Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Analyzer and the Misses Trip
|
Author | Message Text | ||
Selfsuffi |
|
||
straighthairedcurly |
|
||
flynn |
|
||
analyzer |
This year, I brought Nette to Canoecopia. She really got into all of the little seminars, and is excited about seeing other parts of the BWCA, Quetico, and maybe even Woodland Caribou. We're in the process of lightening the load. We're going to buy a Northwind 17 BL/Wood at the Midwest Mountaineering Expo, and I've been gradually buying other light weight gear, prepping for a mid-June trip to??? That's the question. Where to go. Right now my wife is excited about going, but she may try this once, and deside portaging isn't her thing. She usually likes to be about 5 days max, but has said she will do whatever I want, and go wherever I want. This may be my only crack at going deep into the BWCA, Q, or WCPP. I'm planning about 7-8 days in. If you were only going to go on ONE trip, no guarantee you can ever go back, and you have at most 9 days. Where would you go? I really enjoyed that crooked lake loop. That's kind of the adventure I'm looking for. We're going thru Clearwater, and Mountain Lake in August, so I don't really want to go there. I read a Lindylair suggestion in another thread, going on a loop through Malberg, etc that sounded pretty nice. Would you go to WCPP? Quetico? Stay in the bwca? She likes to fish. I would like to put her on some good fishing. She's never caught a lake trout, so I guess that's on the list. I'd like her to see some interesting stuff. She liked the little water falls between hudson and lake 4. That kind of thing would be neat. Beaver dam pull overs, water falls, creeks, pretty campsites. I was thinking about going to Poobah. That would be great fishing, but might be a little too limited in scenery. I wouldn't mind having a couple layover days. What's your most memorable trip, that you think might be fun for the wife and I? I'd like her to see some stuff that makes her want to keep tripping. I'm not sure poobah will do that. But the fishing would be spectacular. Let me know your thoughts. If this is potentially the only time she's going to go for this, would you go all the way up to WCPP? Is Quetico more interesting? We really haven't seen much of the interior of the BWCA. We'll likely be double portaging, at minimum. I don't think she can carry a whole lot of weight. Her knees are a little tender. |
||
Wables |
|
||
gravelroad |
Wables: "I’ve done Kawnipi via Sag through the falls chain twice. I’m saving the next trip for 2021 when my oldest son is 15 and can handle the portages and dangers of the falls chain. If I could only do 1 more trip, that would be it. I’d split the time between the far north end and Kawa bay. If you end up doing this route, email me. " This. Been there, done that, a couple of times. It's the first thing that came to my mind. Mebbe you'll see this as well along the way as I did: |
||
Michwall2 |
Option 1. Entry #14 - LIS North - Inside the arc that is Lac La Croix there is a route comprised of smaller lakes. Day 1 - LIS to Little Shell or Lynx. The LIS has a coupe of nice portage past cool water falls and then there are waterfalls along the route as well. Depending on water levels there may be a beaver dam or two to pull over. The portage to Shell Lake may have a beaver pond in the middle that you will have to paddle. The campsite on Shell is a nice spot and I believe there several nice campsites on Lynx. Day 2 - Lynx to Oyster. Stop and fish Oyster. I here tell you may even find a lake trout here. A couple of longer portages this day makes the shorter distance covered ok. Oyster has a double sided campsite on the peninsula. Day 3 - Oyster to Ge-be-on-e-quet. Find the small panel of pictographs on Rocky Lake. Gebe has a couple of very cool campsites. Day 4 - Gebe to Finger Lake - The falls out of Gebe Lake are very nice. Gebe Creek and Pocket Creek are beautiful BW paddles. The campsite on the southwest campsite of the southern island in Finger Lake has pictographs right in the campsite. Its a great spot to spend 2 nights. We were there just prior to 7/4 and saw no one for 2 days. Day 5 - Finger Lake to North/South Lake. Stop anywhere before there if you like. You have time. The portages here are some of the most interesting I have ever encountered in the BW. If you notice the elevation changes between lakes here, you will see that it is a bit of a rollercoaster, but I never grew tired of the changing vistas in the forest. Do some research and stop to fish. Day 6 or 7 - North/South to Loon Lake. Take your pick of passages here. Stay on the smaller lakes or, if the forecast is for little or no wind, head out onto big Lac La Croix. We had severe thunderstorms coming in so we bugged out on the big lake. Know that you will encounter motorboat traffic on both Lac La Croix and Loon Lake. Day 7 or 8 - Head back up the LIS to the entry. We spent time early in the route finding places where small streams entered lakes and discovered several "gardens" of beautiful small falls, flowers, and even interesting flying insects. Option 2 Entry 54 - Seagull Lake - Take the tow to the end of Three Mile Island if you want a quick start to your trip. Day 1. Seagull to Oshishkemuncie. Head to Ogishkemuncie for your first day. Along the way you will find a beautiful waterfall between Alpine and Jasper Lakes. Most of this day will be in a burn area until you get to Ogish. You paddle out of burn about half way through Ogish. Stop and fish Ogishkemuncie. And take a day trip south to Mueller Falls. Between Mueller Lake and Agamok Lake the Kekekabic Trail crosses the portage. It is a pretty wide spot you won't miss it. Head east about 1/4 of a mi. to the bridge over Mueller Falls. Beautiful spot. Day 3 - Ogish to South Arm of Knife. You will travel uphill today on several short portages until you get to Eddy Lake. Then you drop almost straight down to the South Arm of Knife Lake. Take a couple of hours to explore Eddy Falls. If it's a hot day, you might even stick your head in the falls. SAK is known for its fantastic fishing. There are several nice campsites as you head west. Take a day to fish as you paddle west to Thunder Point. Climb the path to the top of Thunder Point and take in the border of the US and Canada. It is an iconic canoe country spot. Day 5 - SAK to Kekekabic Lake - You are here to fish for lake trout. Day 6 - Head east out of Kekekabic Lake through Kek ponds back to Eddy Lake and take the portage back into SAK and head east to Hanson Lake Day 7 - Your choice to continue north east to Ester and Ashdick to Swamp and Saganaga Lake OR take a short backtrack through Cherry and Lunar to Ottertrack. Day 8 - Paddle northeast through the long expanse of Saganaga to American Point and then turn south. If the forecast is favorable, pick a campsite and do some fishing here or head back through Saganaga to the same parking lot you left from Seagull Lake. This is a great route for finding interesting water falls. Thunder Point is a not-to-be-missed if you are in the area item. I have not been through the Cherry/Gijikiki Lakes area yet. Others have already suggested this area to you. I have a third route I was thinking of, but it has much more aggressive portaging and I thought it may scare your wife off. Have a great trip! |
||
boonie |
If you don't go there, here's another option. Do the trip I did in 2016 - see my trip report. Pictures at Shutterfly . I think most of the pictures have captions if you click to enlarge and roll through. Enter at Kawishiwi Lake EP #37 - Polly, Malberg, River, Alice, Cacabic, Thomas, Fraser, Sagus, Roe, Cap, Boulder, Adams, Beaver, River, Malberg and out the same way to Kawishiwi Lake. The paddle to Polly skirts along/through the edge of the Pagami burn, it's a nice paddle up through there and will have lots of flowers. Go on up through Malberg to the Kawishiwi River (River Lake) SW to the Fishdance pictos, then up through Alice. Then into Cacabic, an intimate and interesting paddle to Thomas, through the narrows into Fraser. Next you are going through some remote, lightly traveled areas, small lakes - Sagus, Roe, Cap - and down into Boulder. I really enjoyed the paddle from Boulder down to Adams, lightly used, intimate paddle. Adams is a beautiful lake - lots of granite. The portage from Adams to Beaver is very cool, especially at the Beaver end as it goes right next to a high rock wall. There is a lot of varied scenery, terrain, and paddling on this trip. The portaging is not very hard, which is not to say it's short and easy, but you get a lot of trip with no really hard portaging. The mileage is about 65 miles, including all the extra miles to double portage. It's easier than the Kawishiwi Lake to Little Sag to Sawbill trip Steve and I did in 2014, which you might look at also. The LIS North trip Michwall recommended is a nice trip. I did that route from LISN to Moose River North on my second trip. You asked in another thread about food. I will email you some information about that as well as additional that may be helpful in lightening the load. |
||
cyclones30 |
|
||
analyzer |
gravelroad: Wow. |
||
analyzer |
Mocha: "WCPP would also be fun. has she met Harlyn from Red Lake Outfitters? he'll fill her head with so many trip ideas she'll probably suggest you guys move farther north! LOL We did meet Harlyn. He was the type of man I'd love to have as a friend. We enjoyed his presentation. I've watched a few of his you tube videos. Once when I was staying on Zephyr, my brother n law dropped his glasses in 7 ft of water. Despite multiple attempts to dive down and retrieve them, it was just a little too stirred up, and t-stained to see them. I knew my dad was somewhere on Ester, and would have swim goggles, so we made a day trip over there. I'll never do the swamp to Ashdick again. Yuk. But Ester was B E A utiful. I have often wanted to go on down to Knife, but have never made the journey. I guess the thought of portaging 100 lb canoes over monument has been a deterrent. but we won't have that problem now. I'm not sure I want another trip across Sag, this go around anyway. I like the idea of visiting Knife, but if my only two options are to start across Moose, or start across Sag, I might have to rethink it. I'd like to take her on a bunch of smaller lakes. I've heard the fishing is really good though, and it's very pretty area. I'll chew on that one. I'll have to look into the falls chain. I suppose I can't avoid big water if i want to go into Canada. |
||
boonie |
|
||
Mocha |
if you decide to do the canadian thing try to fit some time for a paddle along the canadian shore of Sag (about straight north of old customs station to hook island area) it is so lovely. after re-reading all the suggestions, including mine, perhaps we are too aggressive for your wifes first time? she might like more lollygagging, lillydipping sort of days. you'll need to save time for moonlight paddles and stargazing. that point site on SAK is awesome for that sort of thing. long long pebbly beach, wide open view of the night sky. if you decide to go to the Q you should try to go through Cache Bay so you can meet Janice, the ranger. your wife will be in awe and then realize that YES! she can be more adventurous and do more trips with you. the man chain is nice, then you could come back along knife and ottertrack and either paddle across sag or get a tow. in any case, be sure to take enough camera batteries to last the entire trip. there will be so many wildflowers in bloom and birdies.... |
||
AmarilloJim |
|
||
analyzer |
She's tough. She'll be ok. She can handle getting her feet wet, and some mud. I just don't want her to half to do one of those ones where she's thigh deep in mud, and her shoe comes off. Judging by her reactions this evening, I don't think she wants to cross sag again. She's crossed sag 30 times, and is looking for new scenery. Granted, she hasn't been up into cache bay, or over to Knife. I think if we do NAK/SAK etc, we'll probably go via Moose. I guess I'll take all of your suggestions and read some more trip reports. I feel like I'm cramming for a final, and Mid June is coming quickly. LOL. Ordered the pads, a whisperlite universal, a silnylon tarp, working on new sleeping bags, are's are at least 30 years old, don't squish down much, and the zippers are broke, so it was time anyway. We'll be going to the MWM Expo to get the Northwind. Probably go the thursday before to try paddling the canoe. But I think I'm pretty set on it. I was looking at maps today of Knife. Seems like a lot of big water. When we go to Zephyr, she likes paddling in the narrows between 1st and 2nd bay. That's her favorite part of the trip. I'm not sure I want to start her trip with a 6 mile paddle up Moose. But maybe it's not as wide open as Sag. |
||
analyzer |
Michwall2: "I have two ideas: Well, I've pulled the trigger on the LIS North permit, for June 14th, and we will be doing this route. One question, do you think it's better to do this route clockwise, or counter clockwise? Thank you Michwall2! |
||
boonie |
|
||
analyzer |
Michwall2: "I have two ideas: Thank you for that very detailed write up. I will look them both over. Thank you.. |
||
analyzer |
boonie: "What would I do? I'd go to WCPP. Why? Because I've never been there and I want to go. With all due respect Boonie, when I looked at some of those pictures, it makes me want to shy away. There were one or two pictures, particularly cacabic, that looked like low water levels with lots of boot sucking mud. She might end the trip right there. LOL. IDK. I like the little intimate areas, but some of those portages looked like they might be a little bit rough on the wife. |
||
analyzer |
flynn: "Cherry and the whole NAK/SAK area is stunningly beautiful. It's some work to get there, but I think it would make almost anybody want to come back, to keep tripping for the chance to see places like this. Stunning photo. |
||
Michwall2 |
analyzer: " You might do some pre-trip "preparation" with your wife. Maybe get her a good pair of high-top galoshes. Mud comes with the territory of portaging. A lot depends on the amount of rain before and during your trip. Neither of the trips I proposed are without the possibility of mud at the ends or in the middle of portages. Many portages ends are as far as possible up small channels in the bays of lakes or rivers. This done to reduce travel by foot as much as possible. Those small channels are susceptible to water levels. And the presence of mud. This is especially true of river travel. But those same rivers are some of my most cherished memories of travel in the BW. Just beautiful places. Water flower gardens, pitcher plant colonies, wild rice beds, otter encounters, beautiful species of ducks, etc. I will take river travel (and the mud) any day for the possibilities it holds. In addition, even the "driest" of portages can be overrun by beaver ponds from one week to the next. There are several portages that were dry when I first started traveling the BW that have portions that are now under water. New beaver dams spring up all the time. Pulling over beaver dams often requires wet feet and some "moose-muck". The work of beavers changes the level of water in lakes all the time. Several lakes have come and gone and come back again due to the presence or lack of beavers. If you travel the BW, you will encounter mud. Rinse it off in the lake/river and go on. |
||
boonie |
|
||
cyclones30 |
|
||
timatkn |
The tow is expensive, but fun and keeps the area in relatively low usage. You get to see all the LacLa Croix pictos. Lots of options. Put in at bottle, see Rebecca and curtain falls the first day. Camp in the Rolands or I’d push on to Argo. Then I’d go up to Darky check out the pictos, move on to Brent, down to Ted—remote and more pictos. Take Cone back to Argo and back out at bottle with some beers waiting for you in the tow. Lots of different options off of this... That route is relatively remote, good fishing, some crystal clear lakes, pictos, waterfalls. T |
||
Mocha |
she'll love it and definitely want to return. WCPP would also be fun. has she met Harlyn from Red Lake Outfitters? he'll fill her head with so many trip ideas she'll probably suggest you guys move farther north! LOL good luck |
||
cyclones30 |
Or......start at Moose R. North and head to LLC on the border. See the amazing pictos there and warrior hill. Then east to Iron and curtain falls. Then you're into Crooked which sounds like familiar territory once you get to Friday Bay. Go out Mudro any way you please. Great fishing, scenery, etc. |