BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 07 2025
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.!$BR!$ !$BR!$ 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!!$BR!$ !$BR!$ 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.!$BR!$ !$BR!$ 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.!$BR!$ !$BR!$ 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!
In Search of Lost Hope - A PMA Crossing
Entry Date:
May 26, 2023
Entry Point:
Hog Creek
Exit Point:
Kawishiwi Lake (37)
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
The trip started out with an odd start as so many of ours do when looking to make the most of a weekend. The two of us have grown accustomed to late paddling and scheduled to meet up at Kawishiwi Lake at 7:30 after work and a remote drive. After some brief packing and commenting on the newly hatched swarms of bugs, we headed for our entry point at Hog Creek, leaving our shuttle vehicle at Kawish for the finish. We made the water by 8:00 pm after picking up a good amount of garbage at the landing and started making good time down the creek. We lined the rapid set and then it was a portage-free track to Perent. It felt great to be out in a canoe again and this narrow winding creek stretch is where the Royalex Bell Prospector really shines. We pulled into Perent Lake at about 9:30 and started looking for our campsites while groups were still awake, fires were still burning, and headlamps could clue us in to what sites were open. It took a fair bit of back and fourth paddling past six full campsites before finding one without lights. A cautious check found it empty and inviting so we pulled in, had a good snack before bed, and called it a night. The next day would be the true start of our adventure. ~Perent Lake
We paddled most of the way down, portaged the last stretch of floating bog, waded through the remainder, and looked up at the old road grade in front of us. We weren't lost and in fact were right where we had anticipated! That's really cool. This was the road that was part of the old Pow Wow which meant we weren't that far from Chickadee. We portaged over and around the grade and down into the floating spruce bog. We followed a trail through it off and on, hoping it would lead to the lake eventually. Every so often one of us would punch into a mud hole and have to crawl out, but at least the area was more open that things had been. The bog led us into a final brushy stretch. I was amazed to break out of the brush into a wide open lake. We had made it to Chickadee after nearly three hours and 450 rods of bushwhack portaging! 
For me, Chickadee was a mixed bag of thoughts and emotions. On the one hand, the first monumental unknown of the trip is behind us. On the other hand, many miles lay ahead and what if we are turned back and have to portage back this way again? That would be incredibly demoralizing. After another snack, we pushed for Fungus. There's not much open water in the first stretch so we found ourselves portaging through the alder tangle again. Once we finally found enough water to float a canoe, there was still a good deal of pushing and dragging to get it through the brush. After more struggling we made the last hurdle into Fungus Lake, the namesake of this PMA. Our first stop would be attempting to find the old campsite on the west shore. It was obvious that the ridge was a pine plantation, and I had the copy of the old Pow Wow trail map to use to try and find the site. I hiked the whole west shore and never found a grate or evidence of a site, but I did find a few old oil cans and coffee cans, poignant reminders of this place's past. The channel to Whittler goes well until the beaver dam. Thereafter, the creek isn't wide enough for a canoe and requires some pushing and pulling to clear. It's a lot of ins and outs to make it, but we finally hopped through enough channels to hit paddling water in Whittler at 11:00 am with our first view of the Pagami burn for the trip. This would be a familiar site from now on. We took yet another snack on Whittler before taking a water bottle fill up and a deep breath knowing that, once we pass this beaver dam, it's creeks for us for most of the next 24 hours, if we could even make it through.
There were a fair number of down trees after the beaver dam forcing a few more portages. The channel is very narrow this high up and sits deep into the silt so we spent a good deal of time portaging through the open valley alongside, biding our time until floatable water. At times we pulled the canoe along the shallow creek, otherwise we were traditionally portaging. Sometimes we could paddle for brief stretches. After the first beaver dam, we hit our first bitter taste of true burn-zone portaging: jack pines smacking the face, dead-fall pulverizing the shins, crumbling rock threatening to overturn you, and great swarms of gnats impeding one's respiratory function. A few of these would lay ahead before we hit good navigable water. One of the small beaver ponds on the air photo had grown into a nice larger pond. It was amazing to rest in the quiet for a moment. Once we hit the big open valley on the way to the large beaver dam, we heard the familiar buzz of a single-prop plane. This time of the year that had us concerned about the possibility of a wildfire as we knew the risks were high when we left. We wondered what the pilot would think if he saw us this far into the middle of nowhere. When the plane came into view, we were surprised to see that it was not a USFS beaver. The plane was black and white and had tires not floats. We wondered about its mission today. We made good time now that we were finally paddling and lifted over the large beaver dam. Much of the remaining stretch was navigable with only brief pullovers and drag-throughs until we finally reached Andek at about 3:00. 
Andek is a small, unassuming lake. We wondered how long it had been since anyone had visited here. It seems so far away from everything now. Fittingly, a single crow flew over while we were there. We filled up waterbottles and tried to catch up on hydrating. The weather was sunny and hot and the lack of shade and the rigors of bushwhacking were wearing on us some. Two-thirds down, one-third to go. 
Out of Andek, there are a few small rapid sets and sections of fragmented creek channel making for frequent stops and slow progress. At one small rapid set, I pulled a portage pack and extras to start a bushwhack and stepped on a bad rock. Down I went landing my lower back precariously atop the rock pinnacle. Ouch! Wet and pretty stuck, it took some effort to go vertical again. We followed this routine of in and out of the canoe, keeping our eyes open for a pond followed by a long straightaway which would give us a sign of our progress. We finally hit a pond but it didn't feel right. Darn, it's the one before the pond with the straight. We pulled off at the very brushy beaver dam and forced our way up the rock face, through the jack pine, before gently working our way down the crumbling west face into the floating marsh below. The grass here was full of garter snakes for some reason as we made our way down the straight past a series of log jams. 
The stretch after the straightaway is paddleable for awhile until another rocky rapids forced another bushwhack. We got through easily enough. The last long rapids before Maniwaki is a tumbled boulder field with ample brush and no passage. It was up the ridge again for us through another dead-fall rich burn zone. The bugs were pretty horrible at this point as we got through the last couple challenging stepovers and into open water. It was an amazing site to see Maniwaki lake in front of us at about 6:00 pm, some 11 hours after we had started. We paddled over and found the old campsite. Surprisingly, the grate is gone. I'm impressed that USFS hauled this one out! We headed out for some evening fishing just because. I paddled us down to the exit creek where we would head tomorrow morning while Lil' Grumpy fished. No luck on that front, but the waterfall coming out of Maniwaki was an intimidating obstacle to face the next day. Sleep would come easily after dinner. Tomorrow would hold more adventure and more challenges. ~Perent Lake, Chickadee Lake, Fungus Lake, Whittler Lake, Andek Lake, Maniwaki Lake 
At South Hope, we sat and filled waterbottles and watched a pair of moose for awhile. They seemed to detest the flying critters as much as we did. Forebodingly, they took off right down the rapids we were intending to follow. Figures. Wonder if we'll find them again? The topography around South Hope was nice, more scenic than Maniwaki. We headed for the rapids and portaged briefly on the south shore. There were a pair of swans in the pond which took off at our approach. We lifted over the beaver dam at the end and into Hope Lake. We climbed the 15 ft boulder at the lake and had a snack break overlooking this primitive lake in front of us. In 2019 we took a post-dinner trip back here from Insula during a guide staff-training trip so we had a pretty good idea of what lay ahead. The worst was behind us and we could afford to enjoy this moment. 
We paddled down the south shore, pointing out former campsites as we went. It's short portage around the first scenic rapid set on the creek out from here. The second former portage is where we remembered the worst portaging. The old 50 something rod portage went up and over the ridge, thus shortcutting some distance. Following the creek forces a few shorter portages along a longer route. Further on is a single rapid set which once had a short portage. We knew that there was a trail around the final rapids, at least there was four years prior. We were unable to find it at first so we started bushwhacking as we had been. I finally bumped into the trail and we took it to the end.This was a surreal moment. It felt almost as if someone had dropped us into the middle of a BWCA trip. Everything before this moment was new and challenging and difficult, harder than any trip either of us had ever taken by canoe. Everything after this moment was back to a standard Boundary Waters trip with portages and campsites and other groups. It was like two totally different trips joined together by this moment. We savored it as we headed out into Insula right around lunchtime.
Every campsite we passed was open, even some very popular island sites, which seemed strange for Memorial Day weekend with nice sunny weather. The first group we saw was camped at the narrows site heading out of Insula proper. Even Williamson Island was empty. Very strange indeed. We paddled through the back bay to take the portage into Carol as it was a new lake for both of us. Portaging felt oddly easy without any flora smacking one's face and shins. Alice was windy and choppy but we handled it. We pulled into Fishdance in early afternoon with time to spare and recreate. We ended up checking out every campsite and former campsite on the lake, following the perimeter of the lake south from the Alice portage. I ended up paddling a few more miles that night as Lil' Grumpy enjoyed some fishing. It was a uniquely relaxing end to a long and challenging day. We stayed at one of the remote sites in the corner, feasted on a three course meal, and weathered the bugs for another night. 
~Maniwaki Lake, South Hope Lake, Hope Lake, Insula, Lake, Carol, Lake, Hum Lake, Alice Lake, Fishdance Lake
~Fishdance Lake, River Lake, Bow Lake, Malberg Lake, Koma Lake, Polly, Lake, Townline Lake, Kawasachong Lake, Square Lake, Kawishiwi Lake