Packraft Trip Report / June 8th - 22nd, 2024

[RedLeg]

The trip went something like this...

6-8 Duncan Narrows
6-9 Duncan Narrows
Arrived on time in Rock Harbor via the Queen, had a pretty good trip over. We carried our gear over to the sea plane dock and put in and paddled to the Tobin - Duncan portage. We packed our packrafts and made the portage in one shot. It was fairly warm, the mosquitoes were pretty rough and I was thankful for having long sleeves + hood / pants on & a headnet. The portage itself was rough with the our full kit but we all put in on the Duncan side and paddled out to the Narrows. By the time we got to the narrows, the weather had changed a bit and rain was coming in but there was an open shelter. Some guys with boats were next door who had clearly been squatting there for a few days. We stayed at the Narrows for two nights, long enough for me to catch a nice laker from the packraft.
6-10 Belle Isle
6-11 Belle Isle
Caught a friendly wind and made the paddle out. We made the portage from Duncan to Five Finger Bay, then the paddle through Stocky & the Lane Cove portage, they were both pretty quick and painless. We took the shot between the islands and headed out to Bell Isle. People were leaving Belle & there was only one set of boaters there when we arrived. Later the dive boat pulled in at the dock and stayed for the night. The next day we made the paddle across to Crystal Cove. Spent a few talking with someone on shore from the cabin while I was in the raft; then paddled back when the wind started to pick up. We intened to stay at Belle Isle for three nights, but the long range forecast was starting to look a little sketch. We woke up the next morning and made a judgement call to take the friendly wind dip a day early.
6-12 McCargoe Cove
6-13 McCargoe Cove
The Pickerel Cove portage was pretty painless, I had some concerns about the surf as we came around and in to McCargoe cove but it wasn't all that bad. We considered staying at Birch Island that night but the wind was blowing straight in to the front of the shelter so we paddled the 2miles in to McCargoe where there were open shelters. The weather wasn't bad but wasn't good, overcast and occasional drizzle. Second day was about the same, my buddy paddled/packed in to Sargent Lake to fish for pike, they did okay but nothing with any size to it. Strong wind kept him at the West end of the lake and close to shore. There was a fox in McCargoe that came around several times a day looking for food. We saw a young bull then a few hours later another moose with her calf cross in the shallows in across from camp. There were some boaters staying in camp, some from the North Shore, some from Houghton had a great time BS'ing with them @ the docks and sharing stories.
6-14 Chippewa Harbor
6-15 Chippewa Harbor
6-16 Chippewa Harbor
We had to be in Chippewa by the 16th for a food drop, but necessity of weather and other things had us a couple days ahead of schedule unfortunatley. We made the decision not to stay at Lake Richie Canoe camp and made the shot from McCargoe to Chippewa in one day. We started early with the hike out of McCargoe down to Chickenbone to put in, i think it was around a mile and a half or so but under 2m. Paddled Chickenbone to Livermore with packs strapped to bow of raft for fast portaging. The Chickenbone to Livermore portage wasn't bad, but the inland lakes are fairly low this year so all the interior shores were very mucky to get in and out. The Livermore to LeSage portage was longer but the terrain wasn't horrible. Someone had left a partial kit there sometime in May (nice boots, PFD, emergency kit with flare gun), the boots had spider nests in them and everything was soaked to the bone. We packed out the emergency kit, notified the rangers to have trail maintenance fetch the rest of the gear. Paddled LeSage to Richie and dropped in until we got to the Richie to Chippewa portage. I think it's 1.2m or so, terrain isn't too bad, I've hiked it a couple times and once made the full hike down in to Chippewa (about 2m or so) instead of putting back in and paddling in to Chippewa like we did this trip. Stayed in Chippewa for three nights, fished & paddled around. Visited both of the old wood boats in CH, the school, went out to Epidote Lake. Some of the same boaters from McCargoe were down in Chippewa.
6-17 Daisy Farm
6-18 Daisy Farm
A day of resonably calm surf was predicted for the 17th and a favorable wind, so we made the decision to paddle out and around Saginaw Point and into Moskey Basin. We were planning to stay at Caribou island, but it was full of boaters plus someone in the tent site and we knew there would be shelters in Daisy or Moskey. Daisy Farm was fairly empty when we arrived. Took shelters and stayed for the night. Next morning we were fogged in but when it lifted we paddled over to visit Rolf & Candi @ Bangsund & John Buckley at the fishery. I'd been there before but wanted the people that were with me this year to get the full tour. We went over to the lighthouse too. It stormed that night and the next day the place was flooded out so we packed up.
6-19 Tookers Island
6-20 Tookers Island
Paddled by Caribou and it was still full of boats so we went on to Tookers where we found an empty island. The only bad note was the storm had brought out an apocalyptic black fly hatch and there were hundreds on you and the boat at any given time. ** gloves / bugnet / bloused pants / tucked shirt ** It was no joke and until the wind picked up we were stuck in the shelter killing off all the black flies and mosquitoes that had moved in. Later that afternoon another paddler came in and spent the next couple days at Tookers with him before we all paddled out of Tookers to Rock Harbor for the night before the boat home. Always meet phenomenal people on every trip.
6-21 Rock Harbor
Rock Harbor is good for a beer and a shower, but it just makes me want to pick up a full kit of food and head back out into the bush.
6-22 Depart
Planning begins for the next trip

[torpified]

Awesome! (Except the apocalyptic black fly hatch, of course.). What kind of packraft were you using, and how did it handle in the Superior waters??

[RedLeg]

Awesome! (Except the apocalyptic black fly hatch, of course.). What kind of packraft were you using, and how did it handle in the Superior waters??

We all had MRS packrafts, they handle the surf in superior just fine; extremely stable just make sure you have a spray skirt.

[Bobcat1]

Tookers Island is a very useful place for boaters, kayakers, and packrafters. Close to RH and with 2 shelters and an open field, it can accommodate a few extra tents. For some reason, however, it always has flies-maybe it’s the sunny open space. Not really great aesthetics, but a useful location.

[JJMc3]

We all had MRS packrafts, they handle the surf in superior just fine; extremely stable just make sure you have a spray skirt.

Which MRS packrafts do you and your friends use?

[RedLeg]

I have a pair of Microraft XL, a friend has an adventure x2 & a barracuda r2 pro, another friend has a Tulo & another friend with a XL.

I have almost 7 full weeks of use on both my XLs, have beat the hell out of them, zero complaints.