Brule River Wisconsin August 2012

View Brule River Wisconsin in a larger map

By chance we decided to stop at the Brule River having had enough driving for the day. We'd seen Bob Dylan's boyhood home...

....in Hibbing MN and were heading for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We had not heard of the river before, but it turned out to be a great 3 1/2 hour paddle. Bruce dropped me off at Stone's bridge and checked out a fish ladder further downstream while I did the paddle. The weather was threatening thunderstorms all day, but I was lucky and had a dry run. 

The River near our camp at Copper Range Campground.

There are six wolf packs living in the State  Forest

 Shots from the paddle

  It was a great find and well worth another visit as there is a lot more river to explore.

Quetico Revisited

View Quetico in a larger map

Having spent three weeks out in the wilderness (Quetico Provincial Park)  last year, we just had to repeat the experience. This is real wilderness mind you- no roads, no motorized boats, paddle in - paddle out, not one sign or man made object (apart from rocky campfires). no cell phones- just lakes, rivers, islands, bays and peninsulas- birds, fish and animals - Our idea of heaven. 
As we did last year, we took my kayak and rented a canoe from Barry at Camp Quetico. Barry also provides transport to and from the park entry points . With three weeks of pretty basic camping we also avail ourselves of the chance  to stay in one of Barry's cabins before and after the trip. We decided to enter the park at the western end this year- Beaverhouse Lake to be exact.
We booked ahead as usual as the Park has quotas and we wanted to be sure of getting in. 

Camp Quetico
Besides cabins, canoes and kayaks, Barry has  a bunch of boats for fishing on Eva Lake (their location) . The camp is not far from the Quetico Park headquarters.

Basically we spent the three weeks paddling, fishing, swimming, reading (our solar charged Kindles - often in our hammocks) and generally having a great time. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

First camp - Beach on Beaverhouse Lake 

Quetico Lake ( North Arm)

Camp Chipmunk 

Loaded Up

Portage 

Lake Quetico South Arm Camp

Pickerel / aka Walleye

Portaging

The weather was not always perfect...

Beaverhouse Lake on a Windy Day - We paddled through 2-3 foot waves to get to this camp.

Beaverhouse cliffs 

First  feed of bass fillets 

Rapids from Beaverhouse into Quetico River  ( Portaging  required)

Lake Quetico Camp #2

Beaverhouse