Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Reports :: Trip Report - LIS North Loop, April 2012
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Nick78 |
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UncleMoose |
Trip Name: LIS North Loop, April 2012. Entry Point: 14 Click Here to View Trip Report |
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TuscaroraBorealis |
I think you were right about the internet connection. You did a fantastic job of editing. There was always some sort of action going on. And you kept it short when there wasn't. Still giving us a sense of what you where seeing without overdoing the video. Must've been an awesome feeling to have the area to yourself? Glad you were able to take advantage of our early spring and get one under your belt before May. We're planning on doing a portion of that route this fall. So your videos gave us a taste of what we can expect. Hopefully without the snow! :) Thanks for taking the time to share your story. |
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UncleMoose |
Misqua, yes. It was a bit cold at times, especially the afternoon and night it snowed/sleeted. Everything not in the pack got thoroughly soaked that day (and the last day out for that matter, I guess too). Boonie, I did luck out on the wind, particularly the last day going through Little Loon and East Loon Bay. Wind on top of the rain would have made it a much longer day than it already was. The shelter is a Lean 1 Plus. It's new to me this year, and I'm seeing how it goes as both shelter and tarp. So far so good. One of the things I like about it is the option to leave the additional tarp at home and skip the extra bulk. When I was caught in the snow/sleet storm, it was nice being able to sit in it and make a meal like I ordinarily would under a tarp. On future trips, I might still bring the extra tarp. I guess it just all depends on the trip and how light I'd like to travel vs. how much comfort I want. Thwarted, I double portage and consider myself a bit poky (I spend a bunch of time doing things like taking videos). I also had weather and portage issues to contend with, so exiting from Finger is definitely not a big problem, especially with the longer days in June. If you single portage, added bonus. Still, it's close to 20 miles of paddling and portaging with a few lengthy portages along the way. The Fat to Slim portage was a bit longer and tougher than I had expected from reports, but I'm sure the rain, wet trail and new downfall probably had a lot to do with this. If you do your due diligence on this site and get the proper locations for the portage landings, they are not that hard to find (rock cairns mark both sides). The trail itself is a bit curvy and overgrown in spots, but it appears to be well enough traveled that you shouldn't have a problem following it (except maybe in a few of the new downfall spots). I have a detailed GPS track of the portage that I'll try to post when I get a chance. |
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UncleMoose |
quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Hey, I finally got the videos to work for me!!!" Cool! Thanks, TB. I love complete solitude, but even this trip became a little odd by how empty and quiet it was. There was one group of two guys also going in on the morning I started. They got a good head start, and I didn't see them until Little Shell, where they had stopped to set up camp. Other than that, there was no sign of people at all until driving through Ely on the way home. Going in fall, eh? No guarantees about no snow then either! :o) |
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twston |
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Mashuga |
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joe47 |
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UncleMoose |
quote RJB: "How many hours did it take you to get from Finger Lake out to the entry point on the last day?" With the poor weather and portage conditions, it was a very full day for me. I double-portage and can sometimes be a bit poky (taking pictures and such). The trip out from Finger to the LIS entry point took me a solid 12 hours without any real breaks. It was a lot of portaging for one day. My GPS indicated close to 20 miles traveled total. |
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boonie |
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RJB |
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UncleMoose |
quote DanCooke: "What kind of camera system did you take the video with?" Thanks, Dan! The camera is a new Canon S100 point and shoot. It captures RAW stills as well as 1080p video. I got it for just such occasions when I want to travel lighter (without the bigger cameras) but still capture good quality. This was the camera's second test run, and it passed with flying colors. |
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DanCooke |
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boonie |
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boonie |
quote UncleMoose: "quote TuscaroraBorealis: "Hey, I finally got the videos to work for me!!!" When I was there in late Sept, I also went days without seeing anyone else, but we were windbound for a bit :). If memory is right, between Little Loon and Oyster I saw 4 guys on the South to Steep portage and a tandem on Finger. |
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iwegean |
I really like the high water conditions of early spring. Flooded portages are interesting and the downed trees only add to the experience....and yes, I broke my first paddle last year. Always bring a spare! |
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UncleMoose |
quote nctry: "Nice report! Good to know the portage from Fat is still there. I plan to do that this fall... and haven't done it in many years. I think we figured it to be about a mile long. And the portage to Oyster hasn't got much better since I was there a couple years ago. I expected an "OH SH..!". When you showed the Oyster portage, or did that get edited out. :) I'm doing the Lean thing too this year and look forward to using it a lot. Got the Lean 2..." I still need to process the GPS track data for the Fat to Slim portage, but that feels about right in terms of length. It felt like about a mile, maybe a touch more. All the rain and new deadfall probably made it feel a bit longer than it actually is. One of the primary motivations for this video was to create something to show my nieces and nephew what Uncle Moose actually does on his canoe trips. Fortunately, my colorful comments upon reaching the Oyster portage occurred before the camera started rolling. They don't need to know that part of canoe tripping until they're old enough to try it themselves. :o) |
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Ho Ho |
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DanCooke |
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paddlinjoe |
A true blessing of a report. |
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nctry |
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UncleMoose |
quote nctry: "Two questions... Is that boat a RX Wilderness? And was that hand axe the Gerber from BWJ?" Yes, the canoe is a Royalex Wilderness, and the axe is the Gerber Camp Axe (I believe the same one advertised in the BWJ). |
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nctry |
quote UncleMoose: "quote nctry: "Two questions... Is that boat a RX Wilderness? And was that hand axe the Gerber from BWJ?" I had the identical canoe at Wing Night last week. :) Minus the bdb's |
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UncleMoose |
quote UncleMoose: "I still need to process the GPS track data for the Fat to Slim portage, but that feels about right in terms of length. It felt like about a mile, maybe a touch more. All the rain and new deadfall probably made it feel a bit longer than it actually is." As I suspected, the conditions did make the portage feel longer than it actually is. My GPS track data indicates it's closer to 256 rods (8/10ths of a mile). The detailed track data can be found at the following link: Fat to Slim Portage GPS Track |
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UncleMoose |
quote OneMatch: "I'm curious how you mounted your camera? Sometimes it appears it is on you and sometimes on the boat." Jerry, I used a variety of different mounts. I have a more traditional, compact/light-weight tripod that worked well for shots around camp. Then I also brought a Joby GorillaPod and a small clamp-on mount for attaching to tree branches, thwarts and so on. The combo worked well, but I also have ideas for future improvements. Most of the canoe paddling shots were done with the small clamp-on mount attached to a thwart. When portaging, I mostly just hand-held the camera on my return trip of the double-portage. The one time when I carried the canoe, I used the clamp mount to attach the camera to my PFD. I think BDBs make good decorations for the canoe, don't you think? :o) |
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OneMatch |
I'm curious how you mounted your camera? Sometimes it appears it is on you and sometimes on the boat. Also, I think you need more bdbs. Thanks again. See you this summer. |
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Rambler_Dog |
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UncleMoose |
Day 1 - High: 51; Low: 26 (Friday, April 20) Day 2 - High: 39; Low: 32 (Saturday, April 21) Day 3 - High: 44; Low: 32 (Sunday, April 22) Day 4 - High: 60; Low: 32 (Monday, April 23) Day 5 - High: 62; Low: 35 (Tuesday, April 24) Day 6 - High: 48; Low: 39 (Wednesday, April 25) |
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bear bait |
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RJB |
I posted a trip report for the loop from "EP14 exit EP16". It was a great trip. Bob |
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misqua |
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Thwarted |
How was the Fat to Slim portage? |
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boonie |
It looks like you use the Lean as a combination tent/tarp shelter and don't take a separate tarp...? Is it a Lean 1 or 2? |
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nctry |
I've never seen the "furnature" on Gebe before. That is something. |
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TomT |
That is exactly the kind of attitude a person needs to get through a trip like that. You just gotta roll with it (the weather) and you get what you get. I enjoyed it and will definitely use it as a reference for when I do that loop going the other way hopefully in Sept. Thanks for puttin' in the hard work of setting up the camera. That stuff takes time. |
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BigAl2 |
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nctry |
quote BigAl2: ""uncleMoose": Enjoyed (Thank you) watching your video's in your trip report. I am planning a solo trip via "little indian Sioux" EP to Pauness, Shell, Lynx, Ruby, Hustler, Oyster on June 7. Because of your videos, I am thinking about continuing the loop through Gabeonequet, pocket, finger, bear track, slim, loon and back to Pauness (rather then back tracking). I am a older person and am thinking it will take me about 10 days to do this loop. I would like to take a a 2 day rest at Oyster and also at maybe Finger. Do you think this would be about how long it would take me? In past years I had to tripple portage and my past solo trips were about 6 days so I think I need to lighten my load also. I would take some fishing gear with me hoping that I can have a meal or two. It looked like your gear was very very light, I am very interested in the gear and the food that you (UncleMoose) used on your trip. Would you be willing to list your gear ? Did you use dehydrated food for your trip entirely? What is that small blue pack on one of your packs ? Thank you in advance for any info and help you can give me. I've done that trip and you should have no trouble doing it in ten days. Some long portages and the one to Oyster looked even worse than I remember it being. The Pocket, finger, Thumb used to be my favorite trip. With ten days you should have a few layovers and not have to travel far on traveling days. Going the loop would be much better than backtracking. |
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UncleMoose |
I've posted my complete gear list at the following link: Gear List for April, 2012 LIS River North Trip My food did consist of Freeze Dried meals to help cut down on packing. As you can gather from my gear list, food is not generally a priority for me when I travel, especially solo. As for the blue thing on my pack, I think that may have just been my PFD, as I don't recall bringing anything else that was blue. I basically just had two packs, the main green CCS pioneer pack and my smaller red day pack. |
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msray53 |
Mike |
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Cedarboy |
CB |
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TomT |
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UncleMoose |
quote TomT: "Your gear list is all very similar to mine except, you have a dedicated outfit that you sleep in. You seem to bring two complete pairs of thermal underwear top and bottoms. Sup wit dat?" Yeah, good point. My thinking on that is as follows: The second (sleeping) set is a SmartWool pair that only comes along on trips when temps might go well below freezing. As happened on this trip, it's all too easy to get the travel set soaked if it's raining (or snowing). The "sleeping" set is an extra warmth layer for cold nights and can also double as a backup if the "travel" set gets wet and needs time to dry. If I'm confident temps will stay near or above freezing for a trip, this extra set stays at home. But especially in early spring, when the water is so cold, I feel a lot better having the extra set. If I were to dump the canoe, for example, those extras could be critical. I guess this set is mostly just a precaution and added comfort for cold trips. They actually came in very handy on Day 3 of this trip when it was cold and I was drying out the travel pair. |
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TomT |
quote UncleMoose: "quote TomT: "Your gear list is all very similar to mine except, you have a dedicated outfit that you sleep in. You seem to bring two complete pairs of thermal underwear top and bottoms. Sup wit dat?" That is a good idea for a cold weather trip. Especially solo. I'm hoping to do a solo to the same area the last week of Sept. and I think I will adopt your idea. Thanks. |
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boonie |
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wildernessfan2 |
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RJB |
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RJB |
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UncleMoose |
I have not done the South/Steep portage, so I can't give you a personal comparison. But from what PortageKeeper and others have said, it sounds like the Fat/Slim portage is a very tempting alternative, especially coming from the direction you are. The one wrinkle in all that is the fresh downfall along the Fat/Slim portage from the spring storm. I doubt that trail will be a priority for clearing, so that could slow things down there. But then again, the portages between Slim, South and Steep may not be in all that great of shape either by June. |
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UncleMoose |
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RJB |
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RJB |
On your return how long do you think it took you to get from where you entered Eugene Lake to get to Slim Lake? I'm considering Eugene as an alternative site for the first day. It would seem to allow more options on the layover day. You've been very helpful (this site is great) and I appreciate it. |
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UncleMoose |
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RJB |
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UncleMoose |
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mcspin50 |
I was directed to your trip videos when I asked about planning a trip into BW with my grown kids this summer. All I can say is Wow! Beautiful videos, really gave me a feel for what it'll be like. Of course, I'm not planning on going during sleet and snow season...more like mosquito season. I sure hope some of those portages are dried up and/or cleared up a little when we go through, but at least we'll know that some of them aren't walks in the park. Thanks again. Great job. Lil M. |