BWCAW routes for old geezers with bad hips or knees?

[Idiot Savant]

I almost signed up for a BW trip, this summer, but decided my hips couldn't handle it. It would have been my fifth trip in the BWCAW.
My only chance of going back to the Boundary Waters is to find a route that has short portages and not very many of them.
I'm thinking something that includes the Kawishiwi River might be a likely candidate.
Obviously a loop would be nice, but a route needing a shuttle is acceptable.
Anybody have any ideas?

 

[billconner]

I've thought of a no portage trip, well one well used one, to just paddle around Basswood. Want to combine it with a Quetico trip, and circumnavigate the whole lake. Take lots of extra amenities.

You could travel a lot on Saganaga as well.

 

[Boreal Birch]

Up the Moose chain to the short flat portage portage to Ensign Lake. That is the only short flat portage that I remember. Ensign Lake is fairly large with lots of bays and long peninsula’s. Get off to the beaten main route to avoid travelers paddling to further destinations. Shoulder season if you are looking for some quiet time.

 

[Idiot Savant]

I'm not sure trail steepness is as much a barrier as length. At least not for me. My legs are still reasonably strong, but my hips start to really hurt when I carry heavy loads.
I think the idea of paddling the circumference of a large lake is viable except I usually try and avoid the bigger lakes, like Brule, because they can get really nasty, if the wind kicks up. Seems I remember hearing that the wind blows mostly in one direction so a big lake that doesn't line up with that might be OK. I'll take a look at the Mosse chain too.
I'm going to follow the Kawishiwi River, on the map, and see if I see a long section with little portaging. I could deal with a really long shuttle. I was looking at a possible loop that includes lakes One, Two, and Three, but it had a few problems.
The last trip I did to the BWCAW I made the mistake of choosing a route that some writer liked because some of the lakes were reminiscent of something you might see in the Rockies, but I'm from the Rockies, I don't want to drive a gazillion miles to see what I can see right here. Turned out to be the worst of my four trips.

 

[billconner]

Well, Basswood can get rough. I'd just stay put for those days, and generally plan to travel early in the day when it's usually calmer. Saganaga has lots of islands and bays, so easier to find smaller water.

For a lot of paddling (~40 miles) and not much portaging (~3 miles) or at least not much elevation change, consider border route Moose to Saganaga, and a long shuttle.

Lots of portages along Kawishiwi River iirc.

You might look a www.paddleplanner.com for it's route planning maps. Pick start and end, as many points along the way, and you get a lot of info.

 

[laxpuck]

I would second what billconner said -- paddleplanner is a fantastic tool, and you can get a free trail of the features which are normally behind a paywall. You can ask it to generate any route you can think of, and it will calculate your portages, paddle time, etc. I think you can also adjust the settings to minimize portages entirely.

Good luck!

 

[Mnoutdoorfunguy]

Sea Gull Lake is very nice

 

[billconner]

Note my 3 miles of portages Moose to Saganaga was double portaging - over back and over - just a mile total on 6 portages.

Put in Fall Lake - maybe Pack Sack outfitters - and head to Basswood falls. 18 miles one way with just 2 portages totaling a half mile (1.5 doubling). Have not done any of that route myself (have been to Basswood Falls) but should be a nice area and three waterfalls.