I have never been to BWCA, but plan on going this summer with my three boys(ages 14,11,&8).We are going to enter at Little Gabbro lake. Eventually I would like to get to Gull Lake to camp, fish and hike.My questions are: 1)Is it possible to get to Gull in one day with time to set camp? We will be starting in early a.m. I know that there are two long portages to get there.2)Does anybody know how the fishing is over there? 3)Was this area affected by the blowdown?
We are experienced campers/hikers and can set camp pretty quickly, but haven't done much canoeing. Thanks.

You can get to Gull in one day, but the portages are sort of rocky into Gull, so be careful. Haven't heard much of fishing in Gull, but take a day trip to Clearwater, nice sized pike, usually nothing less than 5 pounds!

Lynn

I have a trip planned in early june for the same area. We figured that we could get to any of the lakes in the area (turtle, pietro, gull, clearwater ect.) in one day. I don't think you will have any problem. Does anyone know anything about the smaller lakes north of clearwater. Are they accessable or worth visiting?

Thanks for the replies. Smee, we are going in late June. Lat me know how it goes!

I will be sure to post about the trip when I get back home. You can count on that.

I have made the gabbro, bald eagle, gull, pietro, clearwater, turtle lake loup a couple of times. it is on my list of my favorite loops. some info for you

- there is some decent elevation change on the half mile portage into little gabbro from the parking lot, definitely make sure you have your boots on

- on little gabbro, there is a rock cairn (pile of rocks) where the transition to gabbro lake takes place. i think it is on the south side. finding little gabbro coming off gabbro on the way back can be a little tricky, so keep an eye out for this.

- the portage to gull lake is one of the roughest portages in the loop. the rest are easy compared to this portage. if there is enough water, you can skip the small portage at the north end of the bald eagle to gull lake portage. it is fairly easy to mauver if you put your packs on and are willing to get a little wet, some of the rocks are a little sharp though.

- pietro lake is kind of unremarkable, we did catch some yellow perch that were decent sized.

- clearwater lake has an excellent campsite on the north side. i didn't mark the map, but i believe it is the first site west of the portage to rock island lake. this site has a nice big rock table for cooking and playing cards, etc

- i haven't been on the clearwater to rock island lake portage, but i have been told that it runs through a swamp.

- the clearwater to turtle lake portage is relatively flat, but there is an extremely boggy area at the end on turtle lake. watch your footing, it can be hard to discern what is solid and what is not.(that is from personal expierience)

- the turtle lake campsite on the island is pretty nice. in the fall, this lake is almost unfishable due to heavy vegetation, in the spring it is pretty good fishing for northerns

- the portage from turtle to bald eagle isn't bad, but it does have some elevation change

- with a south wind bald eagle can be tough to cross. this lake has yielded the best smallmouth fishing in any lake i have been to. there are some nice campsites here, try to set up early as this is a heavily traveled lake

anyway thats all i can think of right now, if you want some more info, reply and i'll get some more info for you

kclamken

Clearwater to Rock Island and Rock Island to Lake 2 is difficult but worth it for solitude. The Clearwater to Rock Island portage is some paddling if the water is high enough, but alot of portaging along the shoreline and through some swampy areas. Rock Island to Lake 2 is not as bad, but it is a little used portage so it is mainly bushwack. If water is high enough you can paddle the river/creek out of Rock Island to the Beaver Dam and scale the hill to the trail. From that point it is probably about 80 rods to Lake 2. If you take out before heading up the creek in the little bay it is about 140 rods of bushwack to Lake 2. Get the Weasel Lake PMA designation for Rock Island and camp on the lake. You'll be by yourself, while a short distance away everyone else is fighting for sites on Numbered lakes. In the SE corner in a little bay on Rock Island is a great place for a camp. Nice rock ledge and a 5 star view and site. If you do not mind the work go ahead and try it. Just leave Rock Island the way you found it, a charming rarely used Lake.

Thanks for the info guys! If you can think of anything else let me know. All this will make for a better planned trip and ensure that my boys will want to go again next year.