Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: September 6 day trip, first timers
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FishingBoscoe |
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TomT |
Another route choice would be entering at Moose Lake and going east through knife before looping down through Kekakabic, Frasier, Ima and Ensign and back to Moose. I've done parts of this and it's well travelled and scenic. |
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Z4K |
My advice about portaging is to practice before you leave home. Load the canoe with all of your gear and then actually practice unloading it, carrying your stuff a few yards and loading it again. Do this a few times and you'll figure out real quick what needs to change and it's better to do that in your backyard than at the beginning of a portage when another group is waiting. Remember oddball things like the fishing poles, fishing net, 3rd paddle, bailing sponge/bucket and life jackets. When I'm single portaging with two people and one canoe, everything other than the fishing rods and paddles goes in a pack or gets strapped to the canoe. Whoever isn't carrying the canoe gets the paddles and rods. Sometimes strapping things into the canoe is a PITA. Practice makes perfect. When I single portage solo or bring a cooler I have a system where the paddles, fishing pole, trout net and life jacket get held in place by my seat cushion and a single bungee (this frees person #2's hands to carry the cooler) . I can strap things in quickly and undo them just as fast; this way I can fish between portages without it being a major effort to get to the rods and (hopefully) the net. If you do strap things into the canoe make sure to lift it to test the balance at home and adjust accordingly. I'm assuming that with your backpacking background you will be single portaging: I highly recommend it. The big question for me when single portaging with two people and one canoe is: Who goes first? If the canoe goes first you run the risk of spooking wildlife without getting to see it while if the other person goes first who's going to pick up that net when it falls out of the canoe? A good habit to develop is making sure the last person at a portage landing looks around for any forgotten/fallen items before taking off down the trail. This is easier to do without a canoe on your shoulders. I hope you have a great trip! Don't stress about it too much between now and then! If you've done a bunch of backpacking then canoe tripping should be easy. |
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bhouse46 |
I backpack and paddle in many places and while the BWCA is showing some wear from use, it remains one of the cleanest and less crowded places I visit. You really cannot go wrong from my perspective and you are going at a really good time of the year. |
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billconner |
There are many options. You mentioned kayaks. If that's what you are taking, that would affect recommendations, and elicit many recommending you rent canoes. Beware. |
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Northwoodsman |
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FishingBoscoe |
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FishingBoscoe |
Our trip priorities are good fishing, solitude (the fewer people we see the better), small lakes or rivers, and good scenery. We are feeling very overwhelmed with were to begin to plan a trip route. Ideally we would like a loop or out and back. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. |
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soundguy0918 |
As bill said you are going in the low season so you will have solitude almost everywhere. Even though you don’t need gear, you could narrow down east vs. west depending on where you are coming from and if you want a night “in town” to readjust to civilization before you go home. |
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cyclones30 |
Never portaged? You've got plenty of time to practice and work out for it. Ask us questions as it gets closer and you're going to try. Route suggestions...for smaller waters and fishing. Mudro EP 22 or 23 up thru Fourtown, Boot, Gun to Thunder/Beartrap. Nice lakes and campsites all the way. If you want different scenery on the way back out, from Gun go to Bullet and down Moosecamp river. Narrow winding river with Moose and other wildlife chances |
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FishingBoscoe |
Our main loves are fishing and just being in nature away from people. We don’t have anything specific as far as sight seeing. We are truly open to anything. |
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billconner |
Will you need an outfitter or do you have everything? And do you have a preference for east or west - up the north shore or over towards Ely? I love Ely and have nearly always gone through there. There are advocates equally loyal to east side. You'll get a lot of suggestions in the next 24 hours, I'm sure :) |