Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: What's New in the BWCA?
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WonderMonkey |
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gravelroad |
scottiebaldwin: "Don’t overlook the Nat Geo BWCA East and West maps. The two maps cover the entire BWCA and being a Gunflint side guy, I bring the East version on every trip and find it’s the best map for daydreaming in camp or to take to the thunderbox for light reading after my morning coffee." That is some serious cartophilia. :-) And you’re right in your assessment of these. |
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WonderMonkey |
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gravelroad |
Cramwich: "I haven't thought about an InReach. Cost/size/utility does seem to offer a pretty good value proposition. Maybe for a future trip if I were solo/only adult or if we were planning to be further into the interior. My buddy who is the other adult for our trip loves new tech/gear/gadgets so maybe he'll want to get one for this trip! I’ve had one for seven years and use it almost weekly to keep my wife posted when paddling solo on Lake Superior (12 months) and hunting, skiing and snowshoeing in areas with poor cell coverage. But I probably wouldn’t spend the money unless I planned to use it more often than you describe. YMMV. |
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Cramwich |
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Speckled |
p.s. The portages might also be a little longer. |
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Cramwich |
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YetiJedi |
Regarding bear options: the bear vault and ursacks are both quality products and make it so you don't have to hang anymore. I have and use both and you can read about lots of preferences/pros/cons for each. When I'm tripping with my daughters I usually bring both. I've got all kinds of paper maps and always bring a set for the area. I'll second the cloth maps for youth - they seem much more likely to use them in my experience. The garmin inreach is cool as it tracks my trip for inclusion on my journal later. It also helps my family back home track my route. Seems like there are more options in just the last few years so I don't know what the latest and greatest is but my inreach has worked well for the last half dozen-ish years. Enjoy planning for that route - lots of great options! |
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Cramwich |
Another thing that crossed my mind is that with the general lack of snow this winter, I'd guess we'll have a better than even chance at a fire ban come mid summer, so we'll need to plan accordingly bringing stoves and fuel. Done most of my cooking on stoves for a long time, but fried fish over a fire. Since i've never done it, any tips for cooking fish over a camp stove? I do like a cioppino, and would like to make a BW version, but nothing like a traditional shore lunch. Do people prefer a frying pan or more of a walled pot as I use much more frequently with a stove? |
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Cramwich |
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Michwall2 |
No drones in the BWCAW. Doubt you had to worry about those in 2009. There is undoubtedly more cell phone coverage than there was in 2009. |
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cowdoc |
I use to hang but have moved to bear vaults. Seems easier, quicker and may be more effective if done right. Proper hang or vaults are the recommendation now. I use to use Fisher maps but now use Voyageur and am happy with them. Buy them off this site. Other than that, its the same trees, rocks and water. |
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scottiebaldwin |
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Cramwich |
I'm dusting off this account as I plan my first trip into the Boundary Waters in fifteen years. Took thirteen trips in BW/Q between 1994 and 2009 and haven't been there since. My sons are now 11 and 13 and I'm happy that we have a permit going in at EP#14 LIS mid-July. Looking to spend three or, more likely, four nights. We have always planned and outfitted our own trips and while I didn't post so much, this board was a great resource. My questions to the esteemed community is what has changed in the last fifteen years that I should be planning for or adjusting my expectations as we make our plans? Obviously the permits are in much higher demand. How has this impacted camp site availability or have the reduced number of permits helped to balance finding a site? Bears certainly seem to be more of a concern than 20 years ago. We always hung our food, but admittedly probably not well. In more recent years, for our much more limited adventures locally in Wisconsin, we typically use a gamma-sealed 5gal tied to a tree. More concerned about mini and micro bears than black bears. I'm thinking that we'd upgrade that approach to a bear vault or ursack, but I've got to do some more online research. We always used to use either Fisher or McKenzie maps. Are those still the go-to or are there other navigation-quality maps recommended? These are just some of the questions that I have, and I appreciate any insight. |
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YaMarVa |
I still bring and use maps, but also use OnX to help navigate. |
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KawnipiKid |
cowdoc: +1! |
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pleflar |
Truenorth's cloth maps are nice too but they are at larger scale (more like Fisher maps) and I have noticed a few mistakes (length of Thomas/Cacabic portage for example). I carry and use both as needed. |
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Deeznuts |
We spent a week in ep 14 last summer and never had a problem finding a campsite. Shell was the busiest lake we saw, with most campsites being taken, but it was a Friday and a torrential downpour so that was to be expected. But in general, most sites we passed were open, which was a surprise as the EP was almost completely sold out for days before and during our trip. I think in total we saw maybe 10 other groups in that entire week. The groups we did see were not large, mostly 4-6 people. There was a few day stretch we only saw 1 other group. I would not be worried about bears if you keep a clean camp and hang your pack. The ground squirrels were particularly persistent, though. |