BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 05 2025
Entry Point 26 - Wood Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1361 feet
Latitude: 47.9691
Longitude: -91.6001
Wood Lake - 26
Good Lake June 2015
Entry Date:
June 05, 2015
Entry Point:
Wood Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
6
[paragraph break] 6-6-15 [paragraph break] We wake up and everyone is a little lazy. I make some pancakes and grilled salami for breakfast and I know that it is supposed to rain on some of these days but the weather looks ok for the day although it’s a little windy. Wanting to make the best of a nice day I decide that we should paddle into Hoist Bay to check out the Steam Engine. On the way we stop at the other campsite in the narrows which is open at this time. It is a nice site and I see why people love it but we find the fire still going and cans of sardines left behind. This irritates me so I put the fire out and take the sardine cans with me. The river into Hoist Bay was fairly high and we only had to pull over one beaver dam. In Hoist Bay and we cannot find the steam engine. I even talk to some other people who are fishing in the bay and they point me to where it is but it must be too deep to see as we still cannot find it.
Once back in Good Lake we catch a few more Pike for dinner as we are troling back to Camp. Back at camp and it is starting to look like rain. My dad filets the fish as I set up the tarp. The rain begins and it is one of those steady ones where you know it will be quite a while before it lets up. We eat the fish with some soup and hide under the tarp. My nephew wants to hear a scary story so I tell him my favorite one. The kids retire early and the adults stay up just talking before bed.
[paragraph break]
6-7-15 [paragraph break] Today is a lazy day. Most of the group just wants to relax. We have more pancakes and salami for breakfast and then my sister and I hang out in the hammocks. My nephew didn’t sleep very well after the scary story so he goes back to bed and my niece isn’t feeling the greatest so she also goes to bed after breakfast. Anton wants to go fishing so my dad takes him out. Not much happened during the day. My dad and Anton get back from circling the entire lake and they have 2 Pike and a Bass for dinner. After dinner the kids go to bed and the adults stay up again. This time we are standing on the shore looking at a glow over the western horizon and trying to figure out what it is. We also see a spot light doing a circle and we figure it has to be at least 10 miles way. We figure the spot light is Fortune Bay but we are dumbfounded by the orange glow in the sky. Our only guess is Ely but it is like 1 in the morning and I seriously doubt Ely is that bright. We take in the night for a while and then head off into bed. My nephew starts calling for his mom saying he is scared so she has to bunk with the kids for the night.
[paragraph break] 6-8-15 [paragraph break]
We wake up and yet again have pancakes for breakfast. It is another lazy kind of day. The two boys try to make boats with birch bark sails but neither one really works. I tie up an anchor and fish the south east bay with the two boys and we have pretty good luck. Soon enough my dad and sister join us and my dad catches a Walleye on a Rapala with a leader. Seeing this I tie up an orange Rapala with no leader and right away catch a nice Walleye. We are going to have a really good fish dinner tonight. On the way back in my nephew copies me and starts trolling a Rapala and lands a huge bass. I normally won’t keep a big fish but this is his first big fish in his life and he really wants to keep it so we do. We have 4 Pike, 2 Walleye, and a big bass for dinner tonight. The boys tell me they will eat all of it but I am doubtful. During dinner I explain to my nephew why we usually let the bigger fish go and he seems to understand. The boys impress me by eating all of the fish and for once they aren’t complaining that they are hungry. Tonight we all go to bed early as we want to be up early and get a good start to the next day.
[paragraph break] 6-9-15 [paragraph break] We wake up at 0545 and I start to make the last of our food, a little oatmeal before we break camp. We want to get out before the winds pick up. I am seriously dreading the first portage as I know it has a long hill in the beginning. We must have left camp around 7 and started the trip back. I make the portage with the 17 foot in one trip and once again go back and grab the other canoe. This time Anton is taking the lightweight, but that doesn’t matter. It is just really nice that he can get one over. Once we are on Hula we see a big Golden Eagle sitting in a pine on one of the islands. He doesn’t seem to mind us but nobody has a camera out so we just take in the moment and press on. Hula to Wood Lake is still an easy portage. Once on Wood Lake there is still no wind and it is an easy paddle to the last portage. There is nobody camped on Wood Lake on the way out which surprises me. At the portage Anton is first to go and I follow behind with the canoes. I really don’t remember there being so many hills on this one, so about 3 quarters of the way there we both take a rest. We make it and I tell him that we are going to take turns on the last canoe and he is ok with that. Everyone else did a great job on the portages. Load up the canoes and packs and head to the Chocolate Moose for Lunch. Awesome food there for those who haven’t been there.
Conclusion: We caught a lot of fish and had pretty good weather without any bugs. Not much more you can ask for there. Anton had a good time although he said that he prefers beach camping and that he probably wouldn’t do it again but that might change when he looks back on this trip. [paragraph break] After we got back to Duluth we were informed that the glow in the sky was probably the forest fire in Canada. It is crazy that you can see it from that far away if that is actually what it was.
