I'm consideirng a route for the July 4th weekend starting at Missing Link-Tuscarora-Gillis, etc. and back out through Round. Any suggestions? I've been in to Tusc several times in the winter, but have hear the portage between Missing Link/Tusc can be a bear in the summer. I have quite a bit of experience, however, this will be the first trip for a few others in my group. Any other suggestions for a nice 3 night, 4 day route for a group of 5 off the Gunflint? Also, I'm taking the plunge and spending the extra $$$ on Kevlar canoes- any suggestions for a good outfitter up there? I've always taken my own canoe and don't have any experience with renting... THANK YOU!

I did the Tuscarora trail with a friend last August - expect 45 minutes to an hour of portaging and that's only one way. We hit that on the way out and ended doing it 3 times to get the packs and canoes out...That was a long day...

We went through Tuscarora Outfitters and got their Kevlar canoes...very nice to carry. I wouldn't do it any other way. They are right on Round Lake, a short portage from Missing Link. Check out their website - http://www.tuscaroracanoe.com. They were very friendly and offer a free night in the bunkhouse and breakfast before you start out on your trip.

I also used Tuscarora Outfitters last year and Kerry and his team are great to work with. We went in Saganaga through Red Rock-Alpine-Jasper-Ogish-Mueller-Agamok-Peter-Gabi-Gillis-Bat-Brant and out Round. Was a route that could be done in 4-5 days we took our time and took 6 with a layover on Ogish. Another group we were with took the route through Missing Link to Tuscarora and did not feel the portage was all that bad to Tuscarora-just long and they had aluminum canoes. Granted these were high school youth with lots of energy, but they did not complain about the long haul. They went through Little Sag-Gabi and out the same way we went after Gabi-They were a little ahead of us and exited Round early on the last day after camping on Brant while we camped on Bat the last night and took about 3.5 hours to exit getting to Round just before lunch. That route also could be done in fewer days as they had a couple short days (Bat to Brant) and a layover. So 4 days may also be possible if you like to travel hard and fast. If you want to go that hard I would suggest kevlar to allow for you to have strength to paddle and portage hard by only carrying 45 lbs of canoe rather than 70 plus.