Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Prairie Portage To Sarah and Back: A Test of Resolve and Obstinance or Attack of the Killer slugs
by Freeleo1

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe

Entry Date: 06/28/2023

Entry Point: Quetico

Exit Point: Moose Lake (EP 25)

Number of Days: 8

Group Size: 2

Trip Introduction:

Sorry in advance, the program is taking out the breaks in the intro. .... ...... ...... ...... ....... ...... ........ ...... ...... My husband Dan and I planned this trip together. I did most of the route research and obtained the Quetico permit and outfitter reservations for a tow, canoe and bunkhouse while he took care of the RABC and fishing license and conservation card as well as planning the route to drive there and booking hotel rooms. We both worked on planning and dehydrating meals. ....... . ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ....... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... The route could probably be done more easily if we could reduce our loads. We have opted for a lot of lightweight gear, but have duplicates for items that we feel we are necessary like stoves and water filters. We decided to drive from Houston since we could have all our portage packs loaded, balanced and ready to go except for water and the cold items and we would have had to ship stoves, fuel cans, life preservers and paddles. ....... ....... ........ ....... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... ..... ...... ........ ........ ........ ......... ...... ..... ...... ...... ......... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ...... ...... It was a much more difficult route than we expected. Every portage had it’s own special problems. We’ve done 4 or 5 portages in a day in the past in BWCA and even in the Man Chain in Quetico. I don’t know if the lack of use over the last couple of years have made a difference in the portage trails or it’s just a different terrain in that area that increases the difficulty, but it took us one more day to get to Sarah than I had anticipated and we had to bust butt on the way out to get another layover day. I know that the Keck Geology Consortium has a report on the Side Lake Shear zone, so that may have something to do with it. ......... ........ ...... ....... ...... ....... ....... ....... ........ ........ ....... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... ...... ...... ...... ..... ...... ...... ...... ..... Finding unfamiliar portages and scouting portages due to not being sure if we were on the actual trail took some time. The InReach Garmin was some help at least in reinforcing we were in the right place, but I am not a fan of using coordinates to route find unfamiliar areas. It takes away from the reason for the trip in the first place, to use our sense of where we are and what the area should look like using the map and compass. ...... ..... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ....... ....... ..... I think we did a good job, working as a team to get the canoe and packs through tight areas and over trail impediments. We had both worked to get in top shape to at least have the stamina to paddle or hike all day. We are both 63 now and can see an end to overextending ourselves. I doubt we will do a trip this strenuous again, but it was rewarding to know that we managed it this time, with Dan encouraging me to finish our plans so we wouldn’t say we couldn’t do it. I was worried that he would be upset that we had almost no time to relax and enjoy the area, but I’m glad we finished the route and can plan a relaxing trip for next time. ....... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ....... ...... ....... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ...... ..... ..... ..... ..... ...... I tried to be concise. I know not everyone needs a breakdown of every meal eaten so I put them separately so they can be skipped. I write a trip report as much for myself to remind myself of what worked and what didn’t. I put a fair amount of info about the portages, because I wasn’t finding a lot of on the ground information about getting to Sarah and back. I had to remember the portages at the end of the trip because I never had time to write it down on travel days, hopefully it is mostly accurate. We took different routes to and from the same point in 2 places. Hopefully it helps people decide which route is best for them. Keep in mind going downstream over beaver dams is a lot easier than upstream and water levels make a big difference as well.

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Day 1 of 8

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Day 1 6/28/23 Tow to Prairie portage then to North Bay peninsula site Campsite 13A 48.15639, -91.47087

Prairie Portage to North Bay campsite 13A P1: 20R Prairie Portage to Inlet Bay, Paddle 3.3miles P2: 84 R Bayley Bay to Burke Paddle 2.1 miles P3: 16 R Burke to Pond Paddle: 0.3 miles P4: 40 R Pond to North Bay Paddle 1.8 miles to campsite Total: 9.5 miles with double portaging.

L:Pre made Turkey sandwiches D:Bbq tacos cheese picante, rice, beans

We used LaTourell’s on Moose Lake for a bunkhouse the night before and tow to Prairie Portage. Nice folks, the tow driver going out was helpful and friendly. We checked in at Prairie portage for permit and orientation talk. We were trying for an earlier start, but we weren’t as organized for the morning as we thought we were, so we didn’t leave base until about 7:45, so left PP at about 9:30.

We were a little rusty for paddling, but had worked hard to at least get in good shape for the trip. I’ll turn 63 on the trip, so I’m hoping the time at the Y pays off. The 2nd portage is a decent length, but flat and smooth with sand landings. It’s the last we’ll see of an easy portage. The portages in to North Bay are pretty rocky. The 40R is very rocky at the end. Rougher than I expected for a main throughway, but better than further up. The lack of use for the portages and campsites over the last couple of years has them a lot brushier and hard to find or navigate. There's some logs across trails and a lot more deadwood in the sites than normal which would be a good thing if there wasn't a fire ban. We thought we found the site marked a 5 star site near Lost Bay it was so nice. We were one peninsula to the SE marked as a 4. It is nice and open, with decent bear bag trees and a nice firepit area with ok seating logs.

It was hard to get far away from the water for the latrine since it is a peninsula. We set it up, then got lost trying to get back to camp and ended up in the 2 star site about 100 feet from our site. We finally went to the front of the 2 star site and could see our tent clearly across the inlet and found the trail between the 2 sites. Who would think you would need a map and compass to dig a latrine? We used pieces of orange paracord to mark the trail after that, but it was still hard to find in the dark. Judging by what we saw almost no one does or can put the latrine 200 feet from camp or water the rangers tell you to. Many island sites aren't even 400 feet wide. I think it is an ideal, but not always achievable. I had my watch with a compass and figured out the latrine was dead North but still had to stay on the minimal trail to avoid impassable areas in the brush.

Above is looking at our site from nearby site and a picture of that campsite and below that campsite from ours.

One of our stoves didn’t work so we used the other one the whole trip. It was an easy fix (clogged outlet) but we never had the time or need to work on it. It rained in the evening after we set up tent and tarp so we spent most of the evening under the tarp organizing equipment.