BWCA Portage between Rock Island Lake and Clearwater Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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duecesara
member (44)member
  
05/01/2007 01:18PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I am have conflicting info from guide books of the existence of a portage between Rock Island Lake and Clearwater Lake. Is it there and is it passable the last week in June with low water levels?
 
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bogwalker
Moderator
  
05/01/2007 02:02PM  
There is a portage between Rock Island and Clearwater (assuming you can find it as it is hard to locate) but it goes through a Primitive Management Area (PMA) which means it is no longer maintained by the forest service. Actually once you leave Lake 2, the portage into Rock Island is also not maintained and difficult and is in the PMA, but it is not as hard as the portage into Clearwater. If you intend to camp anywhere between Lake 2 and Clearwater you need a special permit only available at a USFS office and they only give out one per day. You only need the permit to camp in one-you can travel through a PMA without a permit.

In low water the portage is very difficult and you will be up to your knees and possibly hips in ooze. It could take you 4-6 hours to get from Lake 2 to Clearwater if you are ambitious and can single portage, if you double portage add a couple of hours-it makes for a long. long day. Whatwater is navigable is often weed choked and hard to paddle through. Once on the water if the stream peters out you are a long way from shore in a marshy area so you will get wet.

I last went throught the area in 2003. Since then the area was affected by fire last year, although I am not sure how much got up to the Clearwater-Rock Island area. I do know the Turtle Lake area was hit pretty hard by fire. This is not a route for people on their first or second trip.

If this is one of your first trips I would choose a different route. If you are a seasoned BW traveller have fun but be prepared for lots of blowdown, hard to follow trail and mud sucking areas to walk through.
eglath
Moderator
  
05/01/2007 09:25PM  
i will be exploring that area in a few weeks -- send me an email before your trip and i should be able to tell you how it was...
duecesara
member (44)member
  
05/02/2007 07:44AM  
Thank you. I will be in touch. We are taking our 5 year old son and 7 year old daughter for their 4th and 5th trips. They have done some challenging routes already. I hope the conditions are at least fair thru this portage. I want this to be a leisurely trip for us.

Sara
bogwalker
Moderator
  
05/02/2007 10:31AM  
Sara-

I highly discourage you going this way with two younger children. I heard you say they have done some challenging areas, but if you have never travelled through a PMA you may not be prepared for what portage conditions you will find.

You also said leisurely-which does not go with PMA travel. The day you head south from Lake 2 will be extremely strenuous and challenging-definitely not leisurely.

Have you gone through a PMA in your last few trips? It is much more challenging than most all portages in the normal BW areas. Many of them are hard to find. Many are covered with blowdown and require going under or over to get through. And many will mean you will get wet, mosquito bit, tick attacked etc. I have done Angleworm (740 rods), Morgan, Ram and many others and they are cake walks compared to what you will encounter south of Rock Island especially.

I am not trying to scare you-but the route between Lake 2 and Clearwater is a seldom travelled route that will take all of your energy and patience and will not feel very leisurely. It is a seldom travelled route because of its extreme difficulty when compared to standard portages. If it was moderately difficult many more people would go that direction.
duecesara
member (44)member
  
05/02/2007 12:10PM  
Thank you for the advice. My husband and I may have to reconsider. Do you have any other loops you would suggest out of Lake One? We are only for three days this year due to unforeseen circumstances. I have never traveled thru PMA, however we were on several portages a few years back which had not been cleared from the blowdown, very challenging.

Sara
bogwalker
Moderator
  
05/02/2007 01:59PM  
3 days and 2 nights or 4 days and 3 nights. That one day will make a big difference in options.

I'm thinking Horseshoe to the Wilders and up through Insula before heading back to numbered lakes. But if you only have two nights thats a bit much.

Numbered-Horseshoe-Wilders-Hudson-Insula or Hudson Fire and back to numbered.

You will get some rugged areas and even some quiet down in the Wilders.
duecesara
member (44)member
  
05/02/2007 02:07PM  
We have 4 days/3 nights. We would like to escape the crowds for at least one day.
bogwalker
Moderator
  
05/02/2007 02:11PM  
Head down into the Wilders for a night-you should have some quiet down in there. Insula is busy and has good fishing. Fire is nice as well. I think that loop would get you alot of what you are looking for.

Maybe shoot for south part of Lake 3 or Horseshoe night one. Early start to get a site on North Wilder Night 2. Head for Hudson or Lake 4 for night 3 and out on day 4.
duecesara
member (44)member
  
05/02/2007 02:16PM  
Awesome, thank you!
eglath
Moderator
  
05/02/2007 09:05PM  
Last summer I went in the last few days of June and first few days of July to the area Bogwalker is talking about. I camped on North Wilder for two nights and then Bridge Lake for two nights. On the first day, after leaving Horseshoe Lake heading for North Wilder, I did not see anyone else until I was moving camps on the third day. I passed a total of three canoes on my way to Bridge Lake (via Hudson & Fire) and then saw no people until I got back to Lake Two (via Rifle Lake) on the fifth day. Pictures and route maps here:

Lake One to North Wilder to Bridge Lake
duecesara
member (44)member
  
05/03/2007 07:55AM  
Great photos. We have never been in this aea of the BWCA so all suggestions are welcomed. Thank You!
09/16/2013 03:41PM  
quote bogwalker: "There is a portage between Rock Island and Clearwater (assuming you can find it as it is hard to locate) but it goes through a Primitive Management Area (PMA) which means it is no longer maintained by the forest service. Actually once you leave Lake 2, the portage into Rock Island is also not maintained and difficult and is in the PMA, but it is not as hard as the portage into Clearwater. If you intend to camp anywhere between Lake 2 and Clearwater you need a special permit only available at a USFS office and they only give out one per day. You only need the permit to camp in one-you can travel through a PMA without a permit.

In low water the portage is very difficult and you will be up to your knees and possibly hips in ooze. It could take you 4-6 hours to get from Lake 2 to Clearwater if you are ambitious and can single portage, if you double portage add a couple of hours-it makes for a long. long day. Whatwater is navigable is often weed choked and hard to paddle through. Once on the water if the stream peters out you are a long way from shore in a marshy area so you will get wet.

I last went throught the area in 2003. Since then the area was affected by fire last year, although I am not sure how much got up to the Clearwater-Rock Island area. I do know the Turtle Lake area was hit pretty hard by fire. This is not a route for people on their first or second trip.

If this is one of your first trips I would choose a different route. If you are a seasoned BW traveller have fun but be prepared for lots of blowdown, hard to follow trail and mud sucking areas to walk through."


I just went through this area this past week. The portages on either side of Rock Island lake are very difficult - the worst being the portage through the bog from Rock Island to the pond. The water level was very low and we needed to carry all gear through the bog - alternately stepping on hummocks of grasses and sinking into the ooze up to mid-thigh. It was a hard slog. It took us well over an hour, single portaging - probably only 100 rods or so.

Harder yet was the portage from the pond to Clearwater. We were unable to find the start of it anywhere. The burn from the Pagami Creek fire didn't help. We ended up doing more bush/bogwacking and walking until it choked into nothing but impassable brush and wet. We humped out of the bog and up the slight hill into the woods where we were able to find the portage. Lots of trees down blocking the path that winds up the hill back and forth to the north and west before cutting back down to the south and Clearwater lake. That took us over an hour as well - though I estimate the portage was somewhere between 240 and 290 rods.
Our reward for our labor was finding the best campsite on the lake already taken! :) We grabbed the eastern site on the north shore and it worked just fine.
Lubinski
Guest Paddler
  
09/23/2014 03:51PM  
I just got back from my first solo BWCA experience which included going to Lake 2 by way of Clearwater. I would strongly advise anyone against taking this route unless you are a seasoned veteran. Some older forums rate this as requiring some slight bush-wacking, but I'd say the situation is much worse now. Clearwater to the pond is an almost continuous lattice-work of fallen trees. Perfect ankle breaking conditions. Beavers are hard at work in the swamp route from Rock Island Lake too and I'm not sure this will even be passable in the next couple of years.
billconner
distinguished member(8607)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
09/23/2014 08:01PM  
Well, you stopped me from considering this for week after next. Any other way to get from numbered lakes to Quadaga/bald Eagle?
tuscarorasurvivor
distinguished member (155)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
05/17/2020 05:46PM  
bogwalker: "There is a portage between Rock Island and Clearwater (assuming you can find it as it is hard to locate) but it goes through a Primitive Management Area (PMA) which means it is no longer maintained by the forest service. Actually once you leave Lake 2, the portage into Rock Island is also not maintained and difficult and is in the PMA, but it is not as hard as the portage into Clearwater. If you intend to camp anywhere between Lake 2 and Clearwater you need a special permit only available at a USFS office and they only give out one per day. You only need the permit to camp in one-you can travel through a PMA without a permit.



In low water the portage is very difficult and you will be up to your knees and possibly hips in ooze. It could take you 4-6 hours to get from Lake 2 to Clearwater if you are ambitious and can single portage, if you double portage add a couple of hours-it makes for a long. long day. Whatwater is navigable is often weed choked and hard to paddle through. Once on the water if the stream peters out you are a long way from shore in a marshy area so you will get wet.



I last went throught the area in 2003. Since then the area was affected by fire last year, although I am not sure how much got up to the Clearwater-Rock Island area. I do know the Turtle Lake area was hit pretty hard by fire. This is not a route for people on their first or second trip.



If this is one of your first trips I would choose a different route. If you are a seasoned BW traveller have fun but be prepared for lots of blowdown, hard to follow trail and mud sucking areas to walk through."


Any updates on this portage? I understand the nature of PMA travel in general, but just curious if anybody has been through here recently. I'm considering going through here in early July. Thanks for any words of experiece.
 
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