New Trip Report posted by technically_rugged

Trip Name: LLC Interior Tour.

Entry Point: 14

Click Here to View Trip Report

Hell of a report, well done. I appreciate your thoughts & feedback at the end as well. That BWCA weather can take a toll on people, especially that wind. I’m like you, I traditionally look for open campsites that can take down the bugs, so a little different approach once August ends. Have you thought about a basecamp approach in the Fall? Take your time fishing, filming, and exploring? I haven’t been up to Finger, but everyone I hear from says that lake is special.
Thanks for the report

Thank you! I wanted to capture as many things as possible before I forget the "feeling" from the trip (though I have plenty of GoPro footage to look back on).

When with my buddies, I like to cover ground - if I had been solo on this trip, I likely would've been windbound on Gebe, as the strong winds from the south would've prevented me from going back that way. That's assuming I would've pushed myself on 8-9 hour days, which I haven't done solo yet either. So, when I've got a capable crew, I like planning routes with a fair bit of distance covered. When with my girlfriend, we're not averse to travel, and did our longest route together last year (~40mi), but I like to keep the travel days shorter (4-5h) and overall distance lower as well. Part of the reason is because I'm responsible for a greater percentage of the total work on those trips, and I want to make sure she enjoys herself, so I don't push too hard. The goal for those is usually 2-3 nights per campsite except maybe the first or last one, which is a really nice easy pace that still gets you to multiple destinations.

I do still think base camping in the fall would be really nice, just to enjoy the scenery from a nice campsite where you do actually have time to try to find fish even if they're hard to find, time to explore and take photos, time to find and process firewood for the long nights, maybe even time to cook a meal. But I'm always torn between seeing new things and staying away from people, and seeing less new stuff and more people...

Of course I'm still hoping for a Round - Frost River - Lil Sag - Tuscarora - Round trip next spring. Would give a nice combo of moving and camping with 3-4 nights on Lil Sag - best of both worlds? I've always got half a dozen routes I want to do, and most of them don't involve a lot of sitting still, so maybe I should work on planning more relaxed routes. I just always think about getting bored being on the same lake for the entire trip, but every time we have a short travel day I think "man we have so much more time for activities!" So we'll see.

As usual, very well done T_R. Well written, great photos, helpful descriptions and an honest and humble assessment of your experience. Thanks for taking the time and effort to put it all together and sharing with the community.

Great route and awesome pictures! Good work putting the time and effort into this report. Our regular tripping group hit that point as well with marriages and kiddos. It takes a lot more planning and limits the weeks we can go but we do what we can to still make our annual trip happen.

I am going to take the time to read this report as soon as I get a few minutes when I have time to read anything! (Extremely busy couple of weeks at our house!) But I WILL read it, as my husband and I had a trip on almost all of this route, and I want to read the narrative that goes along with the gorgeous photos--which I DID take time to look at! Wow!

We loved 9-10 days trips. and I want to savor reading about this one.

Great report! Always sucks having to cut things short but sometimes it's for the better.
We had to cut our trips to 8 days every other year. I have a 6 year old at home, things definitely get harder to plan as you get older. People are also less willing to commit to plans that far ahead and with a 10 day trip you need that extra leeway to plan. But if it's important, make the time now before life gets too hectic!

I did read the trip report today and I enjoyed it. We didn't do the same route that you did on our trip, but much of it was the same. We started with a tow at Crane Lake to Beatty Portage (the only tow we ever had in over 40 years of canoe-tripping, and what I learned is that I would rather paddle!) and did the interior lakes in the opposite direction of your trip.

Our trip was in 2005. It was before we ever learned about taking a tarp, and we didn't have chairs. No hammocks, either. Our stove burned up on South Lake and the rest of our trip was cooking totally on the fire. We were out for 11 days and didn't make as many miles as you did, but we did work pretty hard at times, and we were 60 years old that summer. Also, we went in late June/early July, so we had longer days. And more bugs. Lots of loons, too, even nesting ones. I got my only photo of loon eggs on that trip.

Ours was supposed to be a 12-day trip. But when we got to Crane Lake and expected to camp at the Voyageurs Campground there, the lake looked fairly benign and we decided to just paddle in. We stayed overnight at Anderson's and the next day was July 4th, so we were treated to a small-town Independence Day parade in Crane Lake, magnificent fireworks!

And before we headed back to Michigan we arranged for a float plane ride above the area to celebrate our 60th birthdays. So many memories from that trip. It occurs to me that I should probably write up a trip report about it!

But one thing I will NOT have is gorgeous night sky photos like you do. I have never figured out how to do those well. Kudos to you for your excellent photography!

907Tundra: "As usual, very well done T_R. Well written, great photos, helpful descriptions and an honest and humble assessment of your experience. Thanks for taking the time and effort to put it all together and sharing with the community. "

Thank you, and you're welcome! I said it many times, but you gotta take the good with the bad, and it's not always fun out there. But, I'm thankfully experienced/crazy enough to find enjoyment even in the moments of suck. With less daylight in the fall, you have less time to balance the scales - if you spent all day traveling, you don't have much time left to go for a pleasure paddle before darkness falls (whether you wanted to or not).

portagerunner: "Great route and awesome pictures! Good work putting the time and effort into this report. Our regular tripping group hit that point as well with marriages and kiddos. It takes a lot more planning and limits the weeks we can go but we do what we can to still make our annual trip happen. "

Thank you! That's encouraging to hear. More than anything, I think I'm just trying to prepare myself for longer breaks between long trips, so I'm not disappointed when I can't make them happen every year. But, until I can't... you bet I'm still trying to plan for 9 days!

Deeznuts: "Great report! Always sucks having to cut things short but sometimes it's for the better.
We had to cut our trips to 8 days every other year. I have a 6 year old at home, things definitely get harder to plan as you get older. People are also less willing to commit to plans that far ahead and with a 10 day trip you need that extra leeway to plan. But if it's important, make the time now before life gets too hectic!"

Thanks Dee! I promise I wasn't trying to blatantly ignore your portage advice, lol. I remember your Takucmich recommendation as well, and if we had more time to get up there, I would've loved to check it out. Ideally the next route in that area would involve a semi-basecamp on Finger, with 2 nights on LLC/Takucmich to hit Trygg for some brookies. I've looked at the area of LLC just N/NW of Trygg on Google Maps many times. It looks like an awesome spot to chase some bass and I bet it gets relatively little pressure too, but I can't find any fishing reports other than a comment here or there about generally good fishing in Snow Bay. Maybe some day I'll spend a week up there and just live with the constant boat noise.

Spartan2: "I did read the trip report today and I enjoyed it. We didn't do the same route that you did on our trip, but much of it was the same. We started with a tow at Crane Lake to Beatty Portage (the only tow we ever had in over 40 years of canoe-tripping, and what I learned is that I would rather paddle!) and did the interior lakes in the opposite direction of your trip.


Our trip was in 2005. It was before we ever learned about taking a tarp, and we didn't have chairs. No hammocks, either. Our stove burned up on South Lake and the rest of our trip was cooking totally on the fire. We were out for 11 days and didn't make as many miles as you did, but we did work pretty hard at times, and we were 60 years old that summer. Also, we went in late June/early July, so we had longer days. And more bugs. Lots of loons, too, even nesting ones. I got my only photo of loon eggs on that trip.


Ours was supposed to be a 12-day trip. But when we got to Crane Lake and expected to camp at the Voyageurs Campground there, the lake looked fairly benign and we decided to just paddle in. We stayed overnight at Anderson's and the next day was July 4th, so we were treated to a small-town Independence Day parade in Crane Lake, magnificent fireworks!


And before we headed back to Michigan we arranged for a float plane ride above the area to celebrate our 60th birthdays. So many memories from that trip. It occurs to me that I should probably write up a trip report about it!


But one thing I will NOT have is gorgeous night sky photos like you do. I have never figured out how to do those well. Kudos to you for your excellent photography!




"

Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad it brought back memories for you. It is a very special area and I already want to go back. I'd love a more relaxed pace next time, to get more of that BWCA solitude I love so much. 12 days and a shorter route sounds like just the way to do it, though I'm not sure I'll be able to get anyone to agree to anything that long! Some of the group were saying they think 9 days is too long, even though we've done 9 days many times without such sentiments... with crappy weather, even 5 days can feel too long. At least when you go for a longer trip, you have more time for the weather to redeem itself, whereas with a short trip like 5 days, it could be 5 days of rain or wind.

I think you are exactly right about longer trips and weather. That is why I am always advising people not to do their first trip as just a weekend trip. I think six days is minimum to get in the "feel" of things, and usually if you do at least six days, you won't have rain and crappy weather for all six. (Well, we did once, but that was sort of an anomaly.)

In 1992 we did our longest trip, 22 days. At the end I was in tears because I didn't want it to end. My husband felt the same way, I think. And, truth be told, we had record cold weather for June that year, but it was still an amazing time. Memories to savor now.

However you can do it, it is all good.

Just got time to read your report, and it was a fun report. I kept wondering why nobodies fishing! But I don't fish very much myself, but when I go, I bring a Pro with me! I was excited to read the portage from Gun to Little Beartrap, and hoping for pictures, but now I can only hope I can stay healthy enough to get there some day! It is crazy how a person can keep trying different areas of the BWCA, while yearning to return to favorite spots, but it seams every year I go to a new area, it becomes a favorite. But thanks for writing this report with all the pictures, even when the weather is challenging, there are still moments that can bring great views, and many times they are a result of the transitions from clouds to blue skies! I am hoping to add star photography to my portfolio one of these summers, thanks for sharing the Milky Way. May all your future travels be interesting.

Incredible photos and wonderful trip details! You have the same “catch 22” that I do in that I love to explore, then get to the end of the trip wondering if I should have been less ambitious in order to have more time to slow down, fish, and goof off. The truth is, I love all aspects of this place so much, I just want to fill each day with as much beauty as possible.

There’s something way different between reading about the challenges of cold, wet, windy, and then living it. Sounds like you guys soldiered on quite well, but those type of days are so tough. Especially with a group that maybe isn’t having much fun that you’ve brought out there!