Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Sawbill/Cherokee, Covid-19, Bucket List, Solo Loop
by fishonfishoff

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 05/29/2020
Entry & Exit Point: Sawbill Lake (EP 38)
Number of Days: 8
Group Size: 1
Day 3 of 8
Sunday, May 31, 2020 Morning came and much calmer waters. :) Fried up and ate the walleye,then packed up camp. The quick paddle to the portage and I'm ready to do my first portaging for the trip. Our core group always single portages, but doing the solo and the fact, I brought way way way too much stuff, I plan to double portage. Something I tried for the first 2 days was Muck boots. I then switched to cheap water shoes which were "MUCH GOODER". This meant I had to carry the Muck boots about the entire week!
I'm glad I found out ahead of time about doing 1 long portage vs the 2 short portages just north of Ada Lake. Cherokee Lake was in view and some little bigger wave action. With the gusting and swirling winds, there was many time I had to really dig in with my kayak paddle to keep the canoe from turning all the way around. Campsite #888 was marked on my map as a 4 star and it was open. Very good campsite which I felt guilty occupying it all by myself. Set up camp and relaxed in the afternoon. I did not see another canoe all day which led me to decide to make this a 2 night stay. I tried fishing from shore with many different methods, but no luck.