I'll be doing a trip late July this year - two canoes, 5 people, entering at Sawbill. We had been planning to do the Zenith-Lujenida portage S to N, get on the Frost River at Afton Lake, take the river to Frost Lake, and go back to Sawbill via Cherokee. A little research has me thinking we have that route backwards. A few questions:

1) Is there a better direction to do the Zenith-Lujenida portage? N to S or S to N?

2) What about the Frost River? It flows West?

3) How much will water level affect viability of canoeing the Frost River?

Any other input on this route would be great. We have 5 total days planned. We were hoping to travel 2 days, take a light day with no travel in the middle, and then travel another 2 days out.

I can't help with the portage question, but the river does originate out of Frost Lake and flows West. I would check with your outfitter on water levels because the river is not very big or deep and can certainly be affected by lack of rain. With that said, it is a beautiful route and is certainly doable in reverse as you are proposing. It can make for a long day if your goal is to reach Frost lake in one day. No long portages, but a couple of them are a good scramble up. I did it in 2015 and we had 19 beaver dams that we had to pull over...several of them with a 3-4' drop on the down stream side.....Frost Lake is a beautiful lake and would make a great place for a day lay over to recover from the river.

Mike

No big difference either way on the Z-L portage. Frost flows west. High water may float you over some of the dams, medium water makes for better landings, low water makes it all tougher. No big diff in paddling either way, but I'd rather pull down a 3' drop than push the canoe and gear up it. I'd do it counter clockwise. There may be a slight advantage in the Z-L portage going south.

I'd argue the Z-L portage would be easier done N to S for two reasons. First, you would then have had 4-5 days of paddling and portaging to get your arms and legs ready for it. Secondly, when a portage like that is the only thing between you and a cold beer, motivation to get through it is high.

Jaywalker: "I'd argue the Z-L portage would be easier done N to S for two reasons. First, you would then have had 4-5 days of paddling and portaging to get your arms and legs ready for it. Secondly, when a portage like that is the only thing between you and a cold beer, motivation to get through it is high. "

And the food pack will be almost empty!

And the food pack will be almost empty!


"

Now that is a great point!

Yes, but will that be easier than hauling everything up multiple beaver dams . . . ? Guess it depends on the food weight . . .

We did it N-S, which may be slightly easier, but we came from Little Sag. It's the same distance either way ;) and there's uphill and downhill both ways, although probably more downhill N-S, but most of that is gradual looking at the contours.

Should we expect to see many other paddlers up by Cherokee or Frost?

Cherokee...yes. Frost.....maybe. Frost river, Afton, Hub, Mesaba.....probably very few til you get to Kelso

By the way, you are worried about the wrong portage. While the Lujenida-Zenith portage is long and has some PUDS (pointless ups and downs), the toughest portage on your route is the Fente/Hub portage. The Fente end going south goes up (glute burning up) for at least a quarter mile. Just about the time you figure it looks like it is leveling off, you turn a corner and it goes up some more. Don't stop until you get all the way to the top, then go back for your second load. You'll be glad when you're done with that chunk of portage. The rest goes gently down into Hub. Its a nice walk in the woods actually.

JN: "Should we expect to see many other paddlers up by Cherokee or Frost?
"

It's always something of a crapshoot, but I'd generally agree with cowdoc. I go in Sept. and last fall Frost had 3 other sites occupied and Cherokee maybe the same. When we looped from Kawishiwi to Sawbill, we saw one tandem between Koma and Kelso. It was a very beautiful last weekend of Sept. and we were lucky to get a site on Sawbill.

Michwall is also telling truth about Fente-Hub portage. That alone may make it worth going that way! :)

Well we survived! We did the Frost River E to W. I think water levels were high (but I've not been there before to really know) since we were able to scoot right over most of the beaver damns. We had to climb out and assist the canoes on a few. The Fente-Hub portage wasn't too bad, and the Z-L would have been just fine too if not part of it being under water. We had to ferry the packs across in a canoe and do some wading to get across. All in all, it was a great trip. I'm glad we chose the direction we did, so thanks for all the help!

Glad to hear you had a good trip. Thanks for reporting back - do you have any pictures to share? Were there a lot of people?

You were lucky to be able to float over several beaver dams. We had the same conditions and felt this cut substantial amounts of time off the transit. Also looking forward to a full report (or at least a pic or two?). Glad you thought the Fente/Hub portage wasn't too bad. You had your portage legs by then!

We day tripped into Frost on July 18th and didn't see another canoe all day. All campsites were open. We also saw a moose grazing near the northeast shore.

TomP: "We day tripped into Frost on July 18th and didn't see another canoe all day. All campsites were open. We also saw a moose grazing near the northeast shore. "

While not technically a dead end lake, the very few number of people that tackle the Frost River effectively makes it one. The 140 rd. portage from Gordon to Unload Lake is not hard, but just long enough to give people pause about whether they want to make the effort to get to Frost Lake. While I don't find it particularly scenic (I like Mesaba Lake better for a smaller lake), the sand beaches and the chance to see moose make it worth my effort anytime I am in the area. And as TomP pointed out, it usually provides some solitude.

I thought about making a quick write-up on the trip. If I do, I'll post. Is there a specific place for that someplace on here, or just add it to this thread?

Once we hit Frost Lake, we only saw a couple of Rangers checking campsites and group of three passed us on the Hub-Mesaba portage (Guy in the tweed jacket, you know who you are!). They had three people and a Kelvar canoe, so they cruised passed us (5 people, two Grumman Aluminum canoes) and we didn't see them again. We ran into a second set of rangers on the Z-L portage.