Can anyone tell me about the portages from Roe to Cap to Boulder? Will be doing a loop from Malberg--Alice--Thomas--Frazer--Sagus--Roe--Cap--Boulder--Adams and back to Malberg..If anyone has done this let me know.

I did that exact trip in Sept. 2016. You can read my trip report and look at 2016 pictures here . After that feel free to ask me any questions about them you still have. You can ask here or email. It was a really nice trip; I enjoyed it a lot.

Just read your trip report! My main concern was Alice to Thomas and Cap to Boulder. My son and I are going to do this loop in September from #37. Hoping to do it in a relaxing 8 days. We normally go to Little Sag from Malberg. Will keep in contact.

Steve and I did the Kawishiwi - Little Sag - Sawbill route in 2014. That was a nice trip also, but harder portaging.

The Alice to Thomas section is a really nice paddle and the portage is nothing really out of the ordinary, a little boardwalk, a little climb, two easy landings. The pictures will show you a lot to go with the description. Water seemed low when I was there and lots of mud around Cacabic, but was able to get to the portage landing, which was solid. See pictures (captioned).

The Cap-Ledge portage starts with a long gradual climb. The Boulder turnoff is quite obvious, then you are going downhill on good trail, just long. There's a short steep drop to the creek just before Boulder. You are going the right direction - wouldn't want to try to get up it with a canoe. Cross the creek and skirt some mud, a short walk to Boulder, a nice landing.

You may come across talk about another way out of Cap to the SE cutting over to the Boulder section. It is rife with confusion, so I just went the obvious way, which was simple. It seemed like the shortcut might result in not much gain.

The travel from Boulder to Adams was very nice, really enjoyed it. Adams is a really beautiful lake that sees little use. I have only spent one night there and would like to spend more time there. I think you will enjoy it.

You know the route up to Malberg. The Fishdance pictos are not far past the Alice portage and worth the short side trip.

If you come up with any questions, just ask. Have a good trip.

Thanks. I will keep in contact. Your first hand observations are tremendously helpful. Just don"t know yet if we can still do it all without being rushed, Kawishiwi to Malberg has always just taken us a day...a good hard day...then another day to Sag where we set up base and did exploring of other lakes. I want to enjoy , not rush.

Here's some information that might help. You can map it out, but I've been up to Little Sag from Kawishiwi and have both routes mapped out. It sounds like you went to Little Sag in 2 days and back out the same way . . . ? If you did and I'm assuming you double portage like me, the loop is about 15 miles longer with an additional 1 1/2 miles of portaging, including the extra 2 trips to double portage. So, you'd have 4 more days to go 15 more miles with only minimal portaging. I never traveled really hard; a couple of days about like the first day to Polly. A lot of days less, and spent a good bit of extra time paddling all around Adams. Mostly just loafing along, half days of travel - 4+/- hours. It's a lot of remote pretty country with varied scenery for not much more work.

Boonie.
I read your 2016 Trip Report. Awesome, thank you!
This route sounds pretty spectacular. This will be my 3rd year soloing in the BWCA and I was looking for something further out than previous year's Snowbank trips. Thanks for sharing!

Paddle4Hike: "Boonie.
I read your 2016 Trip Report. Awesome, thank you!
This route sounds pretty spectacular. This will be my 3rd year soloing in the BWCA and I was looking for something further out than previous year's Snowbank trips. Thanks for sharing!
"

When are you planning your trip?

I really enjoyed it. To add a little more for you and drmau, from the entry to Polly you skirt the edge of the Pagami burn mostly on small, winding stream, then you're out of the burn, but same paddling to Malberg. All those portages are pretty straight-forward and not difficult, but the last two to Polly are moderately long and only separated by a few minutes paddling. The river from Malberg to Fishdance is much bigger than it is going up to Polly. Alice, Thomas, Fraser are bigger lakes than the others. Alice has a lot of sandy beach. The paddle up from Alice through the narrow east arm, through Cacabic, and across the portage to Thomas is a very intimate paddle. The narrows between Thomas and Fraser is very cool, lots of granite on Fraser compared to Alice. The paddle/portage from Fraser through Sagus, Roe, and Cap, to Boulder is pretty, smaller lakes, less-used portages. The paddle/portage (or was it portage/paddle?) on the stream between Boulder and Adams was maybe my favorite part of the trip. Then you are on Adams, a large irregular lake with lots of granite. I like Adams but have only stayed there one night; most people seem to opt for the island campsite, but I prefer elevated sites and as a solo, I don't really need a large five-star site, so I stayed on the one to the east of it. It's up there, but you have to go look for it. It's also a nice paddle/portage down through Beaver and Trapline to the river.

Looking at the pictures and map you'll get a good idea of all this, but if you have any questions, just ask. The portages between Alice and Malberg are challenging enough to keep it interesting, along with the beaver dams, especially the Cap-Boulder one, which is fairly long, but not as steep or challenging as Fente-Hub and Zenith-Lujenida going from Little Sag to Sawbill. Total double portage mileage is about 65 miles.

Planning end of August and first week of September. That has worked well on my last 2 (and only 2) trips to the BWCA, 2017&2018.

Last year was Snowbank, Disappointment, Ima, to Thomas, Alice, Fishdance, Insula, Kiana and back thru Thomas to Snowbank. 7 days. I am going to try to pull off 10 days this year and like the sounds of Boulder and Adams being on the itinerary. I had planned to see Fraser this year, whatever route I planned, so this could work.

I am going to spend some time with the maps and go back over your trip report. I would like to plan for 2 layover days spread out. Otherwise I enjoy being on the move and seeing what is out there.

After a little more research, I would like to reach out to you with any questions. If that's alright?

E

Sure, be happy to answer any questions I can, just email me. But be sure to put something in the subject so I know it's not junk mail. You should have plenty of time to layover a couple.

This is a long shot, but worth checking if you go from Cap to Boulder. One time (out of three) that we went that route, we were able to take a short portage out of the south end of Cap that connected with the river/lake that crosses the portage where it reaches the bottom of the hill. The beavers had made it deep and navigable. It was a real bonus and made the portage much easier. Another time we were able to skirt the edge of the marsh and avoid the steep section. Love that whole area.

Me and my 2 sons did the Cap to pond to Boulder short cut in 2015 and didn't think it was too bad. The pond was good size and the trail was easy to follow. I'm sure it changes from year to year, but I would take the "short cut" again.

The Boulder to Cap or Ledge Lake portages are covered in good detail with helpful maps in the Robert Beymer Eastern Region route book.

Been that way a few times once going west to Cap and another time going east to Ledge. There were a few false trails that one could get confused with.

UPBoy