Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Horse River current water level
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schweady |
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Bushman |
bretthexum: "I was there about 3 weeks ago and it was very low. Maybe with the recent rain its a little higher but I can't imagine much better. Have you thought about Jackfish Bay of Basswood and down the Basswood River to Crooked? I'm headed that way on the 24th. I've been all the other ways and that one is my favorite. Best fishing all the way once you get to Jackfish Bay. Plan is to post up near Wednesday bay for a day or two. Travel over to Sat/Sun Bay/Curtain Falls and then head south out Friday Bay. The Horse River is my main deciding factor. It takes a little time to get to LBF with the extra portages on Horse and this time of year I'm not banking on a site near the falls. If I stay on Jackfish Bay the first night as close to UBF as I can then I have all day to get down the Basswood River and find a site somewhere on Crooked. |
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bretthexum |
I'll be heading in Friday and debating Fourtown or Horse River route to Crooked. We shall see. |
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naturboy12 |
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Tomcat |
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kpmc |
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schweady |
bretthexum: "Just got out from a Mudro-Wed Bay trip. I'm assuming that this was with your fully loaded packs. We plan to do it as a day trip... hopefully, next Monday or Tuesday, from a basecamp on Horse Lake. Would you say it would be an entirely different story in that case? Here we are the last time we enjoyed it in August 2012. |
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BriMan |
Hoping to get up to basswood falls. Can anyone tell me about the horse river conditions. I know it’s low. But is it realistically doable. I can handle extra portages and carry overs. My biggest concern is being able to push through the rice paddies. I’d hate to get all the way up the river and have to turn around. Thanks! |
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bretthexum |
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bretthexum |
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bretthexum |
River is just tough. I think there's a total of 6 spots to either carry over or portage in addition to the 3 official portages. It took us prob 3.5 hours single portaging. Just really slow going and scratched the crap out of my canoe. Thinking twice about going again until the water level goes up. |
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Bushman |
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schweady |
Thanks to all who commented here and provided encouragement. :-) |
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kecker |
There is a beaver activity building/rebuilding/reinforcing a dam across the entrance to the Horse River on Horse Lake, and he seems to be getting pretty efficient at it. On the Basswood end of the river you'll have about a mile of pretty dense wild rice to paddle through and half of that there isn't a path through it. It's doable but challenging. |
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schweady |
Yeah, that long stretch of wild rice got a bit tedious. Had to stand up a few times to look for a route with some less dense growth. Billy at VNO alerted us to the beaver activity adding to the fun on the Horse River: "They take out the dams once in a while but won't trap that darn beaver!" As Lynn O'Kane would say, when she and John were owners there, and we rented their canoes: "It's not a 'pull-over,' it's a 'LIFT-over.'" :-) |
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schweady |
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AdventureRob |
Heading out of Mudro on the 28th with the family (their first trip to BWCA my boy is 4) I love Mudro as an access point and was hoping to make it up to crooked. Reading this is post is disheartening to say the least. Last time on the Horse river was low but sounds like its much worse. Anyone have any recent reports? If its as low as it looks I might adjust course and go over to Fourtown instead of Basswood/Crooked. Is the juice worth the squeeze fully loaded with a 4 year old? |