BWCA Hairy Lake PMA Boundary Waters Group Forum: PMA Paradise
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08/17/2015 04:43PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Planning a little solo in Sept and looked at an alternate route from Crooked to Tuscarora. Has anybody gone down through Jerry lake and then followed the creeks east through Garret and Matthew over to Tusc?
After crossing Tusc and taking the Howl swamp portage, I may poke my nose down into Sora also.

Right above Garret is Hooter and Ogle.....seems ironic that they are next to each other ;)
 
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09/02/2015 11:20AM  
Bump.....leaving next Tues
 
09/03/2015 02:36PM  
Have a great time! Looking at the Garrett/Matthew route, there may be some carrying through the sweetgale and leatherleaf in spots, but you will be seeing an area few have. Hopefully not much carrying through alder or spruce:) I have "old portages" jotted on my map for the route going down from Copper Lake to Sora. Not sure which side, as I have not been down that way (I just write info on the map when I come across it on this website, etc.). Seems like I heard somewhere that Sora is shallow, but not positive.
 
09/03/2015 03:30PM  
I have the old portages to Sora marked also. Have you been through Garret / Matthew? I hope to camp on the site that looks like the north end of Jerry (or it may be considered Crooked)....if it's a decent site. Maybe paddle down and scout Jerry for the next morning.
Love to hear more about your trip through Horsefish/Amimi sometime.
 
09/04/2015 10:01AM  
No, I don't think I've been to any of the lakes in the north part of Hairy Lake PMA. This August, I came the conventional route from Little Sag through Mora, Tarry, Crooked and Owl to get to Tuscarora; and I exited via Howl, Hubbub and Copper up to Snipe (to go out at Missing Link/ Round Lake). Looks like plenty of interesting lakes along the n periphery of Hairy Lake PMA to explore! When I see a creek cross several contours, though, I figure that will be more work... (e.g., Little Copper from Copper could be a challenge:) I was surprised that there was no designated campsite on Copper, as it looks like it has potential (paddled by what look to be old tailings on the west end of Copper, n shore). Again, have a great trip.
 
09/14/2015 11:33AM  
well....I made it through from Jerry to Tusc. Those creeks all run through fairly deep, steep gorges. High, mostly straight walls. There was only inches of water so I portaged right up the creek beds most of the way. Some rock hopping but not bad, mostly walking on small stones right in creek bed. Once in a while I had to find a path up in the woods when there were large boulders in the path. Beaver dams on the up river side of all the creeks. Hardest part was the bog in the middle of the "Matthew to Tusc" leg. Too wet to walk....too shallow to paddle. I finally made bank and portaged across a grassy hummock section. Only real alder battle was at the very start of first portage to get out of Jerry into creek.
The marshy part at the end right before Tusc had decent water to paddle but about 5 beaver dams to pull over. I started from where the east arm of Jerry leaves the main lake at 11:00 and pulled over the last beaver dam into Tusc back bay at 3:15. Was nice to see once but not worth going through again. If water levels in the creeks were any higher, I would not even think about trying it.
 
09/14/2015 01:59PM  
That's making good time, in stuff like that. Looks like about 75' gain of altitude from Jerry to Tusc. Glad the water levels were amenable to some carrying in the streambed and hope not too many down trees, etc., there. Thanks for the brief report, and feel free to post up some pics if you have some!
 
09/23/2015 09:34PM  
pics are up. Ones labelled "Jerry to Tusc" are through the PMA
solo pics
 
05/05/2016 09:14PM  
I finally got techy and uploaded video to You Tube. This was the stretch from Garret to Matthew.. PMA travel
 
05/06/2016 10:24AM  
Thanks, love that stuff! Always neat to get off the beaten path and do some exploring.
 
05/06/2016 12:19PM  
quote cowdoc: "I finally got techy and uploaded video to You Tube. This was the stretch from Garret to Matthew.. PMA travel "
Thanks, nice video, next week could interesting.
 
05/07/2016 05:32AM  
Cool video Cowdoc. Thanks for filming and taking the time to post.
 
05/07/2016 12:56PM  
Planning for PMA trip to section 2 of Hairy. Just started looking at maps, and I am wondering if anyone here has done the Copper to Sora route. I put in @ MissingLink on 6/14, and my early thoughts are heading to Snipe that night. Do you think it is possible to get to Sora from Snipe in one day?
 
05/07/2016 12:56PM  
Planning for PMA trip to section 2 of Hairy. Just started looking at maps, and I am wondering if anyone here has done the Copper to Sora route. I put in @ MissingLink on 6/14, and my early thoughts are heading to Snipe that night. Do you think it is possible to get to Sora from Snipe in one day?
 
05/07/2016 01:55PM  
Snipe to Sora in one day?......easy, with lots of time to spare.
 
05/07/2016 02:17PM  
Agreed .... Easy 1 day with plenty of time to explore....

T
 
05/07/2016 05:21PM  
Thanks, Phil and Travis. Looks like a fairly straight shot from Copper to Sora.
 
05/08/2016 07:26AM  
We plan to hit Sora from the put in in one day Mark. We'll have to get together before you go. I'll try to take lot's of pictures.
 
05/08/2016 10:09AM  
quote nctry: "We plan to hit Sora from the put in in one day Mark. We'll have to get together before you go. I'll try to take lot's of pictures."


Sounds good. I want to spend a night on Snipe; I love that little lake and have not been there for a good 10 years! Call me when you get home, and have a safe trip, Ben!
 
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