Day 6 of 6
Monday, September 14, 2020 The drive from the Twin Cities to the North Shore is always an enjoyable scenic drive. I had been planning this trip for a few months. Thanks to BWCA.com messageboards for all the information that made my trip a success! Reading others trip reports was valueable AND entertaining! After the beautiful drive and a short stop at Gooseberry Falls on Highway 61 I turned north when I reached the town of Tofte, MN. First wildlife encounter on county road 2 heading toward Sawbill. A bear cub alongside the road. Pretty cool. No traffic behind me so I slowed down to snap a shot of him before he spooked and darted off into the woods. About a 30 min drive from Tofte to Sawbill Campground and I was there. I stayed at Sawbill campground the first night so I could get an early start the next day as I was wanting to get to Cherokee Lake by early afternoon. Sawbill has a wonderful campground and was a perfect launching place for my expedition. I settled in to campsite #12 which had nice access to the lake. The next day the adventure would begin.
Day 9 of 6
Day 11 of 6
Wednesday, September 16, 2020 My plan today was to have an easier day and just make it to South Temperance Lake. I could almost throw a rock from my Cherokee campsite and hit the portage to Sitka Lake so I was there in no time. I stayed on top of the weather forecast with my Garmin InReach and knew that today was supposed to be windy but again it was a tail wind. By the time I got to South Temperance Lake I already was thinking that I might not find a site which would mean I'd just continue south until I did. I put in on the north side of South Temperance and the water was calm. But it wouldn't stay that way. As I headed south on the lake I checked out 2 of the 4 campsites on the lake and both were taken. I decided to continue south. As I got about halfway down the lake I could feel the tailwind kicking in. The water became really choppy. I didn't see a problem until I was approaching the landing for the portage. At the last second the wind blew me to the left of the landing and as luck would have it a fellow solo tripper was there to help. He grabbed the bow and stabilized the canoe and had he not done so I think I would have dumped it. Thanks Barkley for your help! My new friend had been standing at the edge of the lake for about an hour waiting for the wind to die down. We came to the conclusion that it was not going to be any time soon and so Barkley made the tough but wise decision to turn around and head back south resulting in 2 230rd portages back to back! Barkley took the campsite on Weird and I continued south to Jack. I had intel that the north site on Jack was open so that's where I was headed. The site was oriented a little different than it was on the map so it took me about 30 minutes to find it. If it weren't for Kimberly (the solo tripper in the south campsite) I wouldn't have found it and continued on to Kelly Lake. Thanks Kim! I settled in to my new camp at about 1430. That night at about 2000 sitting by my camp fire I heard A LOT of water moving close to my camp. I went to the water's edge and looked to my right. It was twilight and getting dark. At first I saw nothing. Then there it was, emerging from behind the point was the perfect silhouette of a cow moose. Fantastic! She got out of the water, shook, then headed into the brush. That night I woke at about midnight to the sound of Ms. Moose wading in the shallow. Fell asleep again and then woke up about 0300 to the sounds of two sets of wolves howling. So cool because it really sounded like a conversation. ~Cherokee Lake, Sitka Lake, North Temperance Lake, South Temperance Lake, Weird Lake, Jack Lake
Day 14 of 4
Thursday, September 17, 2020 A cold morning. I woke up to some frost covering the canoe, tent and items around camp. I had my coffee and rehydrated bacon and eggs and off I went. Met up with Barkley on the next portage as we were both planning on snagging sites on Burnt Lake. A beautiful, crisp, cool and calm morning! Very enjoyable paddling as we headed south and eventually accomplished the 210rd portage into Burnt. This day I was fortunate to find the the first site I investigated was open. I believe it was the only island site on Burnt. The only disappointment about this lake and Smoke are that they were very stained with algae. Not the typical BWCA generally clear lake. Very nice spacious site with trail going around the entire island. 3 to 4 tent pads around the island. This site would be great for a group but since it was so busy I snagged it. Tried a little fishing from the eastern shore but no luck. ~Jack Lake, Kelly Lake, Burnt Lake
Day 4 of 4
Wednesday, August 05, 2020
Yesterday, our group gathered to get everything packed. We fit it all in our large Granite Gear pack (66 lbs), Sealline 115L (36 lbs), CCS rucksack (10 lbs), and a pack basket made for my husband by a tribal chief in Woodstock, Maine (not weighed, but <20lbs). He won't take a trip without the pack basket even though it has started to fall into some disrepair.
Since the car was loaded last night, we were up and on the road by 3:30am. Quiet roads on the drive up and we stopped at the same Duluth Perkins for a take out breakfast that we had used on our July trip. The drive up the shore was uneventful until Morgan spotted a a black bear dashing into the woods. She was thrilled.
Then I got distracted talking about the RV that ran off the highway at the Poplar River a different summer and I missed seeing the lower speed limit sign in Lutsen. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Got pulled over...deservedly. Thank goodness for my clean driving record...I was just issued a warning. That woke me up for the rest of the drive.
We parked at the Trail's End parking lot and were on the water by 11:00am. The winds were quiet as we paddled Gull Lake and crossed into the BWCA. Morgan hasn't paddled much (other than a couple practice sessions on a lake near our house) so her arms got tired quickly. However, she said she liked pushing through it. Wonderful attitude!
Joey planned this trip so we let him determine when and where we would camp. He thought it wise to keep the day pretty short and take the first open campsite. Clark's Island was full as were the next 3 sites to the west. Fortunately, Saganaga was close to glass for our entire paddle. We ended up at site #2075 on the north end of Loon Island. We arrived at 1:00, ate lunch, then swam and played cards while Stew napped in his hammock. This is a nice, shady campsite and doesn't look overused. Much of the site is very rocky so there was only room for our 4P tent and maybe a 2P. A couple good hammock spots, but limited by widow makers and leaning trees.
We saw bald eagles and loons. Morgan really started to enjoy the peace and quiet out here. Dinner was an Asian/Costa Rican fusion of 2 of our favorite trail meals: fried rice with veggies and homemade tortillas with queso fresco. Just a bit hard to roust the teenagers out of the water to collect firewood. Sag was amazingly quiet. A few motorboats went by far out in the channel over the course of the afternoon, but not many.
Travel time: 11am-1:00pm 2 hours Distance: 5 miles 
~Gull Lake, Saganaga Lake
Day 7 of 4
Saturday, September 19, 2020 I woke up early and got a good start. Just two portages to get back to Sawbill Lake. On the Burnt to Smoke portage I ran across a couple grouse on the trail. Sweet! The trip back to Sawbill seemed to fly by. There was a very near miss though on the way out of Smoke. The portage from Smoke to Sawbill has a wood dock-like structure that you unload onto and it's got an irregular shape to it. I guess I was pretty tired because I put my rucksack on and pulled the canoe out of the water and hoisted it up onto my shoulders. I then damn near stepped right of the dock! Holy crap that was close and right at the end of the trip! Thankfully I caught my mistake and stayed dry. I got back to Sawbill Outfitters at about 1130 and man was that place buzzing! Very busy place mostly with people heading out. Ultimately this was the perfect getaway and left me wanting more. I will be back!~Burnt Lake, Smoke Lake, Sawbill Lake
