Hello everyone,

First post!

I am taking a group of 9 (six older scouts and three adults) to the BWCA in July. It will be a 5-night trip starting at EP-30 on July 10th. Three of us (myself and two of the scouts) are making our second trip with the rest of the crew making their first.

We are being dropped off at EP-30 by the outfitter. I am trying to figure out a route that starts in the numbered lakes and ends back at the outfitter (on White Iron Lake). When I look at the maps, it seems that the only way to do that is to head down through the numbered lakes towards Insula, then double back through Lake one, past EP-30 (again) and head West/Southwest towards the outfitter. Or is there another way out of the numbered lakes to the West/Southwest that I am missing? The maps seem to hint at a way to portage from Lake three to Turtle, but I don’t know if that route is still in use or not.

We do have the option of staying in the area of Lakes 1-4/Hudson/Insula the whole time and just returning to EP-30 to be picked up again. Does that make more sense in this case? You would still have to backtrack to get back there, but you could push a lot further East during the trek.

Canoejedi: "Hello everyone,

First post!

I am taking a group of 9 (six older scouts and three adults) to the BWCA in July. It will be a 5-night trip starting at EP-30 on July 10th. Three of us (myself and two of the scouts) are making our second trip with the rest of the crew making their first.

We are being dropped off at EP-30 by the outfitter. I am trying to figure out a route that starts in the numbered lakes and ends back at the outfitter (on White Iron Lake). When I look at the maps, it seems that the only way to do that is to head down through the numbered lakes towards Insula, then double back through Lake one, past EP-30 (again) and head West/Southwest towards the outfitter. Or is there another way out of the numbered lakes to the West/Southwest that I am missing? The maps seem to hint at a way to portage from Lake three to Turtle, but I don’t know if that route is still in use or not.

We do have the option of staying in the area of Lakes 1-4/Hudson/Insula the whole time and just returning to EP-30 to be picked up again. Does that make more sense in this case? You would still have to backtrack to get back there, but you could push a lot further East during the trek.
"

That's probably the only realistic way to get to White Iron from Lake One. Technically you could take Kawishiwi down through the north end of Birch and end around to the south end of White Iron, but the connection between Birch and White Iron has some serious rapids and a waterfall that would need to be portaged around. There really isn't a decent portage for the waterfall into White Iron (and you definitely can't run it).

I think you are better off working south towards Bald Eagle / Gabro and coming out that way if you are looking for point to point and not out and back.

You should be able to go Lake Three > Rock Island > Clearwater rather than all the way back through the numbered lakes.

If you head west from EP30, be sure its a 30 and not 30F. I feel like going east down Kawishiwi to Gabbros - which is a day - and the Clearwater loop - not much more than a day with gear - is too limited for Scouts. I do like the Isabella River but more backtracking. My first trip was with Scouts and we did 50+ miles. Going east than than back by 30 isn't so bad except for traffic for half a day. My feeling is Three to Rovk Island to Clearwater is completely unmaintained. Allow a whole tough day if you do but I'd avoid it unless your group is up for a "memorable" day.

No chance of changing for a Snowbank entry. Very similar shuttle, and nice point to point through Ima-Insula-One to White Iron. Just a thought.

Thanks for the input everyone!

Billconner: I love your idea of starting at Snowbank and working clockwise around to Insula/Lake One/White Iron. That route is just about 50 miles long - which is a challenge but doable (our crew made the 50 mile mark last time). I'll see if there are any available permits for a Snowbank entry and perhaps head in that way.

Lake One to White Iron is easy. Go west from the EP down the Kawishiwi River. When you get to where the river splits into the North or South branches, you can go either way. The North branch is more direct, one long 210 rod and then two much shorter portages. The South branch has 3 or 4 portages, then the portage into and out of Clear Lake back to the North Branch. From there it's west to Farm Lake, a small jog to the right, and then past Silver Rapids Lodge into White Iron. Note that once on Farm there will be boat traffic for the remainder of your paddle.

You could also do the 'Kawishiwi Triangle', down one branch, portage into/out of Clear, and then back up the other branch back to your original EP.

JD

Lake One to White Iron is easy. Go west from the EP down the Kawishiwi River. When you get to where the river splits into the North or South branches, you can go either way. The North branch is more direct, one long 210 rod and then two much shorter portages. The South branch has 3 or 4 portages, then the portage into and out of Clear Lake back to the North Branch. From there it's west to Farm Lake, a small jog to the right, and then past Silver Rapids Lodge into White Iron. Note that once on Farm there will be boat traffic for the remainder of your paddle.

You could also do the 'Kawishiwi Triangle', down one branch, portage into/out of Clear, and then back up the other branch back to your original EP.

JD

Canoejedi: "Thanks for the input everyone!


Billconner: I love your idea of starting at Snowbank and working clockwise around to Insula/Lake One/White Iron. That route is just about 50 miles long - which is a challenge but doable (our crew made the 50 mile mark last time). I'll see if there are any available permits for a Snowbank entry and perhaps head in that way."

I think it would be a good first trip for those in your group - not as wild and far out that they might do another year, but they'll stay busy and be tired - a good goal for Scouts.

Entering Moose would not be impossible. Ensign - Ima - and so on. Lots of folks shun paddling Moose but I really like it.

The White Iron exit and 5 days and 6 Scouts just is not the best match - but it would still be fun.

Canoejedi: "Thanks for the input everyone!


Billconner: I love your idea of starting at Snowbank and working clockwise around to Insula/Lake One/White Iron. That route is just about 50 miles long - which is a challenge but doable (our crew made the 50 mile mark last time). I'll see if there are any available permits for a Snowbank entry and perhaps head in that way."

I would vote for this route as well. If the Snowbank entry is not available then just stick with your current entry point and do it in reverse with your pickup at Snowbank. That works well too.

Tman: "

Canoejedi: "Thanks for the input everyone!



Billconner: I love your idea of starting at Snowbank and working clockwise around to Insula/Lake One/White Iron. That route is just about 50 miles long - which is a challenge but doable (our crew made the 50 mile mark last time). I'll see if there are any available permits for a Snowbank entry and perhaps head in that way."

I would vote for this route as well. If the Snowbank entry is not available then just stick with your current entry point and do it in reverse with your pickup at Snowbank. That works well too."

That's the tricky part - vehicles and lodging on White Iron already set so they have to end there. I wish there was a way from Kawishiwi somewhere near Insula to Quadaga - like through Fungus Lake PMA.

FYI, if you end at White Iron in the afternoon know that with the usual wind direction it can get very choppy across the north end of Farm and White Iron. Our cabin is on the northwest part of White Iron and paddling back late in the day can be interesting. Friends who used to run an outfitting business there say they often wound up picking people up soon after they exited the BW and got into Farm. They would just go over with a boat if the wind was high.

Of course, it can also be calm and beautiful glass like conditions.

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for your help and advice!

Based on what I have read here (and some advice from our outfitter), we have a couple of options that we are considering out of EP-30 (or maybe 25)

1. We can make a counter-clockwise loop from Lake One to Snowbank via Insula/Thomas/Ima and either Boot or Disappointment. This would not take us back to the outfitter, but they can pick us up on Sunday at Snowbank for a small fee. This seems pretty straightforward – I’m guessing this is not the first time this has been tried. If we were to do this, how far could we reasonably get on day 1 (assuming a mid-morning start)? Lake Four maybe? Is it feasible to think we could get to Alice by day 2 to see the pictographs on Fishdance?

2. As jdevries mentioned, we could head West from EP-30 and make a loop out Kawishiwi/Gabbro/Turtle/Clearwater/Pietro/Gull and them back up to Farm lake via Clear. Our crew spent some time in this area last time, and enjoyed it a lot (plus it gets us back to the outfitter).

3. It is possible for us to start at Moose Lake and go clockwise to EP-30 (sort of like #1 above but in the opposite direction). Is there any reason to consider this? The terrain would be mostly the same as #1.

4. Our outfitter mentioned that you can get into some nice lakes along the border by heading NE out of Moose. Any thoughts on this route? I guess we would have to circle back to Snowbank if we went that way?

Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Hey Canoejedi,

We're headed into Lake One (EP 30) on July 10th and are hoping to make it to Insula on day one. We'll basecamp on Insula for 5-6 days. Backup is to push at least to Hudson for night one, as that last portage to Insula is the longest. Four adults and four kids ranging 9-14. I've got some other threads on here and there are some trip reports on the number chain to Insula, which, as far as I can tell for us with kids, should take from 5.5-7 hrs.

If you see a group of 8 with a German Shorthair Pointer say hi - it's us! Good luck on your trip, sounds like a blast.
Scott

scotttimm: "Hey Canoejedi,


We're headed into Lake One (EP 30) on July 10th and are hoping to make it to Insula on day one. We'll basecamp on Insula for 5-6 days. Backup is to push at least to Hudson for night one, as that last portage to Insula is the longest. Four adults and four kids ranging 9-14. I've got some other threads on here and there are some trip reports on the number chain to Insula, which, as far as I can tell for us with kids, should take from 5.5-7 hrs.


If you see a group of 8 with a German Shorthair Pointer say hi - it's us! Good luck on your trip, sounds like a blast.
Scott"

Thanks for the advice Scott! I will be on the lookout for you guys. Our group is pretty large, so we might be hard to miss as well. We will probably not make it to the EP until mid-morning, so Lake Four might be as far as we can get on the first day, although you never know.

Question: Are the pictographs on Fishdance worth seeing? I'm thinking our group might make a day trip from Insula to chack those out.

CJ

We absolutely are planning a day trip to Fishdance. Looks like some good fishing hotspots along that route as well. I've been on the number chain a couple of times before, and this time we decided to stay here, so we can get a quick start right from the outfitter: Kawishiwi Lodge

BTW - did you see the crazy weather moving through Ely at the moment? Serious storm headed right through where we will be - half dollar sized hail, straight-line winds. Second strong storm this year. Hope everyone found cover.

Hi CJ.

I have tripped with Scouts three times in this area, probably using this same outfitter. Here are my thoughts:

1: We did this trip clockwise one year, and the boys had a blast. While it’s possible to reach Insula on Day 1, it might be a stretch. You will probably not be on the water until 10:00. On the first day, your crew will just be learning how to work as a team, and progress will be slower than later in the week. As you probably know, you’ll be traveling the Pagami Creek burn area. I recommend Fire Lake, north of Hudson, for your first night’s stay. A little less traveled, and ironically, north of the burn area. If someone could provide a link to the burn area map, it would be helpful. I can’t find it right now. Fishdance is a worthwhile visit. We did it as a day trip from Insula, where we took a layover day.

2: This is a nice area, and you can paddle back to the outfitter.

3: This is a viable alternative, but I don’t see any advantages over Route 1. Be aware that motors are allowed on Moose and Newfound, so it will be less of a wilderness experience until you’re past these lakes.

4: The year we did the Snowbank – Lake One loop, our second crew did the Moose Lake entry point, continuing northeast on Knife, along the Canadian border. They really enjoyed the trip, and were able to visit Dorothy Molter’s island. For your return, you could travel along Spoon, Dix, Skoota, and Missionary. Exiting at Snowbank would be a logical choice.

Welcome to the board!