The Plan:
A buddy and I wanted to get out and on our first overnight trip into the BWCA as well as check out what fall was like in canoe country. We weren't looking to set any speed or distance records and had no interest in punishing ourselves. Fishing would be nice and we wanted to see what potentail there was for hunting.
We rented a Wenonah Champlain from Piragis at 7am on 9/20/24, which was a great fit for us, we are both around 6' tall and over 200 pounds. We also hasd them supply most of the food which worked out well since the trip was sort of thrown toghether last minute as both of our professional schedules don't always line up.
The Trip:
We started at EP 24 at 8:15am, tried to single portage but it was uncomfotable so we double portaged into Newton then again into Basswood. We had a tail wind most of the way out. We ate lunch at site 1600 at noon and reached site 1555 at 2:30 where we set up camp for both nights. On the mornign of 9/21/2024 we paddled up to Upper Basswood Falls and hike around some and fished. Very neat area and very pretty. We fought the wind on our way back to camp then swam at the nice beach on the East side of the camp site. We trolled crankbaits throught the trip and caught Walleye, Bass and Pike. Could hear motors if the wind was just right and we heard some shooting, probably someone duck hunting near back bay. We paddleed out on Sunday and again were spoiled with little wind or a tail wind.
That area is popular and the portages are easy going and wide, the landing areas are the same. Good scenery and a great first overnight trip for us both.
#5 or #7 size crankbaits worked well, we didnt ty much of anything else.
Stats for reference:
Trip Total: 31.4 Miles
Paddling: 26.1 Miles
Portaging/Hiking: 5.3 Miles
It took us about 6.5 hours to get from EF 24 to Site 1555 double portaging and with more of a tailwind than not and stopping to eat lunch.
Hope this helps.
Jeremy
