It was a bit of as strange year for me for Boundary Waters trips, so this is going to be a different style Name-That-Lake. I'm going to post a picture of a lake very few if any current members of this board have visited. So this NTL is going to be less about "do you recognize the picture" and more about "can you interpret the clues." I'll try to stay on top of this to provide a couple clues a day so we get this round moved along. Here we go!



This photo is from the southernmost end of this small lake. The lake is between 10 and 20 acres. It currently does not have any maintained portages, but the old maps say that it did some 60 years ago have a longish portage coming from the south and a longish portage heading to the north. It is currently over a mile, as the crow flies, from the nearest maintained route. Where am I?

Jay Lake

South Hope

Bugo Lake

Sundown

I'm gonna share my deductions to help other people with their guesses and we can crowdsource this based on what we know.

You say it's a lake that few if any people have visited, so it's probably in a PMA. Looking at your trip reports, you had "In Search of Lost Hope - A PMA Crossing" in 2023. Looking at THAT trip report, I see on Day 2, coming out of Andek lake you have a picture from the back of a canoe, and the person in the front of the canoe looks to be wearing the same general clothes and definitely the same PFD.

So I'll bet a dollar that the lake is from that trip and the pic is an unused one that you didn't post in the trip report. The weather looks different from your day 2 photos, so it might not be one of those Chickadee/Fungus/Whittier/Andek lakes. But, once you got up to Maniwaki you were in documented portage territory.

So I'll go with Chickadee, and if that's no good, let's see if the deductions help and your other clues can narrow it down for other folks.

noodle: "I'm gonna share my deductions to help other people with their guesses and we can crowdsource this based on what we know.

You say it's a lake that few if any people have visited, so it's probably in a PMA. Looking at your trip reports, you had "In Search of Lost Hope - A PMA Crossing" in 2023. Looking at THAT trip report, I see on Day 2, coming out of Andek lake you have a picture from the back of a canoe, and the person in the front of the canoe looks to be wearing the same general clothes and definitely the same PFD.

So I'll bet a dollar that the lake is from that trip and the pic is an unused one that you didn't post in the trip report. The weather looks different from your day 2 photos, so it might not be one of those Chickadee/Fungus/Whittier/Andek lakes. But, once you got up to Maniwaki you were in documented portage territory.

So I'll go with Chickadee, and if that's no good, let's see if the deductions help and your other clues can narrow it down for other folks."

Great deductions. Ironically, it is not that same trip. It is the same person in the bow. And this lake is off the beaten path but not in a PMA. Here is a slightly different angle.

Same person, same PFD, same hat, same scarf! I really thought I found something there. :D

noodle: "Same person, same PFD, same hat, same scarf! I really thought I found something there. :D "

I did the same as you and I thought had something too.

North Java?

Woodtick: "North Java?"

Wow! Well done, well done! North Java it is.

It's an arduous trek along a boulder strewn, rather steep valley, and a well guarded marsh beyond, before arriving from Java into North Java. The old portages ran through there and to the large beaver pond (lake sized, yet unnamed) to the north. In theory, it was another route from Sawbill to the Frost River, but I can't imagine it was very practical.

You're up again

I bet I'm not the only one who'd love to read a trip report from that epic trek!