- Joined
- Mar 23, 2015
- Messages
- 114
- Reaction score
- 1
6-12-15 to 6-13-15
I've been looking at going to the Big Island Lake Wilderness for a while now, and without ever getting anyone interested enough to go I eventually decided it'd be a good place to do my first Solo Canoe Trip. Unfortunately it was cut short due to the Weather.
I started on Friday after work, and made the 1 hour 20 minute drive. I can see how people get lost trying to find the trailhead for the wilderness. The signage isn't the best getting there, and a lot of the roads in the Hiawatha National Forest look the same. Luckily I had been on Google Street View, Google Earth, and scoped out the roads to make sure I knew what landmarks I was looking for.
I got to the Trailhead around 6:45pm. There was one other vehicle in the parking lot, and I never saw a person the entire time I was here. After I finished putting all my stuff together and double checked all my gear and I made the portage down to Big Island Lake. The bugs were absolutely horrible. I never thought I'd experience worse than I did last year at the BWCA but the bugs were THICK, and they seemed to be clouds of them at every portage I did. They did not seem to care about bug spray. I was on the water and off by 7:20pm. I was instantly greeted to the wilderness by two Swans with their youngins. Soon enough I found myself behind a Beaver and followed him for a short while... saw some Loon, Turtles. It seems all the typical wildlife was present. My original plan was to make it to Klondike Lake, but I knew getting on the water so late would make that difficult. After getting across Big Island, and pulled up to what I thought was a portage but ended up being a campsite. I referred to the map again and noticed it was actually about a 100 yards to the left. (I think Roadends made this same mistake). I made the very short portage to Mid Lake. Mid Lake was long, narrow, and kinda boring in my opinion. Like a large pond.
The portage from Mid Lake to Coattail Lake is steep, and short. Definitely wears you out more than you think it should. When I got on Coattail Lake it was about 8:20. It stays light out till 10:30 or so this time of year so I figured I had enough time to at least get to McInnes Lake. There was only one problem. I couldn't find the portage. After paddling around and getting some close looks for 15-20 minutes in the area i thought it should be. I ended up camping on Coattail Lake, the same campsite Roadends did. It's a nice campsite but little to no breeze to keep the mosquitos down.
The idea was to find the portage the next morning and get to Klondike Lake Saturday, and then take my time getting out on Sunday. However the next morning I still couldnt find it. I went back to the campsite and made a late breakfast. I turned on the radio to get the weather report and found out the forecast had changed from overnight rain Saturday night to rain and thunderstorms on Sunday. So I decided at this point it'd be best to slowly work my way back out to the truck since I have no desire to paddle lakes in thunderstorms.
On my way out the bugs were just as bad at the portages as they were going in. I decided to swing over to Townline Lake since it was a short portage from Mid Lake and I had the time. The mosquitos were so bad that I did'nt end up portaging anything over. Just took a peak, Looked like a cool lake, but then got back into my canoe and back into the breeze on the lake for some sanctuary away from the mosquitos before my short portage back onto Big Island Lake.
After I got back onto Big Island and back into the breeze, I cracked a beer and decided to float for a little bit before dealing with the bugs for the long duration of portaging everything to and loading up the truck. While I was floating it did start to rain and this proved to be a good time to leave, Although it did nothing to the mosquitos.
Overall first Solo Trip went well. Bummed I had to cut it short. Was really looking forward to getting to Klondike Lake. Although I do need to figure out where that portage is.
I've been looking at going to the Big Island Lake Wilderness for a while now, and without ever getting anyone interested enough to go I eventually decided it'd be a good place to do my first Solo Canoe Trip. Unfortunately it was cut short due to the Weather.
I started on Friday after work, and made the 1 hour 20 minute drive. I can see how people get lost trying to find the trailhead for the wilderness. The signage isn't the best getting there, and a lot of the roads in the Hiawatha National Forest look the same. Luckily I had been on Google Street View, Google Earth, and scoped out the roads to make sure I knew what landmarks I was looking for.
I got to the Trailhead around 6:45pm. There was one other vehicle in the parking lot, and I never saw a person the entire time I was here. After I finished putting all my stuff together and double checked all my gear and I made the portage down to Big Island Lake. The bugs were absolutely horrible. I never thought I'd experience worse than I did last year at the BWCA but the bugs were THICK, and they seemed to be clouds of them at every portage I did. They did not seem to care about bug spray. I was on the water and off by 7:20pm. I was instantly greeted to the wilderness by two Swans with their youngins. Soon enough I found myself behind a Beaver and followed him for a short while... saw some Loon, Turtles. It seems all the typical wildlife was present. My original plan was to make it to Klondike Lake, but I knew getting on the water so late would make that difficult. After getting across Big Island, and pulled up to what I thought was a portage but ended up being a campsite. I referred to the map again and noticed it was actually about a 100 yards to the left. (I think Roadends made this same mistake). I made the very short portage to Mid Lake. Mid Lake was long, narrow, and kinda boring in my opinion. Like a large pond.
The portage from Mid Lake to Coattail Lake is steep, and short. Definitely wears you out more than you think it should. When I got on Coattail Lake it was about 8:20. It stays light out till 10:30 or so this time of year so I figured I had enough time to at least get to McInnes Lake. There was only one problem. I couldn't find the portage. After paddling around and getting some close looks for 15-20 minutes in the area i thought it should be. I ended up camping on Coattail Lake, the same campsite Roadends did. It's a nice campsite but little to no breeze to keep the mosquitos down.
The idea was to find the portage the next morning and get to Klondike Lake Saturday, and then take my time getting out on Sunday. However the next morning I still couldnt find it. I went back to the campsite and made a late breakfast. I turned on the radio to get the weather report and found out the forecast had changed from overnight rain Saturday night to rain and thunderstorms on Sunday. So I decided at this point it'd be best to slowly work my way back out to the truck since I have no desire to paddle lakes in thunderstorms.
On my way out the bugs were just as bad at the portages as they were going in. I decided to swing over to Townline Lake since it was a short portage from Mid Lake and I had the time. The mosquitos were so bad that I did'nt end up portaging anything over. Just took a peak, Looked like a cool lake, but then got back into my canoe and back into the breeze on the lake for some sanctuary away from the mosquitos before my short portage back onto Big Island Lake.
After I got back onto Big Island and back into the breeze, I cracked a beer and decided to float for a little bit before dealing with the bugs for the long duration of portaging everything to and loading up the truck. While I was floating it did start to rain and this proved to be a good time to leave, Although it did nothing to the mosquitos.
Overall first Solo Trip went well. Bummed I had to cut it short. Was really looking forward to getting to Klondike Lake. Although I do need to figure out where that portage is.
