Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: First trip to BWCA with kids - Entry Crab Lake & Cummings Lake
|
Author | Message Text | ||
Ho Ho |
|
||
boonie |
|
||
UpNorth4 |
I feel good about our plan and I am very excited to get my kids up north! Thanks ?? |
||
cyclones30 |
|
||
etuller |
|
||
HowardSprague |
|
||
boonie |
We went up to Korb and on to Cummings, but a weather change left us windbound a day or so. It was a nice stream paddle NE out of Korb if you get up that way. |
||
UpNorth4 |
My wife and I are experienced BWCA/Quetico travelers with many 2 week trips under our belts. We have two young kids, ages nine and six, and feel we are ready for our first trip to the BWCA. I was able to grab a permit for Crab Lake & Cummings Lake (OP), as we all have seen permits are hard to come by. We would take a tow to the portage. From what I have seen it looks like a tame mile that used to be a logging road. Our plan is to camp on Crab the first few nights and day trip around the lake. I would like to try and move into Cummings as well, but with the high water I have concerns about the Korb River. We have seven days to play with and could pull out early if needed. My concerns are finding a site on Crab, the portage length, water levels and general concerns on camping with my little ones on their first BWCA trip. I would love any input or thoughts Thanks. :) |
||
TuscaroraBorealis |
|
||
airmorse |
|
||
Hammertime |
Have fun! |
||
Ho Ho |
If you are up for some extra adventure, consider exiting from Crab via Crab Creek instead of the portage. We did this a bit more than a decade ago during a high-water period and it was great. There are a couple unofficial but (at the time we did it) well cleared portages along the creek. You also go over the remains of an old logging road bridge. If you commit to this ahead of time, you can arrange to have your tow boat pick you up at the campsite on the bay of Burntside where the creeks empties. It is definitely more of an adventure, possibly more suitable when your kids are older, but I thought I'd throw that out there. |
||
Prospector |
It was pretty doable with kids to head to Cummings, either via the portage from Korb Lake or taking the river the whole way around. There's a lot to explore around Cummings--we really enjoyed hiking the long portage trail to Big Moose, you can also hike east on the network of cross country ski trails that stretches from the North Arm of Burntside. We also spent a day paddling all the way around Cummings. I'll second Hammertime on the campsite on Little Crab, though you do get a lot of traffic through Little Crab, so you may see quite a few folks paddle by (vs. finding a site in a quiet bay on Crab or Cummings). As Ho Ho mentions the portage from Burntside into Crab was rerouted and covers some rough terrain over the first third, it's rocky so watch the kids. Then it levels out--you'll portage past a marsh where the trail is often under water. We haven't been in there since the crowds of the last couple of years, I'm guessing that Crab will be pretty full and Cummings maybe less. The FS reduced the number of daily permits at the Crab entry point this year from 4 to 3. |