Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

The Sag Seagull Loop
by Buck47

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 06/24/2007
Entry Point: Saganaga Lake (EP 55)
Exit Point: Seagull Lake (EP 54)  
Number of Days: 6
Group Size: 2
Day 2 of 6
Monday, June 25, 2007

We woke up early and took our last showers for a couple of days. Stopped by the World Famous Doughnuts for coffee and breakfast then up the Gunflint we headed. It was amazing how green the burned out areas were getting. At the junction of Moose Pond Road and Gunflint Trail a moose was standing in the swamp not far off the road. After the Warden was happy with the pictures she took, I raced for the landing at Sag and Trails End and the outhouse. The moose delay made me a little anxious.

By 8:00 AM our paddles were working our canoe to the big water. The channel was quiet with a couple of fishing boats heading out. As we paddled, the big water was very calm except for the towboats taking canoes to their destinations. The towboats were very good about slowing down and staying their distance from us. It would be easy to get twisted on Sag, especially since it was cloudy and muggy. I took out the GPS to reinforce my confidence in my map reading skills. We made American Point by 10:30 AM. Quicker than I thought but I am sure we didn't break any paddling records.

We paddled by Cache Bay and had lunch after going through the very first narrows. A couple of canoes fished the narrows as we paddled by. We continued the trip and portaged into Ottertrack. The Monument Portage was a good break and the Warden took some pictures of the different markers. We checked out the campsite on the south side of Ottertrack at the base of the bluff but did not find it to our liking. We paddle a little farther west to the narrows and took a nice site facing east. A pair of Loons were hanging out in the area feeding their young. We had brats and wild rice over the fire. It is a nice campsite overlooking a pretty lake. I tried a little fishing with no luck. We saw more people today than I did during my solo trip a couple of weeks earlier. The first night is always a good nights sleep.