Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Sawbill to Lake One
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smokechaser |
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TominMpls |
Sawbill - Alton - Beth - Grace - Phoebe - Knight - Hazel - Polly - Koma - Malberg - River - Alice - Insula - Hudson - Three - Two - One. I'm not worried about long portages, and none of these look too long. I am a bit concerned if any of them are especially hard - I've heard that the long portage from Beth to Grace is a better choice than the two short portages. Any other advice on when to prepare for one of these to be tough would be appreciated. I'm also curious about navigation in the middle section, from Polly up through Malberg and on to and across Insula. It doesn't look too tough, but suggestions through there would also be appreciated. We've never had navigation issues but I like to go in prepared. Anything else about this route that I should know? We've done a lot of trips both paddling and hiking out of the Ely entry points, but this will be our first paddling entry from the east side. |
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TominMpls |
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Twins87 |
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DrBobDg |
dr bob |
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TominMpls |
I was surprised to find that we had a lot of solitude on the lady chain even from the start, but from Malberg to the end it was fairly busy. The portages were all in good shape and pretty easy except for an unexpectedly nasty little bugger in the burn zone between Hudson and Lake Four, that was grown in and had down trees; I think we had chosen the less used of two possible portages there. I'll write up a proper trip report with M soon, but in the mean time I do highly recommend this somewhat unusual route. |
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boonie |
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Twins87 |
boonie: "Thanks for the update; looking forward to the trip report." +1! And yes the Lady Chain is amazingly quiet... though usually Beth is busy. |
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TominMpls |
I really appreciate the collective wisdom of this forum. We're super excited to get going on this trip - not quite three weeks to go! |
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rpike |
TominMpls: "We got back yesterday, it was awesome. For us the trip ended up at 55 miles. It's a cool route because it moves through a few distinct zones and so we got to experience a few different types of BWCA tripping in a single trip. Glad you had a great trip! I got "burned" by that non-portage last week, too! When we got to the rapids that was flanked by overgrown brush and downed trees with no trail, we backtracked around the previous small rapids. For the first time in 40+ years of BWCA trips, my paper maps and navigating failed me. I resorted to the Navionics app on my phone and discovered we needed to go another 150 yards to find the real portage. Coming from Lake One, it would be easy to spot. We started at Snowbank, so I hadn't seen the other end (at least not since prior to the Pagami Creek fire). |
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TominMpls |
rpike: " Yeah, from the west it was pretty obvious that there was a better portage closer to the rapids. But from the east side the only obvious portage was the ridiculous one. But we got through it and my daughter is in middle school so I didn't even teach her any new words in the process! |
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BuckFlicks |
My biggest concern would be the big water on the last half of the trip, if you're going to be on them later in the day, but that's just my own anxiety - I'd probably stick to minimize the wind if I could. Really sounds like an excellent trip. |
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Twins87 |
Water levels were really high last year. Sawbill should have info on it before you leave this year, it is normally lower in July. Have a great trip... sounds like it'll be a good one. We loved the lady chain, especially Phoebe and Grace. Beautiful lakes and very quiet. Lady Chain info from 2017 |
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rpike |
TominMpls: "rpike: " Impressive restraint! |
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boonie |
After you portage out of Malberg, there may be a little mud to work around at the end depending on water levels. There's a short portage on the river before Alice - don't take the obvious landing on the left to a semi-bushwhack portage like I did. Go on down to the rock for a shorter, easier one. |
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smokechaser |
Sawbill to Alton is the easiest portage in the world. Just be careful when crossing Alton - it's a well documented dangerous lake. Alton to Beth is an "up and down" that is pretty easy to traverse. Once on Beth, enjoy the cliff-like feel of the lake. I've done both portages out of Beth (north to Ella, west to Grace). If you're in a hurry, head to Grace over the long portage. It's not terrible. If you want to see more country, head to Ella. Watch your footing when stepping out of the canoe at the Beth to Ella portage landing. From Grace to Phoebe it's a couple of small portages through a waterway with nothing difficult about it. Phoebe is gorgeous and you'll find yourself wanting to return someday. North out of Phoebe into Knight, it's hard to tell where Phoebe ends and Knight begins. Knight is shallow but easy to paddle. The river to Hazel is in the far west bay near the small rapids (good smallmouth fishing right there). From there, the route to Hazel is a few winding waterways with one tough section (47.8756859,-91.0325249) but there's a path through it. Hazel into Polly is one of my favorite portages, especially when it opens into Polly after walking through the pine forest. Paddling up Polly's east arm is gorgeous and one of my favorite lakes. Good walleye fishing along the shoreline and a nice campsite on the east side of the lake. Polly to Koma is a series of small ponds/waterways/portages and it's easily navigable. Just gets frustrating after a long day of travel to keep loading/unloading the canoe. When paddling Koma, head to the west shore then up the west side to the Koma to Polly portage. There's shallow rocks in Koma lurking and you want to be cautious. Don't get caught into the rapids at the portage mouth, but enjoy them as you hike down the path. From Malberg to River Lake, the portage is short but has a 150' section that is under about 1' of water and unavoidable. Be prepared to walk through it. Otherwise the portage is easy and straightforward. River Lake has good pike fishing and great walleye fishing near the rapids. This is a great route and one you'll enjoy a lot. |
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Jaywalker |
Your list of lakes shows you going so close to Fishdance I'd say be sure to stop by there for the pictos. It's such a cool lake. Have a great trip. |
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landoftheskytintedwater |
Consider taking the northeast portage out of Malberg into the river. A lovely stretch. The portage along the river north of Malberg is one of my favorites with rapids and a huge white pine. I also love the river stretch from Malberg to Alice. Be sure to detour into Fishdance to check out the pictographs. A few gem campsites in the northern large bay of Insula. Your hardest tripping will be the Lady Chain but none of it should be too bad. I did it coming the other way a couple days after ice out so we were the first people across some of the portages and they all had nice paths and just a few downed trees which shouldn't be an issue when you're going. |
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Bannock |
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