What if the US-Canada border is opened to travel on July 21st?

Will you be going to Quetico or have you changed your plans and are going to the BW, somewhere else or just not taking a trip this year?

Do you already have an RABC permit?

If not, are you planning to enter from the north?

I have a feeling that we're all like a bunch of migrating walleyes headed upstream until we get to a dam. We're all circling about waiting to find a crack that we can wiggle through.

Oh, if only the border and Q were to open. I have a near zero expectation of that happening, but probably like you I still pay attention to news headlines having to do with the border closure.
I have not sent in my RABC app. When I called them a number of weeks ago they said if the border happened to open I should send the app in and call them and ask if they would do it right away.
In the meantime here I sit. I have yet to hit the BW but expect to run up on a solo either this coming week or the following week. And then in August with my son and a third trip in September with younger guys I used to work with. But with the limitations on our life with the virus the BW is a great option so may add a fourth trip at some point also.

After reading that story in the Quetico forum about Canadians basically hating us now and not wanting us in their country- I am quite certain no American will see Quetico this year.
Absolutely not on July 21st. It just ain't gonna happen.

Even the Europeans don't want us. Our country has done a horrible job at containing Covid.

Tom

I have a July 23 bw permit and would happily keep driving north into Ontario should the border open.

But I think tumblehome is right on all counts...it is a pipe dream.

tumblehome: ".... Our country has done a horrible job at containing Covid.
Tom"

Got my RABC permit and fishing license early this year. I have slim hopes for a two week Q solo starting August 15.

I started playing the "what-if" game recently, too - what if they don't open the border this summer? That seems by far the most likely scenario at this point . . .

We have an August entry date, and while we haven't completely written off the idea of a Quetico trip in 2020, we feel the increase in US COVID-19 cases will continue to push out the border opening date. Ah, well, that gives more time to plan 2021's Quetico trip.
TZ

I originally had a 7/19 entry date for the Bottle portage, with the plan being a lovely six night Argo/Darky/Minn loop. I pushed the permit out a week to the 26th with the (fading) hope that the border will open on July 22nd. I'm pretty positive this won't happen, but if it did I would be absolutely thrilled to be one of the first groups entering the Q.
The Moose Lake/Knife/Kekekabic/Thomas/Ima/Ensign loop I did a couple weeks ago reminded me how much I don't miss crowded lakes and do miss the isolation of Quetico.

I share the sentiment of a lost Quetico summer. Just returned from a week-long trip focused on SAK. Too many people for my tastes. Hopefully a September trip to BW will have reduced traffic. Pray the border will open up next year.

AdamX

I was talking to my wife today about the empty Quetico.

Something like 70% of the Q users are Americans, so therefore, the place is just about empty.

I often fantasize about what the earth was like before Europeans arrived. I think if I were in Quetico I could actually see what God gave us in real life. No dream or fantasy. Imagine how the wildlife feels without the worry or fear of the canoeist. Truly a heavenly place not seen since the 1500’s

Tom

A recent CBC news article suggests the border may be closed all year.

tumblehome: "I was talking to my wife today about the empty Quetico.

Something like 70% of the Q users are Americans, so therefore, the place is just about empty.

I often fantasize about what the earth was like before Europeans arrived. I think if I were in Quetico I could actually see what God gave us in real life. No dream or fantasy. Imagine how the wildlife feels without the worry or fear of the canoeist. Truly a heavenly place not seen since the 1500’s

Tom "

This is really good for the park. The campsites need a break as well as the fish. All those big smallmouths with no surface lures to hit. :)

Well it surely will be closed to August 21 and I don't think anything is gonna get any better by then, so surely my fall Hunter's Island Loop trip is a no-go.
My spring Quetico trip was cancelled, of course. I made my way to BWCA with an open mind. Haven't been there since 2013. There were a lot of people, of course. However, the BWCA didn't disappoint. It was just as beautiful as ever. I saw little trash but did see some bad behavior like a guy taking a deuce at the water's edge. He heard my disapproval. Anyway, it was a good trip and we ate fish every night. Nonetheless, the next Quetico trip will be all the more special because of it! Come September, I will make my way back to BWCA to what I consider the most remote part of the park for a long, 14 day, leisurely route.

My daughter and I have unused 2020 Ontario fishing licenses. My RABC will expire soon, unused this spring and not renewed for the fall. My daughter's RABC was never issued, they told me they would issue it for 2021 if the border opens.

Joe

TomT: "

tumblehome: "I was talking to my wife today about the empty Quetico.

Something like 70% of the Q users are Americans, so therefore, the place is just about empty.

I often fantasize about what the earth was like before Europeans arrived. I think if I were in Quetico I could actually see what God gave us in real life. No dream or fantasy. Imagine how the wildlife feels without the worry or fear of the canoeist. Truly a heavenly place not seen since the 1500’s

Tom "

This is really good for the park. The campsites need a break as well as the fish. All those big smallmouths with no surface lures to hit. :) "

Just think what it will be like going to Q next May/June... with the vast majority of Quetico travelers being from the US, very few people had been there in TWENTY months. (October 2019 to May 2021) The fish will be sending "We miss you" postcards. :)

We'll be lucky if able cross the border next May! Better pray for a vaccine soon...

I don't want to start any type of political argument or one pro-vax or anti-vax. But I will go on the record saying if going to Quetico next May/June is predicated on me getting a vaccine, I'd get one.

Joe

Good Grief, I miss that place.
To keep my decades longs streak going I purposely had a border portage, Lower Basswood, on one of my routes this summer. The portage is on the north side of the falls so I was in the Q.

GraniteCliffs: "Good Grief, I miss that place.
To keep my decades longs streak going I purposely had a border portage, Lower Basswood, on one of my routes this summer. The portage is on the north side of the falls so I was in the Q."

Geez, why didn't I think of that! Good job, GC.

GraniteCliffs: "Good Grief, I miss that place.
To keep my decades longs streak going I purposely had a border portage, Lower Basswood, on one of my routes this summer. The portage is on the north side of the falls so I was in the Q."

Nicely played, GC! Don't think I can justify two days' drive each way to walk on the Q side, though. 2021, I'm planning already.

TZ

GraniteCliffs: "Good Grief, I miss that place.
To keep my decades longs streak going I purposely had a border portage, Lower Basswood, on one of my routes this summer. The portage is on the north side of the falls so I was in the Q."

I was on LLC during my late June/early July trip and I paddled over to see the picto's north of Warrior Hill. Does that count? (It wasn't the only time I paddled into Canadian waters during my trip).

dd

I am thinking it must count. I had the same thought on my border trip when we came east from Curtain. I cut the border corner very sharply and was clearly over the line on a super windy day. Was a little dicey but I mentioned at the time that cutting the corner technically put us in Quetico, keeping the streak alive.
When we portaged at Lower Basswood having my feet on the ground confirmed things. Not like camping in the Q like my pal did, but I think we are both good.

Any updates? I'm thinking our what-if date might have to shift to something like Sept 21st (although I think that might be overly optimistic). If it opened then, I'd probably try to go in via LLC to Black Robe or something easy (entry-wise) like that so that I could get a fall trip in....

Looks like you can go as of Aug 9th so long as you have your ducks in a row with the Canadian government's requirements for a negative test, proof of vaccination and using the ArrivCan pass. I might get there in early to mid-September if things go as planned.

Yeah I have a BWCA trip set up for a September 2021 but I have been immunized, have a passport, and will try to get the test within the 72 hour window and head to Quetico instead. Not always easy, I understand. But Plan A will be a Beaverhouse entry, and if it doesn't work out we will have Plan B in BWCA.

I've never entered from the North but there is a first time for everything. Gonna head down to Sturgeon and Poohbah.

This thread is OLD. Because of Covid, I did a Spring 2020 trip to the BWCA, then my first solo trip ever, to the BWCA in Fall 2020, and back to BWCA Spring 2021. They were all great trips but I miss Quetico and WCPP. I had been going to those two parks since 2013. I started my tripping with two trips to the BWCA in 2012 and 2013 and been going to Ontario ever since, until Covid. Going back to Ontario will surely help me put Covid behind me, for good I hope.

Joe

joewildlife: "I've never entered from the North but there is a first time for everything. "

Joe, our group has been entering at Beaverhouse Lake since the mid-80s. If there's anything I can share that would help you with your entry, please ask. An email can work, too.

We cross the border at International Falls / Fort Frances and visit the ranger station in Atikokan the day before entry into the park. We stay overnight in Atikokan and head into the park early the next morning. No stops at the BH ranger station for us.