Lakes Visited: Quetico, Oriana, Jesse

Miles Paddled: 8 miles

Miles Portaged: 2.0 miles

Total Miles: 10.5 miles

Total Trip Miles: 27.3 miles

On this morning danbogey strained his back and decided to take a layover day. We had a loose plan to either link back up on Jean Lake, or I would loop around and help him exit if his back didn't get better. Ultimately he exited the next day with some assistance of some board members he bumped into one of the portages.

I again took my time packing up and left late-morning. The wind was coming out of the west today and a pretty good chop was coming down the lake. My Garmin tracks have me going 4.5MPH a few times prior to hitting the creek into Oriana.

After leaving camp, I saw no one else today.

The creek into Oriana had at least one pull through in ankle-deep sand/silt to get to the first portage. The next section had another pull through or two, and the portage into Oriana was a quick enough lift-over.

The wind was still at my back and I took my time following the south shore of Oriana. I considered camping on Oriana but decided to push on into Jesse Lake. The portage into Jesse was more than I had expected - 130 foot elevation gain and 56 foot elevation loss over 2,280 feet with some boulder-navigating and gradual inclines. Overall, nothing significantly steep or back-breaking and it was a very nice portage despite Google saying it is a gueling, muddy, steep, uphill, rocky carry. The name eludes me though - "Cedar Portage" but I didn't see more than 2 or 3 cedar trees but could have very well not ID'd some old growth monsters.

One more paddle up a creek and one more portage and I was on Jesse Lake. While paddling, break in the trees on the south shore caught my eye and the map showed an unnamed lake with a portage and no marked campsites. The elevation to what looked like the opposite shore made me wonder about the lake being a hidden gem.

The wind was still at my back and after considering going further east to take some of the more popular sites, I stopped at island site MB and liked what I saw. Listed as 3 stars, it is a 5-star site for a solo paddler. Great hammock hanging locations, easy water access in several spots, and picturesque views between the islands.

Sunset on Jesse Lake: