BWCA Looking for a ~18 day, ~25km/day suggestions Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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bencharhow
  
01/05/2021 06:22PM  
Hello,

I am brainstorming a trip for a group of my friends to take this summer and we are hoping to get into the BWCA and feel alone. Normally we go up into Canada and have a pretty solid idea of routes, but seeing as how we may not be able to pull the trigger on that this year we are looking to learn about the BCWA.

We all have multiple years experience canoeing 7-13 days, with two of us having lots of experience doing 25 day trips (again, just not familiar with where to go in BWCA...).

Ideally this trip would be 16-21 days, of which 2-4 are rest days at cool campsites, fishing holes, waterfalls, rapids, etc. We would like to get the the newer two people on the trip to have some whitewater, so if anyone knows of any rapids that would be helpful.

I imagine that we would put in somewhere on the western side.

Can anyone recommend any routes that might fall into this criteria?

We are looking to feel like we accomplished something hard if that helps get a glimpse into our mentality.

Thanks
 
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01/05/2021 08:15PM  
With a trip that long, and so much distance, you're probably going to be around people more often than not. If you spend more time hanging out in the interior and less-frequented areas, you'll definitely more solitude.

~280 miles is a long distance and you could easily travel most of the BWCA with that. Start at Little Indian Sioux North (EP14), head up to Lac La Croix, paddle the entire border to Saganaga, head south to do some weaving around the Brule area, head west to the Malberg/Little Saganaga area, go south to come up through Alice up through Kekekabic back to Knife, through Vera, Ensign, Splash, back through Basswood, south at Boulder Bay of LLC to hit Agnes, west to Oyster, north through Ge-be, west through Pocket/Finger/Beartrap/etc, all the way back down Loon to the LIS North entry point. Pretty comprehensive trip... no Gunflint side due to it not being connected, but you'd see 75% of the park with a route like this.
straighthairedcurly
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01/06/2021 11:51AM  
If your group is small, you could think about getting a permit to enter a PMA for some of that time. That would give you some great challenge and get you away from people. There is a separate forum with info about PMA travel. Do some reading there and see if it interests you. I would not travel in a PMA with a group bigger than 4, though. Camping spots are small because there are no designated spots.
01/06/2021 01:48PM  
straighthairedcurly: "If your group is small, you could think about getting a permit to enter a PMA for some of that time. That would give you some great challenge and get you away from people. There is a separate forum with info about PMA travel. Do some reading there and see if it interests you. I would not travel in a PMA with a group bigger than 4, though. Camping spots are small because there are no designated spots."

Hangers have more options
bencharhow
  
01/07/2021 09:34AM  
Heck yeah, thanks for the advice. I will look into the PMAs for sure and let y'all know when we have a route cobbled together.

Thanks!
straighthairedcurly
distinguished member(1923)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
01/08/2021 10:53PM  
AmarilloJim: "
straighthairedcurly: "If your group is small, you could think about getting a permit to enter a PMA for some of that time. That would give you some great challenge and get you away from people. There is a separate forum with info about PMA travel. Do some reading there and see if it interests you. I would not travel in a PMA with a group bigger than 4, though. Camping spots are small because there are no designated spots."

Hangers have more options"


Yes, we travelled with 4 people, 2 hangers and 2 of us in a tent. It was very tight one night.
01/10/2021 08:43AM  
jdoutdoors: "With a trip that long, and so much distance, you're probably going to be around people more often than not. If you spend more time hanging out in the interior and less-frequented areas, you'll definitely more solitude.


~280 miles is a long distance and you could easily travel most of the BWCA with that. Start at Little Indian Sioux North (EP14), head up to Lac La Croix, paddle the entire border to Saganaga, head south to do some weaving around the Brule area, head west to the Malberg/Little Saganaga area, go south to come up through Alice up through Kekekabic back to Knife, through Vera, Ensign, Splash, back through Basswood, south at Boulder Bay of LLC to hit Agnes, west to Oyster, north through Ge-be, west through Pocket/Finger/Beartrap/etc, all the way back down Loon to the LIS North entry point. Pretty comprehensive trip... no Gunflint side due to it not being connected, but you'd see 75% of the park with a route like this."


I like this route not only for the variety but the early part of the trip is on the border lakes with little portaging. This is good when the packs are full of food and you get in shape for the interior later on in the trip.

A nice PMA on the way back through the interior is Raven Lake just north of the Boulder/Adams Lakes. There's a large place to camp right as you portage into the lake.
 
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