Prairie Portage To Sarah and Back: A Test of Resolve and Obstinance or Attack of the Killer slugs
by Freeleo1
Day 1 6/28/23 Tow to Prairie portage then to North Bay peninsula site Campsite 13A 48.15639, -91.47087
Prairie Portage to North Bay campsite 13A P1: 20R Prairie Portage to Inlet Bay, Paddle 3.3miles P2: 84 R Bayley Bay to Burke Paddle 2.1 miles P3: 16 R Burke to Pond Paddle: 0.3 miles P4: 40 R Pond to North Bay Paddle 1.8 miles to campsite Total: 9.5 miles with double portaging.
L:Pre made Turkey sandwiches D:Bbq tacos cheese picante, rice, beans
We used LaTourell’s on Moose Lake for a bunkhouse the night before and tow to Prairie Portage. Nice folks, the tow driver going out was helpful and friendly. We checked in at Prairie portage for permit and orientation talk. We were trying for an earlier start, but we weren’t as organized for the morning as we thought we were, so we didn’t leave base until about 7:45, so left PP at about 9:30.
We were a little rusty for paddling, but had worked hard to at least get in good shape for the trip. I’ll turn 63 on the trip, so I’m hoping the time at the Y pays off. The 2nd portage is a decent length, but flat and smooth with sand landings. It’s the last we’ll see of an easy portage. The portages in to North Bay are pretty rocky. The 40R is very rocky at the end. Rougher than I expected for a main throughway, but better than further up. The lack of use for the portages and campsites over the last couple of years has them a lot brushier and hard to find or navigate. There's some logs across trails and a lot more deadwood in the sites than normal which would be a good thing if there wasn't a fire ban. We thought we found the site marked a 5 star site near Lost Bay it was so nice. We were one peninsula to the SE marked as a 4. It is nice and open, with decent bear bag trees and a nice firepit area with ok seating logs.
It was hard to get far away from the water for the latrine since it is a peninsula. We set it up, then got lost trying to get back to camp and ended up in the 2 star site about 100 feet from our site. We finally went to the front of the 2 star site and could see our tent clearly across the inlet and found the trail between the 2 sites. Who would think you would need a map and compass to dig a latrine? We used pieces of orange paracord to mark the trail after that, but it was still hard to find in the dark. Judging by what we saw almost no one does or can put the latrine 200 feet from camp or water the rangers tell you to. Many island sites aren't even 400 feet wide. I think it is an ideal, but not always achievable. I had my watch with a compass and figured out the latrine was dead North but still had to stay on the minimal trail to avoid impassable areas in the brush.
Above is looking at our site from nearby site and a picture of that campsite and below that campsite from ours.One of our stoves didn’t work so we used the other one the whole trip. It was an easy fix (clogged outlet) but we never had the time or need to work on it. It rained in the evening after we set up tent and tarp so we spent most of the evening under the tarp organizing equipment.