PP...basswood, bw river, crooked, the rolands, argo, darky, brent, mcintyre, sarah, ......., north bay, burke, PP.

beginning 9/20.

any comments are welcome.

Good route, we have covered the Darkey, Brent, McIntyre, Sarah, Side, Isabella, North Bay, Burke, Bailey Bay, PP part of this route. Know campsites, some fishing areas, 1 message jar location, and one sweet lake trout spot. we should exchange info by e-mail.
Guts

Nice route- though consider heading north after Wednesday bay and heading through Newts/Milt/Ted/Hurn/Elk to Argo- much less traveled than Crooked and beautiful lakes and trails.

Long, long, way on basswood to the river from pp, as I am sure you have surveyed. Could be no problem, could be no go if windy. I assume you have to go to PP for canadian entry stuff, so you cannot avoid going there, but maybe look at a tow to washington island, kinda spendy for one thou, if you are going solo. Rest of trip sounds great, just could be rough start if its' windy.

Or possibly look at doing in reverse, because prevailing winds on basswood for the lengthy paddle would be at your back, possibly, maybe, sometimes, lol.

Also, if you do the reverse, look at coming out thru Newton and Fall lake thru pipestone bay, shorter than going back to PP, unless you are planning tow both ways.

quote buz: "Or possibly look at doing in reverse, because prevailing winds on basswood for the lengthy paddle would be at your back, possibly, maybe, sometimes, lol. "

I really like the route, and I have been through a good portion of it on different trips, but I think I'd be in agreement with Buz. Do it in reverse if you can.

However, if you enter Q after the ranger stations are closed, you could enter, for example, through the Moose River in the BW and head in that way. Would require a shuttle back to your vehicle, though.

quote Jackfish: "

quote buz: "Or possibly look at doing in reverse, because prevailing winds on basswood for the lengthy paddle would be at your back, possibly, maybe, sometimes, lol. "

I really like the route, and I have been through a good portion of it on different trips, but I think I'd be in agreement with Buz. Do it in reverse if you can.

However, if you enter Q after the ranger stations are closed, you could enter, for example, through the Moose River in the BW and head in that way. Would require a shuttle back to your vehicle, though."

im of the understanding that, open or closed, you still have to enter thru a ranger station. meaning, you cant do a remote entry.

thanks for the great info so far everyone! keep it coming please.

First, I'm jealous.

Second, on reverse, I "know" that is conventional wisdom but every east to west trip I've done on Basswood has been wonderful, even with light breezes; every west to east trip on Basswood has been traumatic. Go figure. It's a days paddle from PP to BW falls - so allow an extra day in case you get stuck one day, and unless it's really bad I can usually sneak along one shore or the other.

Third, see first.

I will second the suggestion by Banksiana to head south of Brent and go through Ted/Earl/Hurn etc. Well worth the diversion.

Message Cache along with pictographs on Ted also-you might find a note form a few BWCA.com regulars in the messagae cache on Ted ;-)

quote kanoes: "

quote Jackfish: "

quote buz: "Or possibly look at doing in reverse, because prevailing winds on basswood for the lengthy paddle would be at your back, possibly, maybe, sometimes, lol. "

I really like the route, and I have been through a good portion of it on different trips, but I think I'd be in agreement with Buz. Do it in reverse if you can.


However, if you enter Q after the ranger stations are closed, you could enter, for example, through the Moose River in the BW and head in that way. Would require a shuttle back to your vehicle, though."

im of the understanding that, open or closed, you still have to enter thru a ranger station. meaning, you cant do a remote entry.


thanks for the great info so far everyone! keep it coming please."

I am not 100% sure about that. In the BWJ articles Stu enters through Mudro before the season. He ordrs his fishing license over the phone, has the RABC, and pays his fees over the phone with a credit card. You can also get the Quetico self pay slips from many outfitters---Voyaguer North for one----and just mail them in--keep the stub with you as proof you paid. The only reason I am aware of you need to go through the Ranger station is to get self pay permit. As long as the Canadians get paid you should be good. You might want to call the park to verify. This can only be done wnen the satations are closed though.


T

Great route all good lakes. I'd try to take a trip to Ted as well. That is a favorite for my wife and I. Elk Hurn Cone Newt, Little Newt or even heading North up to Brent Earl are all nice lakes with little travel. Might want to keep those lakes in mind if the wind is bad.

You could travel south on Brent to Ted----east from Argo--or on the way in if Crooked was bad head North through Newt.

Lots of possibilities can't go wrong sticking with your proposed route--just throwing out other options. If your like us our routes evolve as the trip goes on and never ends up being what is planned.

If you like fishing I usually have to stop trolling as the we catch so many fish it slows our travel down too much.

Nice camps on Argo, Brent, Ted, Darky Earl, McIntyre, Elk. Never been to Sarah heard great things.

T

quote Banksiana: "Nice route- though consider heading north after Wednesday bay and heading through Newts/Milt/Ted/Hurn/Elk to Argo- much less traveled than Crooked and beautiful lakes and trails."

i like that idea. never crossed my mind.

Entering Q before or after "the season" is definitely allowed. One still needs an RABC permit in their possession if entering Q from the south, but all fees are paid by mail.

I'll see if I can get you some more information about how to do it.

i called the main quetico office concerning this issue (entering remotely via the BW) about 2 months ago. they told me i MUST enter quetico thru a ranger station.

i would like to see something in writing about this....seems to be a grey area.

I think you're one or two lakes from really being in the gravy --> Suz, Conmee, Burt/Marj. But that's me having been there many times. Never been there around 9/20, so it could be fantabulous. I have been only in the 6/20-7/20 time frame (my wife likes to swim).

I did that same route in reverse (returning from Gardner) when I was 16. What I remember most was the Crooked/Basswood paddle and running out of food. It was the longest 2 days. I also remember skipping PP and cutting across Wind Lake or a Wind Bay to get to Moose.

Have fun!

"also remember skipping PP and cutting across Wind Lake or a Wind Bay to get to Moose."

thats beautiful. it would have never crossed my mind. thanks.

Dr. Hook!

I also remember it was a pretty long portage on Wind.

Or on the way back, go thru pipestone newton, fall, still quicker than pp way, portages are a walk in the park, but you end up on fall lake, may need quick transport to your vehicle. Or start/end there if you don't need to go to pp, way faster to bw river from fall.

I'm planning a virtually identical route starting on 9/5, but in reverse with a Sarah Lake permit. I'm also planning to exit the Basswood River then head down into Wind Bay. I've never done this before, but it seems likely to shorten the trip back to Moose, eliminate backtracking, and allow me to spend my last night further into Q (and away from motor boats). Can't wait!

a question. i will be using mckenzie maps. does anyone know of any mistakes on the related maps as far as portage locations go?

I like to carry the Quetico "Adventure Map" for portage location- tends to be more accurate than Fisher or McKenzie- it's also convenient if your actual route varies enough from your plan that you travel off the edges of your large scale map.

quote kanoes: "a question. i will be using mckenzie maps. does anyone know of any mistakes on the related maps as far as portage locations go?"

I don't know about the ones around Argo but Sarah to Side seems to me that north - 2 or 3 step low route (which we always do now) - might not be quite right but still not hard to find.

I carry a set of Fisher, Mackenzie, and the new (well 5 years) all on one. Belts, suspenders, and safety pins I guess.