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
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (1 messages)
Day 10 of 10
Sunday, September 08, 2024: Exiting Canoe Country and Homeward Bound. 11.1 miles (10.8c, 0.3p). 2 portages (450 and 160 meters). Burke, Basswood, (Bayley Bay and Inlet Bay), Sucker, Newfound, and Moose Lakes.
We could see stars when we woke during the night, and we awoke to a sky with a few remaining clouds that quickly cleared as we ate breakfast. We could hear wind, and hoped the big water we had to cross wouldn't be too rough. We're leaving the last campsite of our trip with dry gear and very little leftover food, always a nice way to end a trip, and before 8:30 were paddling toward “the Boulevard”, a name Tia gave the portage between Burke and Bayley Bay on our first Quetico trip. Bayley Bay was choppy, with wind blowing directly into the portage, but the farther we paddled, the more the wind settled and it wasn't an unpleasant paddle into Inlet Bay. Inlet is always calmer than Bayley, and soon we could see the ranger station beach and outbound paddlers. We spoke with several groups at Prairie Portage, and were surprised to see more women paddlers than men.
From the Sucker Lake side of Prairie Portage we had the 6.5 mile, no portage (carrying gear to the parking lot doesn't count!) steady paddle to the Moose Lake public landing. While the wind wasn't bad, it was in our faces the entire Sucker/Newfound/Moose chain and was occasionally gusty. We were tired and hungry after the 2 hour effort, so carried some gear to the car and had left-over snacks and protein bars for lunch. We changed into dry shoes and loaded the car, then moved the car around to load the canoe. While there, we spoke with a Wilderness Inquiry group returning from a BWCA trip. Both Tia and our daughter have worked with W.I. groups, and we're always happy to see people with different abilities and backgrounds sharing our public lands.
Roadside maples were starting to turn red on our drive from Moose Lake to Ely. In Ely we stopped at Spirit of the Wilderness to check in with US Customs, then ate enough ice cream at Dairy Queen to keep our stomachs from growling until dinner. We checked into our room, cleaned up, then walked through Ely to look at paddles and other gear. Dinner was walleye baskets at the Frisky Otter, then we walked back to our room. Tomorrow we'll start the drive home, review gear and food details from this year's trip, and list suggestions for next year. Maybe the Wawiag, Blackstone, or the west side of the park. Let's start looking at the maps!
We could see stars when we woke during the night, and we awoke to a sky with a few remaining clouds that quickly cleared as we ate breakfast. We could hear wind, and hoped the big water we had to cross wouldn't be too rough. We're leaving the last campsite of our trip with dry gear and very little leftover food, always a nice way to end a trip, and before 8:30 were paddling toward “the Boulevard”, a name Tia gave the portage between Burke and Bayley Bay on our first Quetico trip. Bayley Bay was choppy, with wind blowing directly into the portage, but the farther we paddled, the more the wind settled and it wasn't an unpleasant paddle into Inlet Bay. Inlet is always calmer than Bayley, and soon we could see the ranger station beach and outbound paddlers. We spoke with several groups at Prairie Portage, and were surprised to see more women paddlers than men.
From the Sucker Lake side of Prairie Portage we had the 6.5 mile, no portage (carrying gear to the parking lot doesn't count!) steady paddle to the Moose Lake public landing. While the wind wasn't bad, it was in our faces the entire Sucker/Newfound/Moose chain and was occasionally gusty. We were tired and hungry after the 2 hour effort, so carried some gear to the car and had left-over snacks and protein bars for lunch. We changed into dry shoes and loaded the car, then moved the car around to load the canoe. While there, we spoke with a Wilderness Inquiry group returning from a BWCA trip. Both Tia and our daughter have worked with W.I. groups, and we're always happy to see people with different abilities and backgrounds sharing our public lands.
Roadside maples were starting to turn red on our drive from Moose Lake to Ely. In Ely we stopped at Spirit of the Wilderness to check in with US Customs, then ate enough ice cream at Dairy Queen to keep our stomachs from growling until dinner. We checked into our room, cleaned up, then walked through Ely to look at paddles and other gear. Dinner was walleye baskets at the Frisky Otter, then we walked back to our room. Tomorrow we'll start the drive home, review gear and food details from this year's trip, and list suggestions for next year. Maybe the Wawiag, Blackstone, or the west side of the park. Let's start looking at the maps!
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