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March 18 2024

Entry Point 14 - Little Indian Sioux River North

Little Indian Sioux River (north) entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by La Croix Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 32 miles. Access is a 40-rod portage heading North from the Echo Trail.

Number of Permits per Day: 6
Elevation: 1364 feet
Latitude: 48.1466
Longitude: -92.2103

Little Indian Sioux and Beyond

by wrestlencanoe
Trip Report

Entry Date: June 05, 2012
Entry Point: Little Indian Sioux River (north)
Number of Days: 7
Group Size: 3

Trip Introduction:
This trip had been in the planning stages since December of 2011. Searching bwca.com for possible routes, reading trips reports, looking at maps, and getting lake information from Minnesota’s Lake Finder. I reserved entry point 14, Little Indian Sioux River north for June 5 the day permits became available and an 18.5 Souris River from Voyager North Outfitters in March. I asked many of my paddling friends to come along and many expressed interest but in the end it would be Myself(Pat) and my 2 sons Sam (16) and Ryan (11). We left our home in Iowa at 6 in the morning on June 4 and had an uneventful drive to Ely arriving at 2:30. Our first stop would be to Voyager North to pick up our permit, canoe and leeches. We went over the maps with John and finalized our route. We decided that with good weather and light winds forecasted that we would try to make Snow By in Lac LaCroix on day one. We would spend 2 nights on Snow Bay then head over to Takucmich for 2 nights, travel through Tesaker, Gun, and Eugene, Spend the night on Steep. Our last night would be spent on Loon then paddle out through Little Indian Sioux. Our next stop would be Dairy Queen for an early dinner then the drive on the Echo Trail to Lake Jeanette where we would camp the night before our journey. The rest of the report will be told by my sons Sam and Ryan. A video of the Trip can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXCv9Q6ZDJw

Day 1 of 7


Tuesday, June 05, 2012 (Ryan) Woke up at 4:30 A.M., took down camp and headed for the Little Indian Sioux. Started off the day with a 40 rod portage, and were on the water by 6:00 A.M. Paddled a while and then did a 60 rod portage. After that we followed the river into Upper Pauness, over to Lower Pauness on a 40 rod portage. Soon after that we took a 160 rod portage back into the Little Indian Sioux River. Since the river was fairly high we were able to make it down a beaver dam. We then paddled through Loon up into the Beatty Portage. Then we went into Lac La Croix and were in Snow Bay by 1:30. A 17 mile day…5 portages. Upper Pauness Lake, Lower Pauness Lake, Loon Lake 

 



Day 2 of 7


Wednesday, June 06, 2012 (Sam) Wednesday morning I woke up to the sound of rain hitting the tent and decided to go back to sleep after yesterday’s early morning. Dad and Ryan set up a rain tarp, played some cards, and had some oatmeal. When I rolled out of the tent around 11 we got a little to eat and hit Snow Bay for some fishing. The afternoon brought some very nice weather. We paddled over to a little bay and casted out our leeches. In no time we had some smallies on the stringer for dinner. We kept on catching loads of bass from 16-18 inches. I also caught a pike around 24 inches. At 3 we headed back to camp. After supper, we went out and had a fun time catching fish on topwater.

 



Day 3 of 7


Thursday, June 07, 2012 (Sam) We left Snow Bay on Thursday morning and paddled from Lac La Croix to the Takucmich Lake portage. It was a nice 20 rodder with a steep uphill start. We camped at a real nice site near the portage. The smallmouth were aggressive here too, and we caught a lot on both leeches and artificial, but the size was a little smaller. That night we went out and tried trolling for lakers, but had no luck.

 



Day 4 of 7


Friday, June 08, 2012 (Ryan) We woke up to a bright sun coming through the tent so we decided to get up. Then we had some oatmeal for breakfast. After that we decided to get ready to go to Trygg Lake. Once we were ready we headed for the portage. It was a steep portage but well worth it. Once we got up there we casted out our spinners but had no luck. Then we decided to check out the campsite on Trygg, and threw some more casts from shore, once again no luck. So we got back in the canoe and continued down the lake. And then I got a snag so we paddled back to get it out, but NO it wasn’t a snag it was a FISH. So I set to the hook and started to reel in the fish, it was a great fight. Then finally it came to the surface and Sam netted it. It was a big brooke trout, probably about 18 inches.After a few pictures it was released. We tried a few more casts and went back down to Takucmich. Back at camp we put on our bobbers and leeches. We then went to a bay and casted our leeches, once again it didn’t take too long to get some food. Then we went back to camp and cooked them up, after supper we had some dehydrated dessert, Hot Apple Cobbler. It was delicious. That evening we had a fire and went to sleep.

 



Day 5 of 7


Saturday, June 09, 2012 (Sam) On day 5 we hit the water at about 9. Our first portage was only 25 rods, but fallen trees, mud, and a beaver dam at the end made it very difficult. After paddling across tiny Tesuker Lake we started what we voted the worst portage of the trip. The 80 rodder into Gun Lake was very overgrown with plants, had numerous big fallen trees, and plenty of mud. When trees were too big to bring the canoe over or around and too short to walk under, Dad had to carry it through while crawling on his knees! Of course the 90 degree weather didn’t make it any easier. Gun was a very neat lake and we took a much needed break at the great campsite in the middle. At the southwest side we started the portage into Eugene Lake. The 85 rods started steep and had its share of mud and down trees, but it didn’t seem very hard after the last portage. We saw some moose tracks on the trail. Eugene Lake was lined with lots of beaver lodges and was nice to paddle through. Our last portage of the day was heaven for us. 45 rods of wide, flat trail and then we were on Steep Lake. When we got to our camp on the west side of the lake our last challenge was getting our gear up the steep, rocky slope to it. Around 3 or 4 we jumped into the water for a very, very refreshing swim. After supper we tried out our Mepps Agilla lures for pike, but didn’t have any luck. We went to bed early after deciding to get an early start the next day.

 



Day 6 of 7


Sunday, June 10, 2012 (Ryan) Steep to Loon: Woke up, took down camp, ate breakfast and were on the water at 7:00. Then we took a short paddle to a 120 rod portage into South Lake. After that we had another portage into Section 8 Pond this one was 73 rods. The water was high so we only had to portage over a beaver dam instead of a 50 rodder followed by a 173 rod portage into Little Loon. Then we paddled through Little Loon into East Loon Bay, after that we paddled to Loon where we camped the night. When we got there we threw out our lines and caught some walleye and one sauger. We had walleye for supper and a while later it started raining so we went in the tent and listened to some music, then went to bed.

 



Day 7 of 7


Monday, June 11, 2012 (Ryan) We woke up at about 7:00 made some breakfast and were on the water at 9:00. We went up the Little Indian Sioux a couple of miles and then had to portage over a beaver dam. After that we paddled a little longer and then had another portage this one 160 rods into Lower Pauness, a little paddling and then a 40 rod portage into Upper Pauness. Then back into the Little Indian Sioux for a while longer and then a 60 rod portage. After that we paddled back to our entry point, once we got there we portaged to the top and finished our trip.[paragraph break]I had trouble loading pictures so a video of the trip can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXCv9Q6ZDJw

 


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