Hey guys,

I will be taking a 16 year old niece and a 10 year old niece, as well as my sister on a trip next year.

This will be my nieces first trip, and my sisters second trip.

I am only planning a short trip 2/3 days.

Wondering what you guys think about a few things.

1. I will probably not do a four person canoe. I know its a short trip, but I am really having a hard time seeing how to load it. So I am thinking about doing two canoes.

Only problem is that, out of the group, only my sister has any experience paddling and no experience in the stern. If we could practice that would be ideal, but alas I don't own a canoe, nor does anyone I know, and I am not making a 4 hour trip to the closest place that has one to practice.

What do you guys think about that? Do we go with tandems, do something like a Northwind 20/MN4, or maybe I go with two canoes, one lashed behind with the gear.

2. Definitely going to base camp. Part of me says go into somewhere like Sawbill. Boom you are in and its done. And then we can day trip from there. I am uncertain how I feel being on a bigger lake with the experience level of the party.

I know Sawbill is not a huge lake in comparison to some, but its also not, Mudro shall we say. Yes, we can flip anywhere, but it would be harder to do so on a small lake, not to mention easier to paddle, and easier to steer on a smaller lake with less wind and/or waves.

Do I want to go into somewhere like Sawbill, where you are there with no portaging, or do I want to go into somewhere like Mudro where you are going to have to portage but have small lakes to navigate.

3. Any suggestions on entry points/trips? Mudro, LiS, Moose River, something out of Tofte? I am probably going to avoid Grand Marais.

4. Anything else to consider that I may not have thought about?

Thank you kindly!

Medic

Two canoes and don't go too far, unless things are going ok and you feel you can go farther than you thought. Start early in the morning when the water is calm and put on some distance if you can.

Remember, a great canoe trip doesn't have to be many miles long. It can be one or two portages and a relatively short distance. This trip is all about acclimating everyone to a new experience that is canoe tripping. Done right, you might end up with paddling friends for years to come.

Do not try lashing one canoe to another.

Where do you live? There are lots of people on this board from all over the place. Someone with a canoe (or canoes) may live near you and be able to provide you some canoes for practicing, or even taking on your trip. If you live anywhere close to Appleton, WI, I'd be able to help with that.

EP 6 slim Lake has 3 small lakes. Good ice breaker.

Northstar northwind 18 (3 seater) You/10yr/16yr and the sister gets a solo canoe?

Where are you located? State/City?

Clearwater-West Pike if you don't mind a fairly flat longer portage. Awesome scenery.
A little big water if you get a west wind.

With the limited experience of your trip partners maybe it would be better to do day permits into the wilderness from a campground on the border? Sawbill would work well for this.

I would use 2 tandem canoes, a 16’ Northstar or Wenonah. Canoes with little rocker so they paddle reasonably straight without to much correction.
The 10 year old with your sister and the 16 year old with you.
Both girls will try to show you up and do just fine. Just plan a trip with short portages.
I would also consider going for 4 or 5 days if you can. 2 to 3 days is just to short.
Carl

Sawbill is great. As are the lakes around Sawbill. Alton can get dicey with wind, not a place for first time paddlers to learn the ropes. Your inexperienced group could use small water, but with smaller lakes comes more frequent portages.

Couple of spots you should consider:

Entry 39 - Baker Lake - Small Lakes very short easy portages. Stay on Kelly Lake (two portages) or Jack Lake (3 portages). Day trip north to Weird Lake or South Temperance (the portage is only long, not terribly hard to get to South Temperance. Beautiful lake.) There is an abandoned mine at the north end of the Kelly Lake to Jack Lake portage. There are wild rice plants, great water lilies, and a chance to see moose (Jack Lake and north). You can return to Baker Lake or get a shuttle to the entry and portage/paddle back to Sawbill through the Fire Lakes (Burnt/Smoke)

Entry 37 - Kawishiwi Lake. You can stay right on Kawishiwi. Or paddle on through some amazing river scenery as you head to Square Lake. Traveling north you will encounter the far eastern end of the Pagami Creek Fire zone. Some people find these places fascinating, others are totally creep-ed out by them. I love to see the recovery happening. You can go to Kawasachong without much trouble (a short portage and couple of beaver dam pullovers.) If you feel like extending to more portages - Lake Polly is your destination. Lake Polly gets you out of the burn zone. Good fishing, day trip along the Phoebe River headed east, or day trip toward Malberg lake going north.

Entry 47 - Lizz Lake. This will require portaging. Most are easier and flat. You are headed to Horseshoe Lake. Moose central in the BW. There are day trips in every direction. Enjoy.

Entry 50 - Cross Bay Lake.
First, you can have a BW type trip here without the permit. Two portages brings you to Ham Lake. it is outside the BW and has 3 campsites on it. If you wanted to day trip into the BW, you would need day permits to complete, carry with you, and drop into the FS box when you leave.
Heading further? This would be the most portage heavy entry I recommend. Your destination is the first open campsite you can find. You may find one on Cross Bay or you may have to go all the way to Karl/Long Island. Depends on the time of year. Some beautiful winding paddling along the lakes of the Cross River. Day trip to Snipe Lake. Or further south into the larger Long Island Lake.

Hope this gives you some smaller water alternatives to consider.

If doing Mudro I would steer clear of heading north to Fourtown. That may be a little too much in regards to portages for a inexperienced group. I have several trips under my belt and have no desire to do those 3 portages into Fourtown.

A Northwind 20 is a huge boat. You should easily be able to fit 2 adults, 2 kids and gear for 3-4 days in the boat no problem. Issue might be if you plan on doing a lot of fishing—not the best for that.

I'll echo Michwall2 on the Baker Lake entry idea. The northernmost campsite on Kelly is only two short portages in. Small but decent campsite. Nice little creek near it to explore and provide some pleasant white noise. While near the portage to the north, still relatively quiet. Decent fishing right from shore and creek (3 years ago anyway), easy to explore the creek, portage north to Jack and Weird for day trips (we missed the mine entrance).

Gives an easy but solid first BWCA experience.

Sawbill is great. Been there a few times. Went there a month ago and rented Northstar 3 person canoe. Very stable canoe. They don’t rent 4 person canoes. Store has everything. You could forget all your gear, food, stove & etc and be able to buy it there. You can get shower with towel there. We stayed at their campground a few days before we put in.

You can rent 3 person with solo or just get two tandems. Nice thing about 3 person & solo is after you get to camp if only one person wants to go out paddling they can take solo. You mentioned day tripping. You could just take one canoe and have 4th person sit on floor with one of those canoe seats and that way you would only have to portage one canoe.

I think two tandems is the way to go. It'll give your sister some stern experience and it makes gear handling easier. Towing a gear canoe is asking for a bad time. Stay on smaller lakes but don't shy away from portages - just try to make them as streamlined as possible so your nieces don't have to carry a bunch of stuff by hand, don't have stuff clanging together, etc. If you can get a Mudro permit, heading east to Tin Can Mike or even Horse could be a really great time. A Baker entry makes for an easier time though as others have said, as the portages up to Kelly are short and easy and Kelly is a beautiful lake. I wasn't thrilled with the campsites up that way but it is a cool area, Jack especially.

Do not try and tie canoes together. I also vote for the 2 tandem canoes. You're not going that far, it'll be ok. Put the more experienced kid with your sister to better even out the experience levels in the canoes. They may wander for the first 10 min but a little chat on the drive up on steering and J stroke and they'll be ok.

As for where, Sawbill is a good option like you said. If you guys are tired or bad weather you can just camp right on the north end of the lake. You can also camp at the sawbill campground the night before your entry permit and get a real early start to almost guarantee calm water and maybe a portage to another lake. Or save that for your day trip the next day with no extra gear.

Hi paramedicscan,

My first trip was to Baker. It was a great trip! We stayed at the site by the small creek mentioned in this thread. It was a great site at the time as there were no bugs. My oldest had fun fishing in the creek.

I would also say if you are going next year your sister has time to practice in the stern.

I did take a class from a canoeing club before my first bwca trip.

You can also rent and go on a day trip or two before you go on your bwca trip.

.