Reply #10: Navigation can be very challenging.

[BrightKnight]

In the middle of a lake every direction looks the same. There are no signs anywhere in the BWCAW. Some portages can be very difficult to see even if you are very close. Remote back country sites and portages can be overgrown. Frequent fog and rain coming off of Lake Superior can make identifying islands and other lake features impossible.

I carried 2 high end Garmin hand held GPS units with 24K topographic maps. I also had a set of high quality plastic navigation maps of the area and a good compass.

There were many times when it was not possible to do any navigation in the canoe. In high winds and or high waves both hands were needed on the paddle at all times.

I manually entered waypoints for potential camp sites and portages at night using the plastic navigation maps. I set waypoint to waypoint routs in the GPS unit. I only had to glance at the GPS to confirm that I was on course and make any necessary corrections. This type of waypoint to waypoint navigation could very easily be done with a compass. If the canoe had a mounted compass I would have used it a lot.

There are routes in the BWCAW that require little navigation skill. A good outfitter can help find a route appropriate to anyone's skill level.