Old Lakes, New Lakes, and Great Weather in Quetico
by TrailZen
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
08/30/2024
Entry & Exit Point:
Moose Lake (EP 25)
Number of Days:
10
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
Quetico, 2024, August 30-September 8, a 10-day, 90 mile, 52 portage loop through some old favorites and some new country. Reports of high water levels and terrible mosquitoes prior to our entry date had us concerned (and prepared), but dry weather the week before our trip and great weather throughout our trip made bugs and water levels non-issues. Join us on another fun journey through Canoe Country.
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Day 1 of 10
Friday, August 30, 2024: Missing Breakfast at Britton's Again. 13.0 miles (12.5 canoe, 0.5 portage). 2 portages,(160 and 640m). Moose, Newfound, Sucker, Basswood (Inlet Bay and Bailey Bay), and Sunday Lakes.
Dinner in Ely last night was fish & chips at the Boathouse, and on our way back to our room, we walked by Britton's to confirm opening time. We were sad to find a “Closed Friday” sign, meaning we haven't been able to start a trip with their breakfasts since 2019. Hope that's not a bad omen!
Because we live in North Carolina, our Quetico trips start with a two-day commute. When we get to Ely, we're happy to get out of the car and get active again, so we don't get tows to/from Prairie Portage. We got to the Moose Lake public landing shortly before 8:00, and were on the water about 20 minutes later. It's generally a two-hour paddle from Moose to Prairie Portage for us, but today's beautiful weather, cool temperature, and wind at our backs got us there in record time. We saw our first Bald Eagle and several Loons before getting to Prairie Portage. A couple parties were going through Jason's orientation at the ranger station, so we waited our turn. When we discussed a route that included the Wawiag River, Jason told us that the Cache Bay ranger station had reported that a couple log jams were revealed on the Wawiag as water levels dropped. While we're comfortable crossing beaver dams with the canoe, log jams are a different story, and revisiting the Wawiag will have to wait.
From Prairie Portage we proceeded to Bailey Bay, where we sometimes encounter wind. Yep, the wind that was at our backs in Moose was now a headwind kicking up some whitecaps. We stopped on Sunday Island for lunch, and during lunch we watched two pairs of Trumpeter Swans guarding the North Portage landing. The portage is about 0.4 miles long and rocky in places, but not bad, and puts us on Sunday Lake. We decide to swing by Singing Brook Portage, a portage we fondly remember from our 1979 inaugural Quetico trip. Tia was reclining on a tree as I was wandering around with a camera when wind pushed our canoe off shore! She waded/swam to the canoe with no issues, but the bag of gorp in her pocket didn't fare too well. Remembering the incident forty-five years later still makes us smile.
From Singing Brook we had the breeze at our backs as we paddled to the large island just west of the portage into Meadows and claimed the premium campsite there as home for the night. The site hasn't been too heavily camped this year, and there's still a decent duff layer across the site. There are several potential tent pads, a couple log benches, and a nice fire pit with a stone slab suitable for our canister stove. We set up the gravity filter, having filled its “dirty” bag in the middle of the lake as we approached the island. Soon the tent is up, Tia's updating her journal, and I'm looking for a good bear hang. The site has a nice northwestern view, and Tia found an old (1800s?) north arrow carved in the rock near her journaling seat. The arrow is about 18 inches long and appears to have included a name and date when carved, but we couldn't make it out.
Dinner is curried chicken couscous. We now dehydrate most of our own dinners, as well as some of our breakfast and lunch options. A meat for dinner is placed in a rehydration container with water at our lunch stop so cook time is minimized, and we further reduce cook time by using a Reflectix cozy for our primary titanium cook pot. Over the years we've cut our fuel consumption in half through these and other steps.
After dinner we played Farkle, read a couple Patrick McManus stories from 'A Fine and Pleasant Misery', then called it a day around 8:30. I think it took me less than a minute to be sound asleep, with our REI Helix pads, our new down sleeping bags, and down 'puffy' jackets in soft cases as pillows.
Dinner in Ely last night was fish & chips at the Boathouse, and on our way back to our room, we walked by Britton's to confirm opening time. We were sad to find a “Closed Friday” sign, meaning we haven't been able to start a trip with their breakfasts since 2019. Hope that's not a bad omen!
Because we live in North Carolina, our Quetico trips start with a two-day commute. When we get to Ely, we're happy to get out of the car and get active again, so we don't get tows to/from Prairie Portage. We got to the Moose Lake public landing shortly before 8:00, and were on the water about 20 minutes later. It's generally a two-hour paddle from Moose to Prairie Portage for us, but today's beautiful weather, cool temperature, and wind at our backs got us there in record time. We saw our first Bald Eagle and several Loons before getting to Prairie Portage. A couple parties were going through Jason's orientation at the ranger station, so we waited our turn. When we discussed a route that included the Wawiag River, Jason told us that the Cache Bay ranger station had reported that a couple log jams were revealed on the Wawiag as water levels dropped. While we're comfortable crossing beaver dams with the canoe, log jams are a different story, and revisiting the Wawiag will have to wait.
From Prairie Portage we proceeded to Bailey Bay, where we sometimes encounter wind. Yep, the wind that was at our backs in Moose was now a headwind kicking up some whitecaps. We stopped on Sunday Island for lunch, and during lunch we watched two pairs of Trumpeter Swans guarding the North Portage landing. The portage is about 0.4 miles long and rocky in places, but not bad, and puts us on Sunday Lake. We decide to swing by Singing Brook Portage, a portage we fondly remember from our 1979 inaugural Quetico trip. Tia was reclining on a tree as I was wandering around with a camera when wind pushed our canoe off shore! She waded/swam to the canoe with no issues, but the bag of gorp in her pocket didn't fare too well. Remembering the incident forty-five years later still makes us smile.
From Singing Brook we had the breeze at our backs as we paddled to the large island just west of the portage into Meadows and claimed the premium campsite there as home for the night. The site hasn't been too heavily camped this year, and there's still a decent duff layer across the site. There are several potential tent pads, a couple log benches, and a nice fire pit with a stone slab suitable for our canister stove. We set up the gravity filter, having filled its “dirty” bag in the middle of the lake as we approached the island. Soon the tent is up, Tia's updating her journal, and I'm looking for a good bear hang. The site has a nice northwestern view, and Tia found an old (1800s?) north arrow carved in the rock near her journaling seat. The arrow is about 18 inches long and appears to have included a name and date when carved, but we couldn't make it out.
Dinner is curried chicken couscous. We now dehydrate most of our own dinners, as well as some of our breakfast and lunch options. A meat for dinner is placed in a rehydration container with water at our lunch stop so cook time is minimized, and we further reduce cook time by using a Reflectix cozy for our primary titanium cook pot. Over the years we've cut our fuel consumption in half through these and other steps.
After dinner we played Farkle, read a couple Patrick McManus stories from 'A Fine and Pleasant Misery', then called it a day around 8:30. I think it took me less than a minute to be sound asleep, with our REI Helix pads, our new down sleeping bags, and down 'puffy' jackets in soft cases as pillows.
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