BWCA Ever paddle ACROSS the BWCA? Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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pos1
member (45)member
  
08/14/2019 08:10PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
My daughter (who will be 18 next summer) has expressed interest in paddling across the BWCA with me. I've been to the BWCA lots (LOTS). Was looking at some potential routes. Would probably start on the Gunflint, maybe EP 52 (Brant Lake) and move west. Plan to pull out around EP 14 (Little Indian Sioux North).

The only part of the trip where I see we have few, if any, options is getting out of Basswood Lake. Will probably need to stay along the Canadian border for quite a while before heading south, maybe down through Lake Agnes.

Would probably meet my wife around half-way to restock food so we're not carrying so much. I haven't done any investigation on miles or how long it would take. We want to enjoy the trip with some days off paddling, but I'm hoping 2 weeks is plenty.

Just looking for general thoughts and feedback.
 
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cyclones30
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08/14/2019 09:24PM  
Why not head west to east to take advantage of the prevailing winds?

There are a fair amount of people that do the entire border route from Crane Lake or so to the far east end, following the border the whole way and then include the Grand Portage for good measure. (and some do that route as a race....crazy what those guys did this spring for a time)

So yes, people do it. 2 weeks should be enough time to cross and not feel rushed.
cyclones30
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08/14/2019 09:27PM  
Also, the portion of the Basswood River that's along the border where you have little choice is a beautiful stretch. Even if there were other route options I'd go that way between Lac La Croix and Basswood lakes.
Jackfish
Moderator
  
08/14/2019 10:24PM  
I have a cross-Quetico trip on my paddling resume. Did it with my (then) 20-year old son and two other friends and it will probably always be the crowning trip of 30+ years of canoe tripping. I hope you can do your cross-BW trip with your daughter. Have fun planning.
08/14/2019 11:52PM  
Many have. For a two week trip you shouldn’t need a resupply. There are some big lakes on the border, typically the winds are out of the west. Take that into your plan.
MNGreene
member (34)member
  
08/15/2019 12:04AM  
fun!
MNGreene
member (34)member
  
08/15/2019 12:06AM  
Jackfish: "I have a cross-Quetico trip on my paddling resume. Did it with my (then) 20-year old son and two other friends and it will probably always be the crowning trip of 30+ years of canoe tripping. I hope you can do your cross-BW trip with your daughter. Have fun planning."

I have done a cross-Quetico trip too. I wonder if we covered the same area. ;)
oldguide2
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08/15/2019 02:54AM  
Yes, many times, the longest from International Falls to Grand Portage in eight days. My first question to you would be why do you want to do it? Is it the history or the scenery or fishing? On the I-Falls route you could leave out both ends. Rainy can be difficult to paddle as can Pigeon River. You can do it easily without resupply, but the logical thing is to stop probably on the Moose chain at Prairie Portage. Your resuppliers could meet you there by hooking up with an outfitter who is taking a tow up that way.

The first time I did the Border the Chosa family was still running a store at Prairie Portage. How much have you travelled on big lakes? Parts of La Croix, Basswood and Sag can get pretty rough very fast. The Basswood River can be a bit of a bottle neck due to lack of campsites. I would think of this in terms of three shorter trips. Crane Lake to Ely is one, Ely to Sag or some place on the Gunflint is two. Gunflint to Superior is three. The nine mile Grand Portage is not hard, just long. You might want to find copies of Bolz, Portage into the Past, and Grace Lee Nute’s still classic history of the voyageurs.
marsonite
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08/15/2019 06:20AM  
The OP isn't talking about doing the border route, which obviously many people have done. He's talking about an interior BWCA trip.

I've thought about that before. Like you said, you would have paddle on Basswood, though it looks to me like you could go through Wind, Wind Bay, to Back Bay and never really get that close to the border.

Seems like the other problem area would be Sunday to Stuart via Sterling Lake. Thats in a PMA now. There would be people on this site who would know the condition of those portages. I did it 25 years ago so I wouldn't be much help.

Hardest part would be the logistics of moving cars.
pos1
member (45)member
  
08/15/2019 07:37AM  
Thanks for all the awesome info. Let me answer some of the questions.

1. Doesn't matter to me which direction, so west to east does sound like a better plan (although it seems like I always hit headwinds no matter which direction).

2. I am definitely trying to stay off big water. We can handle them technically, but would rather not have to worry about wind and I find few of them as interesting as a smattering of small lakes. And my daughter likes portaging more than paddling.

3. We are both big into fishing, but this isn't a fishing trip. We'll definitely fish when the opportunity arises and when we take days off, so I will plan some days around lakes I know hold good fishing opportunities.

4. Why? Because my daughter suggested it and she will have just graduated high school...so I'm counting the days when these opportunities won't be as easy.

5. Timing and food. I agree if this can be done in 2 weeks then a resupply isn't needed. I do all the food prep for 3-4 trips per year, so 2 people for 2 weeks is very manageable. Although I insist on single portaging, and my daughter will be carrying the food pack on front. We're up for that challenge.

6. Sounds like there's some good feedback about spending time up along the border, so the area around Basswood that my require that would be fine. I've never been up in that area so that's all the more excuse to plan some of trip thru there.
08/15/2019 07:52AM  
pos1: "The only part of the trip where I see we have few, if any, options is getting out of Basswood Lake. Will probably need to stay along the Canadian border for quite a while before heading south, maybe down through Lake Agnes."

What a neat trip. I've done the border route, but there is a good bit of motor traffic that I would just as soon avoid. Your trip plan sounds fun. The only way to bypass a chunk of Basswood that I can see, is taking Moose to Wind Lake, but you are still doing the southern third of Basswood. There is an exit to Sandpit lake on the SW corner of Basswood that you've probably already pondered. You end up travelling through Fourtown to Crooked lake. that is a nice area to see.

Have you thought about heading into Canada at Prairie Portage and going across the lakes to the north of Basswood?

Have a great trip!



Jackfish
Moderator
  
08/15/2019 07:59AM  
MNGreene: "I have done a cross-Quetico trip too. I wonder if we covered the same area. ;) "

Ha! I'm thinking you may have covered the exact route, coincidentally on the same days. :)
08/15/2019 08:41AM  
Last year, I did EP#16 Moose river north to EP#37 Kawishiwi Lake. I took 27 days and did not do a direct route and had plenty of layover days. You can easily do a paddle across in 14 days with a little planning. You can read my trip report if that helps. You will probably need to paddle some bigger lakes and almost surely Basswood, but it is nice to have a variety anyway on a trip of that length.

I did my resupply at Voyageur Outfitters on Sag and it worked great. Just sent them a box with everything I'd need a couple weeks before my trip started so I made sure they had it before I left. But doing so required a re-permit since I paddled out of the BW.

In my research, I called VNO in Ely and they will take a resupply to PP for a fee. This is great because you don't need to re-permit, but I wanted a resupply after 14-16 days so I opted to do mine at Sag.

I would look at going from EP14 or 16 with a resupply at PP for week one. Week two, leave the border and hit some interior lakes, either to Lake One, Sag, Seagull, Brandt or Kawishiwi Lake.

Your idea sounds amazing I hope you do it.

08/15/2019 08:59AM  
pos1: 4. Why? Because my daughter suggested it and she will have just graduated high school...so I'm counting the days when these opportunities won't be as easy. "

No better reason than that. When an 18 year old kid requests to go on an adventure with dad instead of doing all the typical things 18 year olds tend to do, you jump at the chance and don't look back. If either of my kids ever suggests a trip like that, I'd go to hell and back to make it happen.

My only suggestion on actual routes is maybe sit down with your daughter and plan the route together. Make this a true father/daughter adventure that you do together from planning all the way though execution of your plan. I think you'll both find it more rewarding that your daughter joining you on a trip that you plan by yourself.

Beyond that, all I can offer is that west to east is the way to go, and if she likes to portage, why not throw in the grand daddy of all portages (Grand Portage) at the end of the trip? It would be a great achievement that sets the stage for her leap into the next stage of life after high school graduation.

Enjoy the adventure and time with your daughter.
oldguide2
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08/15/2019 10:14AM  
Sorry I misunderstood. So you want to cross the BWCA without doing the border or Basswood? Rather than plot out everything why not make it a true explore and wing it all the way? To add to the adventure do it without maps, GPS, etc. You would keep the maps in reserve, but the idea would be to approach the area as a true wilderness much as the trappers and voyageurs might have experienced. How can you get from Crane Lake to Ely? Or Ely to Grand Marais? Each lake would be a challenge. Where are the campsites, the portages? How do you handle unexpected?

In this sense also you would experience the area more like trips much further north where there are not set routes and sometimes the maps are not accurate.

I also would not downplay the border trip. With books like Bolz and Nute and others you can literally travel with the voyageurs. With some older maps like the Gov ones from the 1930s you can even see what was there almost a century ago. Learn about the historical, living BWCA. You could be camped at a spot the voyageurs used.

Finally, I would also look into a cross Quetico trip such as the suggestion from Ely to Grand Marais.
08/15/2019 11:24AM  
Not sure I'd suggest attempting to cross the BWCA without the use of maps. I'm I'm sure it could be done but even voyageurs and trappers probably had maps of some sort or at least memorized routes in order to get their goods to market as fast as possible. Going without a map you'll waste A LOT of time and have to do a lot of extra paddling trying to locate portages and campsites that may or may not exist on the lake you are on. Also maps are far more effective when used to track your progress. If you don't know exactly where you are (easy to not know at some point during a multi week trip if you haven't been following your progress on a map) the map becomes a lot less useful as you have to burn a lot of extra time just trying to relate features on the map to features you can visually see in order to pin point your location.
pos1
member (45)member
  
08/15/2019 11:53AM  
I definitely like the idea of crossing into the Quetico, especially since we've never been there. I'll try to factor that into our route where it makes sense.
08/15/2019 08:10PM  
I’ve done it a few times... and always avoided the big section of basswood. Wind isn’t a bad way to go. On my forty day trip I got forced out to Snowbank due to a fire and had to get another permit and ended up on Fall Lake... lots of options... I tried to cut across Snowbank and catch the portages to Moose but the wind wouldn’t let me.
08/15/2019 09:39PM  
pos1: "I definitely like the idea of crossing into the Quetico, especially since we've never been there. I'll try to factor that into our route where it makes sense."


Unfortunately you can't enter the Quetico on a whim or routing convenience. Must pick up permit for entry at a ranger station the afternoon or the day of the permit. Ranger stations at Lac La Croix, Prairie Portage and Saganaga.
billconner
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08/16/2019 07:02AM  
Banksiana: "
pos1: "I definitely like the idea of crossing into the Quetico, especially since we've never been there. I'll try to factor that into our route where it makes sense."



Unfortunately you can't enter the Quetico on a whim or routing convenience. Must pick up permit for entry at a ranger station the afternoon or the day of the permit. Ranger stations at Lac La Croix, Prairie Portage and Saganaga. "


But unlike BWCAW, you can exit and re-enter on same permit, even go to a store, spend a night in BWCAW, etc., as long as you pay for all those nights. You would be overlooking reporting to US customs upon each re-entry but probably not be hasseled. And get around that using the I 68 program and a sat phone.
08/16/2019 08:20AM  
Our group did Atikokan to Gunflint Trail several years ago. Our boys still talk about the "Trans-Q" trip!

Make your plans and have fun!
08/16/2019 09:50AM  
So you INSIST on single portaging and have your daughter carrying the extra weight(food) that comes with a longer trip. Nice. A two week food pack may end up to be a bit large for a front carry. Maybe start out double portaging and go to single portaging when you use up some of that food.
Jackfish
Moderator
  
08/16/2019 10:41AM  
Not a good idea to be carrying a pack on the front anyway. You can't see your feet and the rocks and roots that can cause tripping and twisted ankles.
 
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