I have an opportunity to take a 2 week solo trip starting on August 27. I'm entering at Snowbank and plan to take the portage into Parent, as I'm not a huge fan of solo paddling on bigger lakes. From there, I'm thinking I'll head towards Thomas Lake and ultimately Gabimichigami. I will take a more southern route back towards Insula then out. Seems like this route is about 60 miles if I don't meander, which is shorter than I would like for 14 days, but I'm having a hard time deciding where to elongate.

Does anyone have any advice for where else to go, side trips, must sees, things you'd avoid, etc?

I'm planning to move most days, with a few rest/weather days built in. Fishing will also be a focus. I'm traveling light and will aim to single portage.

Thanks for your help! This forum is a great resource.

i am a Biiiiiiiig proponent of finding your own way. look at maps of your area and create your own adventure. you will find your way back, have fun.

I travel more on a solo then when I'm with someone so the BWCA is a little small for a two week trip. If I was you, I'd go to the Quetico, but if you don't want to do that, you could at least extend your loop...why turn around at Gabimichigami? Continue east and take in Gaskin, Winchell, Brule etc. Very nice area. Lots of options to get back to Snowbank from there.

What a great opportunity I hope you have an awesome solo. I have to disagree with marsonite the BW is plenty big for two week, I did a 27 day last year and saw 1/100th of it at the most.

I am curious as to your route selection if you don't want to paddle big water on your solo. Snowbank, Thomas, Gabi, and Insula are all pretty big lakes. I'm not saying it's a bad route just pointing our the discrepancy. The great thing about the BW is you can pick a route that you can extend or shorten if you want. As bwcasolo said study maps and plan it out. Look at all your loop options. I am planning my 22 day solo for September now and am only planning my first and last 2-3 days as for sure. From there I have 4-5 completely different rout options. I am leaving it open so I can be spontaneous and decide as I go. I guess what I'm saying is I don't like to box myself too much by planning the whole trip in advance. This frees you up to just go with it and avoids trying to meet specific expectations and feeling let down if thing don't go as planned.

I am also wondering about being able to single portage, canoe, gear(including fishing gear), and food for 2 weeks. I always wonder how people do this. I'd be interested to know what your total carry weight is. If it's over a hundred pounds I would highly recommend double portaging as an injury is surely a trip shortener or at least a buzz kill.

You may want to go to the Solo Tripping Forum on this sight. Tons of great info for you to look through, and also solo trip reports. Again have a great trip and please wear you PFD at all times on the water.

One of the nice things about a 2-week+ trip is it opens so many possibilities. A lot depends on what you want and are capable/willing to attempt. How many miles do you want? Personally, for a 2-week trip, I'd usually plan a route, with at least one longer and one shorter. I'd probably plan around 10 travel days, 4 layovers, with about 80, 100, or 120 miles for options, but I don't fish. There probably be some minor variations on each option, or maybe 1 or 2 more options.

Are you going Thomas-Kek-Ogish-Gabi? Then you could go to Insula via Pan or across from Elton and down through Boulder. You could go down to Mesaba and across the Louse River, or down to Sawbill and across the Lady Chain. You could extend east and/or south from Gabi/Little Sag a long way with multiple options as marsonite suggested.

Thanks for the input everyone. I was mostly planning on exploring as I go with a general route in mind, but was just wondering if anyone had any particularly favorite spots in that area.

minnmike - My single portaging is driven by young knees, light gear, and a little hubris :) I do a lot of heavy carrying training as part of my regular workouts, and I pack like I'm on a backpacking trip. However, I do choose safety over speed and will likely double portage until the food bag lightens up. I know some of the lakes on the route are bigger, but most of them have plenty of islands for cover if the wind kicks up. I mostly try to avoid big, open water lakes. And I always wear my pfd and emergency ditch kit :)

minnmike: " What a great opportunity I hope you have an awesome solo. I have to disagree with marsonite the BW is plenty big for two week, I did a 27 day last year and saw 1/100th of it at the most. "

Everyone has a different tripping style and didn't mean to say yours is wrong. I should have said that the BWCA isn't big enough for the kind of two week trip I like to take. The OP is talking about single portaging (agree that's going to be tough with 2 weeks worth of food) and traveling every day. If he's like me on a solo, he's going to cover some ground. Now if the plan is to check out dead end lakes, fish a lot, etc, that's a different thing. No right or wrong way to do it, but for myself, I like to figure out a loop, typically fairly physically challenging, typically into the interior of whatever park I'm in and pursue it. I'd get bored paddling 5 or 6 miles a day. But that's just me.

"Thanks for the input everyone. I was mostly planning on exploring as I go with a general route in mind, but was just wondering if anyone had any particularly favorite spots in that area."

I've done several trips in the areas of the Missing Link, Cross Bay, Lizz, Kawishiwi Lake entries. Places I've liked that you might go are:

Looped from Kawishiwi to Sawbill through Little Sag. We saw two people between Koma and Kelso - enjoyed that whole stretch. I also enjoy the paddle from Kawishiwi to Polly, but can be a little busy sometimes.

Enjoyed going from Malberg to Fishdance, up through Alice to Thomas, Fraser, Cap, Boulder, Adams, Beaver. Adams is a personal favorite and don't miss the Beaver-Adams portage.

A little farther E, I like Tuscarora and Snipe - did a nice trip between them through Copper and Howl Swamp (not as "swampy" as it sounds).

The paddle from Cross Bay to Long Island is nice and I once went across Muskeg, Kiskadinna, Omega, and Allen to Horseshoe. That was nice - Omega is a pretty lake and Horseshoe too, although it can be busy.

I love how this group of paddlers always steps up to share experiences and insight.

As a fairly new participant I always enjoy reading the varied views and helpful advice.