Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Range Line lake ???????
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Deeznuts |
Really interested in this trip but don't want to bite off more than I can chew. |
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Beavers |
Three of us made the trip, me in my cedarstrip solo, and the other two guys in a MN II. We bushwhacked north from Lynx into Yodeler, to Achundo to Rangline to Pageant to Brigand to Contentment and out at Thumb. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, and the most rewarding! Achundo Lake Bushwhacking into Rangeline Lake Rangeline Lake The "Portage" into Brigand The Crew on Brigand Lake (L-R Old Rookie, Marques, Beavers) |
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Amok |
HOW WAS THE FISHING?!? and congratulations! Glad you made it! My group has gone from 4 down to 2, so we may daytrip into it but we're not going to haul all our stuff in. |
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Beavers |
One of the guys trolled around Rangeline for about an hour and came up with three 20" northern. I think everybody was too pooped out to try much fishing on the other lakes. |
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Benutzer |
trip report... trip report... I hear ya on the "too pooped" to fish. It says something when you're too worn out to sit and hold a fishing pole. Did you have time to do any exploring around the area, walk down the Sioux-Hustler at all? I'm assuming you used it to get to Pageant. I bet Pageant to Brigand was a gorgeous area. The pics look like it is. Where did you end up making camp? |
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Benutzer |
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moheep |
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Beavers |
I'm still riding the high.... :) We camped the first night on Rangline, second night on Pageant and pushed on to Finger after that. We did haul the packs down the SHT to the campsite on Pageant and then decided to bushwhack the canoes down the creek into Pageant. Good luck to everyone else headed there this year! If you make it to Brigand check out the old campsite and continue the tradition! ;) Now...time to start planning the next bushwhack, it is addicting! |
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moheep |
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Moheep |
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Benutzer |
Yeah, I've been pretty slack about getting my trip report up. Hopefully will get some time to post it over the holidays. I know Bogs has been patiently waiting to see it. As he said, Range Line is reachable, although it's not a trip for everyone. I've heard that the best way to get there is through Yodeler, and that was our original plan, but we thought we'd stick closer to the PMA and try going up the Hustler River through Posse. Bad idea. What made it a bit worse for us was the low water level in late August. Might be better luck in June, but for us, you could erase almost anything blue on the map that was smaller than Posse. Posse itself was difficult to recognize because the low water changed the shape of the lake, so we had to navigate by the topo lines more than anything else. It took us a day to get from Emerald to Lucky Finn, and we were setting up camp very close to dark. That was the longest, hardest day I've ever had in the BW. I should really make it clear that we were worn out, beat up and bloody by the end of that day. I'm a triathlete and my son is a Marine and it pushed us pretty hard. We were inches from turning around at a couple of points. Yodeler-Achundo should be a bit easier way to go, though take the word "easier" with a grain of salt. I can't give details on that way, but one thing to be aware of is that due to the lack of traffic, the number of deadfalls is greatly increased, and the beaver have an opportunity to really make some incredible obstacle courses. We navigated those with 9.5' kayaks and were really glad we weren't trying to force a 17' canoe through the area. We used the Sioux Hustler Trail as a portage, and it was sheer heaven if you don't have problems with 2 mile+ portages. Compared to the Hustler Swamp, er... River, we were ecstatic to be on it. It's a beautiful trail, and we plan on going back next year just to hike it. We stuffed ourselves on pike at Range Line. 22.5" was our best, although we didn't fish long so I'm sure there's plenty more. We trolled for them, but you can literally sit right there at the fire and cast. If you get there, take the time to hike down and see the 3 Sentinels, which is about a mile and a half down the SHT from Range Line. Upon arrival at Range Line. Cooking up some pike. Sioux Hustler Trail between Range Line and the 3 Sentinels. |
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snakecharmer |
What are the "3 Sentinels"? Snakecharmer |
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Moheep |
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Benutzer |
The trail is a bit narrower than most portages. You would definitely not want portage wheels though. Take a look at the topography around Pageant Creek to the west of Range Line, and realize that the trail crosses that. It's definitely designed for hiking rather than portaging. When I was planning the trip, I compared that area to the Devil's Cascade area. It looks like it wouldn't be difficult to go around, but in reality that was actually the easier way to go due to the obstacles and swampy ground on the other side. The number of trees downed by beaver and wind/time combined with the difficulty of finding dry ground required us to carefully choose every step. Picture a channel that you can step across, but if you slip, you go down in 3-7' of water. We both went swimming unexpectedly. With the leeches, by the way. Hoping this picture comes out so you can get an idea. - This was one of the easier places off the trail. I'm standing on my pack, which is in the seat of my kayak, and trying to pole along as well as test the ground. Note that you can't tell the difference between wet or dry ground. The hill to the left is too steep to go over, and the trees up ahead are a good 30-40 minutes away at the current rate of travel. If I remember correctly, we ran out of navigable (this part IS navigable as far as we were concerned) water shortly after this, and worked our way to the base of the hill and cut across to the tree line. The grass, by the way, I named "razorgrass" because we were covered with small cuts from working our way through areas like this. Needless to say, we encountered nobody else during this part of the trip. Never saw anyone else on the SHT either. My understanding is that a boat touches Range Line maybe once or twice a decade, for fairly good reason. We didn't really fish for anything other than pike. Just threw a couple of shad raps out while we paddled and explored the lake a bit and took 4 pike within 20 minutes or so. Neither my son or I are what I'd call "fishermen", so someone with more skill might catch something else. I'm not sure of your level of experience, so I don't know if it's a trip to recommend. For my son and I it was an incredible journey, but we thrive on challenges and are the type that enjoy paddling in the rain, if that means anything to you. My other son did not accompany us on this trip because even though he also likes challenges, he would not have enjoyed the hardships. There's a fine line between an adventure and a painful experience sometimes. ;-) As an example - we exited at EP 14 and the car was at EP 16. My son ran the 7 miles to go get it while I brought the boats and packs up. He was back in about an hour and a quarter, and had stopped to chat with some bear hunters on the way. We went that way because we believe it was much easier to do the ~2.5 - 3 mile double portage (7-9 miles total) to Loon and the run, rather than the bushwhacking. |
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Benutzer |
You'll notice though, that the SHT doesn't go anywhere near Yodeler or Achundo. |
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Beavers |
Thats a ton of good info. We were thinking of checking out the Hustler River on the way out. Looks like that would be a waste of time. Did you guys make it to Pageant? Did either Pageant or Rangeline Creeks look navigable? Thanks! Moheep, My group is attemting it in mid May. I'll let you know how we fare. If you do a search on CCBB you will find more info on fishing and the Yodeler Achundo route. |
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Benutzer |
Yes, we made it to Pageant, and then took the SHT to the Heritage-Loon portage and out to Loon. That was a very long double portage (the 7-9 mile one I referred to above). Pageant Creek was not navigable at all. Range Line Creek (from Lucky Finn) was not navigable the full way, however after doing the Hustler River the day before, we were surprised that we were able to paddle more of it than expected. At a different time of year with higher water, it's likely navigable almost the full distance. If you're going to hang out in the Weeny Lake PMA, one of the things to be aware of is that it gets VERY little traffic. I believe there was only one other party that had reserved a night or two this past August. The problem with that is that no downed trees get used up as firewood. We had some difficulty finding places to set up camp due to that. You might want to consider doing what we did, and bring hammocks and a tarp. When there's no unobstructed ground, you can still use them. We actually only set the tent up for a couple nights out of the 10 we were there. I also lit no fires in the PMA due to the excessive kindling on the ground. We just used the stove to cook on. Charm Lake (in the NE corner of the PMA) had some pretty aggressive pike, although smaller than the ones at Range Line. My son caught one on his first cast and another 3 casts later. Mepps spinner if I remember correctly. It was an easy bushwhack from Gebe. To be honest though, there's no advantage to bringing the boats into that area, and plenty of reason not to. That's one reason we're planning to go back and just hike the trail. We do enjoy the challenge, but I think the extra effort required does take away from the ability to relax and enjoy the area a bit. Something to think about anyway. I don't know for sure, but I'm tentatively hoping to be hiking the trail late April, early May (between snow and bugs), so it's possible we'll cross paths. |
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Beavers |
I figure if we do ok with the long bushwhack from Yodeler to Achundo we should be good to go. We are planning on continuing north from Pageant thru Contentment and Brigand to Thumb. I was hoping that Pageant Creek would be high enough in May that we could put in at the SHT north of RL and make it into Pageant that way. If not I guess we will just have to continue on the SHT all the way to Pageant. If you see three guys in a tandem and a solo be sure to say hi! Thanks again, Beavers |
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Bannock |
It says it is on the Sioux Hustler Trail. |
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Beavers |
When this spring are you planning on heading thru there? Me and two other guys are going to head south to north across the Weeney Lake PMA this spring. We have actually been able to find quite a bit of info on the area. There's at least four guys that have made it in there with canoes. |
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Benutzer |
Picture does not do it justice. |
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Benutzer |
Yeah, plan on using the SHT all the way between Range Line and Pageant, which is around 1.5 - 2 miles. My GPS said it was a bit longer than they say in the brochure. You might get lucky with the creek, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Actually, if I recall, from RL to Pageant would be upstream and relatively steep (at the crossing at least). But the trail itself is gorgeous, so it's worth it to walk the extra distance. |
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moheep |
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Benutzer |
One thing I should mention, that I didn't before. We found it incredibly handy to bring the GPS, if for no other reason than to mark the location of the boats and gear. We spent a LOT of time dropping the boats and gear, and then scouting a path ahead to avoid having to backtrack around impassible areas. Knowing we could find the boats easily again allowed us to scout a bit further than we would have otherwise. |
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Beavers |
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adam |
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Amok |
(ok, plan on going there) and ty adam :) |
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moheep |
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Moheep |
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starwatcher |
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moheep |
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Amok |
It's a relief to know that we're not all going to be there at once. lol. For a place that rarely sees a boat, it's going to be busy next June! |
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Amok |
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bogwalker |
Moheep-I can answer one question. Portage wheels would be illegal assuming anyone one was around to catch you. Knowing parts of the Sioux Hustler from past hikes I would doubt portage wheels would be much use anyways as there are sections that are pretty good, but there also lots of rocks, obstacles etc which would probably make portage wheels more work then they are worth. Respect the rules and leave the portage wheels home-they would not be much help and you would end up carrying them more then using them anyway. |
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moheep |
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Beavers |
I'll be sure to let you know it turned out when we get back. I won't be able to give you a fishing report though. On a bushwhack like that every ounce counts. There is no way I'm going to haul in fishing gear with me. ;) Thanks again for all the info Benutzer! BTW- I'm just amazed that a topic on a lake like Rangeline has 19 responses! |
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Amok |
But... the "brochure" says that the canoe campsite is on the islands. I thought that was an unofficial campsite. (no fire grate/etc.) |
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bogwalker |
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Amok |
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crash99 |
We chose that lake because of the remoteness of it and on paper it looks like it should be a good fishing lake. What dates do you plan on going in early June? since that's the same time frame we were looking at(May 29th - June 9th), I would rather work around your dates than one of us getting there before the other and have the other party make the trip all the way there only to have to turn around and find a new camp. |
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crash99 |
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Moheep |
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Amok |
It turns out that NONE of us did, but we now have a lot more info on the area. Thanks guys. (from someone who is tired of lurking) |
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Benutzer |
However, Range Line is not in the Weeny Lake PMA. Upper Range Line is. The Forest Service has maps, but this is what I show: Weeny Lake PMA Section 1 - Contentment, Brigand, Nahimana, Lucky Finn, Upper Range Line. Section 2 - Charm, Mantle Section 3 - Posse Section 4 - Hag, Weeny Outside the PMA are Thumb, Finger, Gebe, Green, Rocky, Oyster, Hustler, Yodeler, Range Line, Pageant. If I recall, there may be one or two older sites that may or may not be maintained that are shown on different maps. I don't believe any were on the island. The site on the point in the northeast corner of the map that faces the 3 islands is the currently maintained site. And it's fun to cast from the campfire anyway. ;-) |