Four measured days.

Enter early and learn the river

1. 06:30–07:00: park, photograph the lot/vehicle, shoulder PFDs and carry the reported 147 rods to the river. Single-portage only if loads are genuinely safe.
2. Morning: paddle the South Kawishiwi approach. Portage every mapped or uncertain rapid; never infer a runnable line from this route trace.
3. Midday: eat ashore at a safe landing. Use moving time to inspect boulders, current tongues, flooded grass, and weed edges.
4. 14:00 onward: begin checking designated camps before reaching the target zone. Take the first suitable open site if occupancy, wind, or fatigue says so.
5. Evening: 90-minute surface/streamer comparison near camp. Return before low light compromises landings.

The 2020 EP32 report describes roughly three miles before the river bends east, another two miles toward the triangle, an unnumbered carry, a 30-rod carry, and other short rapid bypasses. Treat those as firsthand observations, not current survey data.

Earn the outside arc

1. Dawn: fish a short topwater circuit from camp. If the first two best banks are silent, change depth rather than burning the morning.
2. 08:30: packed and moving. Work the east/north river arc, landing well above every rapid and keeping rods fully inside the canoe profile during carries.
3. Lunch: stop only at a durable landing away from a portage traffic lane.
4. Afternoon: fish current exits, eddies, boulder shade, and windblown shore. Start site checks early on the northern corridor.
5. Evening: choose one protected bank near camp; skip the session if thunder, fatigue, or a difficult landing raises the risk.

The day split is a planning construct derived from the trace, not a named campsite-to-campsite measurement.

Make Sunday easy

1. Dawn: fish the north-river bank for up to 90 minutes.
2. Morning: continue west, then take the correct portage toward Clear Lake only after confirming it on the current paper map. A trip report describes this portage as easy to miss.
3. Clear Lake: cross on the protected shore. If wind is building, wait; the route gains nothing by forcing open water.
4. Afternoon: continue through the shortcut and stage within roughly one travel block of the EP32 approach. Begin campsite checks no later than mid-afternoon.
5. Evening: organize the exit pack, isolate wet gear, and keep the final morning fly selection small.

Exit with margin intact

1. Dawn: optional 45–60 minute session only if camp is nearly packed and conditions are stable.
2. 07:30–08:00: launch. Keep the group compact and repeat the approach portages conservatively.
3. Late morning: reach the put-in and carry to the trailhead. Do a person/boat/pack/rod count before anyone leaves.
4. Target: reach vehicles by early afternoon. Notify the home contact immediately after reliable service returns.

A 2020 trip report describes wind and small whitecaps on the final two miles. Even river routes are not immune to wind.