Last fall my father and I did a portion of the trip you have in question. We started on Lac La croix, through McAree, Iron, Crooked, Roland, Argo, Darky, Brent, McIntyre, Sarah, Side, Isabella, North Bay, Basswood, Wind and finished at Moose Lake. The worst portage that we ran into was the one between Darky and Brent. Not so much for the terrain but the distance. If you go out through Sarah, Isabella into North bay, the portages are not bad. The problem we ran into was the map that we were using did not accurately show us the location of the portages so it took us awhile to find them. If you take the river system between Isabella and North Bay, be prepared to pull your stuff over about 12 beaver dams. It is a very nice and peaceful way but you may lose some time because the river is not straight, it winds back and forth. I have heard that the portage between Basswood and Crooked is not bad because it is pretty flat but it is about 1 mile long.
As far as camp sites go, we only found 1 that we thought was really nice. The site is located on the far east side of brent before you head south towards McIntyre. The site hides behind a rock bluff. It helped protect the tent, gear and where you pull up with the canoe from the wind.
I hope you have a great trip which ever way you decide on.

Posted by Mark on December 17, 1999 at 16:28