Paddling Inner Lakes, Sep. 10-16

[Kevinl]

Pics are here: http://travel.webshots.com/album/567133245aVZsjU (The album is combined with a few shots of a recent Superior Hiking Trail trip with my dog).

We (my father and I) drove up and ate awesome tacos in Grand Marais, then stayed at Ryden's for the first time and I still can't get over the price. Friendly people too.

Smooth ride on the Voyageur. Dropped off and spent the first night at McCargo Cove. Hiked to the Minong Mine and ridgetop immediately above it. Wonderful relaxing time paddling the cove in the evening (We brought two kayaks: a 12 ft. Wilderness Systems Tsunami and an 11 ft. Necky Manitou). Very peaceful night, met lots of nice and interesting people there.

Day 2 we portaged to Chickenbone Lake, set up camp at west campground just in time to beat five hours of rain. Felt sad for all those hiking in that mess. Read and napped in tent until cabin fever forced us outside, first in small bursts and finally in a screw- the-rain-we're-fishing attitude. Caught some northerns and walleye. We ate the walleye.

Day 3 we did 3 portages to get to Lake Richie, through Lakes LeSage and Livermore, both beautiful bodies of water. None of the portages were too bad, although we were wearing down by the last one. Thimbleberries energized us. We fished from shore with little luck, too windy to try it from the boats. We sat on the point watching moonrise and stars appear. Well after dark, we heard a canoe coming across the lake, saw headlamps sweeping the shore in search of our campground, so I signaled back with my headlamp. These two young gentlemen who had portaged from Moskey Basin were the last people we would see until Chippewa Harbor. Heard distant howling of wolves at night, loons laughing all over the lake.

Day 4 began with an extended howling of wolves while I filtered water, much closer than the previous evening. We portaged in and out of Intermediate Lake, and the first one kicked me hard. On the second one a wolf followed us (we could see fresh scat as we walked back on the trail). As I was packing the boat on the shore of Siskiwit Lake I looked up to see him approach within 10-15 yards, urinate on a tree, and disappear into the forest. My hands shook and my heart thumped and raced. Unbelievable sight. Dumbfounded and awestruck, we finished loading the boats. What a scenic paddle on Siskiwit Lake, through all the rocky islands on its east shores. Light rains and windy at Wood Lake, so we decided to stay out of Siskiwit, but Wood Lake was more protected and I fished from the kayak while Dad tried the deep channel by the campsite. I caught some pike and released them before rain sent me paddling for the tent. Wind roared through the evening and I felt bad for anyone contemplating travel on Lake Superior. I was dreaming of bullfrog noises when I woke to realize I was hearing a constant grunting and splashing from a moose near the campsite.

Day 5 and we portaged to Lake Whittlesey. Knowing it would be the only portage of the day seemed to make it go easier. The wind was still strong, paddling into it on Whittlesey. I heard a splash about twenty yards behind my boat and saw a young moose charging into the water, frolicking with its mom right behind her. We slowed the boats and drifted around to watch, the big cow eyeing us until she turned around and her young one followed her back up the bank. We set up camp and the wind was still blowing across the lake, more or less east to west, so I paddled to the east end and drifted back, fishing along the way, with some fun luck with pike around the big long island. Dad had luck with pike too, fishing from shore. We both let our fish go to fight another day. It's such a gorgeous lake, as they all are in their own way.

Day 6 and the last portage, although just as long as the others, rocky, rooty and hilly, seemed like a breeze. We must have been getting used to the work. "Another week of this and we'll have arms like Popeye," I said. The paddle through the coves and across the main section of Chippewa Harbor was overwhelming for scenery. A headwind on this one too. We met a very nice sailor named Mike on the docks--he had been sheltered from the wind there but left for Rock Harbor the next morning. We hiked the shore, then walked to Lake Mason, although the trail doesn't really lead all the way to the lake, from what I could tell. We had a wonderful dinner of Ramen and dried beans and watched the sun go down. Squirrels by the shelter aggressively begged for my peanuts.

Day 7 and the Voyageur picked us up right on time. Met lots of great people on the boat, some of whom we had arrived with. Great seeing them again. Traded stories etc. 5-6 ft. waves across the lake. What a fun ride from the back of the boat. I was plenty wet when we were done.

Closing thoughts: Why would I ever stay at the casino again, now that I've been to Ryden's?

I've backpacked the island (western half) several times, and this is my second time paddling it. I can't get over how thrilling it was paddling these beautiful lakes, such a different way to experience the island. Each time I climbed into the boat I was overwhelmed gliding through such scenery. It makes the labor of portaging worth it, and portaging wasn't too tough anyway, once we got used to it. It seemed to get easier every day. And paddling is an easy way to get into some remote areas of the island.

I did a backpacking trip with my son and his friend earlier this summer and to complete the circle my father came along on this trip. Good times! Great way to spend time with family.

Taking pictures from a boat is hopeless. At least for me.

Because we had boats, I bought a couple really light, short, mesh lawn chairs from REI. So worth it.

[mihiker]

Thanks for the report.
It make me want to try this paddling thing I keep reading about.

It is so wonderful to read about youe wolf and moose encounters.

Thimbleberries energized us.

Yumm!

[Tom]

You take amazing pictures of yourself... Seriously!
Also, the black and whites turn out very well.

I've tended to keep my canoe adventures to the MN Boundary waters and nearby areas... This report reminds me why one of these days I'm just going to have to take the energy to plan a water trip on IR.

[Less Paul]

Awesome! What stories! Especially of the wolves and moose.

I dunno about the canoe thing tho. I own a fiberglass Sawyer for inland lake use (too heavy for IR). As I watched those canoeists going back and forth on the portages, I don't know if I'd find it as worth it as some would. It's certainly true that if you want to fish the inland lakes, a canoe is a must. But as I hiked some of the portage routes with my 50 pound pack and tried to imagine portaging a canoe through them, geeze....I dunno.

[colvinch]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing, makes me want to drive right back up there. Get to go back to Copper Country for some bird hunting in 2 weeks though

Awesome! What stories! Especially of the wolves and moose.

I But as I hiked some of the portage routes with my 50 pound pack and tried to imagine portaging a canoe through them, geeze....I dunno.

To tell you the truth I think the hardest part was my pack which was just over 50lbs. Our canoe is around 55lbs and spliting that between 2 people makes things easy. I guess the hard part is making one portage into 2....especially the Moskey to Richey portage, that was tough...total of 6.3 miles in a day not too far but that is one tough trail...harder than the Duncan to Tobin harbor in my opinion

[Less Paul]

Moskey to Ritchie is a tough trail....rocks, roots, stumps, up and overs.....

I tweaked my already gimpy left ankle 3 times on that stretch, after successfully avoiding doing so on the Rock Harbor to Daisy Farm segment....which is no slouch either.

The obvious trouble with a double trip portage for me is having to do the same stretch of trail 4 flippin' times.

[Backpacker534]

Great trip report and very nice photos. Some of those photos bring back great memories. I've always been interested in doing a paddling trip at I.R. like you did. It is still something I'd like to do at some point, however, it must be quite a pain when it comes to the portages. Some of them I've seen have been down right treacherous and ornery-looking.

[Kevinl]

Here's a brief description of our portages:
Day 1: none, stayed at McCargo.
Day 2: .7 miles to Chickenbone. 3 or 4 hills, a couple right near the end. This was our longest, and I always say the first is the hardest.
Day 3: .2 miles to Lake Livermore: rocky hill crossing the Greenstone, but this portage is so short and painless. Then .4 miles to Lake LeSage: This one I just don't remember much about. Then .6 miles to Lake Richie: long climbs a couple times; being the third portage, this one felt long. This was the most portaging we did in a day. From here it would all be downhill.
Day 4: .6 miles to Intermediate Lake, Not too hilly, just enough to wake us up, get our blood pumping. .4 miles to Lake Siskiwit: this one felt downright easy.
Day 5: .6 miles, Wood Lake to Whittlesey: this one too felt easy.
Day 6: .6 miles to Chippewa Harbor. Being our last, it felt easy, although the trail was hilly and rocky.

My dad is 67 years old, and I'm not into being miserable, so we didn't want to do anything too demanding. We had two boats and many times we each took an end and carried them together. Although I would have loved to have brought my kayak yoke, which sat in my garage the entire trip (what was I thinking?). Because no portage was much longer than a half mile, we didn't mind making multiple trips. We generally made it in 3 trips, one each for the boats, with some of our light loose gear in the boats, and one more trip for our heavier gear, which was easily carried using paddles for handles that we slipped over our shoulders. When I write them down here, it looks like we did a lot of portaging, but it never felt like it. The payoff, of course, was access to some pretty remote lakes.

[Backpacker534]

Thanks for the information. I've always wondered how people do a canoe/kayak trip. Do they use backpacks or store their gear in other containers? If they take a backpack, do they wear the pack and carry the boat in one trip or make separate trips for the pack(s)/gear and another trip for the boat(s)?

[johnhens]

Kevin,
Nice TR and loved your pics!!
The walleye at Chickenbone, would you mind sharing the lure you used?
Interesting idea the smaller yaks for the inland lakes. Did you use a portage pack to carry your gear?
We paddled through Whittlesly a few years ago in our hurry to get to Siskiwit, did not stay there or I am sorry to say, try fishing there. We plan on portaging back to there and spending a few days.

Glad you had a good time!!!

[johnhens]

Thanks for the information. I've always wondered how people do a canoe/kayak trip. Do they use backpacks or store their gear in other containers? If they take a backpack, do they wear the pack and carry the boat in one trip or make separate trips for the pack(s)/gear and another trip for the boat(s)?

We have done both, carrying gear seperately and at the same time. It is easier to take the boat and go back for the gear.
We have tried mesh duffel bags to portage, but agreed and use Granite Gear portage packs, the kind the BWCA folks use and found they work well.

[Kevinl]

Hi John.

We caught the walleye at Chickenbone fishing no differently than we were for pike, with Mepps spinners--I don't recall the colors, but they were numbers 4 or 5.

With shorter canoes, we had less weight, so we thew lighter loose stuff in the boats. The rest of our stuff was in drybags mostly, and so we split our paddles in half, looped the drybags around them and thew them over our shoulders with the blade of the paddle just in front of me with my wrist over it for balance. It's probably hard to picture as I describe it, but it worked simply--should have taken a picture of that system.

We have done both, carrying gear seperately and at the same time. It is easier to take the boat and go back for the gear.

I couldn't agree more.

Whittlesey is one of my favorite spots. Scenic with high bluffs. Secluded but not too far away from the Voyageur's pickup at Chippewa Harbor. Great fishing all along the long island. Supposedly it holds walleye too, but I haven't seen them.

[active2gether]

Thanks for the report and photos! Question: would a kayak cart (with fat tires) be helpful on the portage trails there, or would it be a waste of space to bring along?

[Ingo]

Question: would a kayak cart (with fat tires) be helpful on the portage trails there, or would it be a waste of space to bring along?

They're not allowed on the island, so it's a moot point.

[Ingo]

The regulation is here: http://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/c ... -kayak.htm
"The use of wheeled portage devices is prohibited."

BTW, I got an email from Ken asking about this, forwarded by the web board site. Fonix, how do we respond to those, since they don't have the senders email address (just yours)?