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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Quetico Forum :: Route direction for Pickerel and Nym loop
 
Author Message Text
PineKnot
04/14/2016 04:57AM
 
If it were me, I'd go clockwise and hope for no northwesterly blows on your day from Oli to Lonely....
 
Thwarted
04/14/2016 08:58PM
 
Tough call. The Sturgeon Narrows flows west so if your trip is early I would vote go with the flow. You can't predict the wind but you can be pretty sure water will not reverse its flow. Socrates? Another factor is the B chain. The port from Fern is a long downhill from Fern to Oli. I did it uphill. Once.
 
04/14/2016 11:05PM
 
Thanks for the input. I kind of expected to see recommendations for clockwise, assuming I try to reduce the risk of dealing with typical westerly winds on Pickerel. Going uphill from Olifaunt to Fern doesn't sound too enticing either, so that is good information!


 
Castaway
04/14/2016 11:06PM
 
I guess I wasn't logged in!
 
cowdoc
04/15/2016 08:07AM
 
Fair amount of some current flowing west in the B chain also. We did it going east, but it would have been more fun to do it going west. There are enough ups and downs on the Pickerel River portage that you dont notice which way is uphill.....tough either way ;)
 
Castaway
04/13/2016 10:51PM
 
Ok, I'm trying to nail down the route for my fourth Quetico trip. I keep trying to talk myself into a base camp fishing trip but I always decide I'll do that "next time".

7 day trip in early July for my adult son and me. I started out wanting to see Walter and Lonely and was going to start at Nym and loop back through Dore and do the Racers portages back to Nym but I've read that Olifaunt and the B chain are worth visiting. So, thought about a Stanton Bay entry and a loop down through the Bs to Olifaunt, Sturgeon Narrows and up Lonely, etc to Batchewaung and Nym.

Now I think I've decided on that route but perhaps using French Lake instead of Stanton Bay.

Whew! Decisions, decisions. I'll gladly take any advice on this proposed loop. I plan to only be paddling on Pickerel in the morning hours since I know it can get rolling. Should I start on Pickerel and go clockwise down to Olifaunt and Sturgeon Narrows or go counterclockwise from Nym which is against the flow? What say you, Quetico veterans?


 
Castaway
04/21/2016 02:14PM
 
Clockwise it shall be! Thanks all for the input.

Now, I have to figure out if I can leave early enough to use French Lake versus paying for the shuttle to Stanton Bay but I guess planning is half the fun.
 
AdamXChicago
04/21/2016 06:10AM
 
Having done that route in each direction, I found it easier going clockwise - the Fern/Oli portage seems shorter that way ;-)
AdamX