BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 11 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!
Boundary Waters trip 2012
Entry Date:
August 19, 2012
Entry Point:
Snowbank Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
Debbie at the Snowbank landing[paragraph break]
Our goal was to find a campsite on Jordan Lake. We also wanted to see Cattyman Falls and enjoy the sights and sounds (or lack thereof) that the smaller lakes had to offer.
The portages were short and relatively easy in this area with the exception of the portage from Haven to Ahbinodji. That one was much tougher and rockier than all the others. It seemed out of place given the modest portages we would encounter on the rest of our trip.
Portage trail between Snowbank and Boot [paragraph break]
We tried to move right along hoping that we would find one of those sites on Jordan open. Unfortunately, we found out the hard way that paddlers in the BW stop paddling in early afternoon once they find an open site. Every site we passed was full, so we pressed on to Ima Lake. When we got onto Ima, a lake that I had figured to be the farthest east we would go, I was running out of map. There were four sites marked on my map to the south. Thankfully, one was open at the portage into Alworth Lake, and a dandy it turned out to be!
Debbie did a great job paddling and on the portages, but had a little mishap getting into the canoe at one of the landings. The rock she was standing on was sloped to the water and her feet went out from under her and she fell and slid into the water up to her waist! Other than the fact she scraped her leg and got a bit of a bruised hip, it was kind of funny to watch her gradually slide down into the water in what seemed like slow motion. (Don’t tell her I put that in the report!) A credit to her, though... she laughed it off and got right back in the canoe. Thanks to the sun, her nylon zip-offs were dry in no time.
The wounded leg (it looks better in the photo than it actually was).[paragraph break] 
Once we got to our site and got camp set up, life was good again. We'd had a long day - probably nine or ten portages - and I know Debbie was tired. She still had a smile on her face, though, as I was getting dinner ready. [paragraph break] 
Wine to go with our steaks and wild rice was just what the doctor ordered.[paragraph break] After a good night's sleep, we awoke to see Alworth Lake as flat glass. 
I went out to get some water and saw this loon swimming around. This was just one of what seemed like dozens of loons we saw and heard during our two nights on this beautiful campsite.[paragraph break] 
After a lazy day in camp and doing a little fishing, it was happy hour once again. We brought sling-type lawn chairs as our "luxury" items and we were glad to have them. Easy to carry on the portages, too. [paragraph break]
Here's proof that Debbie wasn't too tired to start a fire. [paragraph break]
After another beautiful night in the Boundary Waters and being serenaded by loons for what seemed like hours, we awoke on Tuesday morning and started packing to start our trip back toward Snowbank. We didn't really have a destination in mind but figured we would be near Disappointment Lake.
Paddling through the Jordan narrows, I just had to stop and take a photo of these two logs that appear to be holding up the huge rock wall.[paragraph break] 
With all my ropes packed away, I used multiple Bungee Dealee Bobs to secure my canoe while Debbie and I checked out Cattyman Falls.[paragraph break]
And Cattyman Falls had a lot of water flowing over it. [paragraph break]
This little fella was sunning himself on a log in the middle of Cattyman Lake. We paddled past him on the way to Adventure Lake.[paragraph break]
Debbie at the portage from Adventure to Jitterbug. [paragraph break]
And after a pleasant paddle from our site between Ima and Alworth, we found this beautiful campsite overlooking Ahsub Lake. What a view we had. There is another campsite on the lake, but it's hidden by the island on the left side of the photo. We saw no one until the next morning.[paragraph break]
I went out and did some fishing, but didn't realize I was trying to fish for walleyes in a lake trout lake. I dropped my anchor overboard and just about lost the entire 40' rope. Went as shallow as I could, but didn't have any luck. 
[paragraph break] Some random shots from our campsite on Ahsub... 
[paragraph break]
Sunrise over Ahsub Lake on August 22, 2012. Taken around 6:20am. 
[paragraph break] After a breakfast of Triple Berry muffins made in the Bakepacker, we packed up and headed for the portage to Disappointment Lake. Met a group coming through so we waited in the canoe out in the water while they reloaded and shoved off. Making small talk, I noticed the Wisconsin boat registration decals on their canoes so I asked where they were from. When they said, "Green Bay", we immediately had something in common. Come to find out, one of the guys doesn't live too far from me. Small world.
The paddle down Disappointment was awesome. Looked just like a lake in Quetico. In fact, in some ways, it reminded me of Quetico Lake. Met a group of young guys paddling in that already realized they were going to run short on sunscreen. When they asked us if we were headed out and if we would mind giving them our leftover sunscreen, we were more than happy to oblige.
Took the 140 rod portage from Disappointment to Snowbank instead of taking the 80 rod into Parent, paddling across Parent and taking a second 80 rodder into Snowbank. Turned out to be a good choice. For a 140 rod portage, I don't think it had much more than 10' or 12' of elevation change. It was pretty flat.
Snowbank was almost as calm as the day we paddled in. Made it to the landing in no time, loaded the van, strapped on the canoe and headed into Ely. A room at the Grand Ely Lodge was waiting for us, as was dinner at Burntside Lodge. A great way to end a great canoe trip into the Boundary Waters.