We have a permit for May 12 at Brule Lake for three nights: pushing off Thursday late morning/noon and coming back around the same time on Sunday.

Current thought is to head up to Winchell on day one via the Cones (if wind allows) and then go from there, but where? If it's colder, we'd probably prefer to move each day rather than do any sort of base camp just to get the blood moving.

Anyone have any decent loops out of Brule/Winchell for three nights?

Winchell-Long Island-North Temperance.

Starting so late your first day may very well bugger things up right from the start. If Brule is windy, making Winchell your first night might be tough.

This route has tough portages with some serious climbs. It crosses the Laurentian Divide twice on day two and three. Day four is easy. I think it is a wonderfully scenic route.

sedges: "If Brule is windy"

I sat on Brule staring at whitecaps for 3 days last summer. As a plan B, I'd bring maps for Juno-Vern-Pipe-Homer. Not a lot of travelling to do down that way but decent walleye fishing and no big fetches to keep you off of the water.

If it's not windy and you want to travel a good bit each day I'd go with Sedges' suggestion.

Ice might be a bit of a problem.

I have to agree with Laker Taker. It seems like Brule is one of the last ones to be ice free. I don't think it was ice free in 2019 on the 11th. My brother ran into a couple guys on May 17, 2018 and they said that the entire west end of Brule was still froze solid.

Laker Taker: "Ice might be a bit of a problem."

This is definitely my concern too. If there's still ice, I'm hoping that we can at least just hop around some sites on Brule and see what happens.

sedges: Starting so late your first day may very well bugger things up right from the start. If Brule is windy, making Winchell your first night might be tough.

Agreed. Between the wind and potential for ice, we're probably not going to have any clue what kind of trip this is going to be until we get there.

Z4K: As a plan B, I'd bring maps for Juno-Vern-Pipe-Homer. Not a lot of travelling to do down that way but decent walleye fishing and no big fetches to keep you off of the water.

This is a great idea. I think we're going to need a plan H for this trip ;)

I think this year is going to be dicey that early...but...If you can cross Brule, consider going through the Cones into Davis as an alternative. Then you can head up to Kiskadinna and either turn west toward Long Island (then return via Cherokee and the Temperance lakes) or east toward Omega (out to Gaskin and back down through Winchell). The portages are tough, but quiet.