Since I am approaching 80 I have to limit my solo trips to the edges of the park or routes with shorter portages. There are ten lakes or groups of lakes that I wanted to explore but never made it.
Here is my list:
1/Lemey Lake
2/Lake east of Dack
3/No name west of Poobah
4/3 No names north of Sark
5/Kendall Lake north of Alice
6/Walsh Lake north of Sturgeon
7/ No Name NE Metacryst
8/Hoare Lake
9/No name N.E. of Jean
10/ No name S of Rouge
If any of you have pics or info on these lakes I would to get it.

Have not been to any of those so no help - but if that's your unvisited list it makes me wonder what the list of bushwhack lakes that you have visited looks like! Care to share?

Jdddl8 - Is this the no name NE of Metacryst that you are interested in? Because we will almost certainly be traveling through there in July and would be happy to get you some photos and a fishing report.



We will also be going through Sark, so if we have a little extra time and cooperative weather, maybe we'll try to get into one of the adjacent no names.

Sorry guys it was late when I put the list together and apparently I am directionally challenged. Both the Jean and Metacryst No Names should have been NW not NE. You can get to the three Sark No Names quite easily from a little bay on the narrow part of Sark by walking less than 50 yards. I actually walked into the first one but there was a ferocious wind so I did take the canoe there.

I really can’t answer your question as I have spent well over two years in Quetico and unfortunately the first 25 years are lost. That was when I was young enough to go from dawn to dust but i have no idea where I went. The last 25 years are fully documented with lots of photos. Since I retired 25 years ago I have done three week trips in late August except the year they closed the park for fire and about 8 two week spring trips. I know the north part of the park really well and the south less so. It would be easier to answer specific questions than a general one.

jdddl8: "Sorry guys it was late when I put the list together and apparently I am directionally challenged. Both the Jean and Metacryst No Names should have been NW not NE. You can get to the three Sark No Names quite easily from a little bay on the narrow part of Sark by walking less than 50 yards. I actually walked into the first one but there was a ferocious wind so I did take the canoe there. "

Is this where you're talking about on Sark?



Assuming there are no major wind or weather issues, we'll give that a look.

Any interest in the no name immediately south of Jesse, because that's part of our plan as well.

I have been in the No Name south of Jesse once and I plan to try again this year. There are some large gaiters in there.

jdddl8: "I have been in the No Name south of Jesse once and I plan to try again this year. There are some large gaiters in there. "

That's what I've heard. I wanted to get in there during my trip in September, but the weather didn't cooperate.

I was in Lemay Lake in 2009.

The Lemay River was navigable, but only to a point. Although the river's mouth was where the map indicated it should be, it was not exactly obvious, being clogged with downed trees. The mouth was also filled with a small, rocky rapids. By the time we reached Lemay, we had lifted the canoes over three rapids or logjams and one beaver dam. A single log nearly stopped us midway because there was no solid footing on the stream's muck bottom. Lemay River is surrounded by brush and has many turns. We noticed yellow Bullhead water lilies and dark red pitcher plants.

The fishing and swimming in Lemay were very good. A lush, three-inch-thick moss covers the land under the red pines. The wind came up on the way back to camp in mid-afternoon and blew in our faces across Kawnipi. I doubt that many people make it into Lemay.

Thanks for the information it sounds like it was quite an adventure. It is exactly like my journey down Bear Pelt Creek a long time ago.

In fact a long long time ago and far far away I heard that there used to be to be a portage into Lemay. Did you see any signs of that or any campsites. Is it a rocky lake or marshy!

I've been to Hoare. Tough enough before the fire, hate to think what it looks like now.

jdddl8: "Thanks for the information it sounds like it was quite an adventure. It is exactly like my journey down Bear Pelt Creek a long time ago.


In fact a long long time ago and far far away I heard that there used to be to be a portage into Lemay. Did you see any signs of that or any campsites. Is it a rocky lake or marshy!"

I didn't look for the portage that may or may not exist. The lake was open and not marshy. It had a sandy or gravely bottom when I could see it. But that was 17 years ago! The single camp site reported to exist wasn't prominent, but we were not looking for it. It was just a day trip.

Lemey or Lemay?

MagicPaddler: "Lemey or Lemay?"

Lemay is the correct spelling. It is a lake to the NE of Rose Island in Kawnipi Lake. There is no Lemey Lake in Quetico.

How did you get to Hoare- from Camel West. Were you able to use the No Name Lakes and how much bushwhacking did you have to do?
Did you fish Hoare. is there more than one campsite?

West tip of Camel...up the creek....thru the 2 no names
Pretty much a bushwack the whole way, but the woods were fairly open and just kept the creek in sight. Last bushwack up over ridge into Hoare was the thickest. One campsite on island but did find very old remnants of one way to west tip. Did well on lake trout.

cowdoc: "West tip of Camel...up the creek....thru the 2 no names
Pretty much a bushwack the whole way, but the woods were fairly open and just kept the creek in sight. Last bushwack up over ridge into Hoare was the thickest. One campsite on island but did find very old remnants of one way to west tip. Did well on lake trout."

I got to Hoare via the same exact way back in 2017.
There were three bushwacks, not long, not too steep. The first two bushwacks had some cut logs along the way, but mostly just kept the creek/drycreek bed in my sight and that got me through. The last bushwack into Hoare had some very large, old pines at the top of the hill/ridge before decending into Hoare, some of the biggest I've seen.
The campsite on the island was there with some artifacts and there used to be a message bottle there too. But, since the fire, who knows how it looks now.

MagicPaddler: "Lemey or Lemay?"

MagicPaddler and I did Lemay early last summer. We came down the Cache River to Tario Creek, into Tario Lake, bushwhacked into Quinn Lake, then into Lemay Lake. It's a beautiful lake that is not frequently visited. The one campsite is a 4+ on the north end of the large peninsula, facing west. It's very secluded, plenty of pike, bass and walleye. I think we sounded the west basin around 65 feet and don't think the east side was any deeper than 45-50, IIRC. We spent 4 great nights there, then took Lemay Creek out to Kawnipi. There were a few pullovers and one spot we had to get out and carry IIRC. (Keep me honest Magic!) I was also there in 2009 when we went up Lemay Creek and took the portage out. The portage is/was in the far southwest end of the lake and even then was hard to find/mostly grown over and came out into Kawnipi in a somewhat swampy, protected bay. It's worth the trip in.

portagedog09: "We came down the Cache River to Tario Creek, into Tario Lake, bushwhacked into Quinn Lake, then into Lemay Lake. "

Well that's pretty epic - Did you get that done in a day or overnight on Tario or Quinn? More deets!

Best fishing in Insiration Lake Lake Trout nice meat when you find a campsite nice red lake trout meat! Best lake trout in Armstrong Station since 1910 Rail way explosion at the tracks on Collin’s Station in 1910? When the railroad had a massive explosion by Collin’s Ontario in the late 1888’s and massive explosion rocked both sections with poor location of explosives? Too much in places explosives could make for trouble? Kapush said so as we could blow Mountain McKay over with Kapush explosives?

portagedog09: "

MagicPaddler: "Lemey or Lemay?"

MagicPaddler and I did Lemay early last summer. We came down the Cache River to Tario Creek, into Tario Lake, bushwhacked into Quinn Lake, then into Lemay Lake. It's a beautiful lake that is not frequently visited. The one campsite is a 4+ on the north end of the large peninsula, facing west. It's very secluded, plenty of pike, bass and walleye. I think we sounded the west basin around 65 feet and don't think the east side was any deeper than 45-50, IIRC. We spent 4 great nights there, then took Lemay Creek out to Kawnipi. There were a few pullovers and one spot we had to get out and carry IIRC. (Keep me honest Magic!) I was also there in 2009 when we went up Lemay Creek and took the portage out. The portage is/was in the far southwest end of the lake and even then was hard to find/mostly grown over and came out into Kawnipi in a somewhat swampy, protected bay. It's worth the trip in."

I am really impressed. That is an amazing bushwack. Were you able to paddle either of the creeks or was the whole way a bushwack?

Looks like Cache River to Tario could be mostly paddled - probably with a bunch of pullovers - if the water level was normal-to-high.

Then ~700m of brush busting with some elevation. That's the crux.

Finally the easiest part looks to be the Quinn-Lemay creek, with clear sailing save two pullovers...if the aerials are current enough.

Minnesotian: "

cowdoc: "West tip of Camel...up the creek....thru the 2 no names
Pretty much a bushwack the whole way, but the woods were fairly open and just kept the creek in sight. Last bushwack up over ridge into Hoare was the thickest. One campsite on island but did find very old remnants of one way to west tip. Did well on lake trout."

I got to Hoare via the same exact way back in 2017.
There were three bushwacks, not long, not too steep. The first two bushwacks had some cut logs along the way, but mostly just kept the creek/drycreek bed in my sight and that got me through. The last bushwack into Hoare had some very large, old pines at the top of the hill/ridge before decending into Hoare, some of the biggest I've seen.
The campsite on the island was there with some artifacts and there used to be a message bottle there too. But, since the fire, who knows how it looks now. "

Satellite shows the island to look ok as is a lot of the north and east shores. The bushwack in from Camel looks pretty decent too up to the first no-name. Short portage along creek between no-names looks roasted, but it was short and very open. The narrow ridge between east shore of second no-name and Hoare looks burned but maybe not roasted. I hope those big white pines survived.

Kiporby, who was along on that trip, did a solo a few years later and came into Hoare from the north down Allen Creek and the no-name north of Hoare. But that was a lot tougher trip after watching his videos.

sns: "

portagedog09: "We came down the Cache River to Tario Creek, into Tario Lake, bushwhacked into Quinn Lake, then into Lemay Lake. "

Well that's pretty epic - Did you get that done in a day or overnight on Tario or Quinn? More deets!"

I didn't mean to hijack jddd's thread - but you guys asked! We were in two solo's, Magic in his Rapidfire and me in his old Magic. This whole thing started from French to Cache Lake, from which we bushwhacked east into Zephira Lake for two nights (confirm lake trout present/caught/eaten, max depth ~65'). Back to Cache, then it was down the Cache River, one night on a portage (that was 'supposed' to have a campsite....) and next morning to Tario Creek. The river was wide and easily paddled with a couple of rocky spots we portaged. The creek was barely wider than the canoes, lots of hummocks and very winding with a good few pull-over/pull-thru's. The west side has a granite escarpment running along the creek that you probably could have walked quicker than we paddled. About halfway to Tario, it opened up into a wide, clear creek and from there, it was only a 10 minute paddle into Tario Lake proper. It was probably 1 1/2 hours from the river into the lake total.

Our plan was to camp/fish Tario, but we could have made Quinn for sure - MAYBE Lemay but would've been a LONG day. We bush camped on a point. Map notes show depth only 44 ft, confirmed lake trout present/caught. A bit surprised at that! Next day we bushwhacked into Quinn and glad we stayed on Tario - depth was only 15 ft. The creek into Lemay from there was wide, open with one beaver pullover.

Correction on Lemay - my map notes show the northwest basin at only 44 ft. and the southeast basin only 20 ft. deep. Fun note - second night on Lemay we got nailed with a fierce, sustained westerly wind that nearly toppled some trees in camp and literally watched a forest fire start somewhere due west of the lake - NO lightning or rain. Three days later we found the source of it was a campsite in the eastern channel, main shoreline across from Kasie Island as we paddled north. Upon leaving the park, we did stop at French Lake Ranger Station and reported that - and the numerous over-flights we observed confirmed they had already known about it. They told us they caught a solo paddler in the park without a permit in that area but could not prove he's started it. They could only fine him for the permit. We're certain he had a campfire (during the fire-ban) and that fierce wind had blown it out of control and into the woods. They steered people away from that area - which is partly why we saw no one, except a portage crew for the first 12 days of that 18 day trip.