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

BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 19 2024

Entry Point 30 - Lake One

Lake One 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 21 miles. Access is a canoe landing at 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!

The Big Insula Pike Trip - Oct 2007

by PaddleAway
Trip Report

Entry Date: September 28, 2007
Entry Point: Lake One
Number of Days: 6
Group Size: 2

Trip Introduction:
After our great May 2007 trip, we talked about doing a late-season trip - neither of us had paddled the BWCA in October. We figured we could see a busy entry point that we'd never touch in mid-summer. Lake One it was!

Day 1 of 6


Friday, September 28, 2007

Once the thought of a late-season BWCA trip announced itself, we had trouble dismissing it. Within the span of a couple of weeks this trip came together.

We’d heard the horror stories of the aluminum highway flowing through Lake One, & the stories of the excellent fishing on Lake Insula. Always ones to seek out smaller lakes, less popular entry points, & low-density populations, the thought of a late season trip to this popular entry point appealed to us.

We pulled up to the entry point on a beautiful fall afternoon, putting the canoe in the water around 3PM. Our target was Lake Three, camp 1493, highly recommended by kremer08.

But first we had to dodge traffic on Lake One – holy aluminum canoes, batman! We counted nineteen canoes on Lake One. Nineteen. It was September 28th, right? We feared for the quiet of our planned trip.

Not to worry. Lake Two held only one canoe, glimpsed from afar, & we saw only one more on Lake Three. Clearly the 70 rods worth of portages between One & Two were enough to discourage the masses. It was a quiet, easy paddle & we set up camp on the beautiful, if worn, site recommended by kremer08 (thanks!).

 



Day 2 of 6


Saturday, September 29, 2007

Day two dawned gloomy & cool – no sun-dappled Saturday for us. We pushed off late, as is our habit, because we’re lazy. We paddled Lake Four & jumped the first of two quick portages into Hudson. Here a note about high water. That first 25 rod portage empties just above the head of a rapids flowing into Four, & with the fierce rains that inundated the BWCA in September 2007, the rapids were pounding hard. The launch was about three feet from the start of the riffles. We managed not to slip or drop a paddle. It was good. A thunderboomer caught us just as we unloaded for the “long” portage into Insula, so we stopped & caught a few smallies at the bottom of the rapids. It, too, was good.

Insula’s a beautiful lake, all bays & islands & big water, which we were reminded of by the stiff wind springing up in the wake of the thunderboomer. We decided on the second campsite on the south side of Insula & went wave-crashing, underestimating them as always. But we made it.

The campsite was, again, worn, but beautiful. And another goal – a real, live sand beach in the BWCA – greeted us. It was kind of surreal. We spent a little time wading & digging our toes into the sand before setting camp, making dinner, & doing just a touch of fishing. We went to sleep happy in our sandy paradise & realized we’d only seen one other canoe the entire day.

 



Day 3 of 6


Sunday, September 30, 2007

Day three: cooler still, windy, drizzly. Damp. Fishing time on big Insula.

We caught a couple of small walleyes & after a period of inactivity, switched over to pike. We caught a few snakes, a few respectable fish, & then the trip...changed.

I hooked a fish on the bottom in about 20’ of water with my Dr. Spoon & it reacted immediately like a big fish, coming along agreeably towards the boat. I dragged it for a while & saw the whale’s back come up towards the surface. It must have seen me, or the canoe, or both. It RAN.

My drag, set correctly on the smaller pike we’d been tussling with, sizzled. My rod bent. The canoe lurched forward under the propulsion of the big pike. I yelled something incomprehensible. The pike ran towards shore. I shouted at John to paddle us out from the rocks. I didn’t want to lose the beast. We fought for about five minutes until it surfaced again. Not liking the looks of us, it took off again.

We played this game a couple more times, the runs shortening, thankfully, because my wrist was starting to hurt. Now, the fun begins. I’ve landed plenty of 30” pike by hand, but this fish was in another league, so we decided to land the canoe to release it. Up it came to the rocks & took off again, & again, & again. Finally we got ahold of her. Concerned with the long fight I didn’t even take her out of the water for a photo. I knew it was the right thing to do, but...(&*^&*^ I wish I had a picture of her! We marked her length against a paddle & measured it later at 42”.

A monster. My friend John said, “Just touching that fish made my trip!” Mine, too.

The balance of the day proved anticlimactic. More drizzle, more little eyes & smaller pike, & an early, damp bedtime.

 



Day 4 of 6


Monday, October 01, 2007

It was time to quit Insula. We’ll be back.

Retracing our steps on a warm, grey morning, we encountered our first people in two days on the portage into Hudson. Two moose hunters with a, a...moose haunch.

These guys had nads the size of bowling balls. We talked to them walking back over the portage & at the end. They had: 4 haunches, two buckets full of tenderloins & other meat, a big rack, two packs, & a heavy square-sterned aluminum canoe they carried in tandem. For those keeping score at home, that’s fourteen, 1-4, trips across this 104 rods. They estimated each haunch, lashed to a birch branch, weighed around 100 lbs. & each bucket around 60. It was about 10AM. They looked whipped. One, sitting with his head down, breathing hard, said “I know we don’t look it, but this is one of the best days of our lives.”

That’s hardcore.

We spent the rest of the day on Hudson, catching a few more pike, smallies, & small eyes. We paddled the long, winding creek (the Ahmoo River?) running south of our island campsite until our progress was blocked by a flimsy beaver dam, & what we believed to be the creek from Tremolo Lake flowing in noisily from the east.

In the still of the day the clouds began to break, & the sun reappeared, temps surging into the low 60s. I took off my shirt just to be able to say I went topless in the BWCA in October. The warm sun felt magnificent.

I’m not sure of any of the other campsites on Hudson, but I’d highly recommend the island campsite. I suspect with any serious effort, one could catch fish off the sharp drop right out front, too. Reluctantly, we retired for our last night of peace in the BWCA.

 



Day 5 of 6


Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Our last day of relaxing was anything but relaxing.

The day dawned calm & nice. We took off at leisurely pace on Hudson, & bounced down into Lake Four. The wind started to pick up a little, & my buddy John decided he needed to do some adjusting. We stopped behind an island on Lake Four & I took a couple of casts with the spinnerbait. The swirling wind pushed us a little, little more, until the wind caught us & started us towards shore quickly. I rifled my spinnerbait back as fast as I could, & just as it cleared the water a pike, at least ten pounds, shot out of the water within arm’s reach, missing the airborne spinner. Scared the crap out of me. Repeated casts in the area proved the pike wasn’t dumb & we moved on. I might have cursed a little.

Coming to the expanse of Lake Three, we saw only a little wave action & chose to shoot across the lake rather than cling to the shore. Mistake! The wind rose like an awakened banshee & we found ourselves in the middle of the lake with waves suddenly over the sides. We gave up & turned north, riding the wind towards shore. Ruddering slowed us to a 5MPH clip, no paddling. That was some wind!

We turned & fought across the next open stretch. Waves were smashing the shoreline rocks & sending spray six feet in the air. There was a split second, just before the opening to Lake Two, where I thought we were gonna get slapped on the rocks too. We slipped through. Waiting on the other side were a canoe & kayak, looking out at the wild lake & evidently waiting to see if we survived. The balance of the paddle was relatively tame & we pulled into the well-used landing happy to be out of the wind & headed for a clean shirt & dry feet.

 



Day 6 of 6


Wednesday, October 03, 2007

The post-mortem was entirely positive. Great trip. Few people, no bugs, the biggest pike either of us had seen, & a good stretch of decent weather. We resolved as we climbed into John’s truck. Whether October of 2008 or 2009, we’ll definitely be back for another late fall trip.

 


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