Just had a friend get back from a few days around LLC. He ran into some mounties during a quick visit to Warrior Hill and was issued a fine of $95 Canadian. It does happen.

That sucks, but I spose it is the rule. I would have expected it to be more than 95 canadian. What is that like 60 US?

He got off easy.

Everyone that I have heard of getting caught in Canadia without an RABC has been fined 1000 dollars funny money.

I was told you were allowed to walk up and visit as long as you left your tent and fishing pole . I guess that's out of the "Treaty Area" ? Passports next year;is that right? They need the money that bad or is it a securiy issue. What a shame. Pay toilets next? Pay Latrines I should say. Bin Laden or whoever is probably laughing. What a Shame.

That's the first I have heard of it happening, but it is Canadian land not covered by the treaty. In this day of border conflicts and terrorism threats I can understand why they may be a bit more likely to cite the offending parties than maybe a few years ago.

That's the first I have heard of it too. And I agree, the fine was miniscule. I bet your friends were respectful and well behaved. It could have been much worse. I suppose the mounies HAVE to do something if they encounter it. They weren't staked out there were they?

No, they weren't camping. They'd been told by an Outfitter that just visiting was "ok" so they left their fishing poles, packs etc back at the campsite and took only a camera.

It's a shame though, there's so much to see along that short span of US/Canadian Boarder, my guess is that if the Canadians keep this up, there's going to be many more fines before the regular BWCA visitor catches on.

Ouch. I have been guilty of 3 crimes invading Canada. Once was the Warrior Hill crime. Another was the Rebecca Falls crime. The other was the abandoned car on Crooked Lake crime. I would have been shocked to get a fine for it, but I guess lesson learned.

How bout portages on the Basswood River - do they count as a crime?

Same here Presto- I have visited all three sites. I did have a RABC at the time but did not have it in my possesion. From now on I'll be sure to bring it along.

Portages along Basswood River (I assume you mean around Basswood Falls etc) are fine. They are part of the shared portages covered in the treaty.

I've always known Rebecca Falls and Warrior Hill were not part of the treaty and technically you were illegally crossing the border if you go visit, but have also heard the Canadians were pretty lax on the enforcement as long as you were not sitting on Rebecca/warrior hill eating lunch or swimming etc...but I guess those days are gone.

Another common violation I see is at lower Basswood Falls---people sit on the Canadian side where the portage is and have lunch or fish from shore---technically a violation of the treaty----I wonder if they will start to issue tickets there too.

If the out fitter told them it was okay even though it was an illegal border crossing I would expect the outfitter to pay the fine for the poor advice. Otherwise thye may keep telling people they will not get fined.

Tim

The interesting thing is, they didn't get fined for crossing the boarder illeagally, in fact the Canadians didn't even ask to see their RABC permit, they only asked to see the Quetico permit, and were fined for entering the park without one.

A similar thing happend to me a few years ago when I was a few days into the Quetico, a Canadian ranger asked for my group's permit but not our RABCs. Luckily, we had both.

The Canadians did say that the group could/should have paddled up the shore of LLC and purchased a Day Permit from the Ranger station, which would have allowed them to visit the park along the boarder.

Has anyone ever heard of the Quetico Day Permit? Or how the RABC plays into it? I'm interested because I'm guiding a group soon and we had hoped to stop by some of these points along the way (Warrior Hill, Rebecca, the Buick on Crooked...)

I have heard of a Quetico day permit and as your friend said you can pick it up at the ranger station.

How soon is your trip? RABC's will be needed for each member in your group to be safe and they can take about 6-8 weeks to get unless you pay extra to have it expedited. You need only one if everyone is in your immediate family, but otherwise each person needs one.

Remember-if anyone in the group has ever been convicted of a felony (DUI/DWI is a felony in Canada) they probably will not get an RABC.

Stubs NO,with the recent devaluation of the dollar it is almost a 1 to1 ratio, $95 C is almost $95 US. Sorry for the bad news,no more cheap Canadian canoes.

cedarboy

Ok... I am stupid... What is a RABC? And I think we all need to forward all this to all the outfitters so they will quit telling unsuspecting Americans we can visit Warrior Hill without worry. My GF warned me when we were on LLC in May she had heard the Canadians were getting tough on Americans and talked me out of visiting Warrior Hill. She might have saved me some $$$. Sad though I am sure Americans spend plenty of $$$ in Ontario and be treated like that! Would the US rangers treat Canadians like that?

jenrobsdad "Sad though I am sure Americans spend plenty of $$$ in Ontario and be treated like that! Would the US rangers treat Canadians like that?"

To answer your question the answer to would the US rangers treat Candians like that the answer is no---they would be alot tougher! Try taking a candian boat across from Canada at Rainy or Lake of the woods without going through U.S. Customs---if you get caught you might find yourself in jail for awhile and definitely would not get off with just a $95 fine. Think of it this way to put it into another perspective----canoeing across Lac La Croix and landing on another countires soil without going through customs is essentially the same as canoeing across the Rio Grande from Mexico and landing on U.S. soil----what would U.S. authorities do if they caught you? Although not a perfect analogy as we have better relations with Canad----legally they are the exact same acts.

An RABC is a Remote Area Boarder Crossing form/permit. You pay a small processing fee to have the Canadian government do a background check on you--if you pass--you get the RABC form that allows you to cross into Canada in remote areas where there are no Custom stations---essentially having the form means the Canadian government has cleared/screened you to cross the border already. People use them to cross at Prairie Portage, Cache bay for example into Quetico, but fisherman/outfitters use them on Rainy Lake and Lake of The Woods too.

The Candian Rangers do not usually check for RABC's---that is an immigration function--they will check for park permit and fishing license. If you get stopped by immigration in Quetico (a rare occurance) and you did not clear customs or have an RABC I really don't know what the consequences would be, but I'm sure it would not be good.

Tim

Ah! So you're friends didn't run into mounties but rather a park ranger. Checking the RABC is not within the scope of a ranger but checking park permits is.

Their violation would be akin to entering a Minnesota State Park without a vehicle sticker. If it were mounties, and they didn't have a RABC (or entered Canada at Border Crossing), then they may have been in big trouble.

I've only crossed into canada twice. Once with an RABC, and once without. Both times were on Gunflint Lake.

And I thought they were still busy saving Nell from Dick Dastardly!