Regarding a route:

When you embark on a solo paddle / portage trip longer than a week (BWCA, WCPP, Q, Wabakimi, Crown Lands, etc), how much do you "plan" and how much do you, instead, wake up and see how you feel about the day?

I recognize there is a large component of "depends", so I'm interested in hearing abut your particular approach to the trips you've taken.

I like to make loops. I have a tentative schedule but that is often changed. I mark my maps for larger areas than initially planned for in case I change routes.

Well, I don't have any experience over 9 days, but this year will be 14 days. I am planning on taking my time, exploring and fishing, and camp whenever I want, wherever I end up. Previously, I have always had a destination lake in mind, and pushed hard for the first 2 days. It is hard for me to not have a plan, or to be planning, so last night I mapped out a circumnavigation of Quetico. 13 days, 233 miles of paddling and portaging (single portage for calculating distance), average 18-20 miles per day.
Just for fun, but it would be a great trip if I had a month!

I pretty much stick to a planned route, except for going off exploring on a lay over day. I also plan for lots of those lay over days. If I could do the trip in 5-6 reasonable travel days, I'll give myself 10 days to do the trip. That allows me to sit out unpleasant travel weather or wake up and decide to stay put or go exploring. I don't plan on stopping on a particular lake or campsite along the route until I'm loading in the morning and getting an idea about how frisky I might be feeling.

As an old guy I am sort of transitioning from traveling trips to base camp style!

I just keep the mileage lower. Leave yourself some room for layover, tired, weather delays. What you lose one day, you can makeup the next usually. If ahead of schedule, slow down and smell more roses.

I plan it pretty much like the others. First I figure out how far it is so I know it's easily doable in the time I have minus X# weather/rest days. So I might plan every 3rd or 4th day as a rest day. I know about how fast I travel on average and I'll plan to travel say 5 hours +/- 1, or about 8-12 miles (including double portage miles). Longer trips will have more opportunities to vary the route - maybe side trips or a variation in the loop either longer or shorter. Sometimes a long loop and a short loop. I'll even go so far as to see where each average day would leave me camping. Now, I never do exactly that - it's just for information. I know about how far along I am on the trip on any given day and how far remains.

The plan is not a rigid schedule or something that has me pushing hard every day - it is, in fact, precisely the opposite. It ensures I don't have to. There's built-in flexibility in not planning to travel dawn to dusk every day. If I plan every 3rd day as a weather day, I may travel 5 days straight if the weather is great (make hay while the sun shines). There's always weather you have to sit out, and some you might rather sit out if you have time.

I've never done one of my plans exactly, but that's not the point of it. It all just depends

Usually I give myself one goal for a trip like getting to a specific lake, or to see a specific pictograph, or a challenge like bushwhacking into a destination. I make that the only goal for the trip, but I usually do plan a rough loop of a route incorporating that goal. That loop also may have understood alternate routes just in case I need to change things up.

I like traveling every day and usually plan on one layover day. Overall I like to stick to my rough plan because I know what the mileage will be everyday, but by this point I can usually look at a map and know what 10 to 20 miles translates into for a day.

jillpine: "Regarding a route:
When you embark on a solo paddle / portage trip longer than a week (BWCA, WCPP, Q, Wabakimi, Crown Lands, etc), how much do you "plan" and how much do you, instead, wake up and see how you feel about the day?

I recognize there is a large component of "depends", so I'm interested in hearing abut your particular approach to the trips you've taken.
"

My only fixed plan is the date and location of departure and the ideal date and location to where I'll return. On a macro scale, I shoot for a loop of some sort but, an out and back trip is no less satisfying if it provided a new experience or adventure.

My own joy of Solo tripping, hiking, biking ect is that I can follow the slightest whim and remake my adventure as I go.

I mostly plan 2-3 weeks loops with every 5-6th day a lay over. Long ago I accepted that on a solo trip my plan is nothing but a rough estimate that will help me to finish it in due time. Some days I have fixed start and end points simply because they are distanced as far as I can go in one day and there are no reasonable camping options in between, and these days serve as anchor points for the trip. Other days I travel depending on the weather (wind mostly) and my whim.

jillpine: "Regarding a route:

When you embark on a solo paddle / portage trip longer than a week (BWCA, WCPP, Q, Wabakimi, Crown Lands, etc), how much do you "plan" and how much do you, instead, wake up and see how you feel about the day?

I recognize there is a large component of "depends", so I'm interested in hearing abut your particular approach to the trips you've taken.

"

My solo trips are usually 12-16 days. Mostly is Quetico, mostly loops, once in a while an out and back route. I usually have 3 or 4 lakes/campsites planned as destinations. So I'm paddling/portaging for a day or two, then staying at a site for 2 or 3 days. I target specific lakes for fishing and nearby lakes for day trips. I usually stick to the original plans but once in a while have to alter the plan due to wind and weather. Sometimes, I'll get lucky and stumble into an unplanned "new" lake/campsite that happened to call to me at the time which results in my more memorable trips....

My solos used to be 10-19 days and I would plan large scale loops and push hard.

With my new job I have restrictions on how many vacation weeks I can take in the summer so my trips are restricted to 10-11 days.

I still prefer to plan extensively by researching the area but am doing more in and out routes so that I have more freedom to base camp and do day trips. The trips are more focused on relaxing and less on challenges.

I always have a general plan in mind. I enjoy fishing and exploring each lake I pass through, so I usually spend two to three nights on each one. The weather always plays a part in what I do. One more than one occasion I've had to spend one more night on a lake do to inclement weather.

On long outings I'll plan an ambitious route- connecting the camps or lakes I want to visit. On the trip I let conditions and my capability (mood, physical prowess, weather, whim) determine the actual route. This is the beauty of having a device that can summon assistance or let those concerned know of your location; you are freed from the strictures of an itinerary. Trust your hunches, they can't be wrong if you accept that no matter where you go you're already THERE.

Someone who does not canoe once asked me how I chose my routes. I had to think about that. A route kind of evolves but it starts with objectives for the trip and then a plan forms around that. How much time you have, degree of difficulty, time of year and objectives all go into the thought process and planning. The longer trips require lots of planning around food and weight. Photography gear, fishing gear, warmer clothes in the shoulder seasons and food all come into consideration from a weight standpoint. Researching trip reports, especially in more remote areas goes into planning as well as maps and info on things like fishing, campsites, pictos, historical stuff as well as places/things to avoid. Planning is half the fun on long trips as logistics have to be thought out so you get the most out of the trip.