BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
June 03 2024
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
Baker Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Tofte Ranger Station near the city of Tofte, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 26 miles. Access is a boat landing at Baker Lake with a 10-rod portage into Peterson Lake to reach first campsite. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1497 feet
Latitude: 47.8452
Longitude: -90.8169
Summary: A 5-day loop from Baker up the Temperance lakes to Cherokee, and back through Sawbill and Smoke lakes back to Baker. A fairly difficult trip.
Day 0: We drove up from Stillwater in the morning and camped at one of the 5 walk-in campsites at Baker Lake, and it was nice.
Day 1 (Baker to S. Temperance) - A beautiful day, we decided to paddle all the way to South Temperance the first day which was a great paddle with easy portages except for the last one. We picked the campsite on top of a huge rock that was close to the middle of the lake. Tried fishing some but no luck
Day 2 (Rest) - In the night, we encountered the worst storm of the entire season. While we were there 19 people had to be rescued from the BWCA. We had about 50mph straightline winds, and I'm still surprised that the huge tent we had stood up to it. We slept in and took a rest day because of the intense winds. Amazingly beautiful sunset.
Day 3 (S. Temperance to Cherokee) - We left as early as we could to beat the heat, but it was no good. The lengthy, hilly portages were challenging and by the last portage we were pretty beat. We overpacked and single portaged which led us to speedier exhaustion. Still amazing weather. North Temperance was a beaut- I wish we had stayed there instead of South. We took the southeasterly facing campsite on Cherokee on the southeastern skinny island. Neat little site.
Day 4 (Cherokee to Sawbill) - Left a little later in the day but it was ok. We took our time going down the river letting out of the southwest part of Cherokee and it was a great area. BEWARE: The area between Ada and Skoop Lakes appears to be floatable, but a dam built recently has made the portion impossible to float. Be prepared for a long portage through muck and water. A guy that we saw there said he had been going to the BWCA for 40 years at least once per year and it was the worst portage he had ever seen. By the time we got to Sawbill it was pretty hot. We paddled all the way down to the site next to the portage onto Smoke.
Day 5 (Sawbill to Baker) - Cooler, cloudier weather for the first time on the trip. We were pretty hungry (I underpacked food a little and I felt really bad) and we were taunting each other with vivid descriptions of the burgers we were going to eat ASAP after getting out. We paddled back to Baker and returned our gear to Sawtooth outfitters.
Overall great route.
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1497 feet
Latitude: 47.8452
Longitude: -90.8169
Summary: A 5-day loop from Baker up the Temperance lakes to Cherokee, and back through Sawbill and Smoke lakes back to Baker. A fairly difficult trip.
Day 0: We drove up from Stillwater in the morning and camped at one of the 5 walk-in campsites at Baker Lake, and it was nice.
Day 1 (Baker to S. Temperance) - A beautiful day, we decided to paddle all the way to South Temperance the first day which was a great paddle with easy portages except for the last one. We picked the campsite on top of a huge rock that was close to the middle of the lake. Tried fishing some but no luck
Day 2 (Rest) - In the night, we encountered the worst storm of the entire season. While we were there 19 people had to be rescued from the BWCA. We had about 50mph straightline winds, and I'm still surprised that the huge tent we had stood up to it. We slept in and took a rest day because of the intense winds. Amazingly beautiful sunset.
Day 3 (S. Temperance to Cherokee) - We left as early as we could to beat the heat, but it was no good. The lengthy, hilly portages were challenging and by the last portage we were pretty beat. We overpacked and single portaged which led us to speedier exhaustion. Still amazing weather. North Temperance was a beaut- I wish we had stayed there instead of South. We took the southeasterly facing campsite on Cherokee on the southeastern skinny island. Neat little site.
Day 4 (Cherokee to Sawbill) - Left a little later in the day but it was ok. We took our time going down the river letting out of the southwest part of Cherokee and it was a great area. BEWARE: The area between Ada and Skoop Lakes appears to be floatable, but a dam built recently has made the portion impossible to float. Be prepared for a long portage through muck and water. A guy that we saw there said he had been going to the BWCA for 40 years at least once per year and it was the worst portage he had ever seen. By the time we got to Sawbill it was pretty hot. We paddled all the way down to the site next to the portage onto Smoke.
Day 5 (Sawbill to Baker) - Cooler, cloudier weather for the first time on the trip. We were pretty hungry (I underpacked food a little and I felt really bad) and we were taunting each other with vivid descriptions of the burgers we were going to eat ASAP after getting out. We paddled back to Baker and returned our gear to Sawtooth outfitters.
Overall great route.
Crab Lake w/ a kid
by K2
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 08, 2009
Entry Point:
Crab Lake and Cummings from Burntside Lake
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
3
Trip Introduction:
This was our second trip to the bwca.
Day 1 of 6
Monday, June 08, 2009 We spent Sunday night in the bunkhouse at V.N.O. got up Monday morning and had breakfast at Brittons Cafe. After returning from breakfast we loaded our gear and headed for the public access on Burntside Lake and took the tow over to EP 4. From there we dug in and made the portage. We doubled it so it was twice the fun. I should mention there were two adults and my 10 year old son. All morning it had been looking like rain so we were trying to hustle and get to camp and set up before it started. Naturally, in the rush I ended up in a different part of the lake. I realized I was one off from the cove with the portage, must have been the angle and rush but, that's what happened. We got to the site with the chair and realized the mistake but, rain was coming so we went for it. Set up the tent, tarp and got a fire literally right before the rain. It rained all night so we hung out and ate some hot dogs then later cooked supper and settled in for an early night. 
Day 2 of 6
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 We woke up to continuing rain from Monday night and felt like sleeping in a bit so we did. Finally got up had some bagels sat around a bit and got restless. We decided to go on out, a little rain never hurt anyone. We went down the dead end creek for a look around and a little fishing, pretty cool area. Then we headed back in to have some lunch, fish sandwiches. After eating we went out and did some fishing catching a few nice fish and releasing them. While fishing we were headed toward the portage to Little Crab when we saw that the last sight on right before the portage was open. Wow, it really looked a lot nicer than ours. So we pulled up and looked around, decided to throw out a line from the bank and caught two nice bass. Immediately we decided we would move first thing in the A.M. 
Day 3 of 6
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 Up early for moving day. Mike and my son took a load of stuff over to stake our claim while I packed the tent, tarp and anything else. After an inspection to make sure all was clear we finished the move. Arriving at the other site we set up quickly and went fishing. After catching a few nice bass we decided they were looking good for a lunch date. After lunch back out and caught and released fish all evening. Back for supper we made some ham steaks on the fire and they were great then a couple of cocktails for dad and off to bed. 
Day 4 of 6
Thursday, June 11, 2009 Big day trip. We headed for Cummings Lake through Little Crab and up the Korb all the way to Cummings, fishing the whole time. We had an incredible day with all of us catching fish all day long even right in the middle of the day. We stopped for some good old PB & J sandwiches and worked our way back. This was the greatest day and no trip report I could write would do it justice. 
Day 5 of 6
Friday, June 12, 2009 Last full day. We mostly just fished all around on Crab. Heading toward the big cove with a couple of sites to the back. In the afternoon a pretty good rain had come in so we headed back to camp fished from shore had a dinner and a couple drinks and began packing for the trip out in the morning. 
Day 6 of 6
Saturday, June 13, 2009 Up early and at the portage by 0800. Double portaged, caught our tow unloaded gear and got a shower. Bummer that it all went by so fast. All in all we had a great week with great weather it just went too fast. The folks at V.N.O. are wonderful to work with. They even sent my boots and bag I forgot by the shower. Only negatives to this trip were losing my sunglasses and getting a ticket in WI for 80 in a 65, ouch. 
discuss this trip report (10 comments) - last post on June 27, 2009