We‘ve got a permit for Kawishisi Lake entry on May 17.

Things are looking somewhat promising for ice-out by then, but does anyone have any updates on the status of snow and ice in that area? We’re planning to camp at the Kawishiwi campground the night before.

I follow Sawbill Outfitters updates and am feeling hopeful!

I saw another post indicating Sawbill is ice-free as of today. You should be good to go! I don't have an update on road conditions. Have a safe and fun adventure!

FYI - Kawishiwi campground is nice but small, 6 sites if I remember correctly. I have seen it mostly empty and full. Hope you can get a site there but if not a Plan B would be a good idea. Sawbill, Baker or Crescent would all work and not far away from your entry point.

Yeah, I’ve heard the same about the campground. Hoping since it’s midweek and early season it’ll be mostly empty. If not, we’re planning to head to Sawbill.

We are getting excited now that we saw ice is out on Sawbill!

Have fun. My second ever solo was to Malberg and back and I loved that route.

Mid week and in May you should be fine at the campground The earlier in the day you get there the better. There are 5 official sites and then 2 renegade sites with rock fire rings along the road right before the big Campground sign. I’ve seen people camped there when Rangers have come by.

I’ve camped there close to 10 times and only got turned away once with it being full. But I always get there before noon. Many of the nights we’ve stayed there all of sights ended up occupied by dinner time. But we’ve also had some nights that we’ve had it all to ourselves or only one other group. Alll of my stays have been in June or July.

I did this trip two years ago. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

You'll probably be able to paddle right past the 1st two portages. The massive beaver damn right before kawaschong is impressive. I found the left side (as you're approaching it) to be the easier route over. It turns into a short portage, more than a pullover.

Don't overlook kawaschong if you're fishing. It's worth trolling something on the way through.

Hope you enjoy the trip! I am changing my Thursday permit next week to a Tuesday for Kawishiwi and doing this same route with a couple add-ons I think. It's my second solo so trying not to over-do the mileage.

AlexanderSupertramp: "Hope you enjoy the trip! I am changing my Thursday permit next week to a Tuesday for Kawishiwi and doing this same route with a couple add-ons I think. It's my second solo so trying not to over-do the mileage. "

Then maybe we'll see each other - I start my trip the same day. Safe travels to you!

This was my first ever BWCA trip, but we took Fishdance into Alice. My recommendation would be to travel down Fishdance and go check out the pictographs! Alice was cool, but we encountered high wind on big water and almost swamped a few times with 2-3 foot rollers. Have a safe trip!

Also, the beach site on Malberg is wonderful. Stayed there 2 nights.

We just got back yesterday and had a great trip! Made it up to Malberg day one, which was a bit aggressive for us, but worth it! We pulled out to Polly after 2 nights on Malberg and saw the northern lights on Polly our last night. It was a bit rainy and windy a couple of the days, and evenings are chilly on May trips, but the lack of people, open lakes and early season fishing was worth it for us! We will return to Malberg for sure, and hopefully do a longer trip next time so we can head to Fishdance for the pictographs. I am hoping to do a trip report if I can get one written over the next couple of days!

That’s awesome. Welcome back and thanks for sharing.

KjerJoy: "We just got back yesterday and had a great trip! Made it up to Malberg day one, which was a bit aggressive for us, but worth it! We pulled out to Polly after 2 nights on Malberg and saw the northern lights on Polly our last night. It was a bit rainy and windy a couple of the days, and evenings are chilly on May trips, but the lack of people, open lakes and early season fishing was worth it for us! We will return to Malberg for sure, and hopefully do a longer trip next time so we can head to Fishdance for the pictographs. I am hoping to do a trip report if I can get one written over the next couple of days!"

That's great, KjerJoy! Glad your trip went well. Sounds like you had some success fishing which is good to hear too. I head in Tuesday morning...any insights on water levels, mud holes on portages, or anything else I should be aware of?

KjerJoy: "We just got back yesterday and had a great trip! Made it up to Malberg day one, which was a bit aggressive for us, but worth it! We pulled out to Polly after 2 nights on Malberg and saw the northern lights on Polly our last night. It was a bit rainy and windy a couple of the days, and evenings are chilly on May trips, but the lack of people, open lakes and early season fishing was worth it for us! We will return to Malberg for sure, and hopefully do a longer trip next time so we can head to Fishdance for the pictographs. I am hoping to do a trip report if I can get one written over the next couple of days!"

Doing the same route heading Tuesday. Maybe a spur to Alice.

How were water levels on the river and the beaver dams?

The water levels were quite high. We were able to paddle right over the beaver dam before square as well as avoid the short (20 rod, maybe?) portage out of square by paddling to the left of that portage.

The massive beaver dam before Kawaschong is still there and unavoidable. There also is a newer beaver dam (we haven't been on this route since 2019, so not sure how new) just before the Kawaschong one that was pretty challenging for us to maneuver. We found the right side when going toward Kawaschong to be easier for us, but it was definitely our least favorite beaver dam to deal with.

The portages from Kawaschong to Townline and Townline to Polly were in good shape, albeit a little muddy in places. The mud was never over our ankles though (if I'm remembering correctly). It also looked like there had been lumber dropped off near the portage from Townline to Polly, hopefully to redo the mucky portage landing!

The only "issue" we had portaging was a downed tree on the 127 rod into Koma. It is a massive tree downed right in the middle of the path. I went around it on the way in and under it on the way out. Under or over the tree is definitely the way to go if you can.

The high waters have their pros and cons, the avoided beaver dams were wonderful, but the high water made the unavoidable dams more challenging.

Good luck to everyone headed in this week!

KjerJoy: "The water levels were quite high. We were able to paddle right over the beaver dam before square as well as avoid the short (20 rod, maybe?) portage out of square by paddling to the left of that portage.


The massive beaver dam before Kawaschong is still there and unavoidable. There also is a newer beaver dam (we haven't been on this route since 2019, so not sure how new) just before the Kawaschong one that was pretty challenging for us to maneuver. We found the right side when going toward Kawaschong to be easier for us, but it was definitely our least favorite beaver dam to deal with.


The portages from Kawaschong to Townline and Townline to Polly were in good shape, albeit a little muddy in places. The mud was never over our ankles though (if I'm remembering correctly). It also looked like there had been lumber dropped off near the portage from Townline to Polly, hopefully to redo the mucky portage landing!


The only "issue" we had portaging was a downed tree on the 127 rod into Koma. It is a massive tree downed right in the middle of the path. I went around it on the way in and under it on the way out. Under or over the tree is definitely the way to go if you can.


The high waters have their pros and cons, the avoided beaver dams were wonderful, but the high water made the unavoidable dams more challenging.


Good luck to everyone headed in this week!


"

Thanks for the info! Never been in this area, and going solo in a new canoe has made me a little nervous especially with the doggo. Will have to just be extra cautious in the moving water.

KjerJoy: "We just got back yesterday and had a great trip! Made it up to Malberg day one, which was a bit aggressive for us, but worth it! We pulled out to Polly after 2 nights on Malberg and saw the northern lights on Polly our last night. It was a bit rainy and windy a couple of the days, and evenings are chilly on May trips, but the lack of people, open lakes and early season fishing was worth it for us! We will return to Malberg for sure, and hopefully do a longer trip next time so we can head to Fishdance for the pictographs. I am hoping to do a trip report if I can get one written over the next couple of days!"

Glad you had a good trip! Did you happen to stay on the beach site? Malberg was a fun lake, no luck for us fishing there though. We traveled into Alice that year in 2017. We decided to head into Polly on our way back out, but it was like a full on resort. Tons of kids, flotation devices (blow up rafts, tubes, beach balls, etc.), and every site was busy and full. Polly looks like a cool lake but I feel like in summer it just gets slammed because it's that first lake that's totally out of the burn area. Anyways, we decided to travel all the way out that day and head back home to the Northern Twin Cities area. I think we traveled 24 miles by foot/canoe that day and then still had to drive about 3-4 hours. Anyways, I love that area and I'm glad you enjoyed it up there!

We didn't stay at the beach site, we stayed at site 1045, the second narrows site (just north of the one that leads to the Louse River).

We were so spent by the time we got to that site, we couldn't think about paddling further, though the beach sites are intriguing!

It's an awesome area. This was our third trip through, but we've never gone further north than Polly.