BWCA
Jun 6-11, 2017
EP#16 Moose River North
Took my first trip to BWCA last week with 3 other guys. My packed weighed about 48 lbs. I don't have very much ultralight gear. My pack was my old medium rucksack from the army that holds almost 50 liters. The heavier items were a hatchet, folding saw, 2 - 8 oz. fuel canisters, full first aid pouch, 24 oz of Bulliet Bourbon Whiskey in a 32 oz Nalgene, and a Stanley cook set. My sleep system was my modified Grand Trunk Skeeter Beeter Pro, MalloMe tree straps, Twister Root Designs rainfly, Pocho Liner UQ, and a LLBean outdoor blanket. Other guys had a Warbonnet Blackbird, GT Skeeter Beeter Pro, and I think a Walmart porch hammock.
Jun 6th, drove 450 miles
Travel Day to Ely, MN. Got to Ely around 10 pm. Stayed at Ely Outfitting Company's bunkhouse.
Jun 7th, paddled and backpacked 14 miles
Got our Canoes at 8am, got to EP#16 by 9am. First portage from the truck to the Moose River was about 1/2 mile. Paddled down the Moose, had 3 short portages. Got to Nina Moose Lake. Paddled across as our goal was Lac La Croix. Paddled up Nina Moose River with 2 portages, first was 1100 ft, second was 1500 ft. Paddled across Lake Agnes which was about 2.7 miles. Did 2 more portages, first was 390 ft, second was 1100 ft. Got to Boulder Bay, paddled about 2.6 miles looking for a open camp site. Ended up northeast of Tiger Bay of LLC around 4pm. Set up camp and fished for dinner. Caught one 20" walleye. Otter tried to take said walleye from stringer but fought him off. Accidentally fished near an island in Canada. Caught 1 more walleye and a northern. Cooked fish with some Idahoan potatoes and drank some Whiskey and Shine. Had a large storm roll in that night. Feet got a little wet from rain blowing in.
Jun 8th, paddled 7 miles
Decided to fish down in Boulder Bay. Found an open camp site and decided to send one canoe with 2 guys to grab their gear and bring it back so we didnt lose the site. After they returne, the other guy and I went to retrieve our gear. 15 mph wind made the paddle to the old camp tough. Collected gear caught the wind back for a easy paddle. Set up camp. Paddled around for more fish. We caught a good amount of Walleye and a 20" Smallmouth. Clear night, full moon.
Jun 9th, paddled 4 miles
Fished a few spots in the AM. It was one of the guys birthdays so we did some day drinking. Took a little siesta. Did some more fishing. Eat a late dinner with more drinking. Large storm rolled in. Had heavy rain with pea sized hail but no wind. Rain fly held up and stayed dry as did the other guys.
Jun 10th, paddled and backpacked 2.8 miles
Decided to push back to Lake Agnes so that we didn't have to paddle as much the next day to exit. Go to Agnes and got hit with 30-40 mph winds. Water was white capping and swells were 2 ft high. Very intense paddling to say the least. Should have put the life jackets on before hand. Found a camp site on the north end. Set up camp farther back in the trees. Tried to wait it out. Not much fish activity. Wind reduced a little and two guys went to a nearby bay to fish. We came up with 2 northern and a walleye for dinner. Sitting by camp, I decided to grab some tackle out of the canoe and noticed that a snapper had eaten 2 of the fish and was finishing up the last one. Went back out to fish for dinner. We came up with 3 small mouths. Eat our dinner and hung out by the fire. Around 11pm,we heard a loud noise from the Canoes. I turned on my headlamp and saw a 4-5ft black bear. We scared him off. Went to bed.
Jun 11th, paddled and backpacked 9 miles
Exit day. We packed up and hit the water by 7am. Rained on us the entire time back. Got off the water around 11am. Had a victory beer from the Yeti cooler in the truck. Returned the canoes. Eat at Stoney Ridge in Ely that had 50 different burgers that had 1 lbs of meat. Made the drive back.
All in all it was a great trip.
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