BWCA First PMA Experience - Hairy Lake Boundary Waters Group Forum: PMA Paradise
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      First PMA Experience - Hairy Lake     

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Minnesotian
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08/23/2016 08:42AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)

Just got back last night from soloing through the Hairy Lake PMA. This was my first experience going through a PMA and wow, did I enjoy it.

Last Friday I got my PMA permit from the Grand Marais Ranger station right at 8 am. By 9:30 I was on the water at Entry Point 50, heading out. The weather was great, just a small breeze and partially sunny. Blasted through Ham, Cross Lake, and got down to Copper fairly quickly. I probably stated my bushwack around 1 pm or so. The first bushwack was easy, I could tell that a lot of people tried this one. After that, they got increasingly tangled. The last one, into Sora, kinda got me. I was doing fine, then I hit a meadow, where I lost what trail there was, then hit the wrong side of the meadow and had to crash though some alder. Once I got to Sora, I found where the "path" was and the return trip was a lot easier.

Ended up camping on Din that night. I did see some potential sites on Sora, but I was feeling good and wanted to press on. The site on Din was perfect. Got to sleep on a bed of caribou moss. More then one tent though would be problematic.

The next day was a short day, as I wanted to spend 2 nights in the PMA. So I ended up on Iris lake. The bushwack from Mass to Ell was very wet. I went around the right side of the pond and found an old path. Still, there were some walking in marshland that wasn't fun.

Iris Lake is beautiful. I found really only one possible tent site and got all my stuff set by early afternoon. Which was good because the torrent of rain that opened up about an our later. Really glad I wasn't making my own portage through that rain.
Iris has this slight narrows that also has be big cliff face. It was really pretty seeing the moon framed in the channel when I woke up the next day.

After that I made my way to Fetters, then Octopus, then Frost for that evening. Next day I was out.

Overall I really enjoyed this trip. Going solo was really nice because I could move at my own pace. Of course that meant I had to carry everything, but trade offs I guess. I also felt somewhat comfortable doing this as my first one based on the fact others had been through there, so I know it was possible to do this trip. The only bad thing that happened was the back rung on my wooden canoe seat snapped. But, it wasn't an issue as I normally sit on the front edge and everything was still held together by the webbing.
I think the overwelming thing I really enjoyed about this though was knowing I was in the BWCA, during August (which is typically the busiest part of the year I think), on a weekend, and I didn't see a single person for 2 days. I found that amazing because I didn't think that was still possible in the BWCA during the summer.

So, if I liked this one, which PMA should I crash next?
 
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08/23/2016 10:54AM  
awesome
 
08/23/2016 11:00AM  
I've been eyeing up Mugwump. From Fee/Hoe....go into Maymay, Amimi, Pace, Horsefish, Image, Leg and into Gabi. There was an old route through there and I have some old portage locations marked. May not be 2 days worth....or might.
 
08/24/2016 07:07AM  
Glad you made it through there, I'm going to try it again next year, things didn't work out this year.
 
08/24/2016 09:43AM  
Sounded like a great time and experience.
 
PortageKeeper
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08/25/2016 10:49AM  
Sounds like a great trip! Any photo's?
Someday I still want to go through the Tick Lake (east to west) PMA. It could be done on a shorter time frame than some PMA's so should be easy planning.
 
Minnesotian
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08/28/2016 11:00AM  

Here are some photos from the Trip.
First one is an average portage I encountered. This photo is on the way to Sora from Copper, I think the 2nd portage, so the one right after the 1st piddle lake.


This second photo is some Indian Pipe I encountered along the way. I consider it a good luck sign whenever I see these flowers. They are very delicate and need perfect conditions to grow.


The third photo is part of my campsite on Din Lake that first night. Twas the softest bed I have made up there, right on some moss.


Fourth up is sunset on Din Lake. What a day!


Fifth picture is my breakfast the next morning on Din Lake. Fried summer sausage, can't beat it.


Sixth photo is my campsite on Iris Lake. Little trickier finding one on the lake, but yet again I found a wonderful mossy site and just nestled in to enjoy the deluge of rain that came down. I was warm and dry.


Seventh up is sunrise, or moonset depending on how you look at it, the next morning on Iris. Beautiful lake.


And last, the view from my campsite of Frost Lake, where I spent my final night on an amazing trip.


Hope you enjoyed the photos.
 
billconner
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08/28/2016 11:37AM  
Great story and photos. Inspiring.
 
PortageKeeper
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08/28/2016 12:04PM  
Awesome! Some of my best memories are from pma trips!
 
GoSpursGo
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08/29/2016 08:15AM  
Ive stayed at two sites on Frost, but not that one - howd you like it?
 
08/29/2016 08:58AM  
Thanks for the photos, might just skip the long solo and make it through hairy pma instead next spring.
 
Minnesotian
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08/29/2016 08:02PM  

GoSpursGo - That was a great site. Big sandy beach so I could watch the southern constellations emerge from the dusky night. Lots of crawdads to scope in the dark, and a very open site, enough for 3 to 4 tent pads. Next time you get to Frost, and it is open, take it.

Housty - I bet you would have an easier time in the spring getting though some of the overgrown spots. Tradeoff is that the marshy areas might be way wetter then what I encountered. But, an almost guarantee that you won't see anyone else. If I could do it again right now, I would sign up for 4 nights in the PMA: First night on Din, second night on Ragged, and third and forth on Iris, or two nights on Ragged and one on Iris. Your first day of portaging to Din would be the most portages, after that it would be 1 or 2 hard portages per day. I didn't get up to Ragged, but it was on my original plans. Looks like it would be similar to Sora and Iris for size and remoteness.
 
09/01/2016 08:01AM  
I want to get to Ragged it looks like a very cool lake from looking at the satellite maps. Did you fish any why you were in there?
 
Minnesotian
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09/01/2016 08:13AM  

Tried some on Sora and Iris, but got nothing. All the piddle ponds before Sora were teeming with minnows everywhere, so maybe Copper has some good fishing. I didn't see any fish jumping until Iris, and that was few and small. Din was covered in water bugs and not once did I see any fish jump.
 
09/02/2016 07:51AM  
When heading from copper to sora is there some and old portage there that you can kinda see or creek?
 
09/02/2016 07:51AM  
When heading from copper to sora is there some type of old portage there that you can kinda see or creek?
 
Minnesotian
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09/02/2016 09:26PM  

Yes, I would say there are sections of each portage where I could tell people had gone before. However, very frequently, I would be taking a trail and then it would hit a meadow or a big wet area and I would loose any semblance of the old portage. Those were the most challenging times because I would cross the meadow and not see any trail when I reentered the woods. That is when I would crash through making my own path. But then, usually, when I got to the other lake, I would discover where the portage had gone to. So, my second crossing of the portage usually went a lot faster and easier.

But, the further from Copper I got, the worse the old portage was. What helped on each carry was the creeks. They were the handlebar that I could use, keeping it on my left or right, that I knew if I followed it, would take me to the next lake.
 
Savage Voyageur
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09/03/2016 07:40AM  
Thanks for the trip report, sounds like a nice area.
 
09/08/2016 11:41AM  
Great report, thanks! I like those little PMA lakes, and it looks like you found a real nice site on Din. Have not been in this PMA; maybe one day. Has anyone been to Little Copper? I bet that would be a challenge, as is looks to be about 87 feet up-terrain from Copper. If one made it, though, a route out to Long Island via Juniper and Plug might be possible.
 
Minnesotian
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09/09/2016 08:02AM  

I would be hesitant to go from Copper to Little Copper. Looking at the topo and seeing such elevation change right at a creek screams difficult next to impossible.

I would go from Long Island Lake to Plug to Juniper then Little Copper.
 
09/09/2016 08:16PM  
Likely woods rather than wetlands and probably tough, but one never knows for sure until they go and check it out. And, if it's woods, it can be real tough, depending on type of timber stand, or not so bad, if older growth and/or some trace of trail... That is the beauty of those PMA routes...
 
12/23/2016 01:54AM  
Great post. Thanks for uploading the pics.
 
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