Scott Cram organized this first trip in 1990. The contingent consisted of thirteen Scouts and five leaders divided into two crews. The older scouts formed crew 716A. It members were Doug Cram, JJ Mitchell, Dave Phillips, Steve Phillips, Mike Travis and Eric Thompson. It was led by Scott and John Phillips. Ian Albright, Stephan Gerstl, Ryan Smith, Lee Powell and Will Woodruff formed Crew 716B, the second crew, and were led by Bill Erickson, Dave Powell and Sig Gerstl. Both crews had highly successful trips. The enthusiasm was contagious and the troop returned to Sommers Canoe Base in 1992.
Charles L Sommers Crew 716B, 1990
Upon arrival, we met our Interpreter, Andy Deiforge from Green Bay. Andy played high school football and brought that football attitude with him. Nothing was too tough to tackle. Add that to Dave's Marine background and we were ready to take on the Quetico.
Items on the list of things that needed to be done were checked off one by one. The Baypost was just a short distance from the Lodge, the Commissary was under the old Dinning Hall and the canoe yard was just a short distance from there.
Various routes were discussed. The Falls Chain sounded interesting and Andy assured us that we could do it on a six day trip. The Falls Chain it was.
Day 1
Canoeing: July 17
Distance (miles)
Portage Length rods/yards
Day's Distance
Sommers on Moose-Newfound-Sucker to portage
5.7
5.7
Portage to Birch Lake
5 / 28
5.7
Birch Lake to campsite
0.7
6.4
Total distance to date:
6.4
We had a delayed entry, i.e., our Quetico permit was the day after our BWCAW permit date. Thus we had a short paddle to our campsite on Birch Lake which worked out well. The morning rain had given way to bright sunshine. This allowed us to set up camp at a more leisurely pace which is nice for the first time through. We put wet clothes out to dry and then relaxed. Some of the scouts took canoes out and practiced rescue techniques. Before long it was time for dinner...our last fresh-food meal until we arrived back at camp.
Left to right: Ryan, Lee, Andy, Will, Dave, Ian, Stephan, Sig
It was a short paddle to Prairie Portage. After carrying gear and canoes to Inlet Bay, we went through Canadian Customs and checked in at the Quetico Provincial Park Ranger Station. It was then back on the water headed across Inlet and Bayley bays. Basswood is a large lake and once we passed Green Island, we encountered waves from the west. It was get-down-on-your-knees time as we quartered the waves and made our way to North Portage.
North Portage was the first of three long portages to get to Agnes Lake via Sunday and Meadows lakes. Total distance was about 1.5 miles. We stopped for lunch on an island in Sunday Lake.
The Louisa Falls area of Agnes Lake is very popular and all campsites were taken. We continued north on Agnes and found a nice area on a very small peninsula where we made camp. Quetico Provincial Park encourages the use of establish campsites but allows camping on undeveloped sites. This is not the case in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Campsite on Agnes to portage on East Branch of Agnes River
11.6
11.6
Portage to Bird Lake
80 / 440
11.9
Bird Lake to portage
1.2
13.1
Portage to Anubis Lake
64 / 352
13.3
Anubis Lake to portage
1.3
14.6
Portage to unnamed lake
36 / 198
14.7
Unnamed lake to portage to McVicar
0.1
14.8
Portage to McVicar
20 / 110
14.8
McVicar to campsite
0.6
15.4
Total distance to date:
36.0
The day started with a long paddle up Agnes Lake to the East Branch of the Agnes River. The crew was getting in good paddling shape. This was followed by a series of relatively short portages and again, the crew was learning about single-pass portaging and was improving on each one.
We camped on an island in McVicar Lake. After camp was set up, Dave and I looked at the maps and it struck us how far we had canoed. We measured the distance traveled...thirty six miles in 2.5 days canoeing...and this was the younger scouts! This was a good crew!
Campsite on McVicar to Kawnipi to Kannebas Falls Portage
6.7
6.7
Kannebas Falls Portage to Kenny Lake
4 / 22
6.7
Kenny Lake to Canyon Falls Portage
0.8
7.5
Canyon Falls Portage to Kenny Lake
48 / 264
7.5
Kenny Lake to falls / Koko portage
0.2
7.7
Falls and Koko Falls Portage to Kenny Lake
56 / 308
7.9
Kenny Lake to Little Falls Portage
0.1
8.0
Little Falls Portage to Wet Lake
32 / 176
8.1
Wet Lake to portage
2.8
10.9
Portage to Wet Lake
7 / 39
10.9
Wet Lake to portage
0.2
11.1
Portage to Wet Lake
7 / 39
11.1
Wet Lake to portage
0.3
11.4
Portage to Saganagons
50 / 275
11.5
Saganagons to campsite on
2.9
14.4
Total distance to date:
50.4
This was the day we canoed the trip's main attraction, the beautiful Falls Chain. But the beauty came with a price -- seven portages. We ended the day camping on Saganagons Lake.
The day was not without its excitement. While landing at one of the portages, the bow of our canoe got caught in the current while Dave was getting out. The canoe swung out into the current with Dave hanging on. Lee and I allowed the canoe to turn down steam, turned it back upstream when the current permitted and paddled back to the portage trail head. Dave was able to get out of the water and then helped us exit the canoe and unload the gear. He had a 'nice swim' and was none the worst for the experience.
Today was the Man Chain and man was it work -- 20.9 miles with 14 portages. The hardest was the portage to the unnamed lake before Emerald. It looked like we could reduce the distance by going into Emerald, but we did not realize how steep the tenth-mile long portage was. We also had an unwanted surprise at the end of the portage -- a dead, rotting moose. Canoes were quickly loaded and moved away from shore.
Our last camp of the trip was at the north end of Carp. Any extra food was added to the dinner that night. It not only reduce the packs for the last day, but we were hungry after our day's canoe/hike.
The last day of our trip. At the start of the day, thoughts were it will be great to be back to the comforts accustomed to. At the end of the day, thoughts were is it really over, wish we had a few more days.
We saw few other groups on the trip. That changed drastically once we portaged into Birch Lake. Then it was like Cooney Island...canoes everywhere, people calling to each other, few places to find peace and quiet.
Once at the Canoe Base, we made sure all gear was clean and checked in. It was then showers, exchanging stories with our sister crew, dinner at the dining hall and a Rendezvous with all crews returning that day. After a night's sleep, we boarded buses for the Minneapolis airport and our flight back to New Mexico.
Trip Summary
Six fun, exciting, challenging days canoeing in the beautiful Quetico wilderness
Canoeing skills dramatically improved for all
We enjoyed wilderness living with few people around other than our crew
We canoed and portaged 84.7 miles averaging over 12 miles/day
