BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 07 2025
Entry Point 32 - South Kawishiwi River
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1201 feet
Latitude: 47.8419
Longitude: -91.6632
South Kawishiwi River - 32
A canoe country meditation...four solo trips
Entry Date:
September 07, 2017
Entry Point:
Farm Lake
Number of Days:
14
Group Size:
1
3. Kawishiwi Triangle. This is a classic BWCA route SE of Ely. I entered at Farm Lake, which means canoeing past a lot of cabins and boats initially. The Triangle is beautiful route with only two longish portages (that aren’t too bad). The Kawishiwi River splits on the east end and rejoins later outside the BWCA, with portages in and out of Clear Lake providing the western edge of the Triangle. There’s good fishing, especially below the rapids. I took my time and explored Conchu Lake as well. There were interesting log pilings on the North Kawishiwi on both sides of the river near my campsite (adjacent to the Conchu portage); which I think may have been used for log storage back in the logging era (1899 to 1920 or so). I'm reading Miron Heinselman's book (Boundary Waters Wilderness Ecosystem) which has wealth of information about the early logging practices with specific references to the logging between Lake One and Farm Lake.
4. East Bearskin Lake to Alder Lake. Just off the Gunflint Trail, north of Grand Marais. These are longish East West lakes. I camped on a really nice site on Alder Lake, just past the little island, where I was entertained by a family of otters.
This was my first solo canoe outing; I had wanted to find a partner to go into Wabakimi...maybe next year. Next year tentative canoe plans include doing Woodland Caribou with my wife--Leano Lake entry; two weeks with the Wabakimi Project; a possible BWCA (or Missouri Breaks) trip with my brother's family; and another solo outing. I'd love to do interior Wabakimi trip if I find a willing partner.
Lastly, I addressed the threats to the BWCA in my video report. I encourage all those who love this wilderness to support the fight against sulfide ore mining. There’s groups, like Save The Boundary Waters https://www.savetheboundarywaters.org/
http://www.miningtruth.org/
And Friends of the Boundary Waters, http://friends-bwca.org