I am getting pumped! Earlier I asked for advice on "earlier or later in June", well, as so often happens, life has made the choice for me. The wife and I will be taking our first cruise vacation in September 2017, and I will be doing my canoe trip mid June. Bad news is, that drops my 2 week trip down to a one week trip. To extend my vacation as much as possible, I will be leaving the Indianapolis area on Friday, June 16th after work around 4 pm. My goal is to get as close as I can to Duluth, sleep a few hours in the car, and finish the drive north.

I will be going solo, have all my gear, and am looking for the usual things:
1. Peaceful solitude
2. Wildlife sightings
3. Fishing (smallmouth would rank higher than other species)
4. Sense of accomplishment when finished!

I have McDougall Lake as a target, I hear it has some great fishing, and Chatterton falls nearby.

My last 2 trips to BWCA I have always camped the day before entering the wilderness, but last trip I was wondering why? I am thinking of entering the Saturday I arrive, even if I just camp on an entry lake the first night, I will be ready for an early start on Sunday, and have those little wrinkles worked out a bit.

I am looking at French Lake as an entry, and would need to start my trip back on Saturday, June 24th.

Questions:
1. Will I wish I had lighter weight quilts for my hammock than the 20 degree ones I currently have?
2. Suggestions on routes to/from McDougall
3. Maybe a different entry? I would like to have at least 1 layover day on McDougall
4. Maybe I should camp at French Lake the night before?
5. Any thoughts on stuff I might need Quetico vs. BWCA, and June vs. September, since my only trips so far have been in September.

I am looking forward to the longer days, warmer weather, but a little nervous about the bugs!

Thank you in advance for all of your suggestions!

Don,

I've been to McDougall and it's a great Clearwater smallmouth lake. It is best early/late in day, low light. Park at French.

I would suggest A Stanton bay entry the afternoon you arrive with the idea of getting to Pine Portage bay or Dore for first night. From there, you could make it to McD in a day or so depending on weather, energy, etc. Another good option if you decide not to go that far is Russell or Lower Sturgeon.

If you want to email me, I can provide more details...

Don, I did a 2 week trip and passed through McDougall in September. My route in was the Bisk, Beg, Bud chain starting at Stanton Bay. From there I went through Olifaunt and on over to Sturgeon, Russell, Chatterton and on to McDougall. The best campsite on McDougall, and in my opinion, one of the best in Quetico, is 33G. If you look at paddle planner the site is actually across the bay (the east side) from where it's shown on the map.

The bass fishing was great, especially for September. If you're looking for solitude on the trip in I would avoid the Dore and Duex Rivierres route through Russell. This is one of the more traveled corridors in the northern Quetico, but I agree it would get you there the quickest. After I had spent a week south of McDougall, my return journey took me through Shelley Lake, through the portage northwest to Alice, then the long Bonnehomme and Sauvage portages and on north to Pickerel Lake. If you want solitude, and like long portages, this is the best route. I'll certainly be travelling that way again on my next trip to that area. Also, those portages are in really good shape these days. I think a crew had gone through them just weeks before I was there.

Other gear: remember to bring a small shovel or garden trowel to the Quetico. No privys so you have to dig a hole 6" minimum depth, well away from the water and campsite, burn TP in fire ring or carry out.

Have fun, Mark

Also going in thru the Deux Rivierries you will have to contend with very low water levels and 5 beaver dams to portage over. One of them is not very portage friendly either.

In June, doing the deax should not be an issue. Don't let them scare you. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

I don't scare easily, lol. I was considering taking the B lakes on the way in, so the current would be with me. Then exit through Deux River route. Would probably get to McDougall a day later, or work harder to get there in the same time.

My wife and I did the B chain lake route this year at the end of August. Put in at French lake. Had a great time except for the Deuxs and the portage between Fern and Olifaunt. Didn't see any one on Fern. Olifaunt , Sturgeon or Dore.

The B chain is my one of my top three areas of the Q. You need be to in decent physical condition but you are going generally downhill from Fern. You may want to plan a day on Fern. It is an enchanting place and I suspect, under fished.
McDougal should be reachable from Fern or more logically for the second day, from Oliphant/Sturgeon. My first trip through there I went from Sturgeon to Pickeral in one tough day. We had high water and downed trees to deal with and were going up hill. Simply spectacular yet intimate scenery.
I am with you on starting the trip first day as long as you can start before 3:00.
Noon is better. Lots of daylight at that time. I also like the French Lake start as you don't have to wait for whoever is shuttling you and you are free to go as you please. There are lots of great campsites on Pickerel for the first/last nights.
It's all good.

Thanks for all the info so far!
It is 15 hours from Indianapolis to the French Lake Campgrounds, according to Google Maps. I will leave around 4 pm on a Friday. I will either hit Chicago traffic, or route around it, add an hour. My bladder is small, add another. Need to sleep, add 4 hours. Delay at border, add one hour. Getting permit and unloading car, loading canoe, add one more. That is 23 hours, which means 2 pm due to time change from eastern to central. Sunset is around 9 pm, so a few hours of paddling seems reasonable, unless the wind is up on Pickerel.
Can I get to the pines if the wind is up? There are campsites just south of the river entrance to Pickerel as well.

Your thoughts?

First milestone for the trip was getting the vacation dates approved through work. Second milestone happened today, the McKenzie maps arrived! Now to cross check campsites online and with the maps, and just stare at them for a few months contemplating how big the fish will be, where I will see moose and bears...you know, kid in a candy store stuff.

My thoughts are it's gonna be a great trip! But I would caution about investing so much time preparing so early. I've learned over the years to not get so invested so early but wait till maybe 4 months before departure to really start nailing down details.

Why? I would get emotionally "spent" and the trip would come and I wouldn't be as into it. I practically would live the trip beforehand so actually doing the trip that is so well rehearsed was not as enjoyable as it should have been.

Sounds stupid but it's true. Personally I would just focus on your physical self. Start now and get in your best shape ever. Being a gym coach that shouldn't be too difficult. :) Then just cool it and wait till about Copia time (mid march) to invest yourself emotionally with the details. Not easy to do but you can also read books in the meantime. Get This One and dream a little dream....

quote TomTPersonally I would just focus on your physical self. Start now and get in your best shape ever. Being a gym coach that shouldn't be too difficult. :) Then just cool it and wait till about Copia time (mid march) to invest yourself emotionally with the details. Not easy to do but you can also read books in the meantime. Get This One and dream a little dream....


"

Good advice! I bought Beymers Quetico book as reading material on my BW trip in September. Piragis has an awesome collection to choose from! As soon as I got back I got Tim Meads book. That is the main reason for making McDougall Lake my destination.

Yesterday, Kevin Callans "Quetico and Beyond" came in the mail. What a great read so far. Each route is done as a trip report with individual route maps, in Kevin's style.

My wife says I am a research junkie, I can't buy anything without 2 or 3 trips to stores for comparison shopping, then back to the internet for reviews, etc. Hopefully, I won't burn out on it, I am entering my busy season at work, with competitions starting. I will be working 7 days a week at least every other week, and traveling from Florida to Arizona, and all over the midwest. I won't have as much time to obsess over the trip until after the season ends, hopefully May 7th at Nationals. Then a short wait and I am off!