I'll be headed up to Sag Lake in early August for a three-night trip with a group of 6 (including myself) using a mix of tents and hammocks. As of now, I'm thinking of a tow to from Sag Lake EP to Red Rock Portage and base camping on Ogish Lake, doing day trips to Eddy Falls, Mueller Falls, and Thunder Point as time/conditions allow.

My groups' past trips have been through EPs 50, 51, and 52, so this year's trip will cover some new lakes for all of us. Just wondering how feasible the plan to paddle from Red Rock to Ogish on our first day is. Starting our tow/paddle in the morning, do we have a good chance at a decent site on Ogish? While not expert paddlers, we move at a decent pace, always single portage, and understand that our best chances for sites on busier lakes, especially in August, mean arriving by mid day or earlier.

My understanding is that Ogish and the surrounding area can get a little busy (as busy as one can expect for the BWCA), but I figure I'd ask around to get a better idea--I'm open to other recommendations for base camping lakes and day trips as well. We won't be fishing, so our main considerations for lakes and campsites are hammock tree availability, scenery, swimming conditions, and west/north views for sunsets/aurora if we're lucky.

Thanks!

We did just this a few years ago. We double portaged and made it there my mid afternoon. Ended up with the campsite that has a back door. I think it used to be two sites and now is merged into one.

If you figure an hour for the tow and single portage, it should take you about 4.5 hours from the dock on Sag to the closest site on Ogish. The farthest campsite is almost an hour from there. 6am tow and you should be in good shape.

Can you get there from the north end of Red Rock Lake, I think so. From the north end of Red Rock to mid-lake on Ogish is about 10 miles total. About 85% paddle and 15% portage. Shouldn't take too long to do that.

The real question is whether you will find a campsite. I have been on Ogish looking for a campsite 4 times. Twice we have been shut out. So I would say that you should have a back-up plan.

With your plan for sightseeing, I would plan on moving toward SAK. Jenny or Eddy Lakes have campsites that might work for your plan. You could also head out onto SAK itself, if needs be, to get yourself closer to Thunder Point. Then work your way back toward Ogish/Jasper/Alpine for your last night.

Sounds like fun trip. One of my favorite areas.

finding a campsite on ogish maybe an issue ? ogish to thunder point and back is full day & east or west wind in the SAK can be unforgiving.

Easily done, in my opinion. I took a tow to the Red Rock portage and made it to the far end of Ogish in about 1/2 day. Finding an open campsite on Ogish was not happening so went to the lone site on adjacent Spice Lake, which wasn’t too bad.

Very easily doneifno wind issues....our last trip we did Seagull Outfitters to Ogish at a leisurely pace in about 6 hours or so,(?) and that's a slightly longer trip than going through Red Rock, and that was one adult and young teens.

Our groups camp on all these lakes. However maybe I am missing something.

You take the shuttle to Red Rock portage. Then portage into Red Rock. Then portage into Alpine. Then portage into Jasper. Then portage into Kingfisher. Then portage into Ogish. Five portages. Five lakes. You guys must be a lot younger then our guys.

If you just want to basecamp and enjoy the sky view, why not stay on Red Rock? Our groups have camped on all those lakes including Seagull. We prefer Red Rock to Ogish. For pure scenery, Seagull is hard to beat. We also have never had a problem finding a site on Red Rock