BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 05 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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
Going Gunflint
Entry Date:
June 30, 2008
Entry Point:
Seagull Lake
Exit Point:
Missing Link Lake (51)
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
7
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[paragraph break] Breakfast was in the dining hall at 7:00. Thick slabs of french toast, orange juice and coffee would fuel us well into the day. 
Staff member Stefan rode with us up to Seagull and saw us off before takiNG OUR VEHICLE BACK TO Tusc. Seagull was calm and we got a good start and made the west end before the breeze kicked up. A quick portage through Rog Lake put us into Alpine. I would have liked to have seen this gem of a lake befoRE THE FIRE. WE TOOK LUNch on the east end of Jasper by the rapids. dex.cfm?fuseaction=photos.display&img=COWDOC%2D090708%2D201851%2EJPG&name=TripReport">851%2EJPG&name=TripReport">?fuseaction=photos.display&img=A%3EOWDOC%2D%3C%2FA%3E090708%3C%2FA%3E%2D201851%2EJPG&name=TripReport">E%2D.cfm?fuseaction=photos.display&img=A%3EOWDOC%2D%3C%2FA%3E090708%3C%2FA%3E%2D201851%2EJPG&name=TripReport">201851%2EJPG&name=TripReport">
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At the west end of Jasper we had some trouble locating the portage to Kingfisher until we saw a young couple coming down the trail. We chatted briefly and they said that there were very few people on Ogish. Aside from a few distant views of people on Seagull, they would be the only people we would see this first day. We arrived at Ogish and paddled through the narrows before we started looking for campsites. The site at the narrows looked nice but we didn't like the idea of everyone passing by us so close for the next two days. We eventually settled on the far west island site, #783. It sat up high on a rock outcropping,had decent tent pads and was catching a nice breeze. With camp set, we made our tortilla pizzas and relaxed. A short but intense storm blew through right at bedtime. seaction=photos.display&img=COWDOC%2D09%3C%2FA%3E0708%2D202228%2EJPG&name=TripReport">%2D?fuseaction=photos.display&img=A%3EDOC%2D09%3C%2FA%3E0708%2D202228%2EJPG&name=TripReport">202228%2EJPG&name=TripReport">JPG&name=TripReport">
[paragraph break] We awoke to a nice day that we spent fishing AROUND THE WEST END OF OGISH. A small stringer of walleyes and smallmouth were invited to supper and cOUSIN ERIC CAUGHT THE BIggest fish of his life, a 36 inch northern. 
WE HAD ORIginally planned to head to Ester, but instead we decided to heAD FOR THE SOUTH ARM TO spend the next couple of days.[paragraph break] Camp was broke the next morning and we traveled through Annie, Jenny and Eddy on our way to South Arm. On the way through the Annie to Jenny portage, we ran into a Boy Scout group, the first people we met since the first's day couple. The portage into the South Arm drops down a steep path as it parallels Eddy Falls. We would check out the falls on our way back through. The South Arm was crowded and all of the sites that I had researched were full. We settled on site #1436 in a back bay to the north side. It stuck out on a small point just enough to catch a breeze, had nice tent pads and a resident Eagle. It also LOOKED MUCH QUIETER than the rest of the South Arm. 
[paragraph break] Most of the crew swam and fished the next days while lilcowdoc and I took a day trip up through Amoeber and Topaz to Cherry. We had lunch at a favorite site of mine at the narrows that I wanted to show her. We returned for a quiet evening of fishing and relaxing. 
[paragraph break] The next day we left the South Arm and headed back towards Ogish. On the cfm?fuseaction=photos.display&img=cowdoc%2D090708%2D203907%2Ejpg&name=TripReportseaction=photos.display&img=COWDOC%2D09%3C%2FA%3E0708%2D203907%2EJPG&name=TripReport">">way we checked out Eddy Falls. 
Once back at Ogish, we headed out the south side enroute to Mueller and AgamOK. WE STOPPED WHERE THE Kekekabic Trail crosses the portage and went east on the trail to check out Mueller Falls. We enjoyed lunch on a small rock island at the base of the Falls. 
AGAMOK WAS A STRANGE LAKE IN A WIDE VALLEY. MR. BEYMER WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE SHALLOW ROCKY AREa at the mid-lake narrows. 
From Agamok, the portage to Gabi was easy and the slight breeze did not have the big lake whipped up too bad. Lots of Gabi was burned, but the south end where we were was spared. I took a picture of "the line" where the fire stopped. I thought it strange to see black stumps so close to untouched, green trees....like you drew a line. 
A quick trip through Rattle with some Boy Scouts had us looking at a neaT LITTLE SET OF RAPIDS By the portage to Little Sag. Lots of fire damage was all around. 
[paragraph break] A small tailwind pushed us east down Little Sag to a small island campsite, #534. We all swam after the long day and relaxed after a spaghetti supper. Much of the lake's north shore was burned, but the islands and the south shore are fine. This site has some beautiful tent pads that sit on small cliffs and overlook the water and it has a rock bench back by the trees that the boys sat on and talked. The cooking area is on a big, bare rock pad way down by the water and appears somewhat out of place. We studied the stars that night after a nice sunset. 
[paragraph break] Once again we awoke to a nice day, our last one. We left THE EAST END OF LITTLE Sag on a beautiful portage trail that travels alongside a set of rapids and small falls. 
My camera gave out at this time and I have not retrieved the pictures I took with my cousins camera. I will have to update. We passed through Mora and into Crooked where we had a quick lunch at an island site that lilcowdoc had been to in May. The portage into Crooked was steep and rocky at the start as was the portage out. A stiff tailwind blew us quickly down beautiful Tuscarora Lake to the east end where the dreaded, much anticipated portage to Missing Link waited for us. We snacked and hydrated as a few groups came down the hill and then we took a deep breath and off we went. We used the "portage and a half" technique and did the 400 some rodder in just under an hour. A quick dip in Missing Link refreshed us for that quick paddle and another tough, but scenic portage into Round Lake. The stiff south wind blew us quickly to the landing on the north shore at Tuscarora Lodge.[paragraph break] After the cleanup phase, we grabbed some beer and pops and sat on the dock and enjoyed the south wind that kept the skeeters and black flies at bay. We had made plans to meet fellow BWCA.com member Kiporby and his daughter Lauren for supper at the Trail Center. I am glad he showed up early because the boys were getting very hungry. We all enjoyed a great evening at the TC and traded trip stories. [paragraph break] A fairly strong storm blew through the Tuscarora Lodge that night. It made me think that all in all, we had great weather for the trip. We got up early to leave and say goodbye to lilcowdoc. Somewhere near the TC, the boys fell back asleep and my cousin and I were the only two to see the black bear scoot across the road. We stopped for breakfast at Two Harbors and headed down 61 for Duluth. We will be back.
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