I just wrapped up a self-supported trip with my Boy Scouts. We started on Snowbank and went through Roe, Cap, Boulder and Adams lakes before looping back and coming out on Lake One. It was an epic trip and the group had two solid days of not seeing any other people after we spoke with the Forest Rangers on Thomas.
-Roe Lake: This was a lily pad choked lake that devolved into a thick bog towards the east end portage. The 3 scouts in the Northwind 18 coordinated their “air humps” with their paddle poling to make it to the less than optimal take out. If you are going this route please plan ahead as this small lake will not be a fast or easy traverse if you can make it.

-Cap Lake: Please be aware the false portage (still marked on some older Fisher Maps) still looks like a viable option from the water. I had a less experienced adult leader make it to the portage first (remove the branches that were blocking the portage) and we headed down a trail of diminishing returns. After exploring a way across the swamp and not finding one; I pulled the group back out and we spent the night at the camp site on Cap Lake. This site is a 1 star (or less) site but we were able to tetris 3 tents into it. Getting to the site involves a climb/scramble up a 5-6 foot rock face. The next morning, I had my adult leader replace the branches on the false portage. She indicated she took rocks and spelled out the word “NO” with an arrow to the actual portage that leads to Ledge and Boulder. She indicated even a “noob” should be able to tell this is not the right portage. My fault for not double checking the portage when I knew there were old ones on the lake that would lead to trouble.

-Boulder Lake: The “real” portage from Cap to Boulder is a wide highway with trees cleared our at least 8 feet wide until you take a right and head towards Boulder, no worries about snagging a bow while you are watching your foot placement. During our trip there was no water in the middle of the second leg of the portage once you take a right and head south towards Boulder Lake. This was largely dry during our transit of the area and was a hopscotch across sizeable boulders.

-Adams Lake: Getting from Boulder to Adams Lake will take some time. On the Fisher maps it looks like a paddle into a 20 rod portage, a short paddle and then a 10 rod portage.
The situation we found was the initial paddle in was blocked by boulders due to low water resulting in a 5 rod portage and then a paddle to the 20 rod portage. The 20 rod portage was followed by a short paddle with a lift over of a beaver dam and more paddling to get to the 10 rod portage. After the 10 rod portage there was a short paddle to yet another beaver dam lift over, more paddling and then a large beaver pond with a 3-4 foot drop down the beaver dam. We opted to back track 150 feet from the last beaver dam and slide the canoes down a narrow steep grassy/alder choked section. After all this the group was rewarded with another thick lily pad paddle until we made open water. THE best reward was absolute solitude on Adams Lake and a stay at the island site that was a real gem, cinnamon streusel bread baked in the reflector oven also helped to raise the spirits.
If you are going this route I would recommend looking at additional paddle planning sites for some more intel about some alternative portage strategies on the Boulder to Adams portage.
From Cap to Adams lake with 3 canoes and 7 team members took us 4 + hours.

That floating bog on Roe was rough for my group in June 2022. You really have to lurch for a good 100 yards. We expended a lot of energy pushing as hard as we could with our paddles to get out into the lake. I thought maybe we just didn't take the right route, but I reviewed my GoPro footage and I don't see any other obvious paths that should have had deeper water.

Did you notice if, on the portage from Cap to Boulder, the sign blocking the path to Fee/Vee was gone? There was one saying that area was closed due to fires, but we suspected it was left over from the 2021 John Ek fire. I called it into the Forest Service and I would hope they removed it by now.

Awesome area for sure. The huge white pines on Boulder were quite striking. I'd like to make it back there some day, but probably not any time soon... and yeah, that island site on Adams is one of my favorites of all time. Sadly we caught almost nothing from shore despite having an amazingly wide area to cast, but fishing seemed a little tough when we were there anyway. The beauty and isolation of the lake made up for it.

Glad you had a fun and safe trip! Thanks for sharing your updates as this is definitely an area that people should plan for (re: time and effort).

I took the alternative portage out of Cap to Boulder in June of 2015. There was a pond that we paddled through and then hooked up with the Boulder Portage. I guess things change from 8 years ago.

Its a cool area. Sept 2021 we went from Adams to Boulder. The Adam's area had just been opened due to John Ek fire closures but areas to east were still closed. The sign and yellow tape were across the Vee-Fee portage. Water was low....super low. We had to portage almost the entire route from Adams to Boulder. Only spot we could paddle was the last 40 or so rods right before Boulder....but still had to climb over rocks and a tree at entrance to Boulder. It was a long day....Adams to Sagus.

We went through there, starting from Adams, on June 10 this year. Only had one portage to Boulder but one pullover nearby Adams and pulled through the rocks into Boulder. Just did a short rock hop heading north from Boulder, just a narrow and placid stream in the boggy area.

Roe was difficult. The east end was nearly impassable and there was no indication of a clear channel. There were two of us in solos and we both considered bailing with a line and trying to make it to solid ground. Heaving and pushing, we made it through in 20 or 30 minutes. It was the only time I thought we might be in a bad situation with no good way out. Ended up on Ima that night after fighting strong north wind on Thomas but Roe lives in my dreams as the quagmire that could have swallowed us.

technically_rugged: Did you notice if, on the portage from Cap to Boulder, the sign blocking the path to Fee/Vee was gone? There was one saying that area was closed due to fires, but we suspected it was left over from the 2021 John Ek fire. I called it into the Forest Service and I would hope they removed it by now.

That sign was gone when my son and I passed through there on July 13, 2022.

Caught 3 Walleyes while trolling across Boulder. Enjoyed them for dinner at the pretty little site on Fee.