Alright BWCA hivemind, I'm looking for a sanity check and some suggestions...

I think this year is the year I do my first solo trip. For my first solo I'm more concerned with making sure logistics are solid than I am about getting to some awesome destination, but I want to fill my time with photography, exploration, and of course fishing. I think I want to do 5 days for my first solo, as it's enough time to get around and see some fun stuff, without feeling like I have to leave as soon as I got in the groove. I also think I will try a Northwind Solo with a double blade paddle to enable me to move quickly and be capable against winds.

Problem 1: When?

I'm doing an early June trip and a mid September trip already, with a hike the first week of October, so my options are somewhat limited. I love the fishing of June, but I would want to be home for at least 2 weeks before going out again, and that puts me up against the 4th of July weekend, which will likely be too busy for my taste. Therefore I could go at a later time in July, but I really am just not interested in canoe tripping that time of year due to heat, bugs, and mediocre fishing (which I can get at home!). It will either have to be the first or second week of August, otherwise it's too close to my other trips, a friend's wedding, or be smack dab in the middle of July which would only be fun because I might find ripe wild berries. Besides that I think the fishing and scenery of shoulder seasons appeals to me much more.

Problem 2: Where?

I've spent over 100 hours doing route planning. I've looked at a lot of areas. I typically do 8-9 day trips where you can put in a long day or two, then hang out for a few days at each destination lake, before having to move again.

* With this solo trip, I'd like to have at least 1-2 rest days, out of 5 total.
* I don't need to be totally alone for miles, but it'd be nice to experience some solitude.
* I would like to go through an area I haven't been through, or mostly haven't been through.
* I would also like the route to be scenic, but relatively accessible, as I want to spend more of my time exploring, after establishing a campsite, instead of long travel from A to B.
* I would prefer to camp on lakes where I can kill time looking for smallies willing to hit topwater, instead of troll for lakers/walleyes... but it'd be nice to catch either one of those for a meal.
* I am not against some tough areas as long as I keep them relatively short on miles so I can take my time on sketchy portages, opting to be safe rather than sorry when solo. This also means not venturing too far into the wilderness, in case I need to exit early for any reason (or be easily reached in case of emergency).

With that said, here is the route I am thinking of...

Brule entry > South Temperance > Cherokee > Brule exit (via Town/Vesper/Gasket/Cam) - ~25 miles double carrying, with most of that being on the water

* There is a serious potential for wind to mess with this plan, but I am comfortable in waves, and a double bladed paddle should help with momentum and keeping the canoe oriented safely.
* South/North Temperance seem quite scenic from the photos I've seen, and they're small enough to explore intimately. I'd spend nights 1 and 2 on South Temperance, I think.
* Cherokee has been a lake I've meant to get to, but haven't wanted to plan any routes to. This would be a great opportunity to check it out. I'd spend nights 3 and 4 here to allow for photography and fishing. I'd also get to check out Gordon Lake which looks gorgeous as well. If I get up really early and am feeling up for it, I could even go check out a teeny bit of the Frost River (or maybe just Frost Lake). There are no smallmouth here but that's OK.
* The route back to Brule is a tough one, I've heard... but it looks like a really rugged and beautiful area that I'd like to experience, and Brule itself has some cool features that I know I'd enjoy as well.

I'm wondering if there might be a better potential choice for photography and fishing, around 20-25 miles, that isn't too rugged and has halfway decent campsite availability. There aren't a ton of sites on the Temperance lakes but I'd be happy camping on either of them.

I could base camp on Basswood and have tons of fishing options, but I feel like my desire for exploration and photography might suffer with that plan, but maybe not, if I go in through Fall Lake (a common entry I've avoided). Another issue with this route is that I'd be listening to motors the whole time. I don't mind them on my way in and way out, but I think I'd prefer to only hear the sounds of wildlife, wind, and my paddle in the water.

I also would like to base camp on Caribou or Rose (near Clearwater) and explore there, but I also feel like I'd feel a little trapped since you have to cover some serious distance to do a day loop, and I'd get bored/lonely. The Gunflint brings out a longing sort of melancholy in my heart.

So, am I missing anything? Any great little routes with lots of nooks and crannies I can explore in 5 days, ideally with smallmouth and solitude? That might have to be the title of the trip report.

Thanks for any and all thoughts!!

Lots there, JD! Good for you getting the trip on the calendar. I'll throw out a suggestion and see if you've been there, done that...before I add more options.

Crab lake is a sleeper, in my opinion. Love it back there. Off the beaten track, cool lakes, great to amazing smallie fishing on Cummings, and you should find some solitude.

Anyway, my $.02 worth!

LIS #14 seems to be one of the best solo routes you can go. So many routes, smaller water (if you choose), and decent fishing. Of course I’m always recommending trips thru Ely as my encounters have been of better fishing than that of the East side.

JD, you’ve been thru Mudro, LLC & Lake one this year?

YetiJedi: "Lots there, JD! Good for you getting the trip on the calendar. I'll throw out a suggestion and see if you've been there, done that...before I add more options.


Crab lake is a sleeper, in my opinion. Love it back there. Off the beaten track, cool lakes, great to amazing smallie fishing on Cummings, and you should find some solitude.


Anyway, my $.02 worth!"

That's one area I haven't looked too closely at, mostly since it's pretty close to the motors on Burntside, Trout, and Vermilion. It looks like you really have to earn it though, if you want to get to Cummings. That portage into Crab looks hefty, but it also is the only one of note on the way to Cummings as well. I will have to look a little more closely to see what else would interest me in the area, but it looks like it could have what I'm looking for! Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take any more if ya got em!

Lawnchair107: "LIS #14 seems to be one of the best solo routes you can go. So many routes, smaller water (if you choose), and decent fishing. Of course I’m always recommending trips thru Ely as my encounters have been of better fishing than that of the East side.


JD, you’ve been thru Mudro, LLC & Lake one this year? "

I really want to do a bigger LIS North loop in early October, maybe 10 days up to the Section Three Pond area, and loop down through Steep/Finger/Gebe/Oyster/Lynx. I wouldn't mind base camping on Shell or staying there and Hustler, but I kind of want to save it. That area seems special and I want to share it with people close to me. I've seen photos of it courtesy of Gary Hamer and it looks stunning in the fall.

I've been a quite a few places by now... Mudro to LBF/Sunday Bay/Fairy/etc, Moose River North to LLC/Gebe/Oyster/Agnes, Moose to Knife/NAK/SAK/Cherry/Hanson/Kekekabic/Fraser/Ima/Ensign/Vera, Clearwater to West Pike, East Bearskin to Alder/Canoe/Crystal, Kawishiwi to Malberg/Fishdance/Polly... yeah I think that sums it up.

And yes, this year I'm doing Lake One to Insula/Adams/Lil Sag/SAK, and Big Sag to NAK/SAK/Ester. The only hike on the radar right now (will probably add one) is the Sioux-Hustler Trail so I'll get some of that fall LIS goodness hopefully. Some new stuff and some familiar stuff!

jdoutdoors: "

YetiJedi: "Lots there, JD! Good for you getting the trip on the calendar. I'll throw out a suggestion and see if you've been there, done that...before I add more options.



Crab lake is a sleeper, in my opinion. Love it back there. Off the beaten track, cool lakes, great to amazing smallie fishing on Cummings, and you should find some solitude.



Anyway, my $.02 worth!"

That's one area I haven't looked too closely at, mostly since it's pretty close to the motors on Burntside, Trout, and Vermilion. It looks like you really have to earn it though, if you want to get to Cummings. That portage into Crab looks hefty, but it also is the only one of note on the way to Cummings as well. I will have to look a little more closely to see what else would interest me in the area, but it looks like it could have what I'm looking for! Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take any more if ya got em!"

My Dad and I did this trip several years ago and he was nearly 70 at the time. We got the tow across Burntside so didn't have to contend with the motors or big water. The portage is long into Crab, but neither one of us thought it was difficult. You won't hear motors at all anywhere on this trip. Happy to provide more insights. There are some excellent trip reports as well.

Another post mentioned LISN and I would agree with lots of cool possibilities that way. Once to Pauness you can choose north or east and can't go wrong either route. I'm going solo through LISN in September and plan to hit the lakes north of the Weeny PMA. Really cool area.

Another option, consider Kawishiwi Lake and make the circuit around the Humpback PMA - my favorite area.

jdoutdoors: "

Lawnchair107: "LIS #14 seems to be one of the best solo routes you can go. So many routes, smaller water (if you choose), and decent fishing. Of course I’m always recommending trips thru Ely as my encounters have been of better fishing than that of the East side.



JD, you’ve been thru Mudro, LLC & Lake one this year? "

I really want to do a bigger LIS North loop in early October, maybe 10 days up to the Section Three Pond area, and loop down through Steep/Finger/Gebe/Oyster/Lynx. I wouldn't mind base camping on Shell or staying there and Hustler, but I kind of want to save it. That area seems special and I want to share it with people close to me. I've seen photos of it courtesy of Gary Hamer and it looks stunning in the fall.


I've been a quite a few places by now... Mudro to LBF/Sunday Bay/Fairy/etc, Moose River North to LLC/Gebe/Oyster/Agnes, Moose to Knife/NAK/SAK/Cherry/Hanson/Kekekabic/Fraser/Ima/Ensign/Vera, Clearwater to West Pike, East Bearskin to Alder/Canoe/Crystal, Kawishiwi to Malberg/Fishdance/Polly... yeah I think that sums it up.


And yes, this year I'm doing Lake One to Insula/Adams/Lil Sag/SAK, and Big Sag to NAK/SAK/Ester. The only hike on the radar right now (will probably add one) is the Sioux-Hustler Trail so I'll get some of that fall LIS goodness hopefully. Some new stuff and some familiar stuff!"

Make sure to spend some extra time on the northern half of Insula. Awesome fishing.
Or even heading thru Stuart River to Iron?

Lawnchair107: "Make sure to spend some extra time on the northern half of Insula. Awesome fishing.


Have you ever thought of heading thru Stuart River to Iron?"

We'll be camping on the northern end if weather and energy levels cooperate, but I suspect the most fishing we'll be doing there will be from camp, as we're moving to Adams the next day. Adams and Lil Sag are the primary destinations of the trip and we want to spend 3 nights at each so there's no time to hang out on Insula even though I've read it can be a great fishery.

I've not considered the Stuart River entry myself, as it looks like an awful lot of work. Iron used to be high on my list, but after visiting both of the big lakes on either side of it, I think I'd rather fish and explore those, to be honest. Stuart River might be something I tackle in a few years if I exhaust other options. I also want to do a couple Quetico trips but I'm not sure when those will pan out.

YetiJedi: "My Dad and I did this trip several years ago and he was nearly 70 at the time. We got the tow across Burntside so didn't have to contend with the motors or big water. The portage is long into Crab, but neither one of us thought it was difficult. You won't hear motors at all anywhere on this trip. Happy to provide more insights. There are some excellent trip reports as well.

Another post mentioned LISN and I would agree with lots of cool possibilities that way. Once to Pauness you can choose north or east and can't go wrong either route. I'm going solo through LISN in September and plan to hit the lakes north of the Weeny PMA. Really cool area.

Another option, consider Kawishiwi Lake and make the circuit around the Humpback PMA - my favorite area.
"

I think I'd definitely get a tow if I decided to head that way, for the same reasons as you. I'll look into some trip reports - good to hear motors aren't an issue either. Still, I wonder - it's not that far... I'd expect to hear a distant drone from a motor every now and again.

As mentioned, I'm really wanting to get up to LISN to hit the same area you're looking at. I've seen some gorgeous photos and read lots of encouraging trip reports. I don't think I would venture up there for a 5 day solo unless I was planning on covering a lot of ground each day.

I was hoping to get up to Adams last year over Memorial Day, via Kawishiwi Lake, but we opted to save that based on energy levels and the flooded portage into the river which we did not particularly enjoy on our way to Fishdance. That lollipop route definitely looks like it's not for the faint of heart but I hope to do it at some point.

jdoutdoors: "

YetiJedi: "My Dad and I did this trip several years ago and he was nearly 70 at the time. We got the tow across Burntside so didn't have to contend with the motors or big water. The portage is long into Crab, but neither one of us thought it was difficult. You won't hear motors at all anywhere on this trip. Happy to provide more insights. There are some excellent trip reports as well.


Another post mentioned LISN and I would agree with lots of cool possibilities that way. Once to Pauness you can choose north or east and can't go wrong either route. I'm going solo through LISN in September and plan to hit the lakes north of the Weeny PMA. Really cool area.


Another option, consider Kawishiwi Lake and make the circuit around the Humpback PMA - my favorite area.
"

I think I'd definitely get a tow if I decided to head that way, for the same reasons as you. I'll look into some trip reports - good to hear motors aren't an issue either. Still, I wonder - it's not that far... I'd expect to hear a distant drone from a motor every now and again.


As mentioned, I'm really wanting to get up to LISN to hit the same area you're looking at. I've seen some gorgeous photos and read lots of encouraging trip reports. I don't think I would venture up there for a 5 day solo unless I was planning on covering a lot of ground each day.


I was hoping to get up to Adams last year over Memorial Day, via Kawishiwi Lake, but we opted to save that based on energy levels and the flooded portage into the river which we did not particularly enjoy on our way to Fishdance. That lollipop route definitely looks like it's not for the faint of heart but I hope to do it at some point."

I've not been through Brule so I can't offer anything there...but it is now on my list too!

LISN would be a push to go north into Slim and beyond in 5 days. Going east, however, from Pauness would certainly be doable.

I didn't think getting to Adams was too difficult but going to Boulder was much tougher - lots of beaver dams to cross, hard to find portages, bear and wolf tracks in the mud, bugs, etc. Out of Boulder to the north is also a very long portage that'll take a little out of you. That said, my two daughters and I did that on the middle days of our 16-day tour from Knife, down to Boulder, over to Insula, and back up to Ensign. We LOVED that area! Boulder is my favorite lake. :)

By the way, JD, really loved reading the planning you put into your post. Gave me lots of good ideas and brought back excellent memories of some important trips for me. Enjoy your first solo! If ice is out, I'm going solo for fishing opener as my buddy isn't keen on the cold and decided to fish the Mississippi instead and my daughters are in school.

jd, congrats on the solo. I could be wrong on this but I seem to remember that the days right around the 4th of July are often a little less busy than the surrounding summer weeks. Still might not be the greatest time to go. I have found the 2nd and third weeks of August to be a great time with comfortable and stable weather, warm water and slightly less bugs than the peak times earlier in the summer. One detraction from this time is that it is among the busiest times up there, because of the reasons just mentioned. But you can still find solitude if your expectations are appropriate. Fishing isn't at its peak but we have never had difficulty catching fish. Once you decide on a timeframe you can start researching available permits which could make an impact on your decision of when/where to go.

As far as routes, you can also access South Temperance from the Baker Lake entry point and could do a loop up through Cherokee and back down to Sawbill, over through the Fire Lakes and out to Baker. Seems plenty doable in 5 days with a layover day, others may be able to speak to this better. Eliminates the big water of Brule Lake. you can get to South Temperance from the Baker entry point in one day with a medium paddle and a handful of portages but none real difficult. It is a gorgeous lake.

Another thought, if you are not hung up on a loop route and are okay with covering some of the same water twice - Homer lake entry point. Spend a day or two on Vern Lake and explore the Vern River for nice scenery and good fishing for walleyes and smallies. Could also go over to Pipe Lake and likely have some good solitude there. Juno Lake would be another place to spend a day or two. I can tell you that the entire area is relatively lightly travelled because of the lack of a true loop route and relatively few campsites. In my experience the fishing has been very good. The lakes themselves are nice but the small waterways you traverse in between lakes and on the Vern River are really pretty. I have gone there twice in the last few years and saw few others in the area and had very good fishing luck. At any point along the route you could be a medium days travel back to the car which is nice, but still have a remote enough feeling. I go for photography, fishing and solitude and this one has checked all the boxes for us. A plus is it is not a real popular entry so permit availability might be better, but who knows these days.

Here is a trip report from our first trip a few years ago if you are interested:



Homer to Vern


So many good options, not many bad ones. Permit availability may be the limiting factor wherever you go. Have a great trip, will watch for the trip report.

I also thought about the Baker entry. It's about the same distance as Brule, either way you'll be doing the Sitka-Cherokee portage. None of the rest of that route is very hard and you'll have ample opportunity for photography, probably more than just paddling back and forth on Brule for 10 miles or so, especially if weather is not favorable. From Baker you'll be on South Temperance 4-5 hours easily, and it is a pretty lake. So's Cherokee. You could go up and back from Baker, do the loop back through Sawbill, or just go up and back from Sawbill. You could probably even get a shuttle from to the other.

Here's another option not mentioned yet. Enter at Cross Bay and go through Long Island to Cherokee, it's not too far and takes you through Gordon, which is a gorgeous lake, and that's not far from Frost Lake. On the return you could slip over to Snipe, which I think is a pretty cool lake with photo opportunities. You could exit to Round Lake, which is just a short walk to Cross Bay. You could go in or out either and exit the other. Depending on time and inclination you could go through Tuscarora across Howl Swamp.

My vote would be to enter at Lizz Lake and then travel through Caribou and Horseshoe Lakes to Gaskin. I've had good fishing on Gaskin, and I have also not had good fishing on Gaskin. But you'll be travelling through some smaller, interesting lakes with shorter portages and lots of options for day trips (eg drop down to Misquah or Winchell to see the Misquan Hills, or travel west to Omega). There are plenty of very nice sites along the way, as well as the chance to see moose. You could then return as you came or complete a loop through Meeds, which can easily be done in a 3-day weekend, and so will give you your layover days. The only downside is that all the upsides make this a popular area.

Folks can recommend a lot of places, but if there are no permits available . . . . .

Looking at available permits from July 17ish to mid Aug:

Missing Link - Entry #51 - Go end to end from Round Lake to Poplar Lake (LIzz Lake Entry). Easy Shuttle. Nice outfitters at each end (Tuscarora and Red Rock). Some nice fishing lakes. Only large lake is Long Island. Nice campsites on the eastern end of LIL.

Cross Bay Entry #50 - Same as above.

Skipper Lake Entry #49 - Loop around to Long Island Lake and then back to Lizz Lake Entry. The mile long entry portage is not hard. Head to Rush or Banadad. The portages from Banadad to Long Island Lake will take you through some pretty smaller lakes. It is rougher territory. Long Island back to Lizz has only one tough portage.

Kawishiwi Lake Entry #37 - There are only a couple of days with a permit available here.
There are 2 options:

1. Lady Lake Chain - Kawishiwi to Lake Polly. Polly to Phoebe or Grace. Phoebe or Grace to Alton, Kelso, or Sawbill. Plenty of time for fishing. Smaller Lakes (except Alton) to avoid wind. Do not cross from Grace to Beth until you are OK with ending your trip. You may not be able to find a campsite in the busy Alton/Kelso/Sawbill triangle.

2. Kawishiwi to Lake Polly, Lake Polly to Malberg. Base Camp here. Trip/Fish to the pictos on Fishdance Lake and/or fish Amber Lake. Spend time fishing Malberg and Mora Lakes. Head north to Kivaniva/Pan Lakes for a fishing day trip. You can trip all the way back to Kawishiwi in one hard day.

I see one Sawbill Lake permit on Aug 1 -

Options -

1. Cherokee/South Temperance/Kelly Lakes Loop
2. Out and back to Grace/Phoebe Lake
3. Out and back to Wine/Mesaba Lake.

There are some good suggestions here! Some longer or tougher than I'd like, but worth looking at for sure. Michwall2 brings up a good point. Permits are ridiculous this year. I can't believe huge entries like Moose are completely taken for weeks. I suspect a lot of people grabbed permits not knowing when they wanted to go in. For this reason, I'm going to try to have a few routes to choose from, and hopefully pick one when it gets much closer to trip time, as I hope some permits will be freed up. I'll probably be playing this one by ear...

Michwall2: "Folks can recommend a lot of places, but if there are no permits available . . . . . "

Good point, Michwall, that's fair and not something I considered. Also kind of you to suggest routes with availability.

I find Brule and South/north Temperance too crowded for my taste. Going in Sawbill and then up into Wine and then exploring beyond that a quieter option. I was on Wine last 4th of July and didn't see a soul.

I solo'd this area but in and out from Baker in late September. Camped on the west end of Brule and Cherokee. The Town-Gasket-Vesper stretch does have really sketchy portages. I just took my time to be safe.

I would also suggest the week after the 4th is a decent time to go and historically hasn't been very crowded but that may have changed in the last few years. My wife and I went in around the 4th from Missing Link and saw one group between Missing Link and Little Sag. It was dead. But that was 5 years ago.

Also had our pick of sites on another trip on Tuscarora around the 4th.

Well I had a fantastic trip in June and finally got to see Adams. We didn't do our entire intended route as the travel from Adams to Lil Sag was likely going to be more than we wanted to bite off, but we still had an awesome trip and saw some really rugged parts of the wilderness. That muddy swampy section from Adams to Boulder was an experience, to say the least.

I've been checking permits daily, to see if anything interesting pops up. I almost snagged permits for Missing Link, Moose River N, Crab... but nothing was quite on the day I wanted it, or the area I had my heart set on exploring. Then, finally, this morning, I was looking through and almost closed the tab (actually it stays open but I was done browsing), when I spotted it - BRULE LAKE - 1 permit on Tuesday August 16th. This was the entry I had in my mind when I was looking back in May, as it lets me get to a few places I want to see, with a loop that has some hard stuff but isn't actually that long. The intended route is EP41 > S. Temperance (2n) > Cherokee (2n) > Brule (by way of Town/Vesper/Gasket/Cam). There are some small lakes that let me get up and paddle early in the morning for some cool photos, avoid being windbound to some degree, and there is some elevation, some marsh, some bass, some walleye, and some trout... some solitude and some comfort of other folks in case fate gets the better of me.

I'll be renting a Northwind Solo with a double bladed paddle (and taking my Sanborn Gunflint straight shaft as well). I'm well prepared for Brule to be choppy, so I'm planning on getting on the water early in the morning (at least on my way in) to avoid any dangerous conditions. I'm not quite sure where I'll stay the night before I enter, but I'll figure that out. Maybe Baker or Crescent Lake campgrounds. Or if it's OK (can't find anything saying it's not), I could just pop up a tent behind my car in the Brule parking lot.

If anyone has any suggestions for things to do or see on this route, I'm all ears!! Very excited for my first solo :)

My concern about your plan is the last day. The Town-Brule route is difficult. Steep, very bouldery, very bad footing when dry and worse when wet. It is also not traveled very often, so no one is likely to come by if you hurt yourself. Then you are getting to Brule when the wind is likely to be up for the afternoon and need to get to your exit.

My suggestion would be to just spend one night on S. Temperance and have a night on Brule your last night. It would allow you to take your time on the Town-Brule portages, even double portaging the difficult parts. Also more time to enjoy these stunning lakes and get your camera out without thinking about getting across Brule at the end of the day. Take the first camp you find on Brule. Hopefully one of the three at the west end will be open. That would allow you that early start to finish Brule, hopefully calm, to your exit.

This would make both your difficult portages and a difficult lake crossing less risky.

You will cross the Laurentian Divide twice, North Temperance-Sitka and back again Vesper-Gasket. The N. Temperance- Sitka is not too bad, but the Sitka- Cherokee on that route has got some huge elevation changes.

If you get easy paddling on Brule the first day consider continuing to North Temperance. The northern-most campsite there is almost always open if the others are full.

If you are young and strong, unlike this old geezer, all these tough portages will be a welcome challenge. Enjoy!

I agree with Sedges. Not only are those pretty tough portages, but the thought of paddling Brule Lake 2x solo (first solo nonetheless) would give me an anxiety attack.

I actually enjoy paddling the big lakes. I've paddled solo on Saganaga, Brule Basswood, Agnes(Q), even Green Bay and some big reservoirs in the SE. Enjoyed every bit of it especially the rough days. It is all a matter of making the right decisions. "I have to get there today" is not a right decision when faced with difficult conditions. Sometimes you can use the wind to your advantage, sometimes you just have to pull out, set up the chair or hammock and read a book until conditions are better.

sedges: "My concern about your plan is the last day. The Town-Brule route is difficult. Steep, very bouldery, very bad footing when dry and worse when wet. It is also not traveled very often, so no one is likely to come by if you hurt yourself. Then you are getting to Brule when the wind is likely to be up for the afternoon and need to get to your exit.


My suggestion would be to just spend one night on S. Temperance and have a night on Brule your last night. It would allow you to take your time on the Town-Brule portages, even double portaging the difficult parts. Also more time to enjoy these stunning lakes and get your camera out without thinking about getting across Brule at the end of the day. Take the first camp you find on Brule. Hopefully one of the three at the west end will be open. That would allow you that early start to finish Brule, hopefully calm, to your exit.


This would make both your difficult portages and a difficult lake crossing less risky.

You will cross the Laurentian Divide twice, North Temperance-Sitka and back again Vesper-Gasket. The N. Temperance- Sitka is not too bad, but the Sitka- Cherokee on that route has got some huge elevation changes.

If you get easy paddling on Brule the first day consider continuing to North Temperance. The northern-most campsite there is almost always open if the others are full.

If you are young and strong, unlike this old geezer, all these tough portages will be a welcome challenge. Enjoy!"

I hear you loud and clear! I'm relatively young but certainly not in great shape, though my June trip had us pushing 75 miles of paddling and portaging through some rough areas.

I'm aware the portages from Cherokee to Brule (via Town) are rocky and treacherous. I've also read that those intermediate lakes are gorgeous, and worth the effort! I will be double portaging the entire trip, so don't worry there. As well, I have an inReach device and will have it clipped to me at all times.

Depending on weather, energy levels, and the scenery around S. Temperance/Cherokee, I may follow your recommendation and camp on Brule my final night (and skip my layover day on Cherokee). I don't want to battle midday wind if it kicks up, unless it truly is a straight headwind, and even then I know I would get tired easily paddling 6-7 miles in a tough headwind with little to no breaks. If there is unexpected wind or the route through Town takes longer than expected, I can always stay an extra night.

Overall I don't mind paddling big water as long as wind is under control. I know how to use land as a windbreak, but some wind directions on Brule (like a straight north wind) would be pretty unfavorable no matter what you do. I will play it safe as I'll be on my own but I look forward to the challenge, the solitude... I haven't actually been alone, truly by myself, with no one to talk to (in person or online), for more than... maybe 24 hours? I think I will enjoy the freedom too. The nervous excitement has begun...

Don’t get me wrong- I’m very excited for ya, JD! You’ll have to post a trip report or atleast some of your fantastic pictures you’ll get along the way.

We looked into doing it once, but ultimately went another way. One thing I remember someone who did it pointing out was you are committed to the whole series since there are no campsites between Town and Brule, then once you get to Brule not many sites. We were not entering at Brule though and gave consideration to both CW & CCW directions, i.e. camp on S. Temperance, western Brule the night before.

Well, this has been a bit of a rollercoaster! After some thought, and continued perusal of the permits, I decided Brule might be biting off more than I can chew for my first solo, and I saw a Clearwater permit pop up for Tuesday, and snagged it. While it's also still big water, there are more options in the area and easier loops. I've been through there once and really enjoyed it so it would be nice to get back.

However, due to some "administrative" errors on my part, and the upcoming weather forecast which looks like rain for pretty much my entire trip, I've decided to call it off. I have a little too much going on in my life at the moment that requires attention that would be nice to get done, and I want my first solo to be good memories without stresses of home, without being wet and cold the entire time! It wouldn't make for good photos and probably not good fishing either.

All is well - I have an 8 day coming up with my girlfriend through Sag, looping through Ottertrack, NAK, SAK, and Ester. She'll finally get to see the Cherry cliffs I've talked so much about, and hopefully catch her first laker. The BWCA will be there next year for my first solo so I'm not too sad... still got plenty of time. :)

Oh and I WILL be seeing the Brule/Temperance/Cherokee area at some point, make no mistake! It might just be better done as a tandem trip.