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I've come to the conclusion from my personal experiences that I'd rather do one long portage than multiple short ones with a longer overall route.

Solo at least for me put-ins/take-outs are the times when you have the highest risk of pulling a muscle/slipping and falling.

Other than hammock incidents that is. 

TomT -

Stu was sort of surprised to see me "still in the park."  He had heard from Mark Zup that we had gone in a couple days before the previous trip he was guiding.  He was heading out of the park with a SECOND group when I ran across him.  His group was relatively small due to some last-minute no shows.  He indicated "good fishing" on Crooked but was anxious to hear about my experiences on Conmee & Suzanette... of which there were none.  Mark Zup had warned me that Conmee has been "slow" this year, the hot lakes being Wicksteed & Darky, according to him.

jimmar -

Sounds like we both have had excellent rehab experiences re: hip surgery!  I had been pushing "core strengthening" extremely hard since my surgery in January.  Since then, I've added a strong cardio component... easier now that I'm not limping around.  I, too, get some "discomfort & stiffness" that goes away with some activity.

Hey, watch out for those "snow flies" in the Porcupine Mountains.  I hear those little beggars can really bite (on a par with canoe flies).


OS -

You're right; you shouldn't mess around with chest pains.  I figured my sister-in-law would haunt me forever if I managed somehow to snuff out her husband immediately after he retired and she had him to herself!  On the other hand, my brother accused me of "colluding" with her in a sinister plot to nab the company life insurance policy money which was still in effect until the end of July! 

I suppose if she had been willing to split the proceeds I might have been willing to tackle Magic's "mountain goat" approach via Wicksteed.

ST -

DentonDoc took quite a spill on one of those landings, trying to reload his vessel on a major incline (well, in this case, "decline").  For the most part, we did a good job of helping each other out in those spots.  My brother & I blew it that time, however.

If nothing else, it slowed DD down some so we were better able to keep up.

About all I can say about our Day #1 is: 1) we survived, and 2) I'm sure as heck glad that MagicPaddler wears a bright orange hat wherever he goes.  Otherwise, I might have missed him entirely when we finally arrived on Darky Lake!

We DID have a very good time, though I wish I had the smarts of Pine Knot's son, Matt, who brought the best possible defense versus the notorious ankle biters/canoe flies... a fly swatter!  Even my ankle net socks couldn't keep them from biting me.  Had to wear a heavy pair of socks underneath for them to do any good.  I had almost forgotten how badly I hated those little SOB's....

Jimbo   

Jimbo,
This is my first post - I believe you cruised by our group camped at the Jean Narrows on Tue. Sep 4th.  At the time you were looking for a hat left there by a member of your group and we had not seen it.   We did eventually come across the hat (beige ball cap?) on the day we broke down camp and would be happy to send along back to it's rightful owner.  Now that I have made my first post I should be eligible to send you a PM also.

Cheers,
Budhockey

budhockey wrote on Sep 10^th, 2018 at 5:35pm:


Hey Budhockey, that's a nice site there.  I was windbound there around 8/31 (?) and left the ball cap in my hurry to catch up with Jimbo and cronies who just passed the site that morning. 

It's a nice hat and would love to reimburse you for whatever the shipping is.  I see you're from Illinois too.  I'm in Carol Stream.  Maybe I could swing by to pick it up if you're close. Thx!

Look forward to the full trip report and some pics.

I knew from my spring trip those beavers might be a problem on Jean Creek. Jean is one of those streams that can be wide and deep or shallow and narrow all depending on the water levels.

I have NEVER taken that last portage on the left going south because I've always been able to paddle/pole down or up Jean Crk. That solid bottom makes it easy to pole and I knew if I had to walk it wouldn't be a mud slog.

Burntside is a great lake BUT it gets a lot of pressure because its a designation lake for many basecamp fishing guys.

Not many decent camp spots so the few, like those nice island sites, can easily get overused.

Did you portage from Jean into Burntside or take the portage out of Ceph Lk? If the water level was down the Ceph portage would be doable for a solo canoe but you would have to walk some probably?