BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 08 2025
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1497 feet
Latitude: 47.8452
Longitude: -90.8169
Summary: A 5-day loop from Baker up the Temperance lakes to Cherokee, and back through Sawbill and Smoke lakes back to Baker. A fairly difficult trip.
Day 0: We drove up from Stillwater in the morning and camped at one of the 5 walk-in campsites at Baker Lake, and it was nice.
Day 1 (Baker to S. Temperance) - A beautiful day, we decided to paddle all the way to South Temperance the first day which was a great paddle with easy portages except for the last one. We picked the campsite on top of a huge rock that was close to the middle of the lake. Tried fishing some but no luck
Day 2 (Rest) - In the night, we encountered the worst storm of the entire season. While we were there 19 people had to be rescued from the BWCA. We had about 50mph straightline winds, and I'm still surprised that the huge tent we had stood up to it. We slept in and took a rest day because of the intense winds. Amazingly beautiful sunset.
Day 3 (S. Temperance to Cherokee) - We left as early as we could to beat the heat, but it was no good. The lengthy, hilly portages were challenging and by the last portage we were pretty beat. We overpacked and single portaged which led us to speedier exhaustion. Still amazing weather. North Temperance was a beaut- I wish we had stayed there instead of South. We took the southeasterly facing campsite on Cherokee on the southeastern skinny island. Neat little site.
Day 4 (Cherokee to Sawbill) - Left a little later in the day but it was ok. We took our time going down the river letting out of the southwest part of Cherokee and it was a great area. BEWARE: The area between Ada and Skoop Lakes appears to be floatable, but a dam built recently has made the portion impossible to float. Be prepared for a long portage through muck and water. A guy that we saw there said he had been going to the BWCA for 40 years at least once per year and it was the worst portage he had ever seen. By the time we got to Sawbill it was pretty hot. We paddled all the way down to the site next to the portage onto Smoke.
Day 5 (Sawbill to Baker) - Cooler, cloudier weather for the first time on the trip. We were pretty hungry (I underpacked food a little and I felt really bad) and we were taunting each other with vivid descriptions of the burgers we were going to eat ASAP after getting out. We paddled back to Baker and returned our gear to Sawtooth outfitters.
Overall great route.
Border route on Stand up boards 7 days
Entry Date:
September 12, 2020
Entry Point:
Little Vermilion Lake (Crane Lake)
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
2
Starting out Saturday, September 12, 2020, he paddled 220 miles of lakes and rivers in one of the most beautiful and remote areas of Minnesota. The other 20 miles consisted of portages, where he carried a 25-pound board and 45 pounds of food, camping and survival gear over rugged terrain. As a member of the WaterTribe, Baste is the only standup paddler who has completed the group’s Everglades Challenge (EC300) three times, so he has had plenty of experience racing in adverse conditions. Because the Kruger-Waddell is an unsupported event, Baste invited John Knippers of Oklahoma to paddle with him.
After meeting up in Ely, MN with fellow paddlers from the paddling group WaterTribe, individuals and paddle teams drove to International Falls to start the event. From there they were on their own to navigate against the current heading northeast to Grand Portage, MN, home of the Anishinabe (Ojibwe) Reservation and the historic National Park Service Monument.
Baste, an experienced distance racer, began his career with the MIssouri River 340 mile race (MR340), from Kansas City to St.Charles, Missouri, which he completed in 60 hours. He did this race as a solo entrant because the rules allow for team support at checkpoints along the way and his wife, Betsy Baste, was his crew for this event. In 2018, he completed the Yukon 1000 mile race, from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada through the Arctic Circle to Fairbanks, Alaska in 8 days, 22 hours. Being an unsupported race, rules required it be done in teams for safety, so Baste paddled this event with Chip Walter from Miami.
Preparing for these epic race events takes months of planning and training. To prepare, Baste paddles an average of seven miles a day, 6-7 days a week from his shop, Paddle the Florida Keys, in Tavernier, FL, typically logging over 2,500 miles a year. He also races shorter distances (10-34 miles) to increase his stamina and speed. As an event nears, he begins assembling the equipment and trail food he needs to complete the upcoming journey. For the Everglades Challenge, he has to think about dealing with insects, dehydration, heat, alligators, and boat traffic on the West Florida coast. This time, staying warm while carrying the bare minimum amount of food and equipment was critical for conquering the cold and difficult portages of the Boundary Waters.
Baste is an expert paddler, but had little previous experience with portaging. Some of the portage crossings were as short as a beaver dam, others 1-2 miles long, and the icing on the cake was the final 9 mile portage at the end. Baste got to experience the logistical nightmare of portages on his second crossing, on day one. Grassy Portage sounds lovely, but in places, the path had knee-deep mud holes. At 6’4”, Baste had the height advantage to work his way through the mud. However, his shoes did not and he was constantly having to reach down into a hole and retrieve his shoes that the suction of the mud had claimed. At the end of that particular portage he was so relieved to get back on his board and paddle out to deeper water, that he didn’t realize he was only wearing one shoe! So he had to spend the rest of the day and part of the next without his hiking shoes. Luckily, he had a pair of Crocs he could wear to camp that night and the next day he set out to ask everyone he passed if he could buy their shoes. The very first person he asked, Dave Cuthbert, from Cook, MN had an extra pair of 16’s on his fishing boat, which was exactly what was needed because Baste wears size 14. With his two pairs of waterproof socks, it was a perfect fit. Even more amazing is that Cuthbert visits the Florida Keys every year to fish, and while he has no intention of getting his shoes back, he plans to visit Baste and see his shoes hanging on the trophy wall in Baste’s shop.
Baste describes the journey as an incredible opportunity to immerse himself in nature and disconnect from the rest of the world. Minnesota’s BWCA is well-known for an abundance of wildlife, world-class fishing, and its scenic vistas. He saw lots of wildlife including, beavers, otters, fish, over-friendly chipmunks, mice, red squirrels, eagles, loons, ducks and song birds. They saw evidence of moose, bear, and coyotes, but never actually saw the animals. The trip started out with a light rain and warm temperatures, but by mid-week, he and Knippers were scraping ice off their boards on a 21 degree morning. He said the digital detox of not having cell or Internet service for 7 days was wonderful, but he was also very happy to see his wife, Betsy, waiting for him at the finish line. When they started the challenge, there was very little evidence that Fall was right around the corner, but by the time they were done, Northeast Minnesota was awash in a vibrant display of Fall colors.
The Kruger -Waddell Challenge commemorates the record setting voyage of Verlene Kruger and Clint Waddell, who in 1969 completed the historical “Voyager” route in 80 hours and 40 minutes via canoe. They beat the previous record on this well-traveled fur-trade route set in the 1800’s by Sir George Simpson. The route closely follows the US-Canada border, so racers were careful to stay on the US side and only go on Canadian soil if there was an extreme emergency, which thankfully, there was not. Baste and Knippers completed the 240 mile challenge in 7 days and 10 hours. Considering the difficulty of the event, they were very pleased with their accomplishment. Fellow WaterTribe member, Tom Head, of Tavernier, FL completed the KWC as a canoe team member.
Join Baste virtually - full video here: https://youtu.be/eBV3Ea5IqRo
You can follow Scott Baste’s paddle adventures by following him on Facebook: @paddlethefloridakeys, on Instagram @scottbaste and on YouTube @paddlethefloridakeys 
~Little Vermilion Lake, Loon Lake, Lac La Croix, Moose Lake~Little Vermilion Lake, Loon Lake, Lac La Croix, Moose Lake