BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 23 2024
Entry Point 44 - Ram Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 1
Elevation: 1498 feet
Latitude: 47.9547
Longitude: -90.4423
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!
Tsunami in the BWCA!
Entry Date:
September 05, 2007
Entry Point:
Bower Trout Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
3
Our invitation for “MCA does the BWCA” did not meet with overwhelming response. In hopes of attracting a core group to re-activate the BWCA special interest group once present within MCA (Minnesota Canoe Association), entry permits were acquired and preliminary plans made for one or more groups to go into the BWCA around the week after Labor Day this year. Tom Mings (MCA Director thru ’07) was delegated the task of getting the permits and being Trip Leader. Entry point #43, Bower Trout Lake, was chosen. Other participants making up the cozy group were Bill Krueger, MCA Vice-President (and acting President) and Gary Hennes, MCA Director thru ’09.
We arranged to meet at the Gunflint Ranger Station outside Grand Marais at 4:00 pm Tuesday September 4, 2007 to pick up our permit for entry the next day. Drought conditions had prompted the Forest Service and Cook County to post a total burning ban throughout the BWCA and Cook County, including private property. Smoky the Bear at the entrance to the Ranger Station Saturday September 1 was pointing out the fire danger was “EXTREME”. Sunday night some areas near Grand Marais received as much as 2.3” of rain – barely enough to settle the dust. Tuesday, Smoky was saying the fire danger was down to only “High”.
We reached the Bower Trout Lake entry point about Noon Wednesday September 5. Access and parking is through an active gravel mine, originally used to build a logging railroad grade along the north edge of our route. A 72 rod portage took us to the actual entry on the lake, a mucky edge of marsh with a small boardwalk/dock to aid in launching loaded canoes. A short paddle to the west end of the lake took us to the first of five portages enroute to our first evening’s destination – Swan Lake. Again, a boardwalk greeted us to traverse the marsh to solid ground along the South Brule River and a short carry to the next lake.
Basically, the route follows the north shore of the South Brule River from its beginning at the Southeast corner of Brule Lake through two larger lakes, Vernon and Swan to the east, followed by a series of small “lakes” which are little more than wide spots in the South Brule River before it begins its rapid descent to Lake Superior at Bower Trout lake. Mucky landings and “Rock Gardens” greeted us at many of the portages, and even at narrow spots where the lakes were no more than 25 - 30 feet wide. Emergent vegetation and generally shallow conditions persuaded us to defer pumping/filtering drinking water until we got to Swan Lake.
It was nearing dark when we crossed the final portage into Swan Lake and raced for the preferred camp site we had chosen – the furthest and northern-most site among three on the lake. Not surprisingly, none of the sites were occupied. Supposedly, this site was an abandoned logging camp and the afore-mentioned railroad grade ran along the ridge just above the camp. A lovely sandy beach was our landing site, with stone steps 2.5 feet up to the camp. We quickly chose tent sites up in a grassy area away from the lake and set up Bill’s four-man Timberline for he and Gary and Tom’s two-man Marmot for Tom and his dog, Max. Finally, supper was prepared by “WhisperLite” (remember the burning ban) and “head lamps”.
Thursday morning September 6 dawned still and muggy. Severe weather had been in the forecast, and it certainly looked like it was headed our way. None of us brought a Weather Radio along, which might have been able to pick up NOAA broadcasts where we were in the eastern edge of the Boundary Waters. (None of us had duct-tape, either – but that’s another long story!). There had been discussion of forging on thru Vernon Lake, a 290 rod portage, into Brule Lake, but it was decided to stay at Swan Lake at least another day in case the weather really turned bad. Rest, and a few fishing sorties and camp duties filled the morning and early afternoon.
After lunch, the sky darkened and it really looked like we were in for some rain. Bill and Tom, competent BWCA campers they are, decided to rig tarps for rain. One A-frame 10 x 10 went up over the dining area (remember the burning ban), prompting the move of Tom’s tent away from the drainage from the dining tarp. Another was set up over the Timberline, supplementing its rain fly, and another over Tom’s two-man tent. About 4:00 pm, the lightning, thunder and gusty winds started looking really threatening.
Gary crawled in the Timberline to “hold it down” (take a nap), while Tom and Bill continued to watch the approaching storm. Soon, it got dark as dusk and rain began to fall in buckets, driven by winds that seemed to gust nearly 60 mph. In the Timberline, protected by the addition of a Cooke Custom Sewing tarp, the chaos of the storm disturbed sleep, but hardly a drop of water penetrated the tent – everything stayed dry. It rained off and on all night long, with varying intensity.
Meanwhile, the relocation of Tom’s two-man tent proved not to be the best choice. A small puddle developed under about one quarter of it, and sleeping bag, Tom and all got dampened. Tom peered out of his tent in the morning. His Penobscot had been tipped over and secured the night before, with a bit of the stern hanging over our “beach”. “The lake is up to within an inch of my boat!”, he hollered to us in the other tent.
Swan Lake rose two and a half feet overnight! Low spots in the trails leading everywhere from our camp site were now streams, some as much as a foot deep. The strange noise from the ridge behind us we finally realized was a new waterfall, pushing debris out into Swan Lake just down the bay from us. The lake level continued to rise an inch or two Friday, and only began to drop when we left Saturday morning. Tom later found the following on a climatological site: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/flash_floods/ff070906.htm. The nearest rain gauge we know of overflowed at 8 inches of rain – a 100-year, 1% probability for that area.
Friday finally became a decent “drying” day, with gear hung out on lines all over the camp. Exploring Swan Lake had been on the agenda, so Bill and Tom set out to at least look over the 290 rod portage into Vernon Lake. First, they had to paddle up a short stretch of the South Brule River, now in full flash flood mode. Next, they had to find where the portage trail started, now shortened by the flooding river. Not far up, the trail crosses a small stream as it enters the South Brule from the south. However, the “small stream” was now a raging torrent, approaching Class III as it poured into the South Brule! No way were they going to attempt crossing that! So much for proceeding into Brule Lake!
Saturday morning we leisurely broke camp and loaded up the canoes, not sure what we would find at the portages we had come over on the way in. As an old college friend of mine told me about his adventures in baseball – “You win some, you lose some – some get rained out.” When we were able to find the portage, it was now a gentle glide into a meadow, instead of a rock garden! Some of the others proved to be the same. Even rocky narrows in some of the lakes were no longer a problem – we just glided right over them. One even had enough current now to require some Class I finesse to pass through.
Others, however, were not so cooperative. As stated earlier, the route clings to the north side of the South Brule River, which was no longer a gentle stream bubbling along from lake to lake. Landmarks for portages had disappeared, replaced by the sounds of rapidly running water where the river departed for the next lake. At one point we had to wade in through a new stream bed which had been the trail, and then wade out through more stream bed on the other side, loading the canoes well up into the forest where the trail had been. Sticks and stones may break your bones, especially if you are wading in 18” of rushing water – but only a few scratches and skinned shins resulted.
The boardwalks we used on the way in were now several rods away out in the lake. Fortunately, we were able to load and paddle out past them. No muck for us – it was under 2 feet of nice, clean water – rapidly going our way! Even the emergent vegetation was no longer emergent – moose meadows, beware. The South Brule River was no longer a babbling brook trickling into each lake along the way – standing waves and debris extended out into each lake. For lunch, we stopped at a campsite adjacent to the river on Marshall Lake before returning to Bower Trout Lake. By the looks of it, anyone camping there Thursday night would have been surprised to find the South Brule joining them in their sleeping bag!
All in all, the trip had to be classed as a survivable adventure, a little wetter than most. Hopefully, this tale is believable. No doubts, now, please.
Tom Mings takes the measure of the depth to our “beach” on Swan Lake.