Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Lady Chain Louse River Loop
by mkematt

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 07/21/2014
Entry & Exit Point: Sawbill Lake (EP 38)
Number of Days: 5
Group Size: 2
Day 3 of 5
Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The weather was cool in the morning, low 70's the rest of the day. The path took us from Koma through Malberg then east to Fente, Boze, the river and out to Trail lake. The water levels here were high enough that there was no need to portage the 16 rod out of Malberg. The big challenge for the day was the 190 rod portage heading east out of Boze. About halfway through, we passed a landing on the river, with a path continuing the portage to the east. After some discussion, we decided to follow the map and continue down the portage path - big mistake. We soon found ourselves in a knee deep, shoe sucking mud hole.  This went on for about 30 yards. Nasty, but we made it through. Then a funny thing happened - instead of being bummed out by all the mud in our shoes and on our clothes, we were feeling like we really accomplished something. The rest of   the river was very pretty and secluded. I was almost surprised that we didn't see a moose. After a number of short portages, we were at Trail lake around 1 PM and took the campsite on the North. This is another great campsite - good landing, very breezy to keep down the bugs and a number of good spots for tents. One unusual thing is that the site has a large step coming up to the main area and the fire grate is built on the lower side so the grate itself is even with the ground on the main part of the site. There is not a lot of room to sit in front of the fire.  After a late lunch, we set up camp, rested in the shade and preped firewood. We fished the early evening, but only managed to catch a few pike. After a late dinner, it was time for a campfire. The day's clouds broke up and the sky really cleared up so we decided to stay up and look at the stars.  All I can say is that the sky was spectacular. What a great day.