I’m new to the forum and would like the advice of all of you who have been to the Quetico. My wife and I are planning our first trip into the Quetico for May or June of next year.

I went to a YMCA camp as a kid in the northwoods of Wisconsin that emphasized canoe camping and loved it. I was supposed to go on their sponsored trip into the Quetico, but never went. I made it a point to someday do that. Well, over 20 years later I’m planning that trip. When I was a kid I was an experienced paddler. I always preferred and was picked as the stern paddler. I’ve tested the waters locally and found that I can still pilot a canoe like I did, kind of like riding a bike I guess.  

We’ve camped before, and my wife is a good outdoors woman. We’re both in fair to good shape, but are going to the gym more often now that we know we need to prepare for the rigors of a 6 day trip.

So my question- this will most likely be an early June (or even late May) trip and I want to be as far from another person (besides my wife) as possible. Day one will be early and hard if necessary. Day two to six should only require 5 hours of traveling. We will need at least one campsite for a two night rest, maybe at the end of the trip (so if bad weather makes the rest sooner). Interests are photography and viewing wildlife, fishing (lake trout- any other trout besides lakers?), pictographs, and wildflowers.  

Side question- my wife is the object of every bug’s eye. Any favorite repellants? Do they still make Muskoll?

Thanks for your input.              

 Welcome aboard!

 You'll do well to do a Forum search as this topic or similar has been much discussed.  IF your not a Inukshuk, consider becoming one, that has it's own rewards.

Other more experienced paddlers will probably chime in on your wish for solitude, Lakers and the like. With only 6 days, and one being a layover day, and considering you "MIGHT" have a weather day that time of year, you really only working with 4 travel days. I'm thinking your choice of EP's will be very important for your wants and time restrictions.


Quote:

Side question- my wife is the object of every bug’s eye. Any favorite repellents? Do they still make Muskoll?

 Many of us here are big advocates of soaking/spraying ALL our clothing in Permethrin. This will minimize the use of bug repellent on your skin, and along with a head net/ and maybe bug armor gloves, you should be okay. I don't know about Muskoll, I use the Bullfrog sunscreen and Bug repellent with great success and I usually go Mid-May.
I think personal body chemistry plays a roll in how bad the bugs go after you? Some people just seem to be magnets, no matter what they use :P  You might check out the OFF brand clip on bug repellent. for your wife? Some but not all have had success with it? I'd do a local overnight camp trip before the Q one and see which product(s) works best for your wife. Dependiong on conditions, bugs that time of year can be a minor nuisance, or ruin trips if people are not prepared for the worst.

Jeremy -

If you have no objections to starting your trip on the northern side of Quetico, you can get an early start.  Ranger stations typically open at 8:00, so that doesn't typically facilitate a "first light" entry into the park.  However, if you head up to Atikokan, Ont (location of park headquarters), you can check in the day before your permit departure date and be on the water very early.  You could then enter at (West to East) Beaverhouse, Nym or French Lake (Dawson Creek).  Beaverhouse and French Lake put you in a position to do a lengthy paddle before anything beyond what I would consider a minimal portage would be involved.  Yet, that kind of area does tend to produce more travelers.  Nym, puts you in about mid-park and if you head generally south from there, you can get into some less traveled waters relatively soon.

Not only do the northern entries tend to draw fewer people than southern entry points, it is a bit simpler since you don't need a RABC (Remote Area Border Crossing permit) ... just a passport/passcard to get into Canada.  Nightly camping fees are a bit less also.

The earlier in May you go, the fewer the bugs (generally speaking).  June tends to be "max" bug month.  I do wear treated clothing (as described above).  The only repellant I take is as near to 100% deet as I can get ... which I wear sparingly.  If you can go before mid-May, you can get into the park before a permit is required.  If you go during this period, you need to be prepared for some "brisk" nights.  (I think my last year's trip--last 2 weeks in May--had maybe 3-4 days somewhere around 28 degrees overnight.)

dd

Jeremy,

If you choose your entry point and route wisely I think your biggest concern for a June trip will be bugs, especially if you or your wife is not very tolerant. I took my wife on her first trip to Quetico this June,  she did good except she was quite bothered by mosquitoes and black flys. Ticks can be bad in June also. Bugs  were not bad while on the water but it was hot and there was never much of a  breeze which made the bugs in camp very bad, even for me. She tried the OFF brand clip on but it seemed only to work if she was very stationary. I've not tried soaking my clothes as suggested, but head nets, long sleeves, pants tucked into socks, spending most of your time on the water, deet, campfire smoke, and catching fish seem to reduce my irritation level. If you plan on them, fearing the bugs shouldn't prevent a trip.

On our first couple of trips we had an outfitter drop us off at Beaverhouse Lake and we paddled east to Nym Lake. From the public phone at the landing we then called the outfitter for a pick up. It's an easy trip,  paddling with the prevailing wind, as long as they don't prevail too heavily, good campsites, only a few portages, good fishing and even a pictograph or two.  We saw a few other canoe trippers near the put in and take out, but only one or two during the middle of the week.

Many others here have much more experience that I, but send me a PM if you'd like more details on my route suggestion.

Good advice on the Permethrin above.

Muskol is made in Canada. Canada has laws concerning the percentage of deet allowed. Some canadians I have met were interested in getting american insect repellent.

REI sells jungle juice which has about 98% deet. I'm not advocating using it frequently, as it can irritate fair skin, but it is strong. Does not completely stop the black flies either. You could get the pump and spray it around hat, collar etc. We put in a ziplock so less chance of leaking on other gear.

It's probably more of a mental attitude, but I don't know how you guys go in shorts and a tee shirt. I get nailed by the bugs also, but not nearly as bad as my wife does. We have gone in may and I don't always use repellent, my plan involves putting some clothes on. A hat and mosquito netting will help if you find yourself in a bad spot. A button down fishing shirt with a tee-shirt underneath seems to thwart most black flies for me.  

Thank you for your advice. We are planning a northern entrance, probably Beaverhouse or Nym.

I'm thinking a headnet, proper clothing, and deet while in camp- and she'll be ok. Like I said- she is a good outdoors woman.

I'll look for the Bullfrog repellent. I never knew that about Muskol, probably because I used it after being massacred one year (in a tent with a broken zipper, woke up puffy and couldn't decipher individual bites- and built up a tolerance?).

I did become an Inukshuk- this forum has been a valuable resource.  

Thanks again all.

I hate biting insects too  >:(
Try OFF Sportsman's insect repellent, it comes in a small (4 inches?) plastic bottle.  Resign yourselves to having to put it on.
Other remedies: Light weight mosquito & no-see-um screen tent for a refuge from the bugs in camp.  Hanging around down wind of the camp fire.  Camp on an open, rocky Point site.  Be ready to get into your tent by 9:30 pm and hope you do not have to exit again until daylight.  Wear long pants and long sleeved shirt, even if 85 degrees, when portaging.  An antihistamine (Benadryl or ??) after dinner will put you to sleep by 9:30 and make you forget all about the itching.  
Long live comfortable camping  :)

loved your answer intrepid_camper, thanks.

Jeremy,

My bug repellent consists of taking 6 or 8 garlic tablets a day beginning 2 weeks before a trip and continue taking them while on a trip. Seriously, this has worked for me for years now.......the bugs avoid me. The downside is that other campers avoid me also ;) Before I employed the above method, I would bring along a bottle of IMITATION vanilla flavoring and apply that as bug repellent. It worked though I haven't tried it for many years now since going the garlic tablet route.

Welcome to the forum here on QJ and thanks for your contribution as an Inukshuck.

May you and your wife enjoy your trip

WR    

Love the avitar Wenonah Rider- but as I said this trip is with my wife. Garlic might not be an option.

For a 1st trip I'll echo a post above for a northern entry endorsement; specifically, French Lake and into Pickeral.  It's bigger water but if you have to be wind-bound, I'll take Pickeral over Quetico or Cirrus Lake simply for the view factor and the ability to get into a protected bay or back water.  You can get to "privacy" easy enough from there too as you head west or south and both of you should have a good (an easy) fishing experience.  If you're ending where you began, the wind will typically be at your back for the return.  If mid-May - early June was my window I would consider May 24 - 31st only because the moon phase has become our #1 consideration.  (less wind during the day and more active fish during the day   ;)  )

What Y camp were you at?  (I was conceived and born at Camp St. Croix in Hudson and we have 4 staff alumni in the family)

For blackflies, a headnet prevents most people who have the propensity to go insane when under attack, out of the tent. (Although eating can be a challenge.)

On the Deet - if you can find it in a pump spray, get it. BFs love ears and the hat line! One pump or less for each ear and the forehead (shielding eyes and mouth), then spread it to other exposed areas with the back of your hand. It keeps your hands/fingertips DEET free. DEET eats certain types of plastics like cameras and the like and tastes terrible.

BFs are snow-melt dependent. Skeets just need moisture.

....
Look for lakes with few or well disbursed campsites, cross your fingers and have a fallback or two in mind.

I'd recommend early June over Mid-May by 10 to 1.  the earlier you go, the fewer bugs, but the weather is more likely to be nasty as not.
Bad weather typically comes out of the NE or E, nicer weather from the W or NW - so you can count on winds form those directions depending on how the weather is.  In that last week of May/ 1st week of June time frame, you can typically expect to have a morning or two with frost.  Day before Memorial Day 2008, there was 4" of snow on the road between Thunder Bay and Atikokan - it snowed at Dawson Cr campground, and it was 20 degrees the next morning.  Normally, there will be a mix of bad and good weather - just depends on your luck.


I've only started a trip in Mid-May (12th) once - I decided that was a lot too early, and mostly go about the first week in June, and now usually try to take in Memorial Day to save a vacation day for me.  Even that time frame can be cold and wet - Just read some of the trip reports on here, and you can see that.

As far as solitude, that is relative.  At the end of May early June timeframe, I'll not normally see many people - one or two parties a day, and 2 or 3 days where I'll see nobody else at all.  To see fewer people than that, you will have to get off the beaten path more - take a portage into a dead-end lake, or camp in some remote back bay.  

Jesse and Maria Lakes tend to have several camps, all in close proximity - I'd avoid camping on them if that is going to bother you.  Most of the larger lakes have enough islands and back bays that you can be away from the flow of traffic when you camp.

If you want a route suggestion, I'd say start on Beaverhouse, and then go into Quetico Lake.  That is a big lake and wind can/will be an issue, but it is relatively easy to "get away" from the main travel routes and feel more secluded.  You will be/should be about halfway down the lake at the end of your first day.  From there, well ?

It depends on what you want to do - if you like moving camp every day and seeing some country, you could head down into Jean, do your layover day there, and then return back thru Quetico L.

6 days (5 nights ?) is not that long a time to do "everything".  With one layover day, that leaves you about 2 days for "in" and 2 days for "out".  A typical full day's travel, with maybe 3 or 4 portages will cover somewhere between 12 and 15 miles, depending on how hard you want to work, and how much you have to fight the wind.  That's mainly why I recommended going into Quetico Lake - good fishing, some of the better pictos in the park (in the Northern arm), lots of good camping, and not much portaging.  If you want to see more country, you can portage one or two lakes out from Quetico, or not.

Bugs at that time of year are really weather dependent.  Usually, not too bad - its before the main black fly season, and mosquitos aren't too heavy either.  Ticks can be an issue, and I think they tend to be worse in the NW quadrant of Quetico than in the other areas - you just need to be aware that they may be out in force, and do a "tick check" every so often.  Ticks are worst on the portages than in camp, but they do like to hide in the pine needle duff.  

My fav bug dope is geting impossible to find. I've always had good performance from Cutter's Creme - not a real high concentration of deet, but it dosen't melt plastic like higher deet can do.

The tip on a pump spray bottle is a good one (you can always take the top off and use the liquid - can't do that if a spray can stops working) - I will either bring a pump spray bottle, or a normal pressureized spray can, and spray the hell out of my hat brim if the bugs are bad, and my sleeves around the wrist, especailly before the start of a protage - that tends to keep them away from my face - I never bother using a head net, but I do bring one just in case I ever really need one.  If you have a heavy canvas shirt, or an average thickness fleece jacket, the mosquitos can't bite you in the middle of the back - I always plan on wearing that heavier shirt as a light jacket for that reason.

If you look at the top of the "general..." forum, you'll find a "The Hot Spot - best of threads" postiing - take the time to read that - lot of good info collected there  and look at the trip reports dated in the timeframe you are considering, to get a better feel for general conditions at that time.

PhantomJug wrote on Dec 8^th, 2009 at 3:17am:

What Y camp were you at?  (I was conceived and born at Camp St. Croix in Hudson and we have 4 staff alumni in the family)

My family has a long history with camp Manitowish in Boulder Junction, WI. My grandfather was a counselor; my dad, brother and I were all campers, and now my nieces are 4th generation.

Jeremy -- my daughter has that same problem with being very attractive to bugs, or intolerant...  I bought her a "bug shirt" from Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis, and she absolutely loves it.  You might check that out too...good Christmas gift??

prouboy

Jeremy,

Welcome to QJ.  I will cast a vote for Sturgeon Lake as a first Qtrip based on your initial post.  You can get there in a day and a half from Nym either through Maria/Jesse or Dore (or make it a loop route).  Sturgeon has several side route options to get you away from traffic.  It will be reliable for bass, walleye & pike in June.  Trout can be caught along the route.  I agree with MadMat's comment for June.  The probablility of warmer temps are greatly increased and this will help the fish to cooperate.  Put the odds in your favor.  Depending on your experience, bugs may be more tolerable than an extended May cold front.

Any of the above mentioned trip options will be rewarding.  Once you decide, come back to us with your route.  Many here will be generous with notes and tips regarding fishing locations and campsites.

-YB

Can't add much to the advice above. Except for the garlic, it's all good.
That said, pump spray insect repellent, not aersol. And, whatever the repellent, it will only prevent the critters from landing on you (or your wife). It will not rid the woods of them. Went with a chap a few years back who used up the entire camp supply trying to stop the buzzing.

And you are right about the utility of this site. I recommend it all the time. Nice people here.

Tim

Actually, I think WR begins his 'garlic & onion therapy' before coming to 'Copia each year!   :'(

Old Salt wrote on Dec 20^th, 2009 at 2:32am:

Actually, I think WR begins his 'garlic & onion therapy' before coming to 'Copia each year!   :'(

OK, I'll wait til after Copia this year  8-)

Jeremy,

I'll have to weigh in with a vote for a northern entry, as well.  I'm good with all the above reasons & have a couple additional.  Re: bugs... what Mad_Mat said about the winds that time of year is right on.  MANY of the camps I know of on Quetico, Cirrus, & Kasakokwog lakes are situated so as to allow adequate "breathing" with those winds.  In other words, they are oriented so enough wind flow will minimize bug issues.  Of course, when the wind fails to blow, you would be SOL anywhere.

Bear in mind that black flies hatch in streams & shallow moving water.  The closer you camp to it, the more likely you are to have issues.  Also, I'll second Prouboy's endorsement of "The Bug Shirt".  I used it for the first time last year & loved it.

One of the very finest trips I've ever made into Quetico was 2-3 days after ice-out in 1996.  Ice-out was really late that year; we went in during the last week of May.   We encountered NO bugs of any sort (except spiders in a Cache River swamp).  Frankly, though it got COLD at night, we got lucky as hell with weather.  NO rain until the very moment I was loading my canoe back on the truck.   BEWARE... that was one lucky roll of the dice!  Nine out of ten trip reports I read re: camping in May feature remarks about cold nasty weather figuring prominently during significant portions of the trip.

One of the nice deals about the northern tier of Quetico lakes on the west side is that you have very FEW portages & those are generally really short.  You can cover a lot of water while regaining your paddling fitness & gradually work your way into portaging shape.  You'll also find all four species of game fish in those waters.  You'll want to focus on the shallower bays, most likely, for fishing because the main bodies of those lakes are very deep & won't have warmed up much.

PJ makes good points about Pickerel Lake plus, if you're lucky, you get some of those nice sandy beaches, to boot.  If you haven't been on the water since your early years, however, I'd be concerned about paddling in the tempests that can blow up on that lake.  Yes, there are spots to get out of the wind BUT you just might be stuck in them for days at a time when the waves of big Pickerel Lake begin to roll.

Thar's my 2 cents....

Jimbo   8-)

Thank you all- I am learning quite a bit and finding some really great routes.

I am leaning toward a Sturgeon Lake circle, with a Nym Lake put in. There seem to be many options on this route. Is Walter Lake too aggressive for a first day target camp? We'll be leaving Nym at 8-9am. I'm sure once we make it into our 2nd lake past Nym, we'll know how big this circle will be.

Thanks again for all your input.    

If the crew is in shape & packed well, Walter is very doable in one day. PM me for campsite & fishing suggestions.

I agree with OS, very doable under right conditions first day.
You might see pass thru traffic on Walter, but the lake is worth the minor inconvenience of that.

I have a personal attachment to it. Here are some pics from my May 06 stay there:   (You need to Login or Register

Going to post an initial route in the trip & route planning. Thanks for all your input.