BWCA Trip 2014

This trip has been in the planning stages since 8 family's all joined together for a Spring Break cruise in celebration of (the parents making it through) kids graduating high school.  Four graduated seniors...Four dads.

Not many entry points available so we landed on #14 (Little Sioux river) for June 19 (Smack dab in the middle of graduation parties)!

Planning:  Every time  I have gone into the BWCA I end up returning with extra food and clothes.  One of the objectives is to pack as light as possible (including both food, gear and clothing).  We usually shop for 2-4 people so this was the first time we shopped for 8.

A new discovery - Dried Chili-Serves 8.   We purchased 2 and that fed all 8 of us.  Just add some tomato paste and extra seasoning (or fresh vegi's).

We left MPLS on Wednesday, June 18 at 5:30....making sure we hit the pinnacle of rush hour.   Note the hand crafted wooden canoe making its second trip into the BWCA.  After a few hours we decided hit Sammy's (Pizza) in Cloquet and then our final pit stop at the steakhouse/bar in downtown Ely for some Jagermiester and our last cold beer for a few days.   Then we finally reached our outfitter on Big Lake who I would highly recommend.  Very flexible, accommodating and centrally located to all entry points on the Echo Trail.

With two trucks and four canoes we were fortunate enough to enter on #14 and leave a car at #16 entry.  This gave us the option of doing a one-way loop or round trip.
Weather forecast for Ely was 40%-70% for "Thunderstorms"; Bug Forecast rumors included black fly's so thick it prevented fisherman from going on shore to so aggressive they have forced loons out of their nests.  Needless to say that was the biggest concern for me and the group and the biggest reason I avoid the BWCA in June and July.  Not sure if it was the prep, the timing or the expectations but the black flies and ticks were barely out....mosquito's......this is MN.

Entry was Little Sioux with a 40 Rod Portage to the Little Indian Sioux river.  We were fortunate enough to have a strong wind out of the South plus the flow in our favor.   Going into Upper Pauness, Lower Pauness,a 260 rod portage into  Shell, Little then on to the onto the only site on Little Shell.   Our long portage into Shell was a first for me.  During the middle of portage the path was so wet we literally had to canoe a portion of the portage!

Another first for me happened on this leg...again with a portage.  But this time my son and I felt a bit over confident and decided to shoot a short stretch of rapids versus the 10 rod portage.  Well....we made the first drop and then caught the edge of a rock and we rolled.  Canoe, Two Dry Bags, Two Day Bags, fishing poles and all.  We had everything sealed to what we thought was water tight so after a quick inspection and bailing of the canoe we were ready to go.  But my son noticed one thing.....actually a few things.  We were missing our fishing poles (2), his wool Kuhn Sweater, Map and Rope.    Thank god the other experienced BWCA individual purchased an alternate/back up map. And about a 1/2 mile down the river we recovered the rope.  So the rest of the trip we were down two fishing poles and nice wool sweater.

Good Camp Site.  Plenty of room for four tents.   We cooked 6lbs of hamburgers, cheese with bacon mashed potatoes.  Not to forget we also dined on a small Walleye and returned a few Small Mouth bass.  Weather.....overcast all day and some good thunderstorms over night.  Woke to wet grounds and hungry mosquito's

Day two started with a portage that was so flooded we were able to canoe through it which led to Lynx, Hustler and finally Oyster.  This day included a 290 and 310 rod portage.....which definitely took its toll on the group.  Oyster Lake produce a few Small Mouth bass.  We luckily caught a few more walleye in the previous lake so we were able to dine on Fish Soup/Stew with noodles.    Once again....Major thunderstorm at night.  Wet morning with aggressive mosquito's

Day 3 - Again, Thunderstorms at night.   Luckily the wind died down which allowed us to cross Oyster Lake with relative ease.   However, something happened to the handmade wooden canoe and Dean and his son ended up rolling their canoe on the edge of the portage.  Nothing lost.  A long day of meandering rivers, pulling a few northerns from Nina Moose River, we spent the afternoon at  a wonderful camp sight on Lake Agnes that had some stone chairs and tables.   After lunch and a lot of fishing we pushed on to our final night on Nina Moose.

By far the best day .  Great scenery, good fishing (Walleye and Smallies).  We ended up cooking all the remaining food which included mashed potatoes, fresh fish and noodles.  The first time we came home with absolutely no food.

The final day out on Sunday turned out for me to be one of the worst days of life to date.   I won't go into details since I already did that here.