Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: A bit overwhelmed with options. Help please!
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hfpedersen |
I'd love a little help planning our first excursion into the BWCA. I've read through a ton of posts, read books and poured over maps, and I just can't seem to make up my mind. I'll settle on one area, then something else enticing pops up, and so on. The details are these: It will be my wife, our 8 year old and me heading up one of the last weeks in August. We are all experienced outdoors people and paddlers and don't mind putting in work. We'd like to do a trip that is probably 4-5 days long and my guess is not moving every single day (rather not basecamp) to give the kid a rest. A loop route/lollipop would be ideal and I'm thinking of sticking to the middle or eastern side of the BWCA as we'd like to drive up Hwy 61 for the scenery. Fishing is not a real concern. While it would be nice, I'm not planning the trip around that. First on the priority list would be scenery/wildlife and then trying to avoid overcrowding. Some areas I've considered are loops out of Sawbill, Poplar or Missing Link. They all look amazing, but settling on one is proving to be difficult. Thanks in advance for the help! And... we will also be paddling the two new canoes I built last year during lockdown! |
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A1t2o |
After deciding on renting or not you can narrow it down to what you are comfortable with. Does big water concern you? Are you willing to travel or portage a long distance? Would you be happy with other groups in the same area as you? Depending on those preferences, you can then start to dial it on on a few specific routes. No big water would steer you away from entry points like Brule, Saganaga, and Sea Gull. Clearwater is big too but you can always take the first portage onto Caribou and skip the open part of the lake. If you want shorter portages then you are probably not going to like the Round Lake EP's and be more interested in Sawbill, Brule, or maybe Poplar. Solitude is pretty relative, there aren't any crowds for the most part. To get away from other people though, you usually have to get a full day of travel (or two) in to the BWCA. Entry point lakes or lakes one portage away are always going to see a fair bit of traffic. Also, there are fish on every lake, it doesn't take too much to catch a couple if they are biting at all. Some routes that stand out to me would be, Brule to North and South Temperance. Bigger water on the way in and out, moderate traffic, but beautiful lakes and little portaging. No outfitter though Clearwater to the Johnson Falls, heavier traffic around the famous falls but there are options to spread out a little and there are choices for different portage lengths to get away from other groups. Poplar to Gaskin/Horseshoe. Moderate traffic and portages, nice lakes, simple trip. Sawbill to Lady Chain. Lower traffic after leaving Alton, but there are some more difficult portages. Grace and Phoebe are beautiful lakes and worth spending some time on. Kawishiwi to Polly/Malberg. Nice area, no outfitter, wildlife. Moderate to lower traffic, and the portages aren't too bad. Round to Tuscarora. Long portages, but beautiful lakes. There are many lakes in this are to spread out on and multiple routes to make a loop. You don't have to go in and out the same way. Lower traffic, but it depends on if you stick to the main couple lakes. Off the usual lakes is pretty isolated. |
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Bushman |
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bobbernumber3 |
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hfpedersen |
The loops out of Round look interesting as there are a ton of options and it looks like there are ways to link it without longer portages. |
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A1t2o |
hfpedersen: "Outfitter would be nice. We have most of the gear but the idea of being able to get in late and use a bunkhouse is pretty appealing. It may be tempting to skip or bypass the 400 rod portage to Tuscarora, but people take it all the time for a reason. The Brant route is quite rough, and many of the portages to the south and east of Missing Link are pretty overgrown. I've done Round to Gillis via Brant in a day before, it was rough. The Missing Link to Tuscarora portage is direct, not overgrown, and gets you to a great area. If you like the Round area, I would recommend spending time on Crooked, Gillis and Tuscarora. I would push to Crooked on day one. From there, you can explore Crooked for a day, hop over to Gillis for a day, then head back to Tuscarora and spend a night there, too. You could pretty easily do this in four or five days and see some really nice lakes in the area. I'd recommend taking five days so that your day on Crooked isn't also your travel day. |
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Blatz |
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Cricket67 |
- Find out what permits are available. sounds like you have narrowed it down, so check on Sawbill, Lizz/Swamp, Cross Bay, Missing Link, or Brant. - All the routes discussed are good. Know whichever one you decide on will give you a great trip with great memories. Pick one (out of a hat if you need to) and don't look back. - Contact the appropriate outfitter. In this case it would be Sawbill (note they do not have bunkhouses, just a campground), Rockwood, or Tuscarora. They can help tweak your plans and make sure you know more details and can't miss things on your route. As far as routes, I think any of those suggested sound good. I'll just add one more. Stay at Rockwood the night before and have them give you a lift up to the Cross Bay entry point. There you can make your way back to Poplar. I personally like the idea of ending up not where you started, and every mile is then unique. Have fun and good paddling! |
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Jackfish |
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SkitterPop1027 |
With regards to Bunk Houses, I have used the Boundary Waters Outfitters in Ely for the past several years, they have rooms with several bunk beds and large shared bathrooms/showers for a good price. It's easy because if you roll into town late, you can still get access to the bunk house. |
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Blatz |
Jackfish: "hfpedersen... in your original post above, you show a photo of two canoes and state that you'll be paddling them on the trip. You stated that the group consisted of you, your wife and your 8-year old son. That sounds like one of you will paddle solo and the other with your son. Am I missing something?" The picture has one solo canoe. Those are nice looking canoes. I did that same type of thing once. My wife paddled the solo and my son and I paddled the tandem. |
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thart2009 |
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hfpedersen |
Blatz: " The picture has one solo canoe. Those are nice looking canoes. I did that same type of thing once. My wife paddled the solo and my son and I paddled the tandem. " Bingo. One is a smaller solo. |
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bwcadan |
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bobbernumber3 |
Jackfish: "hfpedersen... in your original post above, you show a photo of two canoes and state that you'll be paddling them on the trip. You stated that the group consisted of you, your wife and your 8-year old son. That sounds like one of you will paddle solo and the other with your son. Am I missing something?" Same thought. I see the center seat now. |
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hfpedersen |
thart2009: "They are fine looking boats!" Thank you! They were very fun to build. Thanks for all the route recommendations. Going to contact Rockwood as that seems to tick a lot of the boxes. |
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hfpedersen |
bwcadan: "If you were to pick the Ely area, you still could see quite a bit of Hwy 61 scenery and take the left on the hwy to Ely. A map will show the route number, but it may be Hwy 1. This a curvy route all the way, so do not think in terms of a mile per minute. 35 mph is frequent along this way, especially if you get behind slower moving traffic." I was avoiding Ely, perhaps wrongly, because I figured it was more of a hub and that translated to larger crowds. If this tends to not be the case I’d be open to heading out of that area also. |
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cyclones30 |
Crowds are more dependent on the individual Entry Point. Some only allow 1 to a handful of permits a day, and others allow 10+. There are Ely and Gunflint entries that are busy, and there are some that are very quiet and some in between. Of course there are also ways to take a "busy" entry and do a portage or two that most of the crowd doesn't and now you're remote again in a hurry. Lots of good recommendations already. The lady chain is nice, some decent portages but you've got light canoes it appears. How's your wife at carrying one? Or will you come back and carry the second on each trip? Call Gunflint Lodge and ask about a Granite river trip or larch creek entry. You'd end the trip at the end of the Gunflint trail on Saganaga. You'd spend a night or two on Larch or Clove, another on Marabeauf, and another one or two on Sag or something? On the Ely side you could get a Crab lake permit, hire a tow across Burntside and do one longer portage and spend your days between Crab and Cummings. |
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mschi772 |
This advice applies to campsite selection. Don't be one of those people that gets hung-up on site ratings and planning/committing to specific sites. The best campsite out there is the one you get and make memories at. Just go. You can't lose. |
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lindylair |
Loops are fine, sometimes they work out, sometimes not. The thing about out and back trips is that it truly looks different on the way back, you see things you didn't notice on the way in. And sometimes it just makes sense. Highlights of this trip could include: Very easy first day to get the feet wet Long river like stretches of paddling on the north ends of both Kelly and Jack Lakes which are very peaceful and enjoyable At the time of year you are going you will see more flowering lily pads than you thought existed in the whole world, really beautiful At the north end of the Kelly Lake to Jack Lake portage there is a short trail to an old abandoned gold mine which is neat to see. Lots of artifacts lying around. Portages are generally pretty short and the longer ones are easy. South Temperance is a gorgeous lake filled with points bays and islands and some nice campsites. Daytrip from there to see the rockslide cliff on Brule, pretty neat. Did I mention the fishing is very good and your likelihood of seeing a moose is among the highest in the BWCA? The northern site on Kelly would provide solitude and has a creek coming into the lake to the east, and a rapids just off the campsite to the west, scenic, good fishing and nice white noise. Here's what I would do, put in at Baker and head up to that northern site on Kelly if it is available. Next day head to South Temperance, find a nice campsite and spend two nights there. Head back halfway to a campsite on jack or Kelly on the way back and you will have an easy day out your last day. At the Baker Lake entry point there is a small 4-5 site campground that is very nice. If you could get a site there for your night before the trip, you would have a one minute trek to the entry point, couldn't be more convenient. Sawtooth Outfitters on Hwy 61 before you turn up the Sawbill Trail is a great outfitter, or Sawbill Outfitters at the end of the trail would be good places to rent any gear you need. Sawbill also has a large campground, a store, showers and only about 9 miles away. For a frame of reference you could get from South Temperance to the entry point on a longish day of paddling if for any reason you wanted or needed to cut the trip short. But taking your time on the way in and out over 2 days is highly recommended. Although there are limited entry permits available it can be a little busy so paddle early and get your campsite early and all will be good. Here's a trip report that might give you a little more feel for the area if you are interested: Baker Lake entry Wherever you go I hope you have a good trip, great weather, solitude, wildlife and good fishing. It is great time of year to go. Enjoy. |
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HighnDry |
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Chuckles |
I'm half in the market for a solo and have thought about building one. |
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A1t2o |
hfpedersen: "bwcadan: "If you were to pick the Ely area, you still could see quite a bit of Hwy 61 scenery and take the left on the hwy to Ely. A map will show the route number, but it may be Hwy 1. This a curvy route all the way, so do not think in terms of a mile per minute. 35 mph is frequent along this way, especially if you get behind slower moving traffic." Not wrong, the boy scouts go through Ely. It does get a lot more visitors. Poplar is a good choice, it's easy to get to and there is a decent chance to see moose in that area. Be sure to bring plenty of bug spray, the area can be a bit swampy. Moose like swamps though so that's not the worst. |
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hfpedersen |
Chuckles: "Don't want to hijack this post, but I'd like to learn more detail about how you built those canoes. Could you start a new thread where you share more detail? Not a problem. I posted a write up about the boats in the General Discussion forum. Thank you all for the great suggestions. Going to break out the maps and pick one from all the great comments. |
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Duckman |
It's going to be like a kid at Disney World for you. |
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Michwall2 |
When moving you should plan to leave camp early, get where you are going, find a camp, and stop early. I like several of the routes mentioned. I like the idea of starting at 50 (Cross Bay) or 51 (Missing Link) and traveling to 47 Lizz/Poplar Lake. We did this trip last August. We left out of Missing Link and spent nights on Snipe, Long Island, and 2 nights on Winchell. We left from Winchell on our last day. Use the Lizz Lake (47) entry and make a small loop through Horseshoe, Gaskin, Wichell, Ogema, Henson, Gaskin, Horseshoe. Usually lots of moose in this area. Lots of people too. From Sawbill (no bunkhouses, but a great campground) Someone mentioned the Lady Lakes (Polly, Hazel, Phoebe, Grace, Ella, Beth) route. We like to get a shuttle from Sawbill and start on Kawishiwi Lake (entry 37) and paddle back to Sawbill. Don't cross the 280rd portage from Grace to Beth until you are ready to leave. You may not find a campsite. I like the idea of the Temperance Lakes. But to avoid the big water of Brule Lake, I would start on Baker Lake (Entry 39). Spend a night on Jack Lake (Visit the abandoned gold mine between Kelly and Jack). Then a night or two on the Temperance Lakes and head back. Another nice route is to get that shuttle from Sawbill, start on Baker Lake (39), and loop back to Sawbill through N/S Temperance and Cherokee Lakes. (You can start on Sawbill and do the same loop adding the Fire Lakes (Smoke and Burnt). Plan an extra day of travel to start on Sawbill.) Hope you have a great trip. |
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boonie |
I have no idea of your travel speed, nor how far or long you'll want to travel in a day with an 8 year old, so I won't make any specific route recommendations at the moment. If I'm reading right, you'd probably only want to travel 3 out of five days. I suppose you'll be able to figure out a suitable route based on your previous experience paddling and portaging as a family. I'm sure you've already noted that portaging into Tuscarora would be a pretty long haul with limited paddle time. Tusc is a nice lake though and has some nice sites that would be amenable to swimming if that's a desirable activity. An out-and-back route will be easiest to adjust if necessary and this could be done on a short lollipop route as well. There are some nice point-to-point routes there, but on those you are committed to that distance. I wouldn't do that on a first trip with a younger child unless I was sure we could do it. Enjoy your trip. |
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RT |
If you are looking for lighter paddle days check out the routes Seagull Lake Outfitters has on their site. I have done the Red Rocks Route a few times when I only have a few days. You can do the route in either direction and it is pretty great. Especially if you plan on staying a night on Big Sag and Seagull Lake (both of which I love). Hope this helps. |
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hfpedersen |
So I ended up getting a permit for Baker on a Tuesday. We had originally planned to go at the end of August but things have come up and we moved the trip to the beginning of the month. I’m a little nervous about the crowds we may encounter but I guess that comes with the territory. Thanks for all the help!! |