I am doing a three-night solo this coming September and have an idea in mind of a route that takes me out to Mueller Falls from Round Lake via Brant Entry Point.

My questions are as follows:

1) Can I make it to Mueller Falls (weather permitting) in 6 to 8 hours leaving me time to enjoy the falls and then find a campsite on Agamok or back on Gabi for the evening? I will be packed very light and will be single portaging.

2) Are the portages past Gillis to Mueller Falls via Peter Lake easy to find? I have never been out through French, Peter, Gabi or Agamok before and hate wasting paddling time trying to find a Portage.

3) When returning to Brant I want to head down through Rattle and then back up the three small lakes to the South of Peter just for a change of scenery and would ask the same questions about those portages as well, are they easy to find?

This will be 11th trip into the BWCA so I am not a novice but at the same time planning and preparation (along with adaptability and flexibility) are key to making a trip successful. Thanks

One portage ill comment on is Lil Sag to Virgin. I believe this sites maps are most accurate for location. Our paper maps had it marked deeper in the bay. There is a very noticeable trail there that gets thick quick. Paddle left about 70 yards to real portage....was also easy to find.

1) Should be doable if you're inclined to do it (in decent shape and prioritize travelling over lollygagging) and get an early enough start (days are getting shorter). For efficiency, I'd be tempted to grab a site on Agamok on the way to the falls, set up my shelter and sleeping gear ahead of time and then do an afternoon/evening daytrip to the falls. If you're behind schedule you could bag the falls early the next morning before resuming the rest of the journey.

2) I haven't done the Gillis-French portage, but French-Peter, Peter-Gabi, Gabi-Agamok, and Agamok-Mueller were all right where they are shown on the maps on this site, with the portage ends in very obvious bays or the ends of lakes. Gabi-Agamok was on the east side of the creek, and Agamok-Mueller was on the west side of that creek. The Kek trail to the falls was just as shown on the maps on this site also. (I checked against my gps tracks through that area.) I would never tell myself they are going to be "easy" to find (gotta play the expectations game), but none of them were hard to find.

3) I've never been through Rattle, and my gps tracking was hosed from Lil Sag to French via Virgin but I don't think any of those were hard to find either.

Fun trip!

Edit: I don't think this is on your planned route, but in case you end up going this way, the Fay-Flying portage is NOT as shown on the maps, and I spent a lot of time looking for it. It starts at the very far eastern end of Fay Lake, not earlier as shown on the map. Then the Flying end of the portage was flooded to waist height by beavers. After those struggles, I had planned to stop on Brant for the last night but all sites were taken (this was August of 2017). Had to exit after dark a day early. Just a reminder of how things can go sometimes, have contingencies.

1) It will be a haul to make it to Agamok same day, but not impossible. The portages from Brant to Bat are not long but are rockier than average so single portaging with a light kit of gear is better than traipsing over them all multiple times. Note that Gabi can kick up some ugly winds especially in the afternoon. Some of the scariest following waves I've ever been in were on Gabi. I've never seen anyone camped on Agamok but Gabi is often busy.

2) I haven't been through those portages yet.

3) Just came from Little Sag through Virgin, West Fern, Powell, French, Gillis this summer for the first time. While most are not well traveled portages, they were all straight forward to find. Going from Little Sag to Virgin, there was a spot that matched the map and looked like a portage at first, but as soon as I got out to check I noticed someone had made a small log barrier to indicate it wasn't the correct spot. We traveled a little further along the bay and quickly found the correct spot. Cowdoc's notes are correct. I anticipated some might have trees down, but all were clear. The heavy growth due to rain this year made it hard to see your feet in many spots but the path was always followable to an observant eye. I actually really enjoyed this route.

loneranger: "1) Can I make it to Mueller Falls (weather permitting) in 6 to 8 hours leaving me time to enjoy the falls and then find a campsite on Agamok or back on Gabi for the evening? I will be packed very light and will be single portaging."

Yes. That is a haul if you're not very-light. Two summers ago I met a group of two women at the gabi/rattle portage around 6am. They were on a one-nighter, entering Missing Link and checking out Mueller falls the day before. When I met them they had just left camp and were headed out via Brant. I thought that was very impressive but clearly possible. Two people, one canoe, one pack (and copious amounts of experience). I had started the day before on Bingshick and ended on Gabi; that was a big enough day for me.

loneranger: "2) Are the portages past Gillis to Mueller Falls via Peter Lake easy to find? I have never been out through French, Peter, Gabi or Agamok before and hate wasting paddling time trying to find a Portage. Thanks"

I had no difficulty locating them. They are not as well traveled as the portages between Brant and Gillis but they were still clear.

Beautiful entry. New stone stairs at Flying/Gotter. The most difficult thing about this entry is the number of portages. I've came through Brant 5 times now in the last decade and only once have I seen a campsite available on Brant itself. Sounds like an ambitious but fun trip, I hope you have a great time!

Man I wish someone had made that log barrier for us between little sag and virgin, we went way too far. A 19 foot Bell B19 was not fun in an overgrown alder patch :)