BWCA Fall Lake Trip August 16-20th Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum


BWCA Messageboard

BWCA and Quetico Park Books and Magazines

Find Outfitters for the Boundary Waters Quetico

Boundary Waters (BWCA) photo gallery and individual photo journals

Boundary Waters Message Board and Forums.

username

password

Remember Me




	Feedback
	Contact Us
	Route Guide

Chat Rooms (0 Chatting) | Search | Login/Join

* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.

View BWCA Photo and Trip Report Contest Page

2009 BWCA Photo Contest Results

Boundary Waters Quetico Forum

Trip Planning Forum

Fall Lake Trip August 16-20th

View Boundary Waters Map Locations

Route Guide

community sponsor

Gunflint Northwoods Outfitters

Last Visit: 09/10/2010 02:01AM
Sort by

Author

Message Text

Lazerath

07/07/2010 01:36PM

Hi all!

I've been up to the BWCA 5 times and I'm looking to take a 6 to 8 person group into the BWCA on August 16th and exit August 20th or 21st. We've always gone into Lake One and base camped Hudson or Insula from the first day, coming out to camp Lake One the night before our exit.

So, this year we're finally going into a different EP, in this case Fall Lake, EP 24. Some members of the crew couldn't commit as soon as we'd want due to work negotiations, so we had a limited number of EP options.

Our plan is to make it to Basswood Lake the first day and get past the motor boats. I've heard there are some waterfalls around there and a possibility of making it to Crooked Lake for some sweet Indian pictos.
Just wondering if anyone has done this type of trip and what to expect. It looks like the trip up to Crooked Lake is a long haul, anybody have experience doing that from Basswood?

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

Lightfoot

07/08/2010 12:09PM

In 2006 we did a similar trip. To give you an idea of distance we made it just past Lower Basswood Falls (LBF) on the first day. We left Fall Lake entry about 7:30, had lunch at the last site before Basswood Falls, and reach the second campsite past LBF about 4:30. I would guess it's slightly longer than the Lake One entry to Insula. It was a long day but we rewarded ourselves by spending 3 nights at that site.

The last site before reaching LBF (just east of where the Horse River comes in) is very nice. The first 2 sites past LBF are both very nice. We were not impressed with any of the sites we past between Basswood Falls and LBF. From LBF its just a short paddle up to the pictos which are located on a huge rock face on the west shore.

The map shows the route we followed; the photo shows our campsite just beyond LBF.

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

Lazerath

07/09/2010 12:06PM

Thanks Lightfoot, great info.

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

Lazerath

07/09/2010 12:50PM

@Lightfoot: What was the composition of your group like? Any kids or 'old fogies', or was it all strong, healthy men? Also, what kind of canoes did you take (3 man kevlar, aluminum tanks, etc...). Just trying to get a reference for your timing.

Thanks in advance.

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

Lightfoot

07/12/2010 12:40PM

Our group consists of 4 old guys (52 at that time), 3 of which are in fairly good shape (lots of bike riding). We have 2 Kevlar canoes (MN II and a SR Q17) and double portage. We are fairly efficent as we'd been tripping together for 20 years (that trip was our 20th annv trip). It was a long day to LBF and we were pretty beat by the time we got there. We had planned to grab a site along the Basswood River but didn't like any of the sites we passed.

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

buhrito

Guest Paddler

07/26/2010 04:22PM

I'm very interested in any advice for this area. This coming Friday (July 30)we'll be setting out from Fall Lake, following the same first section of the route shown here. However, from there, we'll continue down the Horse River and come out into Jackfish Bay on Basswood Lake. ~39 miles is what I'm planning for.

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

CaptainJack

07/27/2010 07:58AM

Ditto that.

2 of us going in for our first ever BWCA trip on August 9th. Fairly experienced canoe campers looking for a solid 5 day, 4 night trip. No basecamping, good fishing and scenery. Any thoughts?

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

GopherPride

07/27/2010 06:00PM

I did a trip last year that sounds similar to yours. We started on Fall Lake around 830-9 and got past the motorized zone on Basswood around min afternoon. Had time to fish still. We ended up camping right past the real narrow part of Basswood right north of where Pipestone and Jackfish kind of meet. The whole time on Pipestone bay we fought decent sized waves also. Didn't see the falls because we didn't know they were there but they sound cool, wish we would have know about them. Length was doable, hopefully you have less wind than we did.

Reply Reply with Quote Print Top Bottom Previous Next

BWCA Messageboard