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When you search for information on the Frost River you seem to come around a couple things pretty consistently... 1) Frost River Soft Goods named their company after the route due to how remote it is. 2) It's Challenging, and everything from the Outfitter websites to canoe trip reports make note of that. and 3) Even with how challenging it is many canoeists, including Cliff Jacobson, seem to note how its one of their favorite routes in the BWCA.
After doing some research last fall on the route and looking for a decent Spring trip to take I decided on the Frost River. Due to Water levels it's recommended for the spring time so I figured what better time to do it than the week before the Memorial Day Rush.
We drove through the night and got about an hour or two sleep in the truck at a rest stop an hour or so away from Tuscarora Outfitters. On our way there in the morning we stopped at the Gunflint Lodge when they opened for a solid breakfast before heading to Tuscarora to get our permits, fishing licenses, and maps, etc.
Our Put-In would be #50. Cross River (Cross Bay Lake) put in, about a half mile from the Outfitters. Our goal for day one was to make it to Frost Lake. We'd paddle against the current of the Cross River a majority of the day, but nothing terrible. The day seemed pretty decent till we hit Rib Lake.
Before Rib Lake it was windy, but not too windy. But when we got onto Rib lake the wind picked up to about a 20mph constant wind with solid rollers on the lake. We stopped at the campsite on Rib Lake for Lunch and joked about how bad Long Island Lake would be if it didn't quit.
Unfortunately for us, it didn't. After paddling across Karl Lake to the portage we had a small hope that Long Island wouldn't be too bad, but when we crossed the portage we were greeted by strong winds, white caps, and 1.5-2ft rollers. I made the call to stop there for the day due to winds. There was an open campsite only 50 yards to the right of the portage. the only problem was that the wind wasn't the only thing that greeted us after the portage. A Mother Moose and her child were standing in the water at the campsite. Not wanting to get between a Mother and its kid we decided to east for the two campsites that way. After a short white knuckle paddle around the waves and wind we ended up getting sheltered by a peninsula into manageable water and made the decision to keep pressing on for Frost Lake as per our original plan.
After what ended up being 9 hours, 13 portages, unplanned beaver dams, and one long 140 rod portage with lots of downed trees... We made it to Frost Lake. We grabbed the 2nd campsite on the east side of the lake. Exhausted we made a quick dinner of Mac and Cheese and then set up camp. As far as we could tell we were the only ones on the lake, and had only seen one group the whole day, the isolation we had hoped for on this route seemed to be a reality.
We decided to take a day off on Day 2 to rest up and fish before doing the Frost River. The wind was howling again and we ended up spending most of the day in camp. Late on day 2 we saw a canoe paddling across the lake looking for a campsite, they ended up taking the first campsite on the east, just south of us. We never saw them again after this. It rained on and off overnight.
Day 3 we woke up early and set off for the Frost River. While crossing the lake I noticed a solo canoeist also heading for the 130 rod portage. We met him a the portage and he asked if he could take the Bologna Lake Campsite since he wasn't sure he could make the whole river in a day. We agreed. He was a very nice guy and to be honest, i was jealous of his canoe, a brand new Northstar Northwind Solo in the Carbon Layup, essentially my dream canoe.
We double portaged the 130 rod (although my partner, and the solo canoeist both agreed it felt longer than the 140rod into Frost Lake). Then we set off before the Solo. The frost river was kind of what I was expecting. Lots of short paddles with many short portages. The one thing I wasn't expecting which I should have was how overgrown the portages were due to their little use.
While paddling across Octopus Lake we turned a corner and not 30 yards away was a big Bull Moose. His new Antlers were still forming and covered in felt. My first feeling was "oh a moose", Immediately followed by "Oh crap, I hope we have enough distance between us". The moose didn't seem to care for us and slowly wandered back into the woods while keeping a careful eye on us. I did kind of feel bad knowing that the solo canoeist was only a portage or two behind us and we just scared off this moose. But luckily 2 portages or so portages later before Chase lake we came across what must of been that mooses shed laying right on the portage trail. It was huge, and probably weighed around 45 lbs. After taking some pictures I made sure we left it where that man could find it with little problem (essentially where we found it).
After pumping water in Chase Lake we continued down the Frost River. Dark Clouds were forming over head and we could start to hear thunder in the distance. Afton Lake was our only bed for a campsite for the night and it was still a couple hours out, so we did the only thing we could do and pushed on. Luckily we never saw lightning and only got a decent sprinkle right before we got into Afton lake. The Afton lake campsite is in an old burn area. The small tent pad area could fit 2 tents on nice soft grass, but overall was a very exposed campsite and not somewhere I wanted to be in a thunderstorm while in my aluminum pole tent. We pushed on. Whipped Lake didnt seem too much better, and after 10 hours and 17 portages we ended up on Mora Lake.
Our Campsite wasn't the best, but it was sheltered and it would work. We began boiling water for a big dinner when our weather radio alerted us to a very severe storm warning. The storm was coming for Little Saganaga and Cherokee Lakes, heading SW at 16MPH with 70MPH winds and 1 inch hail. If you look at a map. Mora Lake is right in the middle of this, and according to the radio we had about 10 minutes to figure out how we should prepare for 1 inch hail and 70mph winds.
We quickly abandoned our dinner and grabbed anything we could to secure it. Behind our campsite was a big rock. The storm was coming from over the top of it so we were able to find a slanting rock away from the direction of the storm and huddle underneath it with added protection of a tarp. It came quickly and didn't last long. Luckily we didn't get any hail larger than a quarter inch. After the storm we made tuna salad wrapped in tortillas and peanut butter crackers and just went to bed.
Day 4 we made a late breakfast and headed up to Gillis Lake. I heard about a solid campsite on the west side on a Peninsula and we were able to grab it. We decided we'd take Day 5 off at this campsite. Gillis is a destination lake and you could tell being on the lake. We saw a lot of people. We're pretty sure every campsite on the lake was occupied.
Day 6. Our original plans was to do 8 days. We figured we'd probably come out a day early and portage to Brant Lake, but after listening to the weather report and not hearing anything positive we decided we'd push out on Day 6. We ran into 3 or 4 groups coming in while we were leaving. They all said they were going to Gillis Lake. With all the sites taken I wasn't sure what their back up plan was if we were the only group to move on that day. Overall, It was a great trip and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a challenge and isolation.
I also made a video series about the trip. My first attempt at something like it. Let me know what you think..
Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoL8Av-GySs
Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipkD3-VplFQ
Part 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYnkFZ2guB4
After doing some research last fall on the route and looking for a decent Spring trip to take I decided on the Frost River. Due to Water levels it's recommended for the spring time so I figured what better time to do it than the week before the Memorial Day Rush.
We drove through the night and got about an hour or two sleep in the truck at a rest stop an hour or so away from Tuscarora Outfitters. On our way there in the morning we stopped at the Gunflint Lodge when they opened for a solid breakfast before heading to Tuscarora to get our permits, fishing licenses, and maps, etc.
Our Put-In would be #50. Cross River (Cross Bay Lake) put in, about a half mile from the Outfitters. Our goal for day one was to make it to Frost Lake. We'd paddle against the current of the Cross River a majority of the day, but nothing terrible. The day seemed pretty decent till we hit Rib Lake.
Before Rib Lake it was windy, but not too windy. But when we got onto Rib lake the wind picked up to about a 20mph constant wind with solid rollers on the lake. We stopped at the campsite on Rib Lake for Lunch and joked about how bad Long Island Lake would be if it didn't quit.
Unfortunately for us, it didn't. After paddling across Karl Lake to the portage we had a small hope that Long Island wouldn't be too bad, but when we crossed the portage we were greeted by strong winds, white caps, and 1.5-2ft rollers. I made the call to stop there for the day due to winds. There was an open campsite only 50 yards to the right of the portage. the only problem was that the wind wasn't the only thing that greeted us after the portage. A Mother Moose and her child were standing in the water at the campsite. Not wanting to get between a Mother and its kid we decided to east for the two campsites that way. After a short white knuckle paddle around the waves and wind we ended up getting sheltered by a peninsula into manageable water and made the decision to keep pressing on for Frost Lake as per our original plan.
After what ended up being 9 hours, 13 portages, unplanned beaver dams, and one long 140 rod portage with lots of downed trees... We made it to Frost Lake. We grabbed the 2nd campsite on the east side of the lake. Exhausted we made a quick dinner of Mac and Cheese and then set up camp. As far as we could tell we were the only ones on the lake, and had only seen one group the whole day, the isolation we had hoped for on this route seemed to be a reality.
We decided to take a day off on Day 2 to rest up and fish before doing the Frost River. The wind was howling again and we ended up spending most of the day in camp. Late on day 2 we saw a canoe paddling across the lake looking for a campsite, they ended up taking the first campsite on the east, just south of us. We never saw them again after this. It rained on and off overnight.
Day 3 we woke up early and set off for the Frost River. While crossing the lake I noticed a solo canoeist also heading for the 130 rod portage. We met him a the portage and he asked if he could take the Bologna Lake Campsite since he wasn't sure he could make the whole river in a day. We agreed. He was a very nice guy and to be honest, i was jealous of his canoe, a brand new Northstar Northwind Solo in the Carbon Layup, essentially my dream canoe.
We double portaged the 130 rod (although my partner, and the solo canoeist both agreed it felt longer than the 140rod into Frost Lake). Then we set off before the Solo. The frost river was kind of what I was expecting. Lots of short paddles with many short portages. The one thing I wasn't expecting which I should have was how overgrown the portages were due to their little use.
While paddling across Octopus Lake we turned a corner and not 30 yards away was a big Bull Moose. His new Antlers were still forming and covered in felt. My first feeling was "oh a moose", Immediately followed by "Oh crap, I hope we have enough distance between us". The moose didn't seem to care for us and slowly wandered back into the woods while keeping a careful eye on us. I did kind of feel bad knowing that the solo canoeist was only a portage or two behind us and we just scared off this moose. But luckily 2 portages or so portages later before Chase lake we came across what must of been that mooses shed laying right on the portage trail. It was huge, and probably weighed around 45 lbs. After taking some pictures I made sure we left it where that man could find it with little problem (essentially where we found it).
After pumping water in Chase Lake we continued down the Frost River. Dark Clouds were forming over head and we could start to hear thunder in the distance. Afton Lake was our only bed for a campsite for the night and it was still a couple hours out, so we did the only thing we could do and pushed on. Luckily we never saw lightning and only got a decent sprinkle right before we got into Afton lake. The Afton lake campsite is in an old burn area. The small tent pad area could fit 2 tents on nice soft grass, but overall was a very exposed campsite and not somewhere I wanted to be in a thunderstorm while in my aluminum pole tent. We pushed on. Whipped Lake didnt seem too much better, and after 10 hours and 17 portages we ended up on Mora Lake.
Our Campsite wasn't the best, but it was sheltered and it would work. We began boiling water for a big dinner when our weather radio alerted us to a very severe storm warning. The storm was coming for Little Saganaga and Cherokee Lakes, heading SW at 16MPH with 70MPH winds and 1 inch hail. If you look at a map. Mora Lake is right in the middle of this, and according to the radio we had about 10 minutes to figure out how we should prepare for 1 inch hail and 70mph winds.
We quickly abandoned our dinner and grabbed anything we could to secure it. Behind our campsite was a big rock. The storm was coming from over the top of it so we were able to find a slanting rock away from the direction of the storm and huddle underneath it with added protection of a tarp. It came quickly and didn't last long. Luckily we didn't get any hail larger than a quarter inch. After the storm we made tuna salad wrapped in tortillas and peanut butter crackers and just went to bed.
Day 4 we made a late breakfast and headed up to Gillis Lake. I heard about a solid campsite on the west side on a Peninsula and we were able to grab it. We decided we'd take Day 5 off at this campsite. Gillis is a destination lake and you could tell being on the lake. We saw a lot of people. We're pretty sure every campsite on the lake was occupied.
Day 6. Our original plans was to do 8 days. We figured we'd probably come out a day early and portage to Brant Lake, but after listening to the weather report and not hearing anything positive we decided we'd push out on Day 6. We ran into 3 or 4 groups coming in while we were leaving. They all said they were going to Gillis Lake. With all the sites taken I wasn't sure what their back up plan was if we were the only group to move on that day. Overall, It was a great trip and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a challenge and isolation.
I also made a video series about the trip. My first attempt at something like it. Let me know what you think..
Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoL8Av-GySs
Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipkD3-VplFQ
Part 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYnkFZ2guB4
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