one. Don't remember much about them though. Both Carl and Lux are Northern Pike lakes(no trout, those are in the lakes south of Vista) and I think you could have decent luck there. Other than that they are kind of nondescript, not lakes I would go out of my way to see. Plus the campsites on each are marginal but livable. I remember one night around dusk on Carl hanging out around the campfire and the frogs came out like crazy. Someone got the idea of throwing them out on a hook so we entertained ourselves for awhile to see if the frogs would make it back to shore. Most did not as we would hear a big splash and hauled in a pike. Still feel bad about that... There is no need to stop on either on the way in or out from Vista as it is a very easy and doable paddle from the Morgan lake entry to the nice southern campsite on Vista - no more than 4-5 hours taking your time. If the southern site is taken the site on the west shore is the next best, nice once you get up there but a terrible landing and steep climb to the site. The site in the narrow west arm was horrible IMO but I have heard of folks who liked it. Fishing can be very good around the small islands on Vista for eyes and smallies. I also agree that, for its length, the Morgan portage is not that bad and pretty scenic.
scramble4a5	01/28/2016 06:23PM We're going in at Morgan in late July. I am looking forward to seeing Vista and maybe a day trip to the Brule River area.
ozarkpaddler	01/28/2016 11:24AM quote boonie: "I have not entered at Morgan, but I did walk the portage in October on a day after my trip. It's a nice long walk in the woods, but not bad at all otherwise. The trail is good, inclines are gradual, and the low spots mostly have boardwalk. " Thanks. I've spent a lot of time in the general area and around the Brule River and even been to the parking lot. Just haven't seen that little cluster of lakes on the way to Vista. In June, that will change!
boonie	01/28/2016 07:20AM I have not entered at Morgan, but I did walk the portage in October on a day after my trip. It's a nice long walk in the woods, but not bad at all otherwise. The trail is good, inclines are gradual, and the low spots mostly have boardwalk.
ozarkpaddler	01/28/2016 12:26AM Thanks! Thought we'd stay one night and fish for trout then head to Vista and up through Horseshoe and eventually come out on Poplar and Little Ollie? Looks like the first day will be short if we want to fish, since we'll have to stay on Carl or Lux?
Mocha	01/27/2016 06:31PM Morgan to Jake to Vista... Jake is a gorgeous lake. never understood why there isn't one campsite on either morgan or Jake. Lux and Carl are unimpressive. now, they do have fish because we paddled past a site on Carl that had a pile of fishguts in the water off the site. not sure i would have even filtered the water from that lake.
Bannock	01/27/2016 06:01PM I've been to Morgan a few times, but not through Carl. Lux and Jake. They are however on my short list to visit. I believe at least one of them is a trout lake, perhaps even a a "stream trout lake". If I am right about that, you'll need a trout stamp to fish it. Misquah is a very deep lake and I believe pretty sterile. I think there are a few lake trout and notherns but doubt if there is much more.
ozarkpaddler	01/27/2016 12:31PM I've found a couple trip reports but not a whole lot of info I can find about Morgan, Carl, Lux, and Jake. When we get to Vista, I'm in familiar territory. Also never fished in Misquah. Anyone have info or fishing info on these lakes. Thanks.