Boundary Waters Trip Reports, Blog, BWCA, BWCAW, Quetico Park

BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

May 09 2024

Entry Point 23 - Mudro Lake

Mudro Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 19 miles. Three accesses into Mudro Lake involve portages ranging from 20–185 rods.Easiest access is from private la nd with parking fee.

Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1166 feet
Latitude: 48.0356
Longitude: -91.8301
On the Water- Monday July 20th-
On the water late considering how far we need to go today. Up the Horse river to the falls by 6pm. Started raining and NO campsites available. Mudrow-Alruss-Tin can Mike-Horse Lake-Horse River-Basswood. 13 miles by water. (not counting portages)

Tuesday July 21st-
Rain all night, all morning and all day. Went north by petroglyphs, table rock and the the Crocked Lake Narrows across Thursday bay to campsite. Basswood-Crooked Lake-Wednesday Bay-Thursday Bay. 11 miles in the rain.

Wednesday July 22nd-
Up early and calm winds to take advantage of, considering the big water we have to cross. Found beaver dam to lift over and did a portage from hell between Pandos lake and Chippewa Lake. VERY steep and slippery after rain. Many mud holes. Then the mile portage after Wagosh Lake to Gun Lake. Never saw another soul in a canoe or campsite the entire day! Thursday bay-Friday Bay-Pandos Lake-Chippewa Lake-Wagosh lake-Gun Lake. 11 miles by water.

Thursday July 23rd-
Finally had a dry night. got everything dry!!! A few portages today to Fourtown Lake campsite. Easy day by comparison. Gun Lake-Fairy Lake-Boot Lake-Fourtown Lake. 6 miles. Put the long miles at the first of the week for a buffer for contingencies!

Friday July 24th-
Last day. Stormed last night bad. A few portages today with one bad one between Fourtown Lake and Mudrow lake. To entry point by 1pm. Ready for a hot shower! 4 miles

Total-
45 miles by water
13 miles by portage (3 trips each)
58 miles total.

Ensign Lake

by birdonbats
Trip Report

Entry Date: September 05, 2022
Entry Point: Moose Lake
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 6

Trip Introduction:
Guys fishing trip

Report


I was only able to pull one trip together into the BWCA this year. My 25yr old son and 2 of his buddies ( The kids ) along with myself and my 2 buddies ( The old goats ). We brought in 2 of our own canoes and rented one from Voyager North outfitter. After breakfast at Subway, and getting the rental canoe added to my roof from V North, then a visit to ranger station to get the permit, we finally got on the water around 10:30 Labor Day ( and my son's b-day).  Up Moose and Newfound, then, hang a right at Splash. One easy portage of 30 rods and an easy walk-the-canoe thru into Ensign. Many of the campsites on Ensign were full. This surprised me as I figured many folks would be departing today to be back at work on Tuesday. Finally found campsite #1222 available. Not a very good landing area, but fairly flat pads for the tents and good views. 2 of the boys slept in hammocks. We were treated to a Northern Lights display about 10pm on Monday night. Interesting that the photos we took look more colorful than what we saw with the naked eye. Still, very cool!  We fished hard for 2.5 days and did ok. Ate fish dinners Tues and Weds nights. Caught walleye, northern, smallmouth and 1 large largemouth. Landed one 22" walleye. Beautiful weather. The lake had a lot of algae in it and the visibility was poor. My son went over and checked out Lake Vera and said it was incredibly clear. While we had a few rookies with us, I never would have guessed that everyone but me would end up in the lake. My buddies tipped and lost 3 fishing poles. Luckily, we managed to recover 1. All 3 boys took turns slipping off rocks, tipping the canoe, falling off an edge. Lots of campfire stories regarding the errors of their ways. All in all a very good trip. Worst part was returning in the strong wind and white caps on Newfound and Moose. That was some serious paddling! 

 


Routes
Trip Reports
a
.
Routes
Trip Reports
Routes
Trip Reports
Routes
Trip Reports
.
Routes
Trip Reports
Routes
Trip Reports
x