New Trip Report posted by TreeBear

Trip Name: A Winter Walk to Winchell.

Entry Point: 47

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Sounds like a great trip! Any pictures of the new sled? Sounds interesting.

With regard to breaking through in the marshy areas, was that due to smaller snowshoes, or just the lack of hard freezing up to that point last winter?

Thanks for the report!

For the marsh, I think it was mostly just the winter we were having. It was prime post-holing weather. And the fact that the mud wasn't frozen below says a lot for the severity of winter we weren't having up to that point.

As for the sled, it's sort of just a try at making something that works. I had this old toboggan that I restomodded into a winter gear hauler since I was tired of dragging a jet sled (like pulling an anchor on the portages), and I just can't justify buying an expensive pulk for one or two trips a year. Anyways, I used to work for Portage North and Sundog Sport when they bought Ten Squared Racing. Ten Squared is known for its dog sled runner plastic that works in a similar principle to cross-country ski waxes. Each different color of plastic runners is built with a different formula tailored to different snow conditions, allowing dog sled racers to really tailor their sled to the course. I certainly didn't need anything that specific, but I was able to buy a set of discontinued colors to try on my toboggan. I attached one run of plastic along the entire distance on each edge. It glides really nicely on the lakes. Now, what I have to figure out is what is the optimal width for a cargo sled. Too wide and it drags snow on the portages, too narrow and it's more prone to tipping on the portages. I haven't quite tuned that in or what the optimal length of a sled is for a winter BWCAW trip.

Thanks, cool picture, I didn't know about that runner material.

I've been really happy with my EMSCO 66" plastic sled for cold tenting, I'm sure you've seen them. It has held up for 20 years and counting. It's longer than the Paris expedition sled that a lot of people use, but shorter than a traditional toboggan, and much lighter and narrower than a jet sled. Still available for about $40 at Ace hardware. Sounds like you are doing different types of winter camping so maybe you should have a fleet of different sleds :) One of these years I'll be reconsidering my sled situation.

I've always considered the boggy areas with emergent vegetation as very safe (and easy to traverse, as you mentioned), as long as you stay to the side away from any flow. Good to be reminded to not take it for granted.

Awesome trip report. Can't wait for winter to start. I'll taking a winter trip or two this year and will keep this route in mind.