Hello,

We are planning a route of Seagull to Knife to Hanson to Sag. We have done the Seagull to Knife portion, but the North East portion going through Hanson, Ester, Ottertrack and Sag is new. I am a bit worried about camping on Sag on our last night. Is there a lot of competition with motorboats? Are the tow boats a nuisance?

Any other insights are welcome as well! I know I want to see the cliffs on Cherry and have read that the portage between Cherry and Hanson is not a cake walk.

Thanks!

The Northeast portion you mentioned is one of my favorite areas in the BW. Would you be coming into Cherry from the West (Knife>Amoeber>Topaz>Cherry) or planning more of a day trip up from Hanson so you can do that portage twice? The Hanson to Cherry portage is a tough one in both directions, the distance makes it doable but it's a big hill to climb over. The landing on the Cherry side can be difficult to get the canoe loaded. The portages to the North up into Lunar/Lake of the Clouds/Gijikiki area are also no cake walks if considering that direction. That being said, Cherry is a beautiful lake worth the effort.

A few other notes:

If you're just planning to catch the East end of Ottertrack coming out of Ester, it's about a mile to the West if you want to see the Ottertrack pictographs and Benny Ambrose Homestead site.

The East end of Monument Portage can be quite the mud pit, the past your knees kind if you step in the wrong spot.

The sites on American Point can fill up due to people catching tows in and out and it's a natural spot to stop for those paddling in/out from Voyageurs. One of the sites is borderline unusable (2071 if I have the right #). The tows typically stick to the East side of the point and haven't been an issue in my stays here.

Thanks, Portage Runner for the details! I was thinking of just doing a day trip so we didn't have to deal with packs on the portage- and getting to do this twice! But now you have me looking over my maps again trying to decide the best route out of Knife to ensure seeing Cherry.

Thank you for the comments about Sag- it is only two of us, so we aren't too picky when it comes to camp for a night, but this is good to know and keep in mind.

My husband and I have a strong memory of the Cherry to Hanson portage. When we arrived at the end of Cherry, there was a Scout troop waiting patiently for another group to finish their multiple trips back and forth. They had been waiting 35 minutes and had even gone to help the group by carrying a load. Despite their long wait, the troop asked if we wanted to go first. We assured them we would be fast because we single portage. We set off moving at our usual fast clip...and then the climb started and kept going and going and going. We got slower and slower. I finally put down my front pack and I heard saying he had never felt so close to a heart attack as at that moment. Needless to say, the Scouts caught up to us and flew on by with us apologizing profusely...LOL. Beautiful area, but that portage is no joke.

I have not had trouble finding a campsite on Sag, but if it is windy, it can be challenging due to distances. Binocs can help you check whether a long paddle to a potential site is worth it. The eastern side as you get into the narrows before turning south to the falls has generally been available when I've gone thru...but that is usually September.

The tow boats were noticeable but the distances are so great on Sag that they aren't as intrusive as Moose Lake. They come up the channels between the island on the eastern side and stay pretty close to the southern shore on the other areas.

We are back from our trip- thanks for the advice! We did Seagull to SAK on day 1, which means we got a rest day to explore! We did do the loop that was suggested after doing the Hanson to Cherry portage once, we decided we didn't need to do it again- and we did the loop through Topaz and Amoeber. What beautiful lakes!!!

We figured only about 20% of campsites were taken- which seemed so low! Not one person camping on Ogish when we passed through.

We exited through Sag to Seagull- that portage going right through the campground is ODD. We got yelled at for waking someone up by walking by. I really think they need some signage there to avoid conflict like we experienced- just peacefully walking through quietly.

WhitePine1: "
We exited through Sag to Seagull- that portage going right through the campground is ODD. We got yelled at for waking someone up by walking by. I really think they need some signage there to avoid conflict like we experienced- just peacefully walking through quietly."

Glad you had a great trip! Assuming you're talking about the portage that cuts through Trail's End Campground? Despite the portage on most maps the better option is to portage boat landing to boat landing through the parking lot.

There's a screen shot and directions on the interactive portage review for this spot:

Gull to Sea Gull Portage

I should have looked before we went! Thanks for pointing that out for next time- yes it was the portage at Trail's End.