I'm taking my 14 year old daughter on her first trip. I've only done two myself so I’m certainly no expert here. We are entering Snowbank on June 23rd and plan on going through Disappointment, hopefully getting to Ima on day one.

We plan on being on the water by 6:00am. We'll be staying in the wilderness for five or six nights and don't really have a set plan after the first day. Would like to see Thomas and Fraser and maybe even Alice and would be fun to get to Insula since that is where I took my first trip. Might travel everyday or stay several nights in the same location if we like it.

Any suggestions and good campsites, good fishing, pictographs in the area? We plan on stopping to check out Cattyman Falls on the way in or the way out.

On the way up, we are staying in Rice Lake, WI Friday night and plan on taking our time getting to Ely on Saturday. Planning on going along the lake shore on 61 and stopping a few places so any recommendations on that would be helpful also. Picking up canoe and any last minute gear from Voyageur North Saturday evening and staying at Motel Ely for the night. Recommendations for dinner and early breakfast appreciated, or any other things we should see in Ely.

The north side of Insula is nice - several great spots to camp if you can grab them (Williamson Island, straight east of it is a nice beach campsite). If you are into the sort of thing, jumping off of "The Rock" (will be noted as such on maps) in the middle of Insula is a hoot.

For dinner in Ely I like Sir G's for Italian or Ely Steakhouse. Early Ely sit down breakfast is Brittons a block off the main drag.

Whoa Big Guy!!
Taking your daughter on her first trip is all about her. Re-living your first trip is a mistake ( it would be fun to get to Insula). I've never been on your route, but checked the map... how many portages are you planning on Day 1?

It would be better to plan a less aggressive trip and be happy to beat the plan.

Your goal is to make great memories. Good for you.

ps. IMHO, rethink the "on the water at 6am"?

bobbernumber3: "Whoa Big Guy!!
Taking your daughter on her first trip is all about her. Re-living your first trip is a mistake ( it would be fun to get to Insula). I've never been on your route, but checked the map... how many portages are you planning on Day 1?

It would be better to plan a less aggressive trip and be happy to beat the plan.

Your goal is to make great memories. Good for you.

ps. IMHO, rethink the "on the water at 6am"?"

I'd tend to agree with taking a more open approach to your plans. See how it goes and have a good time.

Lots of cool things to see and do along the north shore, waterfalls, light house, etc.

bobbernumber3: "Whoa Big Guy!! Taking your daughter on her first trip is all about her. "

What Bobber said. Step back, take a deep breath, and plan a fun trip for your daughter. You know her best... she's 14 so (in theory) she should be capable of handling portages and stiff paddling, but you have to be flexible and be happy about it.

Fourteen is an age when she could just as easily remember the enjoyable times in camp, swimming, eating good food, etc. more than she'll wear a badge of honor for endless paddling and portaging... or not. Plan accordingly.

I don't know your daughter so you would have to make your own decisions about how she will react to multiple portages. I agree with others to keep your plan open and maybe look at a few lakes short of Ima and research possibilities for campsites in case that she tuckers out early.

My boys have been fine with multiple portages maybe a little grousing about it but nothing major. We have traveled with other families with young girls and multiple portages hasn't been an issue. But then these are families that have had previous trips so maybe that makes a difference?

I've been researching part of your route for an upcoming trip.
The trip to Ima via Disappointment has 8 portages and will take approximately 5-6 hours. That is pretty much where I had planned to stop on my first day.

Fraser and Thomas are very pretty. That 200+ rod portage out of the east side of Thomas was LOOOOOOONG. I was in 2 days after ice out and had a lot of gear so I tripled it and it seemed like it took forever!

I stayed at the beach site just east of Williamson Island on Insula that Scotttimm mentions. It was my next stop after staying on Thomas that trip. Very pretty beach campsite but also very buggy in the May when I was there. The back side of the site was flooded so that may have contributed to the healthy population of mosquitoes I encountered there :-)

How far up Hwy 61 are you going to go before heading to Ely?

Might want to check out Split Rock Lighthouse along the way. Betty’s Pies in Two Harbors is a popular spot, the daughter will like that. Also, Castle Danger and Granite Gear are in Two Harbors as well. I’ve been known to fill a growler, eat some pie and check out Granite Gear on my way up to Ely.

Tony

anthonyp007: "... I’ve been known to fill a growler...
Tony"

This probably won't be happening later this summer, since Castle Danger is planning to produce more barrels than would allow for growler sales. :(

Check out Duluth's canal street if it's not too busy. I wouldn't make a whole day of it getting to Ely if you want to be on the water by 6am. The North Shore could be a whole nother trip. If it were me I'd get to Ely by mid afternoon. I know my daughter when 14 didn't like long travel days and Ely is a great experience in itself. Wolf center, good shopping, and she might appreciate the Dorothy Molter museum. She was one tough cookie and an inspiration the many young women.
This would give me time to get checked in, do final gear check making sure I didn't forget anything, and get everything ready to load in canoe. Then last minute shopping for forgotten items and fresh food for first day in and a stroll around Ely. A meal at Ely Steakhouse and a nice relaxing evening.

If you want to be on the water at Snowbank by 6am nothing will be open in Ely for breakfast except gas station as you will need to be heading out of town by 5am as its a 40 minute drive and then load up. Or you can pick up breakfast stuff at Zups while walking around town and eat in your room or car on the way to EP.

As far as traveling goes in BW just let the trip make itself. As others have said it is about your daughters first experience, so you are her guide. Fishing should be good throughout your route. The only pictograph that I know of in the area is on Fishdance east of Alice. As far as recommending specific camp site that is really hard to do as each person likes different things. Again keep an open mind hear and let the trip make itself. You don't want to push your daughter to get to a recommended site. Besides you may push to get there and not like it for one reason or another and planning too much of your days can ruin a nice relaxing trip

Finally, you are an awesome dad for taking her up there. Enjoy your trip and time with your daughter and she will never forget it.

I’ve been through that whole area back in 2013. We were three twenty something year olds for the trip, and we made it to Thomas on day one, but we were pretty beat. I agree with everyone above - take it at whatever pace is enjoyable and make sure to set up camp by 2-3 pm since it’s a popular area. On our way out that trip we made the mistake of planning on camping on Disappointment and started looking for campsites around 6 pm. Not one campsite was available, so we paddled out that night, which was a bummer. So don’t be us :)

A few things that stick out from the trip:
Jordan is a pretty lake with three really good campsites, but has poor fishing - or at least it did for us.
Hatchett isn’t that pretty, but has one solid campsite and good walleye fishing. Tanin stained water.
Ina is somewhat attractive, but is pretty big and open, so it’s easy to see other occupied campsites.
Thomas and Fraser are really pretty lakes with a lot of islands and quite a few good campsites. We had our best luck for pike and didn’t catch a single smallmouth back then. We caught a few walleye as well.
Kiana is a really pretty lake to spend some time in as well.
I wouldn’t recommend going as far as insula unless you guys are both enjoying traveling and have a couple layover days on Thomas and want to daytrip down through Kiana and back. We did a loop through Alice and Insula and Kiana and that wore us out more than most of the guys thought it would.
Most importantly, take it easy and have a great trip!

Thanks for all the comments guys. Maybe I should have said this is a rough draft of a plan. Lol. I’m certainly taking the approach of doing as much or as little as my daughter wants. She’s been heavily involved in the planning process the last few months and she’s actually the one who suggested Insula when she saw it on the map because she has heard my dad, brother and myself mention that lake. I thought Snowbank was a good entry because we could do one portage into Disappointment and that’s it or head on through some smaller ones to Ima. Also seemed like we could make a quick exit if we wanted to. I’ve even said if we are only in a night or 2 we could explore more of Lake Superior and travel across the U.P. Of Michigan then come back south to Ohio. Bottom line is I’m thrilled that she’s shown interest and has taken time away from boys, school, volleyball, boys, track, boys and all the other things teenage girls do and plan a trip with me to the wilderness.

Why not plan on getting on the water at 6:00? I’ve read about the wind and waves on Snowbank and wanted to get a good head start to get to Disappointment. Should be light enough by then right?

I usually just eat breakfast - cereal, fruit, yogurt, etc. - in the room on entry morning. You can eat whenever you want and it saves time. I usually take Rt.2 N out of Two Harbors to go to Ely (faster), but have also traveled the whole length of Rt. 1 - longer, more to see on North Shore if time permits. The problem is there is so much to see on North Shore. See what you have time for now, save the rest for other times.

I go up through MI and UP from northern WV - definitely the way to go. I haven't been back around Chicago since 2006. Really not any longer or slower for me, much less traffic, much more scenic, much more relaxed. I take picnic lunch, snacks, lots of nice roadside parks to stop at, some on Lake, or near falls. Go right by Seney NWR - nice stop for lunch, snack, rest stop. Lots of other places, things to see with a little detour if there's time - Copper Falls, Apostle Islands, Porcupine Mountains, Pictured Rocks, and more.

Have a good trip! Don't let her wear you out ;).

Nothing wrong with a 6am entry. you are right, it's smart to get an early start across Snowbank. Remember that on your exit too. Yes it will be light then, sunrise is at 5:09am on June 23 in Ely

twistertail: "... Why not plan on getting on the water at 6:00? ... "

My teenagers were never much of morning people while on vacation. You are right about daylight, wind and wave.

If you seriously have Insula on your radar and you are entering at Snowbank, you may want to think about a loop and exit at Lake One instead of your entry lake. I did this loop reversed back in 2013, the outfitter (Kawishiwi Lodge & Outfitters) I rented the canoe from moved my vehicle to my exit point at no additional cost.

June 23 will be buggy! Bring headnets!

bobbernumber3: "

twistertail: "... Why not plan on getting on the water at 6:00? ... "

My teenagers were never much of morning people while on vacation. You are right about daylight, wind and wave."

she's usually an early riser but after a few long days on the road who knows. How concerned should i be about the wind and motor boats on Snowbank?

inspector13: "How far up Hwy 61 are you going to go before heading to Ely? "

Probably up to Rt 1, Tettegouche State Park looks like a neat stop.

Yes, it is a good stop.

If seeing a lighthouse is something you also wanted to do, I would recommend stopping at Two Harbor’s waterfront over Split Rock State Park. You might catch a laker being loaded with taconite there too.

If you plan on being somewhere on the shore by lunch time, I recommend the Rustic Inn Café in Castle Danger.

Seeing the various waterfalls at Gooseberry State Park is also fun if it is your first time. If you park in the lot by the visitor’s center there is no need to pay any entrance fee. Same for Tettegouche, but if you want to see those falls, it is quite the hike in from that parking area.

A couple of places that are less well known include the falls of the Beaver River at Beaver Bay. There is a wayside rest right before crossing the river. Not many know about Black Beach in Silver Bay either. The road to get there is just south of the AmericInn motel.

"
How concerned should i be about the wind and motor boats on Snowbank?"

You might see a motor boat, I wouldn't be concerned. Sounds like you are getting an early start so wind should not be an issue. I've been on Snowbank many times and have never had to delay because of wind, every day, week, and year is different, when in doubt play it safe.

Make sure to check out Cattyman Falls on the way to Ima. Fishing is great on Hatchet. Pike fishing was pretty good on Kiana as well. That’s about the only pointers I have for that area. Have a great trip!