A reason to put off my work… maps!
The sioux-hustler loop. Are you referring to goin in LIS, then lower chain (shell, hustler, oyster) then north to the upper chain (pocket, eugene, slim) west back to Loon and out LIS? I think you could do that route without much trouble. 10 to 12 mile days more or less I think. That certainly isn’t unreasonable. Having enough time to do the whole loop with 2 nights in one site might be pushing it, but might not be too hard.
The Moosecamp River. Yes, it goes from Moosecamp to Fourtown. It is one of my favorite rivers to paddle. Just be aware of low water. To get to Moosecamp, you have to cross Bullet Lake which isn’t much more than a glorified pond which has a shallow and very muddy bottom. If water is low, there is potential for struggling a bit with the bottom of your canoe hitting the mud.
If you can get through to the river though, it will be worth it. I’ve been through that river two or three times. If you go early in the morning, you stand a decent chance of seeing some moose. You’ll be going over quite a few beaver dams which I think is fun. Maybe half way through the river, the land rises up on either side of the river, and the paddle is beautiful. Keep your eyes open for relics from the logging days - chains and whatnot. The only issue that you may have is if a beaver dam is out which would make for part of the river to be way too low to paddle. I’ve only heard of it happening once, but it is a possibility.
If that happens, you can always go back through Bullet to Gun, then down through Fairy and Boot to get to Fourtown.
Beartrap. PMA… the acronym is familiar and I think I heard it in regards to the Beartrap river, but I really don’t recall for sure. I do know that it is not maintained and that a friend tells me that the unmarked portage from Beartrap river to Beartrap lake is really hard. You mentioned portaging from Sunday Bay to Sunday lake. My map doesn’t have a portage marked there. I don’t really know anything about that. I have also not been on Stirling creek, so I really can’t tell you anything about that.
Sioux-Hustler loop
Yes, that’s what I was referring to, but maybe going around clockwise, or maybe doing it from the Moose River entry. It looks to me now like that trip might be a little ambitious, especially if we want to do a little fishing. My brother and sister have never done this, so I don’t know how they’re going to respond and how fast we’re going to be paddling, portaging, setting up and breaking camp. That route also doesn’t appear to offer many alternatives if things are a little slower than planned. Maybe we should just consider going in Moose River and north, then we can loop west through LaclaCroix to Pocket and south through Gebe…Oyster, and out, or loop east like we’ve discussed.
I think I remember reading somewhere that PMA stands for Primitive Management Area, and that these are areas that aren’t maintained, like you’re saying Beartrap is like. I think there was also something about having to get a different kind of permit also.
beaver dams-shudder!!
we ran into beaver dams going up Oyster Creek from Moose river, bypassing Agnes. As we were going up stream and the water was low, we had to push over several dams, one time the #$%* beaver had built a dam 3 feet high which required a full unloading of the canoes to get over. You had to stand in muck to do the canoes. NEVER mention beaver dams to my wife- she will go miles out of her way to avoid muck and beaver dams.
I’d suggest Fall Lake then
heh heh I love beaver dams. I’ve heard not fun stories about that part of Oyster creek though. I’ve always gone through Agness. Besides, since we just drank water straight out of the lakes, we always wanted to get to Agness since the water in Nina Moose is kinda skanky.
If the loops on the F16 maps seem a bit ambitious, I’d suggest going in Fall lake then, then going up to Basswood and Crooked lake. There’s some decent fishing on Basswood river, and there are plenty of options for making loops that direction. The lakes around Fourtown are all pretty nice. The Horse and Moosecamp rivers are fun.
Perhaps consider this:
Night 1: Basswood, shortly before Upper Basswood falls
Night 2: somewhere shortly after Lower Basswood Falls on Crooked Lake.
Night3: Friday Bay
the next day take a little day trip over to Curtain falls - it’s worth it
Night 4: Gun Lake - decent fishing if I remember right.
then to Fourtown and then east to
Night 5: Jackfish Bay of Basswood
and back to the Fall entry point
There are plenty of ways to make this trip shorter, and you get to see quite a nice variety of lakes too.
Fall Lake loop
Thanks. I’d prefer, if possible, to avoid the motorized areas and also any really big lakes where the wind could be a significant factor, since we’ll be a relatively inexperienced crew. How about if we entered at Mudro, went to Horse Lake and took Horse River to Basswood and Crooked and then down to the Moosecamp and out that way? If that’s a reasonable plan, would it be better to do it that way or the reverse?
I’ll give all this information to my brother and sister and let them chew on it for a while and see what they want to do. I’d like to make a decision before the lottery in January.
Thanks once again for all your help. I might have a couple more questions later after they think on this a while, if you don’t mind. If you ever decide to come down here for Gauley Season/Bridge Day, feel free to email me.
Mudro
That would be a fine loop. One of the big plusses of going in Mudro is that Chainsaw Sisters is right there if a beer at the end of your trip would be appealing.
That route sounds good. The first couple portages north out of Mudro aren't the best to gain your portaging feet on as they're a little rocky and rough. I might suggest going east to Sandpit lake and then north through Tin Can Mike lake to Horse and the Horse River.
As far as direction goes, I would suggest going counter-clockwise. That way you would be going downstream on both the Horse and the Moosecamp rivers. If water is low and you would have to line your canoe through some small rapids, that would be much easier going downstream.
Once you get up to Crooked, I highly suggest making a trip over to Curtain falls. If the water is high, it is simply incredible. If it isn't, it's still a great place to stop for lunch.
As I don't have my own canoe - or a car for that matter - I don't know that I'll be paddling as regularly as I would like and so I may not be checking these boards regularly after the novelty wears off. Once your trip gets closer and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at aaronlolson@yahoo.com
Thanks, Aaron (eom)
Moose Lake - Lake One
I have done the Lake One to Moose Lake trip with a boy scout troop twice. I have used Canadian Border Outfitters (CBO)three times. They are located on Moose Lake. My suggestion would be to use an outfitter (CBO) on Moose Lake and have them shuttle you to Lake One to start your trip. The shuttle cost is about $15. My first trip on this loop took us 5 days at a decent pace. The second time I did this loop in 6 days. We spent two nights at a campsite on Insula Lake (north end) and took a day paddle over to see some indian pictographs at Fishdance Lake. By ending at Moose Lake you finish at the outfitters and can choose your own arrival time and not feel pressured to meet them at a specific time.