Hello all.

I am planning a late Aug trip with my 6&7 year olds, vets of 6 trips and my older father. Our goals are wilderness, wildlife and pictographs. We like to trip and long portages don't bother us/me but we are not going to push on this trip. I have 4-6 days, how would the Mudro-Fourtown-Gun-Gull-Home-Angleworm-South Hegman loop in either direction. I have not done either of these EPs, is the traffic out of Mudro terrible? If this doesn't fit our needs, any suggestions?

I appreciate the feedback.

I have done that trip (I didn't happen to have our kids along, though). We started at the S Hegman entry point. My guess is that it would be less busy than the Mudro entry, however you might want to decide to do Angleworm when the food pack is lighter. :) I have an 8 year old, and am confident she could do this route.

I'd go for doing the trip in 6 days with kids. It will give you lots of time to enjoy the area, fish, swim, etc. Plus, as you know, it's slower going and you may need to find campsites earlier than normal.

The most challenging portages will be from the portage from Mudro - Fourtown and the Angleworm portage.

Mudro isn't overly hard, just hilly and the edges along the trail drop down quick, so watch the kids. Can be slippery if wet, particularly at the north landings.

Watch the trail from Gull - Home, the Angleworm hiking trail crosses it and you don't want to take a wrong turn. Towards the end of the trail there are massive old growth pine. Beautiful. We did hear wolves on Home.

Angleworm wasn't super hard, just really long.

The eastern campsite on Home wasn't anything remarkable. Seemed like the sites on Angleworm were nicer.

other possible options... here and here.

Good luck with your planning!

Paddlefamily,

Thanks for the feedback. One more question, how much traffic would I expect to see on the Mudro half of trip if coming out on say a Wednesday? How is wildlife in this area? Any moose habitat?

Thanks,
John

I'm not sure how much traffic you'd see on a weekday at Mudro as our trip was during the fishing opener in May. However, my guess would be less traffic in the afternoon vs the morning. Our trip started at S Hegman and ended at Nels Lake just a couple lakes west of Mudro. That take out was empty when we went and could be an option for you. The 162rd portage between Picket and Nels was rustic, but flat. By road, it's a couple of miles between the Nels Lake exit and the S Hegman, so at the start I dropped off the others at the entry and left the car at the exit on Nels. Then I just ran the couple miles back to the entry. Worked out really well.

As far as moose habitat, we happen to see a cow and her calf on the south side of Picket Lake, just west of Mudro. As far as other good habitat, I'm not sure. Maybe others can speak to that. Generally I just look at the marshy areas on a map.

In case you're interested, the landing at Nels Lake is flat and sandy.

Yes, I was thinking of continuing west as you stated. I want to get in all the paddling I can.

I'll try to post a report after the trip. I am 90% set on this as of now. Thanks for the guidance.



John

Have a great trip- looking forward to your report!