It seems as though the majority of QJ contributors take their trips in the May/June time frame, the mass population trips in the July/August and relatively few people trip in September or later. I understand scratching that cabin fever itch as soon as possible in the Spring along with catching the fish looking to shake the winter blues as well. I also understand the "out of school" timing of July and August. I am somewhat confused by the comparative lack of use of the parks once the summer gives way to Fall.

In my opinion, the Fall is second only to spring from the standpoint of fishing success, the lack of traffic should be a positive for those looking for some peace and quite, warm days and cool nights are ideal for spending time out of doors, and it's hard to beat the beauty of a Fall day especially in a setting as rare/exceptional as the Q or BWCA.

Do folks just not report as much on Fall trips, are the parks truly that empty, or am I missing something?

Just curious,
J

I like spring before the Park opens. There's that wonderful flexibility of no quota plus it's easier to find those little used portages ... to see where you're going to and just generally get around in the forest. I walk around a lot and like the new growth... To me it seems there are also more overcast days and since I hate that pesky, unrelenting sun.... That's when fishing is at it's worst IMO.

Summer - June, July, ya, more fish, people, flowers and bugs but man, the liven gets easier and easier. The place is just so forgiving compared to the shoulder seasons. Three days of solid cold and rain are rare and the weather is more predictable. Things are starting to get overgrown.

I'm hamstrung by my kid's schedule lately so the dog days are darn nice too. It's normally calm except for the afternoon storms. Even timing on clouds gets predictable but vegetation is not as pretty by then. Fishing is better than spring it seems.

For a lot of years I'd do an early May and late Summer or early-mid Sept trip. Wife and friends trips were always summer. Frost is always worth it and even I can get my butt out of the sack for an almost guaranteed foggy morning.

Later Sept, Oct., well, it seems to me that the wind starts picking up again by then. Not something to look forward to when your paddling a tandem solo on bigger lakes and those types of patterns last longer then than they do in spring. Bug report - what's a bug?

I'm a wimp for cold, but can handle ice out 'cause I know the trend will/should be to warm. Never tripped much into October if at all for that reason alone. Dry years you can get good 'fall color' pics way earlier than 'peak'.

The last few years it sounds like the weather has been strange in the upper midwest. It was highs in the 60s and overcast at my home the last few days. That would be perfect IMO. Go figure. Anytime ... expect the worst - hope for the best.

Hmmmm, There's a bar graph of Quetico visitors around, personally, I'd love to see my own trip history on a graph. May would be a wall, late June would probably be a valley with some zeros and early October would be a cliff. I know what the graph for interest in QJ looks like. For a seasonal type thing, people hang around into late November more than normal. Again, go figure.

Have been thinking more and more about a fall trip, so thanks for pitching it. We often go in early July to take advantage of the "extra" vacation day provided by Independence Day. Funny that we're usually in Canada. Otherwise, we like to go early to mid August to escape the dog days of summer in Phoenix and now Baton Rouge. That being said, the next time we get a hurricane here in Sept or Oct, I may load up the truck and head due North.

This year you can go in July and get October weather.  Too bad it's not the good kind of October weather...

Seriously, there has been no summer as of yet up there.  Wild strawberries are still producing and blueberries just started to get going good the past couple days.

Longtime "summer tripper" who made the switch to September a few years back.

Next year:  back to summer tripping. 

Why?

Prolonged stretches of cold, ugly weather on both September trips.  Endured a hard freeze, plus plenty of cold wind and rain--for days on end.

No swimming.  Fishing sporadic (I'm no expert, but usually do well in summer).

My gear is summer-weight stuff--warm enough to keep me alive in 25 degrees, but not sufficient to let me ENJOY 25 degrees. 

Love the "no people, no bugs" of early fall, but will take a pass on the "I'm freezing my a** off, and where are all the fish?". 

Warning to new fall trippers:  take the average temps with a grain of salt.  Pack for weather 1 month later than your actual trip date.