TW,
This was actually my second trip through Gabbro this year.
Little Gabbro is about a 1/2 hr drive east of Ely. We stayed overnight in Ely and got an early start. As we were nearing the entry point, we spotted two moose in the middle of the road. They took their time crossing the road but it was great to see them close up from the relative safety of our vehicle. The portage into Little Gabbro from the parking lot is 200 rods. It is not very difficult unless you bring in as much junk as we do. After a brief paddle through Little Gabbro, you come to some fast current between Little Gabbro and Gabbro. You can paddle up but need to paddle like heck. Gabbro is a bigger lake that seems to be quite popular. On our July trip, every campsite was taken. This time there may have been one or two open. Our goal was to make it to the west side of Bald Eagle. You need to do a short lift over into Bald Eagle but can shoot the rapids on the way down. We took the first campsite past the rapids and only saw one solo canoist paddle by on a day trip the two days we were there.
We didn't get in as much fishing as we wanted due to strong winds but did manage some walleyes. They were in the deeper part of the lake which is close to the campsite. We caught a fair amount of walleyes on our July trip also. If you want to get away from people, it is a good route for late fall providing you go past Gabbro but not during the summer. I myself prefer other less crowded routes during the summer.
If you need to know anything else, let me know.

Posted by Don on October 06, 1999 at 21:58