BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 01 2025
Entry Point 14 - Little Indian Sioux River North
Number of Permits per Day: 6
Elevation: 1364 feet
Latitude: 48.1466
Longitude: -92.2103
The Storm / Bushwack to Rangeline / A Trip to Warpaint / Lynx Lake
Entry Date:
July 18, 2014
Entry Point:
Little Indian Sioux River (north)
Number of Days:
8
Group Size:
9
Four years ago I visited Lynx Lake with my son Josh. We had an incredibly long one day trip. While passing through we stopped at the 5* campsite on Lynx and that was enough to set me hoping on a return someday. That day arrived this year and much to my delight the campsite was open when we arrived. The balance of our party arrived on Saturday and we ended up with the two best campsites on the lake, both on the eastern shore.
Today we went back to Shell Lake to help guide the other group to Lynx. If you keep the white rock (pictured) and the point near it you'll have no trouble locating the way to get to the Little Shell portage. Though a short portage it has a nasty rock landing. 
Later on Saturday we took a trip to Agawato Lake which is accessed by a short and pretty portage on the south side of Lynx. We nicknamed the lake Agaswampo. It appears that a fallen tree made a breach in the dam at the entrance to the lake. This had drained about 18" height of water out of the lake. This made the first 300 yards appear to be a large swamp. We walked around it and made our way to the main body of the lake. This lake and lone campsite on the eastern shore is probably accessed mostly by hikers on the Sioux Hustler Trail. A very high rock area sits above and to the north of the campsite affording some beautiful views and was totally loaded with ripe blueberries. 
The Lynx campsite affords a tremendous view of the lake. It has multiple viewing areas, a great campsite, many places for tents and hammocks. The landing is not the greatest but the site more than compensates for it. 
In the afternoon Luke, Evie & I decided to see if we could find Warpaint Lake. We had heard that it did not have a portage and no one had seemed to have been there. We did find it and it is a hidden gem located to the south of Ruby Lake. I have a short trip report related to that trip posted on this site as well. This picture shows the island you see as you enter the lake. 
We had made good time getting to Yodeler and we paddled quickly across the lake to the rock point on the north side of the lake for a group photo before tackling the portage to Achundo. 
Yodeler supposedly has an excellent bass fishing reputation but we did not get deterred from our goal of reaching Rangeline asap. We had anticipated that the portage from Yodeler to Achundo would be a total bushwack and the most difficult part of the trip. Wrong! Though a tough portage someone had marked a trail with red tape. Thank you whoever you are! Again, it wasn't easy but it was easy to follow the markings. We did not take pictures of the trail, only the section as we arrived at Achundo. 
Nothing too special about Achundo other than knowing you were deep in the woods in a place seldom visited. We crossed the lake quickly heading to the north where the stream would exit into Rangeline.
We were now psyched. We were close to our goal and it was still early. but...we could not find a trail to Rangeline at this point and we could not navigate the small stream. So we got out and weaved our way to the lake. It had taken us just over 3 hours ...so we were way ahead of our goal and now ready to go straight north on the lake to the campsite. Rangeline did not disappoint. It is a beautiful lake and only the events of the night to come kept us from exploring the southern section of the lake. It did have high cliffs and we also had hoped to fish the depths behind the islands the next morning. "Man proposes, God disposes". 
Here are a couple photos as we made our way to the campsite. 
As mentioned it was already turning in to a very hot day. We later learned that it was 93 degrees and 73% humidity. This is why I leave GA in mid-July ...not what I expect up north. I've been up here since 1953 and I only remember a couple days to match this type heat. Anyway there is a way to clean up and cool off even on the hottest day ...get IN the water and not ON the water. 
However we did want to fish and it was relatively easy to catch pike. Nothing huge, the big boys were probably cooling off in the depths behind the islands. We were looking for food however so these pike were on the menu for the night. 
Have I mentioned that it was HOT. Perhaps this was the last photo taken trying to cool off at the end of a great day of adventure. Now the question was how to keep cool in the tent when your body is roasting. We found out in a few short hours. 
As we headed off to bed we decided to keep the rain fly off the tent hoping that any breeze would come to cool us off. We got more than we asked for!
After a short day of work, the crew meets up at Rob’s house for last minute packing and goodbyes from Amy and Moms. We’re off at 6:00pm.
We headed off in the big van with the trailer in tow with my Dagger Blackwater 11.5 and a few packs tied down strong. I wasn’t feeling too good at the time. A stomach bug hit me hard the night before and would continue on for a few more days. Not much fun on an 18 hour drive. Off to Indy to pick up Tim! Driving through the night wasn’t much fun. Ryan took the first shift, almost to Chicago. Tyler then took over through Chicago (Cundy acting as Wing-man) and Milwaukee (Miller Park was cool).
After a gasoline break, I took over as I was feeling halfway ok. After I took off, I quickly found out that my initial enthusiasm would be squashed by profuse sweating and hot/cold flashes. We found a rest area on I94 and took a 1.5 hour nap. We awoke to sunlight and the St. Croix River just a few miles down the road. 
Today we head up to Heritage Lake. We explore the trail that leads to Loon Lake and find that it has sustained much damage ...so we turn back. Earlier in the trip one excellent swimmer in our group expressed the desire to trip up this way to Loon and then swim from the USA to Canada. Some things don't happen when teenagers sleep in. Back on Heritage I did manage to catch a nice 4 lb. smallmouth and then lose another one just as big on the next cast. We head back to camp for a group meal and start to pack up for an early exit on Friday. 
