Post by VoyageurNorth on Feb 4, 2005 23:03:13 GMT -5
This is the trip John & I took last year.
We didn't exit at Prairie Portage, but I thought you might like to read about some of the area you are looking into exploring.
At first I had a big gung-ho trip planned for Lynn & myself. But after the last four years with big paddling trips, I decided to scale it down. Besides, Lynn started this trip off suffering with a cold, so less was better. We decided to do the west side of the Quetico. I wanted to check out William Lake and Brent Lake is one of my favorites. We picked September 10th for our departure date.
One of our customers, Bill Koenig, was also going to the same area, so we were able to coordinate the transportation with his group. We wanted to try Zup’s new jet boat which would let us avoid the Dawson Portage because the jet boat is able to operate in just six inches of water. That meant we could take the Loon River and take the two mechanical railroad portages instead.
We left Ely at 6:30 a.m. and it took about 1 ½ hours to drive up to Crane. Scott’s is the first towboat we took which brought us up to Canadian Customs. The Customs asked for a photo I.D., asked us a few questions and we were on our way. Taking the jet boat down the river was a blast. We stopped by Zup’s Resort to get our Canadian fishing license and to pay for our Quetico camping fees. Then we went across Lac La Croix and were dropped off at Black Robe Portage. It was now about 10:45 a.m.
It was a beautiful early autumn day. The sun was shining, the trees were just starting to change colors, and the wind was almost nonexistent. At the end of McAree Lake there is a six rod portage into Minn Lake. We paddled across Minn to the mouth of the Darky River. There is a pretty nice campsite there and it was one Lynn had camped at the year before. We had lunch and discussed whether we would try to make it all the way down the Darky River or camp where we were. It is four hours down the river with no campsites. Lynn said she was up for it, so we went on.
The first portage is about 65 rods then about a mile further is a short 15 rod trail. After the second portage the water was filled with river grass and lily pads and the river passed through a low marshy area. About two miles up, there was a campsite on a point, near where Andrew Creek meets the river. There are a bunch of trees blown down over the whole site, making it unusable. Two miles down and there is another 42 rod portage which also has trees down at the put in. Half a mile later is a very pretty 48 rod portage which has rocky cliffs on the left side of the river. It was still two miles more before we hit Darky Lake. Most of the campsites are on the north side of the lake. We took one on the west side of an island. We set up camp and cooked up our steak dinner. Just a few drops of rain fell that evening as we got ready to hit the sleeping bags.
The next morning bought some rather gusty winds. We were going to head east towards Brent Lake and the winds were coming from the west. Having the wind at our backs was great, and it made for some quick traveling. Just after the first short 10 rod portage we spotted a cow moose munching on river grass on the southern shore. She stood there for a long time, letting us get fairly close so Lynn was able to take a lot of pictures with my new waterproof Pentax digital camera.
The map showed the next portage as being 185 rods but when Lynn paced it out it was more like 205 rods. We followed a creek with small ponds along side of it. Part of the trail is next to a steep bank. We decided that next time we would paddle the ponds instead of taking the trail. After the 18 rod portage took us into Brent, we stopped and had lunch. With the wind behind us we really cruised down the lake! Brent Lake is a series of narrow, twisty channels and at the west end it has some high bluffs rising up from the water’s edge. Hills tower beyond the bluffs, rising more than 200 feet above the lake.
(rest on next message)
We didn't exit at Prairie Portage, but I thought you might like to read about some of the area you are looking into exploring.
At first I had a big gung-ho trip planned for Lynn & myself. But after the last four years with big paddling trips, I decided to scale it down. Besides, Lynn started this trip off suffering with a cold, so less was better. We decided to do the west side of the Quetico. I wanted to check out William Lake and Brent Lake is one of my favorites. We picked September 10th for our departure date.
One of our customers, Bill Koenig, was also going to the same area, so we were able to coordinate the transportation with his group. We wanted to try Zup’s new jet boat which would let us avoid the Dawson Portage because the jet boat is able to operate in just six inches of water. That meant we could take the Loon River and take the two mechanical railroad portages instead.
We left Ely at 6:30 a.m. and it took about 1 ½ hours to drive up to Crane. Scott’s is the first towboat we took which brought us up to Canadian Customs. The Customs asked for a photo I.D., asked us a few questions and we were on our way. Taking the jet boat down the river was a blast. We stopped by Zup’s Resort to get our Canadian fishing license and to pay for our Quetico camping fees. Then we went across Lac La Croix and were dropped off at Black Robe Portage. It was now about 10:45 a.m.
It was a beautiful early autumn day. The sun was shining, the trees were just starting to change colors, and the wind was almost nonexistent. At the end of McAree Lake there is a six rod portage into Minn Lake. We paddled across Minn to the mouth of the Darky River. There is a pretty nice campsite there and it was one Lynn had camped at the year before. We had lunch and discussed whether we would try to make it all the way down the Darky River or camp where we were. It is four hours down the river with no campsites. Lynn said she was up for it, so we went on.
The first portage is about 65 rods then about a mile further is a short 15 rod trail. After the second portage the water was filled with river grass and lily pads and the river passed through a low marshy area. About two miles up, there was a campsite on a point, near where Andrew Creek meets the river. There are a bunch of trees blown down over the whole site, making it unusable. Two miles down and there is another 42 rod portage which also has trees down at the put in. Half a mile later is a very pretty 48 rod portage which has rocky cliffs on the left side of the river. It was still two miles more before we hit Darky Lake. Most of the campsites are on the north side of the lake. We took one on the west side of an island. We set up camp and cooked up our steak dinner. Just a few drops of rain fell that evening as we got ready to hit the sleeping bags.
The next morning bought some rather gusty winds. We were going to head east towards Brent Lake and the winds were coming from the west. Having the wind at our backs was great, and it made for some quick traveling. Just after the first short 10 rod portage we spotted a cow moose munching on river grass on the southern shore. She stood there for a long time, letting us get fairly close so Lynn was able to take a lot of pictures with my new waterproof Pentax digital camera.
The map showed the next portage as being 185 rods but when Lynn paced it out it was more like 205 rods. We followed a creek with small ponds along side of it. Part of the trail is next to a steep bank. We decided that next time we would paddle the ponds instead of taking the trail. After the 18 rod portage took us into Brent, we stopped and had lunch. With the wind behind us we really cruised down the lake! Brent Lake is a series of narrow, twisty channels and at the west end it has some high bluffs rising up from the water’s edge. Hills tower beyond the bluffs, rising more than 200 feet above the lake.
(rest on next message)