BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 27 2024
Entry Point 30 - Lake One
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
October 2017- 3 Generations of Family
Entry Date:
October 18, 2017
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
3
Doug and my dad crawled out of the tent shortly after sunrise and I greeted Doug with a hot bowl of oatmeal and dad with a hot cup of coffee. After breakfast we fished at the bottom of the falls where dad landed a nice Walleye, probably 3-4 pounder, which we strung up to a bush at the shoreline. We all hiked back up to camp at the top of the falls to get the canoe so we could fish Crooked Lake a little and when we came back, Doug spotted two otter's fighting over Dad's walleye. I ran over, but it was too late, 3/4 of dad's walleye was gone and there was a family of 4 otter's spy hopping out of the water and hissing at us like we're the bad guys! I've been robbed by snapping turtles before, but this was a first for me. We fished from land a little and dad lost a big northern right at shore (it's my fault as she slipped away as I tried to grab her and cut the line). We fished some more in Crooked, Douglas and I each LDR'd (long distance released) one, but dad was able to eater sized northerns so the skunk was out of the canoe. I snapped a few pics of Doug by one of the International Boundary Markers. He thought it was pretty awesome to straddle "the border". After a snack lunch, Doug wanted to go hiking to explore our area a little so off we went while dad fished and relaxed at the bottom of the falls. I knew there was a USFS Ranger Storage Shed around here somewhere, but I wasn't sure where and Douglas led us right to it. The trail was getting really narrow, more like a game trail and I wanted to turn back, but Doug insisted we go just a little farther and we stumbled right into the cabin. It was cool and Doug was fascinated as he proceeded to ask me question after question about it. I wish I had more answers. We peeked in one of the windows and all I could see was lumber, some latrines, and a couple of wheel barrows.
Back at camp we cooked up some Knorr rice/pasta blend and pan fried the northern for a delicious dinner and then we cleaned up and headed to the bottom of the falls to see if the evening bite would be better. It was slow, however, I was able to land a Walleye right at sunset that was almost a replica of my dad's in the 3-4 pound range so we strung that one up in an eddy just below the falls, close to our campsite hoping that the otter family wouldn't find it. We had a fire back at camp and Doug hit the wall and crawled into his bag at 8, dad and I sat by the fire sipping some whisky while we solved the worlds problems and set the agenda for tomorrow. It was another crystal clear night and we watched satellites and stars for a while. I think we made it until 9:30 again before turning in. Saw one other canoe today, they stopped for lunch at a site down stream from the falls and then headed down Crooked Lake.
Today we paddled over to the Pictographs, fishing the American side along the way. The Pictos were gorgeous, some of the best I've seen, and the sheer number of them blew me away. There's probably a dozen drawings, some clearer than others, but it was fascinating. We took some pics and video and continued fishing and checking out campsites as we drifted along. I caught a perch which went back, dad pulled in two eater size walleyes and Doug had no luck. We paddled back for a lunch of bagels and peanut butter and some relaxation time. It is hot out today, lower 70's, unbelieveable.
After lunch we fished below the falls again as Doug didn't feel like sitting in the boat anymore today. That's when it happened, I was watching Doug and I's slip bobbers sitting in about 10 feet of water with jigs tipped with minnows when my bobber went down like a reverse rocket. I set the hook and at first thought I was on a log or rock, because all I felt was weight, no fight. Then my drag squealed so delightfully I just about peed myself as 30 yards of line was gone in about 5 seconds. I tightened up the drag a bit and told Doug to reel in. My dad was across a little cove from us and I motioned for him to grab his gloves and come over as I may need some help. What followed was 15 minutes of battle between me and the biggest northern I've ever hooked into. She made about 10 runs, each time I had to two-hand my rod to fight it. Finally, on the 4th landing attempt, we landed a monster pike, probably in the 36-40" range and weighing around 15 pounds. I wanted to get her back in the water so we didn't take any measurements.
For dinner we had Wild Rice Soup from Bear Creek with some buns and pan fried Walleye, and it was amazing and oh so filling. After a few Snickers bars we bummed around camp and had another fire as Douglas explored the area. I can't believe how warm it was today, I didn't bring any shorts, which I would have worn today. It's been tough locating the fish and Douglas has yet to land one so I'm discouraged by that. I consider myself a decent fisherman right along with my dad, but we're no pros and it's been hard finding a depth/presentation that is consistent. I think the warmer than average water temp has delayed the fish from strapping on the feedbag. We slept well, and I had my bag unzipped the majority of the night as temps were in the low 50's. We saw two other canoes today, one made camp at the site at the bottom of LBF, and another we saw while viewing the pictos...I believe they were Canadian.