Making my first Quetico entry from the north. Plan to paddle the B Lakes to Russell. Worried a bit about having too many folks around near Chatterton Falls. How busy do Chatterton/Keats/McDougals get in August? Worth the extra paddle to stay there?

goblu79 wrote on Mar 8^th, 2024 at 5:54pm:

Making my first Quetico entry from the north. Plan to paddle the B Lakes to Russell. Worried a bit about having too many folks around near Chatterton Falls. How busy do Chatterton/Keats/McDougals get in August? Worth the extra paddle to stay there?

Every time I've been on Russell, which is was in early May, there were people either passing thru at the Chatterton Falls or camping close to them.

I have to think in August it would get even more attention. Russell for it's size doesn't have many campsites. Because of the falls you get a lot on people there. Worth the paddle but be prepared to camp in a less than optimum spot IF you hit traffic?

  I did the B-Lakes on this trip. You might glean some info from my experience there?

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Thank you Solo!

If you decide to go into Russell via Sturgeon Narrows you want to be VERY careful paddling up to the take-out!
  That area has dumped many a paddler. Large whirlpools that if you don't pay attention can get you sideways in a hurry.

People have paddled up the outflow but that's a risky move. If you don't make it you're going backwards fast. I tried and failed but with my double paddle I was able to just rudder and keep myself straight. You dump there, you will have a serious problem.

  My last trip up to Russell was my FUBAR trip.
  Day May 22 will give you some good info.
  There are Sturgeon to be caught where the spill comes out of Russell. I never caught one but it might be worth a try while there?
 
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While the current coming out of Russell into the Narrows can be very bad, it is likely to be much less so in August.  Still, I do recommend taking the portage.  Thirty years ago in May, my brother & I had to pull some paddlers out of the post-ice-out torrent there... and we only just HAPPENED by, having spent the prior week further east in the Cache Lake area.  Those guys were the first folks we had seen in many days and we had to get a fire going to fend off the hypothermia from their blue bodies.  That area is trickier than it seems almost any time of year.

Re: Russell camping.  I have found it "hit & miss".  Some years, no matter what the season, the area is packed.  Other times I expect it to be packed and we see nary a soul.  Good luck.  I'd go for it as Russell is pretty as is the Poet Chain to the east. 

Some folks like to camp within earshot of the Falls, saying "it puts them to sleep at night."  Others detest the noise & say it keeps them from sleeping.  You CAN hear it a long ways off, especially when the wind is blowing in the right direction.  If you find the sound bothersome, put an island or two between you & the Falls.  Me?  I like hearing them at night.

The portage into McDougall is one of the easiest in the park.  The lake is well worth the paddle, especially if you're fishing for smallmouth bass.

All Quetico paddlers would do well to do the Poet Chain at least once.  Montgomery is another jewel not to be missed.

You might want to check the fire maps in advance to see what impact the big fire had along your intended route.  I haven't been back in there since the big blaze.

Later,

Jimbo   8-)

We will definitely portage not paddle. We had a bit of an adventure in White Otter the year the water was very high, so we take the safe route. Thanks to all for the info!

I like camping close to the falls BUT not right next to them. The reason being you won't have any privacy because you have people coming up on the water and the campsite is at the end of the portage trail along side the falls.

This is my favorite campsite. About 50 yds from the falls, nice landing and flat spot to fish off of.

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The group I was with went to Chatterton in 1971.  It was back when you could take car top boats and outboard motors.  It was a flunk, but one day the walleyes went crazy on Chatterton.  I didn't keep a running tally of how many walleyes we caught, but one day we had three triples.  A triple means all three of us had walleyes on at the same time.  We had lots of doubles, but I didn't keep track of doubles.  The next day fishing went back to normal.
The take away is some days/times the fish will go crazy, but you have to be there when they go crazy.

I'm just putting a pin in this thread, because this might be a destination for me this summer. Thanks to all for the photos and info.

You didn’t say if you’re paddling solo or tandem. If solo you may need to portage, if tandem, you can probably just paddle. The water level in August is usually low enough. In August, hypothermia is not usually an issue. If you dump, stand up. 8-)

There’s a nice campsite near the top of the falls on the south side. I don’t think it gets much traffic. Nice fishing hole above the falls on Chatterton. If you want more isolation go to McDougal. Also, a nice hole below Split Rock. 8-)

Portage from McDougall to Keats can be a real challenge.  Very steep drop on the Keats side as I recall.  McDougall fishing is spot on for smallies. 
qp

QP is correct. We just portaged back into Chatterton, Paddling past the faint pictos around to the falls.  8-) Easy & quicker. Fishing is good on both lakes. While the portage from Russell is in the bay to the south of the falls it’s not too bad, uphill both ways.  ;)

Every night we had laker and/or waldo for dinner. Yup, tough trip. 8-)

QPassage wrote on Apr 29^th, 2024 at 11:09pm:

Portage from McDougall to Keats can be a real challenge.  Very steep drop on the Keats side as I recall.  McDougall fishing is spot on for smallies.  qp

You'll get a sore neck just looking UP at this portage from the Keats side. Easily one of the steepest portages in Quetico. In wet conditions it could be a disaster as there was very little, if any "winding/snaking" to the trail... just STRAIGHT UP.  Even "hand hold saplings" were missing (probably uprooted by desperate portagers in free fall).  Anyway, more power to anyone who survives it; I take my hat off to you ( I generally DO at funerals).

Later,

Jimbo  8-)

We did the portage 95 I think.  We took rope and dropped the packs and the canoe over the ledge.  Still wasn't much fun, though the view was stunning.  That was the year we dumped our canoe southeast of Keats Lake "pics of that area were lost".  We lost just about everything, food, maps, camera.  We had been on Sark the year before so we winged it to Sark then went on in from there.