BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 01 2025
Entry Point 44 - Ram Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 1
Elevation: 1498 feet
Latitude: 47.9547
Longitude: -90.4423
Ram Lake - 44
Solo Ram to Bower Trout
Entry Date:
June 27, 2025
Entry Point:
Ram Lake
Exit Point:
Bower Trout Lake (43)
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
1
Day 1. Brutal uphill 80 rod portage to start trip from truck to Ram lake, followed by three more that were no cake walks thru Craft, Rum and Little Trout. I planned to stay at little trout, but there was a big group on the island site and the other site I checked on the northwest side didn’t speak to me, so I decided to pushed on to Misqua. I read bad things about that portage, but I figured I’d rather get it out of the way than start day 2 with a doozy. It was a doozy, big time up hill to begin with, then some ups and downs and a boggy section where I lost a sandal. Got to Misqua and found the campsite open, so I took it. Really only a site that a mother could love, but I was beat. There was moose scat and fallen trees, plus no where flat to pitch a tent, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Tried fishing because I thought I read it had lakers, trolled the whole lake, got hung up twice, but no fish. Found a nice rock by the lake, had a cigar and a stiff drink and soaked it all in. Was visited by a couple of otters, so there must be fish. Dehydrated baked beans and pre-cooked sausages for dinner, all good. 
Day 2. Nice calm morning on Misqua, so I made a coffee, had oatmeal, packed up camp and got going early. Portaged into Vista and promptly caught a perfect filleting size Walleye, but it was much too early in the day to keep it. Portaged to Horseshoe and then Gaskin. My plan was to take a look at Winchell and if the wind wasn’t too bad I’d make my way part of the way west on it since it was still fairly early. Loud wind in the trees made me apprehensive, but it had enough south in it so the lake wasn’t too bad. Ran out of gas about 1/3 of the way up so I took a decent site and called it a day. Site was ok, except a bunch of downed trees, and a pile of wolf scat near the crapper. I was worn out from the portages the day before so I put up a hammock and took a nap. When the wind died down in the late afternoon I tried trolling again for lakers, but no luck. Why are there so many trees sawn down? Is it the forest service dropping widow makers, or is it some jackass with a saw and a bad attitude? Gonna have a drink, make dinner and hope for calm conditions in the morning.
Day 3. Didn’t sleep much listening to the wind all night. Last thing I wanted was to wake up to a big west wind on Winchell. Fortunately the bark was worse than the bite and I was able to make it down the lake in about an hour. Portaged to Wanihigan, and then braced myself for the Grassy lake portage. I had heard that sometimes you walk the whole thing, so I didn’t know what to expect. After 200 easy rods I got to the put in for the “lake” which was a mucky stream, so I looked for the way around. Only path I saw was through the tussocks, so I took it. Rough going, but I made it through. I decided to take a paddle back and give it a try with the canoe. I have a Rheaume Solo that drafts pretty shallow, but I immediately regretted my decision. I was muck bound before I even got going. There was no pushing off the bottom, so I paddled as hard as I could and after 100 agonizing feet I made it through the worst. It was still only 3 or 4” of water over feet of muck, but I managed. Portaged to Mulligan, Lily, then to Brule and when I got to the main part of the lake the wind was up and there were choppy white caps. I turned the corner east and surfed the waves with the wind at my back all the way to the east Bay. Took the first site and it was looking threatening to the west, so I put up my rain fly over the highest ground . Lucky thing I did because I had a thunderstorm with hail and heavy rain within 1/2 hour of getting there. After the storm blew out I went fishing and caught a few nice Walleye. Didn’t have energy to fillet them, so I let them go. Every tent pad had standing water during the storm, so I pitched the tent under the rain fly. 
Day 4. Slept like a baby. When you have a tent under a rain fly/tarp, then you don’t need to put the rain fly on the tent, and it stays so much cooler in there. Think I’ll do that more often. Packed up early, as usual, and headed towards Vernon. I made a mental note never to go from Vernon to Brule because it’s more of a cliff than a portage. Saw a swan on Vernon and I told it that it was on the wrong lake. The 290 rod portage from Vernon to Swan was relatively easy going. I had planned to stay on Swan, but 2 sites were taken and I hate “crowds” so I decided to move on. Ironically when I got to the next lake there were 2 more swans with cygnets! It was looking like weather was brewing, so I decided to push on to the finish line. About 4 more portages, got to Bower Trout lot a little afternoon, walked a mile or 2 to get my truck at the Ram lot, and beat the storms. The whole route from Brule to Bower Trout was beautiful and I would highly recommend it. I read about people going in reverse from Bower Trout to Ram and I’m not sure why they do. If you go Ram to Bower Trout it is more downhill than uphill (except at the beginning) and you are going with the current of the Brule River. Terrific route that I would recommend to anyone that doesn’t mind a little portaging. 