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Some good routes out of Sawbill
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Planning a trip for 8 nights 9 days out of sawbill in June. What are some good route suggestions? Looking to do some fishing and solitude. I haven't quite decided yet on if I want to do a loop or and out and back. Either one is fine with me. Portage wise I plan on doing single carries. What are some suggestions?
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I have not personally started from Sawbill, but from looking at the map it seems like you have a number of good options if you want to do a loop trip. If you are really looking for solitude, then both the Frost and Louse rivers should have that in spades. If you get far enough north, Little Sag is one of the prettiest lakes in the BWCA in my opinion, though I haven't been there in ages (before the northern part burned). Also the lakes south of Little Sag, Elton, Makwa, Pan ect... Either way, welcome back to the best place in the world! 
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Awesome. Thanks I will check those out.
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I did the Frost river loop a couple of years ago. Your longest portage is north of Sawbill but hhe hardest part of the trip is the Frost River. There is only one campsite on the Frost River and it's about 80% to Frost Lake from the west. If you do decided to canoe the Frost River leave your campsite early because there WILL be several beaver dams along the way. Upon arrival at Frost Lake the first campsite on the west shore line is a good one. Have a great trip.
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I was looking at the Frost river loop as an option last night. If I decided to go that route, is it best to leave sawbill and go straight north on sawbill to Cherokee and on to frost then head west on the frost river? Or is it best to head west from sawbill to the lady chain then north and then head east on the frost river to frost lake?
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You never mentioned if this was a solo trip or are there others. The year I did it was with a crew of 4 and we to single portages.
When I did this route I went to Mesaba lake the first night. On day 3 We headed for Frost lake but didn’t make so we stay on Bologna lake then went on to Frost lake. After a two day stay headed to Cherokee for two days then out to Sawbill from there. It was a trying trip but a good one. Good luck on your trip.
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Thanks Wayne. I'll be doing the trip solo.
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There are a few options.
- You can go west to the Lady Chain.You can either do an out and back and do a loop through the Lady Lakes, through the Louse River, and back down through Kelso.
- You can go north. Two years ago I went to Wine Lake. Wine Lake and Mesaba Lake both have lake trout. This can be an out and back or do the Louse River loop back through the Lady Lakes.
- You can go north to Cherokee. You can stay in that area or do the Frost River loop.
- You can go east to Smoke and Burnt. You can turn this into a loop, too, by going north to Cherokee.
- You can just stay on Sawbill and Alton. They are both nice lakes, though you won't get much solitude.
Both the Louse River and Frost River loops will give you a lot of solitude. When we went to Wine Lake, we only saw one person cross the lake the entire weekend we were there.
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If you are planning on the Frost River loop, have you decided which direction you will be heading. The portage between Fente and Afton is almost straight up. Click on the portage description and there is a picture of a member of our crew near the bottom of the portage (I was at the top taking the picture). The portage may be short but you almost need to be part billy goat to get to the top. I looked at the picture and it will be 5 years ago since I made this loop. My how time flies. As you probably already know there is only one campsite on Afton Lake which is the closest lake to the Frost River and there is not another campsite until you get to Bologna Lake. The year we took this loop we crossed over about 14 beaver dams. I'm not trying to discouraged from taking this route but leave your campsite early no matter which direction you have chosen to travel. It is a very enjoyable route. If I were doing this route solo, I think I would do it east to west on the Frost River. I'm speaking for myself since I've never done a solo trip and can only remember what I went through as a crew member of 4. Have a GREAT trip. Like Ben stated in his post there a lot of routes that are possible out of Sawbill Lake.  Edited by user Saturday, April 6, 2019 3:30:23 PM(UTC)
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