Hello everyone. This summer, I get a sabbatical from my work. I will have 30-days of sweet, paid, freedom to do whatever I want. I have a solo canoe and I was pondering the idea of doing the full BWCA border, from Crane Lake ranger station (EP12) to South Fowl Lake (EP70). It is just under 190 miles. If I paddle only ten miles a day over the course of twenty days, it should be a pretty easy trip.

Have any of you done such a trip? What was your experience? Hints? Tips and tricks? I have been paddling the BW for almost twenty years now so I am not worried about gear. I am wondering about food drops though. Not sure how to handle that.

Thank you in advance!
RT

You can probably haul three weeks of food without resupply if you make do with lighter, more compact menu items.

Start reading up on recipes for lightweight meals (backpackers are the best source). This blogger has some good recipes: The Yummy Life Meals on the Go

She also has a post with lightweight, healthy oatmeal recipes and soup recipes. I used a lot of these on my solo this summer.

I think if you pack right, a self supported trip of that length is very doable.

Lots of people do that trip as part of the border route challenge race, and tons of info on those threads here if you search. Yes they're in a hurry compared to you but as far as routing it's similar.

Sounds like a great time. Lots of time for layover days. Very cool scenery, tons of history. Pictographs, great waterfalls. Great fishing....dream trip for many.

You could pack all your food if you really worked at it. Or if you needed resupply easy ones would be Prairie portage/Moose lake area either meet a tow boat or the public access on Moose. Another would be end of the Gunflint trail on Saganaga.

I catch my food

I haven't done the border route, but I don't believe you have a whole lot of portaging and most is not in the beginning so you'll be lighter by then. I have done a trip with 18 days of food and still double portaged. That was two years ago and I certainly wasn't young, strong, and in shape. Even if you triple the first few portages, it shouldn't eat up that much extra time. And it would free you from those additional complications.

I did International Falls to Rose Lake and then Saganaga to Lake Superior. I highly recommend this trip.

Hardest part of that trip is the shuttle! If you are not doing Rainy and Namakan and not doing the Pigeon River and Grand Portage you have one of the easiest long distance trips around. With all the big lakes there are very few portages for the distance. Scenic, great fishing, great campsites.

With the before or after shuttle you will need a little more lead time. I think 20 days would be great fun and a relaxed pace. You will have some times when the wind will have you stuck on shore, especially as a solo.

Do it! It is a great tour.

I did Rainy Lake to Lake Superior this past fall and it was awesome. There is so much to see and my only regret is having only a week to do it. Having 20 days to do the trip would give you so much time to take it all in. I’m jealous. I would probably carry all of my food with me so there would be no need for resupply. You would have lots of time so carrying the extra food may mean an extra trip across the portage, but that’s a small price to pay for having everything with you. If you wanted to lighten your load for the first half, a resupply at Prairie Portage makes the most sense. Have a great trip!

Tony

With that trip and the few portages between long paddles, you may want to plan on longer than 10 mile days. Even at a mellow 3 mph pace, you could be done with 10 miles at noon. That may be what you want, I don't know

There’s a book you can download on Apple Books about an E to W trip of that route. It’s called On Voyageur's Highway.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I will start looking into those resources!

Hey RT, just looked you up - Minnetonka ! great - me too.
As for the Border Route, you might do a search of the site and the Trip Reports. Each fall the Kruger Waddell Challenge follows the border from Dove Point on Rainy, entry at #12 Little Vermillion and on to the Grand Portage Fort on Lake Superior, Some have even done the Dawson Portage which is Canadian and closed at the moment. The Challengers do all this in 8 days or less. Sounds like you have much more time. BeaV and MuddyFeet have both written great trip reports that might give you insight into portages and terrain. Let me know if I can help.

My wife and I did Moose lake (Ely side) to Grand portage in Aug. 7 days.
We single portaged, followed what many would consider a backpacking methodology, breakfast and lunch are mostly snacking as you are moving during the day, dinner is a FD entrée and other snacks. We were on the water around 7 and set up camp around mid afternoon. Wind bound for a few hrs along the way on the bigger water. about 70 lbs each on portages, one took the canoe pack, and the other took a day pack and the canoe.
kicking around the idea of 12 or 13 days and doing Rainy lake to Grand Portage in 2021.

Envious of having 20 days to do the trip, you could do a lot of additional exploring.

cmanimal: "My wife and I did Moose lake (Ely side) to Grand portage in Aug. 7 days.
We single portaged, followed what many would consider a backpacking methodology, breakfast and lunch are mostly snacking as you are moving during the day, dinner is a FD entrée and other snacks. We were on the water around 7 and set up camp around mid afternoon. Wind bound for a few hrs along the way on the bigger water. about 70 lbs each on portages, one took the canoe pack, and the other took a day pack and the canoe.
kicking around the idea of 12 or 13 days and doing Rainy lake to Grand Portage in 2021.


Envious of having 20 days to do the trip, you could do a lot of additional exploring.
"

Check out the Kruger Waddell Border Route Challenge for next August. You would fit right in with this crew! Go to Watertribe.com and check it out.

Good luck on your trip, and PLEASE post at trip report. I'm hoping to do the border route in the next few years, and take a long time to do it leisurely.

In 2004, 7 of us went from Indian Portage on Birch Lake (near Prairie Portage) to Lake Superior (took the 9 mile Grand Portage). We only had time for the eastern half of the highway. It was a memorable trip and worth every effort. If you would like to know the history behind the border route you could read " Portage into the Past" by J. Arnold Bolz. And the Voyageurs Highway by Grace Nute.

I also made a play by play of all the portages, their French names etc., the lakes and different things that happened along the way on paper for my crew. Of course you will want to become a Home du Nord, as I became a Femme Du Nord. Man or woman of the north. It is the ceremony that the Voyageurs did at the Height of Land Portage between North and South Lakes. There are so many things to see and read about. Excited for you to do this. Email me if you want more information. I also wrote about the trip in BWJ magazine back in 2005 or 2006.