I know this is a trip planning forum and sometimes it's nice to hear about people's favorite trips ever.

What was yours? What did it involve? Why was it your favorite trip?

Nomad

Well, I need to say that my first trip was when I learned to love the canoe country, but it was 1971, and before BWCA. So it doesn't qualify.

My best BWCA trip ever was the 22-day trip we took in 1992. Lots of lakes, a bunch of portages, some challenges, and many moose!!

The Long Trip

And I cannot resist adding my 2nd favorite, the trip we took after Spartan1's kidney transplant in 2009. Just a new appreciation of the canoe country after the years on the kidney diet, 18 months of dialysis, and the gift of life given to him by a living donor.

The Celebration Trip

After I'd hiked all the loop trails of the BWCA (most more than once), I researched and setoff to solo hike the east loop of the Pow Wow Trail in Oct 2001. It had been abandoned shortly after being created in the 70s. Like all trips, the research and planning was half the fun, but was way more extensive than any other trip I've done. On the "trail", I stared down a timberwolf at 30 yards, I watched a momma moose for 30 minutes at 20-50 yards and I saw the largest bull moose of my life (at about 150 yards). But I explored parts of the BWCA that few have seen. I cut 1 inch alder brush growing thru the firegrate on Pow Wow Lake (nice campsite). I was able to locate and hike about 90% of the trail that wasn't under water. The only off-trail, cross-country hiking I did was around water (frequently - as much as a mile at a time) and south of Fungus Lake where I never found the old trail tread. This was pre-Pagami Creek Fire, so trip probably not repeatable even if I was younger with about 80% of the trail running thru the burn.

Lots of great canoe trips with friends and family, but nothing compares to my solo 2001 Pow Wow East Loop hiking trip.

Like Spartan2, I gotta say the 'discovery' trip was the best, because it lead to so many more great trips in the BWCA/Q. My first trip was in summer of 1978, so the area wasn't quite BWCAW yet--that happened in October of '78. I was an adult advisor for a western North Carolina Boy Scout group visiting Charles L Sommers Canoe Base on Moose Lake. We split the trip between what's now BWCA and Quetico, and I was instantly in love with the area. In 1979 I brought my wife for her first trip, and she, too, was hooked. We've visited every few years since then, ans since retiring we've been able to return in 2017, 2018, and 2019. We hold a Quetico permit for late August 2020, and hope the border opens in time for that trip.

A special trip was in 2007, when we made a last-minute decision to visit Quetico and didn't have time to process our RABC permit. Instead, we flew from Ely to Sand Point, Ontario, in a de Havilland Beaver about the same vintage as we are--great trip.

TZ

Ahmoocreek. I envy your passion to hike those trails. I bet those are amazing life changing experiences you had.

For me, my best trip ever would be one of several of my early trips before life got in the way for me. I was young, ignorant, single, and loved everything about the woods. My early trips with my school district started all of it for me. And while I remember very little about them, it was about 1980, I remember bits and pieces that make me feel good.

Now my trips are scheduled around work, my wife, my mental health and a myriad of issues that a middle age person has that they did not have when they were in their teens.

I did a trip from Atikokan to Fall Lake 10 years ago and that one was a gem.
Tom

1971 just 4 months after we got married we spent 4 days on the Kawishiwi River. The weather was nothing special but somehow the experience really got under our skin and we’ve made the thousand mile trip from Ohio almost 50 times.

My favorite trip so far was in late June, 2015. This was my daughter's 1st trip. She was 6. It was my wife, daughter and I in 1 canoe and a friend and his fiance in another. We entered at 47 and base camped on Horseshoe. I think it was 4 nights/5 days. Weather was perfect, except for rain on the way out. We day tripped to Misquah to troll for lakers and ate lunch on an island off of the good site on Vista, and a quick loop through Gaskin, Jump and Allen. Fishing was decent. We saw several moose, including a mamma and her baby that lived behind our camp. Turtles were laying eggs in our camp and the dragonflies were hatching like crazy. My daughter was in heaven.

All of them! ;-)

Actually, one was the best and that was one where we did the Frost, Louse, and Kawishiwi Rivers back to back to back days.

Any trip I am on.

Okay, if I have to choose, I have 2 current favorites:
1) Late 80's...I led a fall adult trip thru Camp Menogyn. We traveled through the Rose Lake area that I had traveled plenty before. However, that particular group was a fantastic group of adults and we had stunning early October weather with warm days, crisp nights, and incredible blue skies. I LOVE fall in the BWCA and I don't get to go any more since I teach.

2) Our trip last summer that included our first time in a PMA. Plus we got to bring a wonderful friend from Costa Rica on his first BWCA trip, actually his first canoe trip ever. I not only enjoyed the solitude and beauty of the PMA and the wonderful company, but was able to experience my son's amazing navigational skills when it comes to bushwhacking. He really sees the lay of the land, and was great at strategizing the best ways to get through.

I am hoping that my upcoming first solo trip will make it onto this list.

My last trip in 2017. Fly in into Clay Lake, paddle out via the falls chain, to Saganaga.

It was a bucket list trip, and my 30th, and as it is.............probably my last :( :( .

My favorite trip may not have happened yet!

But of the ones that I've done, my favorite was in 2018 when my daughter and I paddled from Sawbill to Lake One together. What a spectacular route, lots of variation, you get to pass through so many different zones, and I got to do it with my best tripping partner ever. I wrote a trip report about it, click the link in my profile (to the left) to read it.

I also did a 130 mile trip from Poplar to Mudro by way of the Man Chain and Alice Lake in Quetico with a friend and his son that was pretty spectacular. I have a trip report for that one half written but as it gets farther in the past I don't know that I'll finish that one.

I have over 20 trips. Each was fine, except the last one last year. My buddy took his son in-law. I had not previously met him. Was not ready when we picked him up, did not have gear and what he did have was packed in a suitcase. No TP, no water shoes, a heavy winter parka, flip flops, shorts, t-shirts.
Totally unprepared, although he was apparently coached and had a list of what he should have.

I have two very memorable trips---one 3 dads and 3 son's (age 9) from our church. We started at Isabella Lake and ended at Little Gabbro. It was a 5 day trip. One night we found a nice campsite on the river and I was busy preparing the fire for dinner when 3 boys came up to me and asked what they could do to help. My response was; take your dad's fishing.
We did a lay-over day at a campsite on Bald Eagle (the first one coming off the river) where the boys played all day. It was a joy watching them enjoy the woods and use their imagination.

The other trip was a father and his young son. One day while paddling a storm hit us. We found a spot to bring up the canoe and rig the tarp over the canoe and crawl under. Had the mosquito coil going and talked and played cards.

Lots of good trips. I have been blessed to be able to go to the BWCA and take others along.

flytyer: "I have over 20 trips. Each was fine, except the last one last year. My buddy took his son in-law. I had not previously met him. Was not ready when we picked him up, did not have gear and what he did have was packed in a suitcase. No TP, no water shoes, a heavy winter parka, flip flops, shorts, t-shirts.
Totally unprepared, although he was apparently coached and had a list of what he should have.

This reminds me of my first trip. I organized it and tried as best as I could to make sure all members (who were flying in from various places across the US) were well-prepared.

We are driving through northern Minnesota a bit before midnight headed to the outfitter's bunker for an early AM entry into the Quetico, when my best friend says, "So are we gonna stop for food, or...?"

After coming to the realization that he wasn't joking, I told him that we likely wouldn't pass a grocery store the rest of the way. He said that was okay and he'd just eat fish. Fortunately for him, we were able to find one grocery store open until midnight.