New Trip Report posted by TomT

Trip Name: McNiece Solo .

Entry Point: Quetico

Click Here to View Trip Report

Nice trip report Tom - thanks for sharing. Glad you made it out fairly easily despite the fall and got healed up.

pd

Fun that you ran into Jon; that guy knows a great deal about the nooks & crannies of Quetico.

I've walked most of those portages and the idea of triple-carrying the ones around Grey caused a few involuntary shudders.

Glad you are mended. I've also never soloed without a dog - would be at loose ends for sure. Hopefully your pup is ready to go in '25 and is all you could hope for on a canoe trip.

Thank you for sharing.

sns: "Fun that you ran into Jon; that guy knows a great deal about the nooks & crannies of Quetico.


I've walked most of those portages and the idea of triple-carrying the ones around Grey caused a few involuntary shudders.


Glad you are mended. I've also never soloed without a dog - would be at loose ends for sure. Hopefully your pup is ready to go in '25 and is all you could hope for on a canoe trip."

Thanks. I’ll definitely have him in canoe tripping behavior mode by then.

Jon is the go to expert on south Quetico IMO. Hopefully we can hook up on a route sometime.

About the unnamed/Grey Lake portages. Unless people know ahead of time that there’s confusion about which way to go at the T intersection, more than not they will be doubling back to the lake to a different landing on the unnamed.

This couple was totally confused as what happened. I got a good laugh bc I made the same mistake years before.

About triple portaging. Yeah I hope to never do that again unless it’s a base camp trip with little portaging. It got real tedious especially doubling back the same way I came in.

It was great meeting you at Prairie Portage and I enjoyed reading your trip report. Your photos are wonderful! I was so sorry to read about your injury, but you handled it well and it gave you the opportunity to make friends on the portages.

My trolling setup is the same as yours.

johno: "It was great meeting you at Prairie Portage and I enjoyed reading your trip report. Your photos are wonderful! I was so sorry to read about your injury, but you handled it well and it gave you the opportunity to make friends on the portages."

Thanks John, it was good to meet you too. I’ve met some really cool people over the years in the backcountry.

Thanks so much for the interesting trip report, I love how you described not only what you saw, but what you felt! (By the way, I'm a triple portager by necessity, just can't do it any other way.)

I hope you get to paddle with your pup next year. Thanks again!

Dave

Very enjoyable trip report to read, thanks for sharing. Hope you have fully recovered.

Tom, Very good trip report. Glad that you've healed up. Those portages can be tricky. I did that route from khash through McNiece, but I think I left via Gray to Dell and then out to North Bay. That first Portage back into Burke always gave me trouble. It's probably been about 8 years since I was in that area and I'd like to get back in there.

RetiredDave: "Thanks so much for the interesting trip report, I love how you described not only what you saw, but what you felt! (By the way, I'm a triple portager by necessity, just can't do it any other way.)

I hope you get to paddle with your pup next year. Thanks again!

Dave"

Any trip is better with a good dog imo. Especially a solo. I’m going to work very hard to cut out weight next year so I can double again. Maybe I’ll have to drop the canoe halfway on portages. It’s better than doing 5 trips across.

As for how I felt. Solos can do that if we aren’t in the right headspace. I mentioned having the right book and I think bringing something to do with the outdoors is the way to go. I almost brought sig Olsons “The Singing Wilderness”. A book like that really helps the headspace on a solo.

Thanks, happy tripping.

HighnDry: "Tom, Very good trip report. Glad that you've healed up. Those portages can be tricky. I did that route from khash through McNiece, but I think I left via Gray to Dell and then out to North Bay. That first Portage back into Burke always gave me trouble. It's probably been about 8 years since I was in that area and I'd like to get back in there. "

Thanks Terry. It’s a great area but for me I need more new water now. I’ve done a lot of trips from Prairie Portage. Going across the border again or up the Gunflint has me excited to plan another one. Soon I want to get to Wabakimi. I want to do that while I’m still able.

Hope to hang out on a lake next July with you. We’ll see how it all shakes out. Cheers!