Looking to bring my family to BWCA for the 1st time. There will be 9 of us with the youngest being 17. We are entering at entry point #30 on Lake 1 on the Saturday of Memorial Weekend. We plan to push toward Lake Insula that day. I know it varies from year to year but should I be concerned about not being able to find a campsite? We are planning on leaving as early as possible that morning. Are there issues with not having a tree to hang a bear bag on in the burn area and if so what recommendations does anyone have for that. It is our plan to be out for 7 nights. So much looking forward to this trip! What should I expect from the fishing aspect? Thanks for any help or suggestions.

If you leave early enough in the morning, I wouldn’t fret about a campsite. There are 40+ campsites on that lake, you should be able to get one that early in the season. With a group of nine, on your first trip, don’t get discouraged with the rate of travel. Enjoy it, you’re in canoe control where we float low and slow. Low meaning, keep the packs and gear as low in the canoe as possible to keep the center of gravity low for stability. Portaging will probably seem hard for some in your group. You will get better and better at it as your trip moves along. Have fun, you’re going to love it, it’s the greatest place on earth. When you’re done, write a trip report here and share your experiences with us, we’d love to hear how it goes.

Tony

Agreed, go with the flow. It's good you have a plan but if you don't quite make it that far on day one oh well. Your group is as fast as the slowest canoe and you're on vacation.

As far as food, are you doing your own or going through an outfitter? Either way look into blue barrels (likely 2) with that many people. Keep a clean camp, clean hands when touching them, and stash them into the woods. Lots of past posts on them if you use the search tool.

Fishing...take some leeches if you want live bait that's easy to take care of. Find current and you'll find fish too

Thanks for the advice and fast response.

yep just go with the flow - start looking for campsites around noon and you should not have a problem finding one, especially in that area. try to remember to take it all in, enjoy the quiet. no schedules out there, remember that. one of my favorite things when it is still, near dusk, is listening to the hum of the skeeters near the shoreline. crazy loud sometimes.

Early as possible that time of year should mean you have been on the water for a while by 6:00. I expect you to have some of adjustment with the travel on water and can virtually guarantee you will not be very proficient with the portage situation. I would not expect you to get to your destination until after 1:00 PM or so at best. Take your time and consider that a part of the adventure.

If you can find no trees to hang a bear bag, you could take it or both if you have 2 and hang your food over the lake by tying a rope from a tree which will not uproot. Not really too big is needed. Make sure your knot is secure and thus you will not lose your food to a knot giving away and the bag falling into the water. If concerned, use two ropes. If you are not into knots, You can center the rope through the bag straps and loop both ends around your tree several times so that the resulting friction will hold the bag in place whether or not you tie a knot. You could practice this concept at home to measure the amount of rope you need. Not so much the actual hanging, but you can verify the rope needed by laying it out as if you were actually doing the deed in the wilderness, Tie one anyway to double secure your food. I hang mine about 3 feet from the water and down a vertical drop that no bears can reach my bag or climb down to get it. Never had a problem this way the couple of times I did this. You may have to canoe quite a distance as needed.

You may want a bug whacker for each tent. No bugs smashed on side of tent and no mosquitoes hide after a missed hand swat to come out mid night to harass your group. Keep them dry as you travel and after you get to the camp. They are sensitive to moisture.

bwcadan: "Early as possible that time of year should mean you have been on the water for a while by 6:00. I expect you to have some of adjustment with the travel on water and can virtually guarantee you will not be very proficient with the portage situation. I would not expect you to get to your destination until after 1:00 PM or so at best. Take your time and consider that a part of the adventure.
"

Agree 100% Especially being a holiday weekend there will be lots of traffic on the portages. With a group that large it's going to take organization to get proficient on the portages. If you can be unloading your gear at the entry right at the crack of dawn you could possibly beat the crowds. Otherwise you'll be waiting in line to land at the portages because there will be boats stacking up. Go early and be organized with no loose items.

To get to Insula it will be 6-7 hours. It's no big deal to stop earlier if there's a decent site open. Try to have packs and canoes off to the side at the landings to let other traffic go through. Enjoy your trip!

The good news is, there are 50 campsites between the Lake One entry and Insula. The bad news is, I have heard of them all being full. Depending on how early you actually get in the water and how the day is going, I would evaluate the campsite fill rate as you get to Lakes 3 to Hudson. If most are full I would consider grabbing any decent open campsite if it is after 1 or 2pm. No shame in stopping earlier than planned. In theory Insula should be less busy because it is further from the entry point but it is also a destination lake with a number of campsites in a burn area meaning that the prime campsites would be in high demand. Might not be a problem, just a bit of caution.

Being Memorial Weekend and still a pandemic going on, I would assume busier than normal, with at least a decent percentage of those folks getting a headstart and heading in on Friday. Which means some of those folks will be on day two of their trip and possibly heading to Insula along with you. Plus you have a large group size which makes campsite selection a little bit more of a challenge to find a site that can accommodate all of you.

As far as bear trees, there is an easy solution if you are willing to spend a few bucks...one of the the best moves we ever made was switching to Bear Vaults and stashing them in the woods outside of camp at night, and no longer having to hunt for the right tree that often doesn't exist. Honestly, most bear hangs are pretty insufficient anyways if you have a hungry and determined bear...not to mention the mini bears. Bear Vaults work if stashed in the woods off of common trails, for both bears and rodents. Takes that concern out of the picture.

Having said all of that, you are likely to have a great trip, it is a beautiful area and though there are lots of folks there, you can find solitude when you need it the most. Just plan for all of the contingencies and be flexible.

All,

I appreciate the advise and will take it all to heart.

Thanks,

Greg

Bring warm clothes.

Take a Walk-Talkee and test it to make sure it works before you go. When it is getting close to when you want to get off the water, break up your group and communicate. Take the first site that is acceptable and the other group will join first group while in the process of setting up camp.

Do most people stay multiple days in a camp or just pass through back on Alice, Thomas and Frazier?

The longest you are allowed to stay at one site is 14 days - it all depends on what your groups preference is - we like to basecamp most of the time, because we like to fish alot of the time we spend up there.

Gman7: "Do most people stay multiple days in a camp or just pass through back on Alice, Thomas and Frazier?"

Flip a coin. Even if they do or they don't, your timing could be at the beginning middle or end of their stay.

The number lakes attract a fair number of stay in one place base campers. Memorial Day will double that number. The COVID crowd will further increase it. I’d say count on seeing a good number of people from lakes 1-4 that are there for the weekend.

Get a very early start. Make sure all your gear is in a few large packs; avoid loose gear or lots of small bags - they really slow down the portages. And be flexible and ready to camp early.

Hang back in the water a bit when approaching portage landings if there are other parties are unloading or loading their canoes or in process of portaging. Wait until they are done before landing your canoes.
It's a courtesy but also adhering to the 9-person rule/regulation of congregation. Also, consider there's a risk of wrong packs being accidentally carried off by someone if differing parties are loading and unloading gear.
Always double-check the landing area when your last packs/bags are picked up. It's easy to leave something behind especially in hurried/excited mode. Has happened to many, including myself. Backtracking sure messes with the pace of traveling time when having to retrieve an item at the last portage ..... or the one before that. Paddles, cameras, PFD's, personal drinking bottles, fishing gear, and small packs are common items overlooked.

Recommendation:
'No Rinse Shampoo'. You can find it on Amazon. 'No Rinse' is terrific for cleaning sweaty greasy hair. Camp showers are sometimes not doable due to encroaching darkness or fatigue--so a quick hygienic alternative.

Bear in mind that the ice will have gone out just a few weeks before your trip, depending on the way this winter goes. (As I write this, it’s -22 at my house in Duluth.) You don’t want to be in the water on Memorial Day weekend, so be prudent about the paddling conditions.

...quality rain-gear all around!...

If you are at all concerned about the bear hang, rent a 60 liter blue barrel with a harness for your food.

The biggest part of being bear safe in the BW is odor control. With the blue barrel, you lock as much of that odor in as possible. You can still hang the barrel when there are appropriate trees. When there are not, tie it off to a tree/rock an appropriate distance from camp. Some put pans or plates on top to make noise if it is tampered with. Others not. The blue barrels are not "bear proof", but they give you a better chance of avoiding an incident. The blue barrels also help keep the mini-bears (mice and chipmunks) out of your food too.

Other bear safety item include: No food/snacks (no gum, candy bars, tic tacs, nuts, etc.) in the tents. Any personal care items that smell like food (toothpaste, strawberry scented shampoo, mint flavored floss, etc) should go in the food barrel to be hung. Pack out all your trash. Trash bag goes in the food container to contain odor.

Enjoy that first trip!