Ok, I'm trying to nail down the route for my fourth Quetico trip. I keep trying to talk myself into a base camp fishing trip but I always decide I'll do that "next time".

7 day trip in early July for my adult son and me. I started out wanting to see Walter and Lonely and was going to start at Nym and loop back through Dore and do the Racers portages back to Nym but I've read that Olifaunt and the B chain are worth visiting. So, thought about a Stanton Bay entry and a loop down through the Bs to Olifaunt, Sturgeon Narrows and up Lonely, etc to Batchewaung and Nym.

Now I think I've decided on that route but perhaps using French Lake instead of Stanton Bay.

Whew! Decisions, decisions. I'll gladly take any advice on this proposed loop. I plan to only be paddling on Pickerel in the morning hours since I know it can get rolling. Should I start on Pickerel and go clockwise down to Olifaunt and Sturgeon Narrows or go counterclockwise from Nym which is against the flow? What say you, Quetico veterans?

If it were me, I'd go clockwise and hope for no northwesterly blows on your day from Oli to Lonely....

Tough call. The Sturgeon Narrows flows west so if your trip is early I would vote go with the flow. You can't predict the wind but you can be pretty sure water will not reverse its flow. Socrates? Another factor is the B chain. The port from Fern is a long downhill from Fern to Oli. I did it uphill. Once.

Thanks for the input. I kind of expected to see recommendations for clockwise, assuming I try to reduce the risk of dealing with typical westerly winds on Pickerel. Going uphill from Olifaunt to Fern doesn't sound too enticing either, so that is good information!

I guess I wasn't logged in!

Fair amount of some current flowing west in the B chain also. We did it going east, but it would have been more fun to do it going west. There are enough ups and downs on the Pickerel River portage that you dont notice which way is uphill.....tough either way ;)

Having done that route in each direction, I found it easier going clockwise - the Fern/Oli portage seems shorter that way ;-)
AdamX

Clockwise it shall be! Thanks all for the input.

Now, I have to figure out if I can leave early enough to use French Lake versus paying for the shuttle to Stanton Bay but I guess planning is half the fun.