Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Planning Forum :: Crooked Lake Pictographs
|
Author | Message Text | ||
Sloth |
quote nctry: "Are you talking the one's by lower Basswood Falls or Sunday Bay. I wouldn't go out of my way to see the Sunday Bay ones... Not much to see. " Yep, I'm thinking the ones by Basswood Falls. Mirth - I'm hoping to do a late September or early October trip, to try in mix in the fall colors. Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm continuing my research and looking at all the info on this site. Any other tips or advice is appreciated! It's a long winter, might as well spend some of it planning BWCA trips :) |
||
KevinL |
That year we went in at Fall Lake and came out Nina Moose. Trip Report My trip report was done as a blog. |
||
nctry |
|
||
Whitepine |
|
||
buz |
|
||
Sloth |
I've always wanted to do a trip to see the pictographs on Crooked Lake, and I'm finally in the infant stages of planning. I thought I'd see if anyone had any advice/insight. Specifically, I'm wondering about: - What is the best entry point/route to get there? - How long does it take to get there from entry? - Is there a tow service at all? Anyone recommend it from a time saving stand-point? - What other sights are there along the way? Specifically interested in other historical sights, falls, picture points. Any other info that you have to offer, tips etc. would be great. Thanks much! |
||
mirth |
Entering Mudro or Basswood is probably your best bet. There's tow service on Basswood, I believe. We went in Mudro in September 2011. With optimal conditions its possible to reach the lower Basswood Falls / Pictos area in a day but you need an early start. If the Horse River is low it'll take you considerably longer with all of the additional portaging. We looped up to Friday Bay of Crooked and then went back South through the Papoose Creek and Gun/Fairy/Boot. If you take the Moosecamp River back to Fourtown there are logging artifacts along the river, as well as the remains of a logging camp at the mouth of the Moosecamp River and an old abandoned car back behind a campsite on Fourtown. When are you thinking of going? |
||
schweady |
We bring some of the creature comforts and therefore double portage, and although I daresay that we are quite efficient, we are not in a race. Our day trip (no equipment to double-haul that day) was August 17th, a late summer date when you might expect a rather difficult time on the river due to low water. But, we were blessed with some timely rainfall early in the month and only had a few rocky lift-overs in addition to the 3 marked portages. With all of that in mind, here is my gps track data from that day: Mudro entry to east bay of Horse Lake around the start of the Horse River: 5.9 mi, 3hr 30m Down the Horse River to Lower Basswood Falls: 4.9 mi, 2hr 30 m Over the portage around Lower Basswood Falls to the pictographs: 1.5 mi, 0hr 35 min The three flumes of LBFalls are quite impressive, even late in the season. Some decent fishing may be found below the falls (make sure you fish in waters where you are licensed) and below the rapids at the northernmost portage on the river. Also, there is some evidence of past logging activity at both the north and south ends of Horse Lake, and a nice sandy beach on the peninsula at the start of the Horse River. The portage from Horse to Fourtown is supposed to have a pretty waterfall, and of course the truck on Fourtown and the other artifacts in that area make for a fun day of exploring. Exact locations for most of that stuff should be available on this site's maps. |
||
mirth |
Sounds like Buz has a good option for getting a tow. Late September or the 1st weekend of October I think would be just about perfect timing for colors. We were off by a week or two when we were up. |
||
schweady |
quote mirth: "Unless its an unusually damp late summer and fall I don't know if I'd consider the Horse River a good route. You could spend a good day just on the river if its low enough." True. Like I said, our day trip was Aug 17 and I was very pleasantly surprised that the water level was still high enough to provide a very enjoyable day. I recall that we spent exactly 8 hours away from our site on the north end of Horse Lake, snacking along the way, having a leisurely lunch, lazing about the falls, enjoying the pictos. Maybe my prayers actually worked this time. |
||
nctry |
quote KevinL: "In my trip report I have both the ones below Lower Basswood Falls and the ones past Warrior Hill along with the GPS coordinates. I went out of my way to see the ones on Sunday Bay and they were... well... I had to use my imagination. :) Never noticed them on maps before. |