I'm looking at options for my next solo trip this year. I've got some friends who are planning a late August trip entering/exiting at EP38/Sawbill, and it'd be nice to overlap/intercept them for a day or two, but not to parallel them the entire time.

So I'm looking at something, like, entering at EP30/Lake One, exiting EP38 ... but then my car is 2+ hours of driving back at Lake One.

I'm sure I can call an outfitter and pay $$$ for them to shuttle me back to my car, or to drop my car off at the exit and get shuttled to the entrance, but what other options are there that I'm not thinking of?

If your friends are on the same time table as you, maybe you could meet somewhere in the middle of your trips, and swap keys. Finish your trip to their car, vice versa.

They're doing a loop starting and ending at Sawbill, unfortunately, so they'll be parked there the entirety of the time. Your idea would be great if they were exiting where I entered, and vice versa.

If you really want to make that happen I see only three options. 1. You have someone accompany you to EP 38 to drop a car off and then have that generous person shuttle you to Lake One. Or, 2. You post a thread searching for someone who’s doing a similar trip and would be willing to meet up and trade keys along the way. Most people on this board are pretty trustworthy and I know of situations where this has worked out well. 3. Ask your buddies if they’d give you a lift back to Ely when they got back to Sawbill.

Maybe if you put in at Gabbro people would be more willing to help you out with a shuttle? That’s a much shorter drive then Lake One is from Sawbill and you can still do the same route if you push a little harder. Just an idea. I hope you’re able to make this work.

Tony

I couldn’t even guess how many times we used to hitchhike. Many times the hitchhike was the most memorable part of the trip. I’m thinking trips on the upper snake, kettle, flambeau and most especially the @&$! Buffalo in Arkansas. The little fork river deserves special mention. Literally no one drives the stretch that crosses the reservation. We hiked to the nearest farm? And offered the guy $$$s to drive us. He ran out of gas midway. We slept in some town, there were bars, yeah! But no gas. Alaska and the Yukon are useless for hitchhiking. Those pricks wouldn’t even stop for their grandmother. Saskatchewan would stop, offer you their car, feed you, introduce you to their daughters and buy you lots of beer just because.

I was going to mention hitch hiking also. If the OP chose an area for exit closer to Lake One it would be much easier, Sawbill is a stretch.
In the fall of 2018 I hitch hiked from EP 14 Little Indian Sioux to Fall Lake. It took me about 3 hours, not bad considering the drive alone is about 2 hours.
I stashed/hid my canoe and gear in the woods, caught three rides and drove back to the EP for my gear and headed back to Duluth.

A buddy of mine hitch hiked from Crane Lake to Ely after canoeing around 2010.

Not to be a smart a$$ but maybe just get another week and make a big loop out of it. I don't know how long you originally intend to go but if possible have a resupply of food/gas etc. waiting for you at ep 38 or the halfway point.

That's a trip I've always wanted to do. A total of 3 weeks is what my goal is for that type of trip.

jwartman59: "I couldn’t even guess how many times we used to hitchhike. Many times the hitchhike was the most memorable part of the trip. I’m thinking trips on the upper snake, kettle, flambeau and most especially the @&$! Buffalo in Arkansas. The little fork river deserves special mention. Literally no one drives the stretch that crosses the reservation. We hiked to the nearest farm? And offered the guy $$$s to drive us. He ran out of gas midway. We slept in some town, there were bars, yeah! But no gas. Alaska and the Yukon are useless for hitchhiking. Those pricks wouldn’t even stop for their grandmother. Saskatchewan would stop, offer you their car, feed you, introduce you to their daughters and buy you lots of beer just because."

This reminds me of a time my wife and I ran out of gas once in Iowa. Maybe 15 years ago- before cell phone coverage had gotten out there. She stayed in the car while I went to the nearest farmhouse where the guy was just about to light the bbq. He doesn’t have any gas, but says his buddy does at a farm just down the road and of course he’ll take me there. So we get in his truck and go to a different farm. There’s nobody home. He looks in the shed and can’t find any gas. No problem, he’ll take me into town. Then he goes into the house(where nobody is home) and comes out with a couple beers. I’m just along for the ride and trying to be nice and just following this dude’s lead. So here’s me and this stranger drinking beer in his truck as we drive into town to get more gas. I mean-super friendly people, but one of the most unusual situations I’ve ever found myself in. And 45 minutes later I’m dropped off back at my car with a can of gas and a cold beer and all that my wife can say is ‘where the heck have you been?’

As far as canoe shuttles go- I’ve run a bike shuttle (similar to what lindentree describes) from Stewart to angleworm. Not bad at all. Probably not going to bike the route the op describes, though.

So is this goal of meeting up something 'nice' or something you really want to make happen? Are you willing to change your entry point/day to make it happen?

A little more info would help. Out of Sawbill and Lake One, I would imagine that the routes would overlap starting somewhere over by Malberg/Alice/Thomas or maybe Little Sag/Gabi/Kek?

How about starting off the Gunflint Trail out of entry 50/51/52? You could still make a separate loop that intersects with your friends, but your car situation would be much more manageable as you finish your own loop back to the Gunflint rather than stopping at Sawbill.