Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Entry # 47 Trip Planning Help
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Michwall2 |
Gaskin - We have stayed on the first eastern campsite. It is very large. Take a look at the campsite on a peninsula looking west at a group of islands. It is a 4-5 star with more shade and nice tent pads. Winchell - Lots of nice sites here. The ones on the west end near the portages get the most usage. There are some nice ones further east that get less wear and are just as beautiful. Find the waterfall on the south shore and climb to the top for some nice views of the lake. Climb the paths to the top of the cliffs. Stunning views from up there. Ogema Lake is less visited and also has some nice campsites. Horseshoe is moose central. Keep an eye out and be quiet as you paddle here. It is worth your time to take the bay heading to Vista Lake. Nice moose territory through here. Hope you have a great trip. |
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ChippewaCanoe |
The loop will include: Lizz, Caribou, Horseshoe, Gaskin, Winchell, Omega, Hensen, Pillsberry, Meeds, etc. traveling back through Caribou to Lizz. Fishing? Wildlife sighting opportunities, best sites? Any and all info would be appreciated. We have 6 days so plenty of time to explore. |
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YetiJedi |
Fishing wasn't the greatest so I'm not sure my advice would be helpful - maybe ask an outfitter what they are hearing in August. Evidently winchill has lakers but we fought wind and thunder/lightning the time we had on that lake. Walleye in horseshoe and gaskin. Plenty of pike and smallies. We were there right after ice out so the portages had lots of cold, running water. I found the online campsite reviews to be accurate and helpful. We only had one tent to worry about so just about every site would work for us. Enjoy your trip! |
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Z4K |
I was in this area a couple weeks ago with a 3-tent 1-hammock group. We stayed at 674 but I didn't see a site on Horseshoe that wouldn't have accommodated us. It was very quiet/not many groups when we entered but the date (July 3rd) probably helped with that. Plenty of groups came through later in the week and most were pushing to Gaskin on day 1. Moose cow and calf were hanging out on the east end of Horseshoe. The cow was injured. We saw plenty of scat at campsites/portages but only the one pair of Moose showed themselves to us. We also had several box turtles laying eggs in camp every night but I'm sure they'll be done with that by August. Fishing was pretty bad for us but I blame the thick mayfly hatches. Our best action was at inflows. You should have much better luck in august, I hope you have a great trip! |
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maxxbhp |
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Hammertime |
The narrows on the west end are consistently good for us. Have fun! |
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RRHD |
ChippewaCanoe: "Planning a 6 day loop mid August trip out of Liz. I have read all the old trip reports from this site and am looking for more current info. I really like the island site on Gaskin closest to the east portages. No one else seems to like it, I think because the tent pads are far from the fire pit. But it’s got a nice swimming spot, two great hammock spots, and it’s high and breezy. There are also really great spots on Winchell. Both Winchell and Omega are fun to paddle around in, Winchell because the hills are pretty, Omega because you feel on top of the world, and it’s got so many nooks and crannies. |
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Twins87 |
Caribou and Horseshoe were nearly empty on our way through but Gaskin was our first day destination so we kept going... got the second to the last campsite on Gaskin shortly after lunchtime. West end tucked among the islands. We shared our campsite with a mama and baby moose. Plus there were two other moose families we saw swimming between the islands nearly daily - one mom with twins, one with a baby small enough that it was on her back sometimes. It was fantastic moose viewing all week. We have also enjoyed the island site on the east end of the lake and the Mondale site in the past. One of our favorite lakes! We did a Daytrip to Omega and found it much busier than we expected - only one campsite left open there. It's a beautiful lake. We didn't have much luck fishing but only tried from shore a few times from our site. When it wasn't raining it was windy so it wasn't a great week for fishing. And we aren't really people who fish much so we give up very easily! Portages were all very wet when we were through the area but that was the 3rd week of June. I suspect they are much drier now. |
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Fishman53 |
We day tripped out of Clearwater (EP 62) to surrounding lakes and fishing was good on 7/21. We all landed pike, walleye and smallies. Hopefully another sign fishing was picking up in the area. Good luck and enjoy as it goes by way too fast!! |