I am planning a 10 day trip to commemorate my 50th birthday in late May/early June out of EP 16. We are an experienced group of backpackers with some paddling experience (all from the NW where mountains and hiking rule). We are renting canoes and getting a shuttle from VNO and are hoping to get the full BWCA experience (fishing, big and small water, pictographs, with a premium on solitude).

I am the only member of our party with BWCA experience, but that was over 30 yrs ago. I have a loop route planned going east to Iron, then turning west into LLC, hitting Gebo, Takumich, Loon, Shell, and coming out through Oyster and Ramshead. I think it is a solid loop, but some of the days are short and I have two layover days planned.

My question is, are we missing out by not planning something more ambitious like heading into Canada or exiting at a different EP? Any advice would be appreciated.

Not sure if you were planning on taking the Portage from heritage to shell or if you were going to hit lower Pawness and trek your way over there? The devils cascade Portage is a tough one, but in my opinion it was possibly the coolest portage on my trip. There is a nice camp site at the peak to stop and rest for lunch. I would stay at shell/lynx. There is an awesome campsite on lynx, it would be the middle right one on the voyaguer maps. The bass fishing from shore was amazing and the campsite itself has a really cool dropoff/ledge about 15 ft. From shore that the fish gravitate towards. If was busy for a friday night though as it is in a shorter /weekend loop.

Would be good to know a little more about your route. What exact route are you planning? Are you using Bottle portage to get to and from Iron or are you going in on the nasty mile portage by ranger cabin and out bottle? Are you paddling in and out of Takucmich and taking LLC around to Loon or working your way there through smaller lakes? etc. Sounds ambitious if you are going to have 2 layover days. Are you single or double portaging? If double that could be 23 or more miles on portages. If you single portage and take the easier routes it is very doable, but could be quite a challenge if double portaging, winding through the smaller lakes, fishing, sightseeing, and laying over a couple of days. You would not have the option of going in to Canada as there are no ranger stations to pick up permits and no Quetico entry points. You might be able to paddle across to Canada with a RABC and a yearly vehicle permit but you could not camp or even get out of the canoe according to what I understand, so would have to cross back over to US side. Technically you need to check in with US customs every time you return to US side according to what they told me. I see no issue with exiting at same entry point, you have very little overlap on route.

This is the route I had sketched out: Day 1 EP 16 to Agnes (Iron if we get an early start). Day2: Agnes to Iron,, Day3 Layover at Iron, Day4 Iron to Gebo via LLC, Day 5 Gebo to Gun or Takumich, Day 6 Gun to l loon via steep and slim, Day 7 l loon to lynx, Day 8 lynx to ramshead, Day 9 ramshead to EP, Day 10 layover day to insert anywhere we want...

I would prefer to do the bottleportage but hadn’t looked into what I would need to do permit wise, was question I was going to ask VNO just hadn’t gotten to it..

You don’t need any special permits for the bottle portage. We took it in and out on our EP16 trip a couple years back. It’s a bit muddy but not real long.

I’d suggest just ending at EP14, take more time in all those small lakes south of LLC and more time in Lynx area. I wouldn’t want to camp on Loon unless I needed to. We did on our way out of an EP14 trip, the motor boats sucked. I’d either camp on Slim or something after Loon.

There is no problem using the bottle portage, portages can be shared on both sides of the border. My comments about Canada were in reference to you asking if you should have included heading in to Canada in your planning. Quetico is great but best enjoyed separate from a BWCAW trip, imho. It looks like you have it well laid out with easier and challenging days, an emergency/ optional layover and even options to shorten the trip if necessary. I'm curious why you are going in to Gebo, seems a little out of the way, but I guess Iron is also.

I picked both due to proximity to PMAs for day trips/exploring and hopefully fishing quality, really no other reason..

Oldrookie: "This is the route I had sketched out: Day 1 EP 16 to Agnes (Iron if we get an early start). Day2: Agnes to Iron,, Day3 Layover at Iron, Day4 Iron to Gebo via LLC, Day 5 Gebo to Gun or Takumich, Day 6 Gun to l loon via steep and slim, Day 7 l loon to lynx, Day 8 lynx to ramshead, Day 9 ramshead to EP, Day 10 layover day to insert anywhere we want...

I would prefer to do the bottleportage but hadn’t looked into what I would need to do permit wise, was question I was going to ask VNO just hadn’t gotten to it.."

Making it to Iron from EP16 on Day 1 is ambitious, especially with your food packs swollen for 10 days in the woods. You can make Boulder Bay in LLC in ~8 hours of steady travel. Although you will not find total solitude on LLC, you will find some of the highlights of that region there...Warrior Hill and Pictos...so it's worth a stop for 1-2 nights there.

Since you have 10 days, another option is to start at EP16, stay 2 night in LLC, head into Iron for 2 nights (get your RABC permit if you plan to visit Rebecca Falls), see Curtain Falls, then you can exit south through Stuart to EP19 or head east into Crooked and south to Mudro EP22, or you can keep going through Crooked past Basswood and you will have lots of exit options there.

Oldrokie: "I picked both due to proximity to PMAs for day trips/exploring and hopefully fishing quality, really no other reason.."

They are both great lakes, I'm particularly fond of Iron. The only thing I would say, and I use to be guilty of this also, is I get the feeling that you want to see and do everything on your "want" list all in 10 days. There is nothing wrong with that, but I would caution you to not plan too much or too many lakes as to leave time for "smelling the roses", and more importantly to have the time and energy to fish! You will be passing through a number of really good fishing lakes, LLC being one of the best. Hopefully the portages aren't tougher than you remember, there are some challenging ones in there. But like I said, you have a route that can easily be shortened, so no worries. I'm excited for you, 30 years is a long time away, have a great and safe trip!

Stay on in/around LLC a of couple nights. It's fun to travel, but base camping in a great area is the best. If you want to move quickly, single portage. Pack smart. I love this entry point, I think you will have a great time.

mgraber: "

Oldrokie: "I picked both due to proximity to PMAs for day trips/exploring and hopefully fishing quality, really no other reason.."

They are both great lakes, I'm particularly fond of Iron. The only thing I would say, and I use to be guilty of this also, is I get the feeling that you want to see and do everything on your "want" list all in 10 days. There is nothing wrong with that, but I would caution you to not plan too much or too many lakes as to leave time for "smelling the roses", and more importantly to have the time and energy to fish! You will be passing through a number of really good fishing lakes, LLC being one of the best. Hopefully the portages aren't tougher than you remember, there are some challenging ones in there. But like I said, you have a route that can easily be shortened, so no worries. I'm excited for you, 30 years is a long time away, have a great and safe trip!"

Thanks for the feedback, am feeling much more comfortable with the route as well as the options to shorten or lengthen as we go along and see fit. Really looking forward to getting back to the BWCA, and 30 years is indeed a long time, planning this makes me realize how overdue this return trip is...

I predict that you won't find it too "easy." Plenty ambitious for sure, in my opinion. I love that Takumich area; lots of fish thereabouts and in the surrounding lakes.