I'm headed out for a one night BW trip. Crazy, I know, but my 13 year old son and I had a chance to get away and took it. This will be his first overnight in the BW after numerous day trips so a one night trip is a good start. If you see a GMC Yukon with an SR on top wave and wish us well. Heading in early Saturday morning so we can get a campsite by lunch time and then explore a little more of the area.

I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Later all.

Have a good trip Bog.

I hope to be doing the same thing with my son next summer.

Very cool. I'm also heading up towards Ely this weekend to take my youngest for his first visit to the BWCA. I'm looking forward to the trip for myself, but even more excited about the prospect of sharing his first trip and seeing it through his eyes.

Sounds like you should have a great trip. Enjoy!

Have a great time!

I am heading north today myself. Unfortunately for a funeral in Grand Rapids and not a wondeful BWCA trip, but this trip I am planning and timing will bring some good thoughts this weekend as well.

Enjoy your trip and the time with your son!

Bogs & son are here! Going in at Snowbank & trying for Ahsub.

Bogs,

Hope you had a great trip! My 13 year old son and I will be going in through Snowbank on August 25th. Any information you could provide on Disappointment campsites/fishing or daytrip possibilities would great.

Snakecharmer

Good luck on that Disappointment trip with your son, snakecharmer. I hope it isn't a disappointment (pun intended).I talked to Mooseplums last night and we were wondering when you 2 were going. Now we know. Let us know how it went. Maybe he'll be ready to go with the old boys some day. Of coarse that would involve weeks of deprograming on your part. LOL!

I'm jealous! Wish I lived close enough to go in for an overnight!

Have fun bogs, let us know how Snowbank is doing, I went in there a couple of years back.

We are back. Short synopsis.

Disappointment is aptly named if you are looking for a campsite or quiet. 9:00 Saturday morning the entire lake was booked already and mainly with big groups. One humongous illegal group was seen waiting just off shore and grabbing a site as a solo canoer left. They then shuttled gear from one camp site to another where they obviously had camped illegally the night before. Not only were two large groups traveling together but on Friday night they camped together on one site. 8 canoes and 18 people on one site-yikes!!!

Sites I checked as I passed on Disappointment

South Island-Looked nice but faces east-probably could cross to get sunsets

Mid Lake east in a bay facing north. Sloping rocks looked like it might be tent pad challenged, but this is where the mongo group stayed and as I passed they still had 3 tents up and moving others.

North Island-nice but close to shore and a path that seems to get traffic. This is the site the mongo group was moving to.

Ahsub was full as well so we had no choice but to head to Jordan or Ima. Both lakes had sites so I was told by a group on Adventure who had come off Ima.

Got to Jordan and went back to the south bay after seeing both sites in the main part of the lake were open. The south Bay site was used so we took the site that faced north. Nice site, decent tent pads but not 5 star. About 2:00 the group in the bay left and a brief thought of moving passed through my head and vanished just as quick. If I come back to Jordan the site in the bay if it is open will be home. Looked really nice from the water and it was near some Moose Habitat.

Had a great time. Northern Lights shown strong Sat night. Lots of loons with juveniles. No fire ban so we had steaks and smores that night. Son did great and had the time of his life. Trip report will follow.

Did run into Indiana Paddler who happened to be sharing our bunkhouse Friday night after exiting from his trip through Wood Lake and we had lunch with Benutzer and his son just back from Iraq before their entry in Moose River on Tuesday. They will do Moose River to LIS and work up into the PMA above Range Line. Can't wait for their report in a couple of weeks.

Info for Snakecharmer.

The 140 rod portage from Snowbank to Dissappointment is pretty easy-not a lot of elevation change. If it's windy it is shorter to get to the portage into Parent but that adds a portage to the route. The portage from Snowbank to Parent is full of rocks and roots but not bad and the portage into Disappointment from Parent is easy.

I addressed Disappointment campsites that I saw. If you are entering on a Saturday be aware that all the sites might be taken early in the day as they were for me. Other weekdays might have some sites available.

Parent looks like a nice quiet lake too. The campsite nearest the portage to Disappointment looked like the better of the two. I wonder how often Disappointment is crawling with people and no one is on Parent. I imagine it happens often as many by pass Parent all together.

On Ahsub, the site in the middle of the north shore looked pretty nice. The one west of the portage can also access the hiking trail so for day trip hikes that might be a nice option.

I would for sure take a day trip through Ahsub, Jitterbug, Adventure and into Cattyman to see the falls between Cattyman and Gibson. It will take about 2-2.5 hours from Disappointment to get there. Cattyman is a nice intimate set of falls tucked back from the portage. The paddle to get there is quite peaceful and serene on these small lakes. Look for insect eating pitcher plants on Jitterbug as you wind your way through the bog area near the portage into Adventure.

I hope you have as much fun with your son as I did. He definitely is hooked for life but enjoyed the quiet and solitude we had on Jordon and along the route to get there. When we passed through Disappointment with all the people he said "Now I know why they call it Disappointment dad-Too many people"

Bogs,

Thanks for the good info. I expected people/campsites might be an issue with the easy access to Disappointment. My son and I are both avid fishermen. In selecting Snowbank, I was looking for a EP that had the potential for good fishing with the least effort. Not that I'm lazy, but I wanted this to be a relatively relaxing trip. Solitude was somewhat a secondary concern, although it sounds like it may be thrust upon us. It's interesting what you said about Parent. I might have to consider that option. The Cattyman falls daytrip is a definite probability. Did you look for the pictographs on Jordan at all. I've seen some references to them, but it sounds like they are somewhat difficult to locate.

I'm glad you and little Bogs had a great trip! I look forward to reading your trip report. My son is also 13 - actually he just turned 13 today. I hope this little outing whets his appetite for more in the future as it did your boy. Thanks again.

Has anybody reading this post had any experience with fishing on Parent Lake?

Snakecharmer

We did look for the pictos but did not find them. We took an evening paddle to Ima and looked along the channel that leads to the portage. The setting suns angle made it difficult so they may have been there but we never did see them.

They are supposed to be in the channel to Ima along the rock face on the north shore about half way to the portage up the channel.

Good Luck-and yes my 13 year old already has been planning his next trip. :-)

Sounds like you had a good trip. The marsh on Jitterbug is definitly worth a look-see.

The pictographs, if they are in that channel to Ima, are very difficult to see. I'm not convinced I've found them but I've definitly seen potential pictographs along there.

Hex

This makes me concerned. My wife and are are planning on staying on Disappointment after Labor Day. I hope it quiets down. Last year we stayed on Pietro and it was real quiet and peaceful.

Craig-get an early start and grab a camp site on Disappointment early if one is open. After Labor Day things might quiet down as most big groups are done.

No guarantee but I think you will be fine. Don't be afraid to push onto Ahsub or even Jordan or Ima. The portages this way are not too long or difficult and you will get away from the crowds. If you do not want to go in to far check out Parent Lake before going into Disappointment or if Disappointment is full head into Parent and see if it is open.

The camp site on Parent my the portage go to Disappointment is not too bad. We stopped there for lunch and to let the wind die down on our way out last fall. Sandy beach and big pines. When we went through there was one group in the other site. I cannot say how the fishing is.

Thanks for the input. I would like to try my hand at some trout fishing on ashub. Curious how it will be.

Craigb-Try to see if one of the sites on Ahsub are open. Nice quiet lake with only two sites. The one middle lake north side seemed real nice for a small group and its tucked behind a small island. Did not try fishing so can't say how it is, but the water is very clear.

You said you like Pietro as it was very quiet and peaceful. No guarantee but Ahsub could be similar. I doubt Disappointment will seem nearly as quiet.

I was up in Voyageurs Park that weekend and saw the Northern Lights Saturday. I was suprised to see them so strong this early in the year. Too bad they didn't last very long...

We're heading up to EP 16 in about 2 weeks. Hoping to really see them shine then...

We just returned from our 4-day trip to Disappointment. We entered very early on Friday and had no problems finding a great camp site after passing on several others. Had a head wind crossing Snowbank and got a little rain crossing Disappointment, but other than that, the weather was great - two days of over cast skies and two days of partly cloudy/mostly sunny skies. The small mouth top water action was fast and furious. Saw a brief northern lights display last night (Sunday) - not strong but visible. We exited this morning (Monday) across calm glassy waters, a very relaxing paddle.

Snakecharmer

Glad to hear of your success Sankecharmer. I'm sure you had a great time. Did you venutre passed Dissappointment or into Parent?

Bogs,

It had been quite some time since I had been to Disappointment - close to 15 years. I had forgotten what a really pretty lake it is. We spent alot of time poking around its nooks and crannies - just exploring. We did manage a daytrip up through Ahsub and Jitterbug, and walked the portage to Adventure. My son decided that was enough portaging for him for that day and I didn't push him on it. He wanted to get back to do some late afternoon fishing and I really didn't have a problem with that given the action we'd been having. I guess he's a fisherman first, explorer second (I think he gets that from me). So we didn't quite make it to Cattyman Falls. We'll save that for another trip!

Snakecharmer