Was wondering if anyone's tackled these 3 trails consecutively? --that's 383 miles by my count. I figure about 15 to 20 mpd would take 3 to 3.5 weeks to complete.

In the process of planning a trip this May and just seeking advice and tips.

My first tip is that 15-20 mpd is too much. Can be done, but won't feel good. Next, Google for isawtman, Nimblewill Nomad, The Gear Junkie, and Mother Goose for trip reports and info about what the trail is like. There are also Yahoo groups / mailing lists for the BRT and SHT that can give you more info.

15 to 20 miles a day is possible, but at that expectation your pack weight is a major consideration. Also, you will be hiking from an hour before sunup to an hour past sunset. Meals will be nothing but boiling water and dumping dehydrated food into it. Have you done ultralight backpacking before, because that is what you will be looking at. I am not trying to dissuade you from this idea, just making sure you understand how I would tackle your trip.

I know of two people who have done it. Andrew Surka has passed through there. And he was averaging close to 30 miles a day. Of course, his pack only weighed about 15 lbs. And he passed through during winter. Check him out Andrew Surka

And the other guy, I can't remember his name. He was doing the North Country Trail and I think he was about 60 years old or so. I was going to hike a piece of the trail with him but just missed him. I have to see if I can find his emails.

Good luck, and ask away if ya have more questions.

quote Minnesotian: "And the other guy, I can't remember his name. He was doing the North Country Trail and I think he was about 60 years old or so. I was going to hike a piece of the trail with him but just missed him. I have to see if I can find his emails."

That might be Nimblewill Nomad (M.J. Eberhart). He's in his 60s and has been working on the NCT.

Sounds about right. I'm familiar with Skurka and somewhat with Nimblewill Nomad. I guess they're the only 2, to my knowledge as well, to hike through that stretch.

Guess I'm looking for a long distance set of trails with remoteness and some bit of challenge. I've heard the Kek can be tough to navigate because it's not well-traveled. And I've done a section on the BRT and most sections of the SHT, so it won't be foreign. Another plus is that each trial has a dedicated guide book.

Point taken about the mileage and possible discomforts. I figured, even averaging 2 mph, that's only 8 hours of trekking per day -- might be able to push these a bit. Pack weight is a critical factor in speed/comfort, I agree. I'm no UL but had a base weight of 18lbs. my last solo trip. Hoping to convince the gf to join to spread some of the weight out further.

Yep, Nimble was his name-o. Nice.

Good to hear you are aware of the pack weight. A base weight of 18lbs is very good.

I have hiked most of the SHT (not the Duluth Section and south of there) and the BRT from the end of the SHT to the end of the Boundary Waters by Crab Lake. I have not hiked the Kek, but plan to one day.

You know the SHT so there isn't much to cover there that the guide books don't cover. But the BRT is a different path. From the end of the BRT near Magnetic Rock to the entrance of the BWCA, the path will be harder then most to find. That is due to the burn from the Ham Lake fire. It has all overgrown and there is spots of tall grass. Possible not a factor in early spring. You can still see the path through it all, but it is hot, windy, and scratchy. Not my favorite section. Once you enter the BWCA, the path is pretty clear. At certain sections of the trail, it can get a tad overgrown, but the path is still visible. Topper is a great campsite, South has a great beach view but poor tent sites, and the western most campsite at Clearwater is spacious. Also, the backpack only site on Pine is really pretty.
And that brings me to my biggest issue with the BRT in the BWCA. You will be competing with paddlers for campsites, except for the one on Pine and one a little further on from there. Factor that into your plans, especially for Clearwater. That lake is an entry point lake so it can get full quickly. On a particular hot, grueling day, what was planed as being just an easy, ambling five mile day turned into an eighteen mile day because all the campsites were occupied. However, you are given permission to do Dispersed Camping if the need arises.
The section of the BRT from the end of the BWCA to the start of the SHT is burly. It is not under the purview of the Federal management but relies on volunteers to maintain the trail. They do an excellent job, but it is not their job to clear out brush every year, year after year. Therefore the trail isn't maintained as well. It gets pretty narrow in some spots. The Portage Brook campsite had a 2 foot tall tree growing in the fire pit. You will know it is the campsite because of the barely visible picnic table. Plan for a harder time when you encounter that section.
The first couple miles of the SHT can be fairly overgrown. Be prepared for tall grass if you go later in the year. Outside of that it should be fine. I would advise skipping the Andy Creek campsite.

I really enjoyed the BRT. Plan on stopping for the overlooks. They are amazing. Especially the Rat Lake overlook. Just park your butt there if is nice out that day for at least a half hour. Beautiful. Also, the Rose Lake overlook, near the Stairway Portage, is great. There are 4 of them and if you are hiking east, plan on spending time at the last one. Another great view. The Rose Lake campsite that is up the hill (backpacker only in theory) isn't so great. However, there is an unofficial path that links up the south shore of Rose campsites. It is possible to reach them.

Finally, make sure all your permits are in order. You will need one when entering the BWCA for the day you enter. I was hiking from the SHT to the BRT, so had to get a permit issued to me a week before my entrance into the BWCA.

That is all I can think of for now regarding trail info. Let me know if ya got more questions.

quote Minnesotian: "I would advise skipping the Andy Creek campsite."

Aw, sad! Why do you say that? (My dad and I are the maintainers of that site.)

Sorry, no offense I hope. More then likely it was my attitude that day, but it had gotten overgrown when I was there at the end of July, early August last year. Felt very exposed to me.

You do volunteer work for the SHT? Good on ya. Do you live up there somewhere?

Ah, fair enough. One of the tent pads at least does have a tendency to get overgrown that time of year, although there's still one or two usable. It most definitely does have an exposed feel. I haven't actually had any problems with exposure to weather stuff there, but it FEELS weird anyway. (btw hammockers - hangable trees can be found in the birch stand on the hill to the south or the cedars away from the site to the east.)

Each of the campsites on the SHT has a volunteer maintainer (or two or three who do it together). Our responsibilities are to visit the site twice per year (May and September), to pick up trash, clean out the fire pit, hack back the vegetation you mentioned, check the condition of the signs, benches, and latrine, fix anything we can and report back to the office anything that will need a trail crew to come out for. So far the only modification we've made was to raise and reenforce the benches where they were getting saggy, collecting water, and otherwise unstable. You can see the results of that in this album.

Each 2-5 mile segment of trail has a similar volunteer maintainer, who does what they can to clear brush and deadfalls, check on signs, bridges, etc.

But no, we don't live up there - we're in the Twin Cities and it's about a 7 hour trip driving & walking combined to get to the site. There's a reason when I asked what sites didn't have a maintainer the answer was "well, just Andy Creek..." :P

On the Kek once you get east of Medas Lake the trailis not too bad to follow. It's the only trail. I was through the burn area east of Agamok a few years ago and it was well marked. Now there should be a tread and in May the grass shouldn't be too tall.
It's tough keeping 15 to 20 miles a day because you never know what you're going to get. There could be a lot of dead-falls you'll have to crawl through/over/around. It can get tiring.
Especially on the Kek be prepared to get your feet wet. There's at least 2 unbridged river crossings and a lot of wet areas around beaver dams. Also because it's May there could be some standing water on the trail.
I've done trail clearing on the non-BWCAW part of the BRT so I think those sections will be pretty clean. The wilderness section can get kind of nasty and there are a lot of ups and downs. We camped st the eastern trailhead, McFarland,Gogebic, and the east end of Rose. Averaged about 12 or 13 miles a day. 3 dropped out and 2 continued. It was really hot.
I used Gunflint Lodge for a resupply you could also use Clearwater. After Clearwater there is quite a distance to the next commercial place for resupply.

Thank you gentlemen, for all the info.

Like I say, just a working idea at this point. I have some time off this spring and was hoping to get in a long hike and long paddle.

A lot to consider, even with a typical wet spring up there.

I know there are some archived reports in here that I'll have to check out also.

We hiked the "KEK" last memorial weekend after 9" of rain! We did it in 3 1/2 days, and it kicked our butts!! There was numerous spots on the trail where we had to crawl on our bellies thru poison ivy to get thru. The woodticks were extremely terrible, I had treated my stuff with Sawyer but the 2 other guys didn't and they had 50 plus ticks a day on them! We are not extreme hikers but we averaged aprox. 1 mph. One of the guys in our group is in the military and is currently in Afghanistan and his quote was "This is the hardest thing I have ever done!" It was a complete butt-kicker but it was an awesome experience. We are planning a BRT trip in April or May. Good Luck!

I met up with this guy near Rose Lake last year. Windigo Doug

we had some guests a few years ago, they were from Michigan. they hiked the SHT to the Arrowhead, then the BRT to gunflint, then the Kek to ELy. I think it took 2 - 3 weeks.

their purpose, aside from hiking, was researching the route of the North Country Trail .

these folks were 70+ years old and had more energy than most 20 year olds! it was a bad season for ticks and they mentioned this wasn't the highlight of their trip. they did, however, mention that this area was by far the most beautiful and rugged of the established trail (so far).

It's good to see that the NCT has decided to include the superior hiking trail, the Border route Trail and the Kekabic to their official route. The original plan was to cut straight across minnesota .And if you have extra cash. they can always use it.....northcountrytrail.org. You can get a sticker for your vehicle like I have!

Well lets hope we get some REAL help on the Kek now.