BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 07 2025
Entry Point 62 - Clearwater Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1673 feet
Latitude: 48.0702
Longitude: -90.3752
Clearwater Lake - 62
10th anniversary day trip to Johnson Falls
Entry Date:
September 12, 2015
Entry Point:
East Bearskin Lake
Number of Days:
1
Group Size:
2
Though cloudy, it looked like the sun was desperately trying to make an appearance this morning as we broke camp. There were still noticeable waves out on the water, but they were quite tame compared to those of yesterday.
The sun broke through just as we pushed off. Certainly we welcomed the warmth. But, since we needed to paddle almost directly east; this proved to be a mixed blessing, as we desperately tried to evade an unavoidable blinding radiance.
Not far from our camp, right on the international border in Cadillac Narrows, there is the remains of an old 1928 Buick. I don’t know the history of how this car came to be here; still it was an interesting worthwhile stop.
Crooked Lake (Lac Croche) is aptly named. The countless islands and irregular shape make successful navigation a challenge. But, dramatically minimizes the amount of time spent crossing large expanses of open water.
Of course we were now paddling on The Voyageurs Highway. In my estimation, this section of that route; from Crooked Lake to Basswood Falls, is unquestionably the most intimately appealing to the sensory pallet. The many islands, narrowness of the channel along much of the route, and the multitude of awe inspiring locations, both natural & man made, make this an unforgettable paddle.
Even though the sky had clouded up, Big Current was certainly an idyllic spot. Awhile later, we pulled off at the Table Rock campsite. Perhaps the most famous camp in canoe country, and certainly the most historically significant, Table Rock was mentioned in the journals of many Voyageurs. As we got out, I tried to imagine a crew of Voyageurs waving us over. Vickie wasn’t overly impressed. She mused, “It’s just a big rock?” Indeed, that is all it was. But, in the day of the Voyageur, this qualified it as perhaps the first five star camp. Even though places like the BWCAW & Quetico are called a wilderness, I think most of us take for granted the convenient log seating and strategically placed rocks in most campsites. So, it should come as no surprise why the Voyageurs held this site in such high regard.
Considering this site has been in perpetual use for at least the last 300 years, it was still in pretty good shape. Though, by today’s standards, I would only rate it at about 3 stars. Undoubtedly; like countless others who came before us, we unsuccessfully explored the area for long forgotten items while enjoying the natural beauty of this historic spot.
With the sun occasionally trying to peek out, we scared up various species of waterfowl as we proceeded on. The quiet & colors of the season gave the impression that we were traveling through an imagined wonderland.
Just before we reached the pictograph cliffs, we pulled off at the campsite just north of there to get out and stretch.
This wasn’t much of a site, small, poor landing & fire grate, with all the tent pads sloping quite considerably towards the water. But, for us, it served its purpose quite well. In short order, we were back on the water.
The dramatic cliffs soon came into sight. We paddled right under them and began scanning for the pictographs. Once again, they were quite easy to locate.
Besides the pictographs, these were also the cliffs that the Indians used to shoot arrows into a crevice as a warning to their enemies. In the book “Voices from the rapids”, it states that in 1915 or 1916 William Magie lowered himself down over the face of the cliff and retrieved all the Indian projectile points stuck in the rock crevices. Apparently, he presented his only remaining specimen to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1974. This book also chronicles the fascinating underwater search for fur trade artifacts from 1960 – 1973, of which the nearby Basswood River was one of the successfully targeted areas.
Before claiming our campsite, we paddled over to check out the ranger cabin tucked in the small bay just SW of Lower Basswood Falls. While I applaud the efforts of the Forest Service rangers for the job that they do; I often wonder how (for instance) the resort owners of Crooked Lake, who were forced out, viewed these structures.
The landing to our site was a little iffy, and the fire grate was exposed, so this probably wouldn’t qualify as a true five star site if located elsewhere. But, as they say in real estate, “Location! Location! Location!” I can’t think of another campsite in the BWCAW that has such an awe inspiring natural attraction right at its doorstep. As we were still getting ‘the lay of the land’, I happened to glance over to the west. There were a number of awfully dark clouds on the horizon. With a sense of urgency, we hastily set about getting camp setup.
It was our good fortune that for the moment, the rain had missed us, and the dark, heavy clouds pushed northwards. With camp up, we each walked over to the falls with different objectives. With towel in hand, Vickie went down to the water to clean up a bit. Meanwhile, I’d grabbed my fishing pole to try my luck in the pools below the falls.
The water levels were obviously quite low, and I could have filled a tackle box with the various lures that were readily discernible among the rocks. As I stood out on a rock pitching my line out into the eddies, the scene of visionary enchantment that spread out before me made it virtually impossible not to achieve a sense of contentment.
Afterwards, we both spent a little time exploring the trails spider-webbing around the falls before heading back to camp to get supper started.
As Vickie was putting the finishing touches on supper, I made preparations for a fire afterwards by getting the wood situated under the fire grate. Of course this almost certainly jinxed us; as it started raining shortly thereafter.
While we were enjoying our chicken fajitas, a couple of kayakers were seen negotiating the portage just across the bay. They wound up claiming a site just north of us. As we watched this scene unfold, both of us commented about how thankful we were to be in camp, enjoying our warm supper under the dry sanctuary of our CCS tarp. And, more importantly, not out in the rain & cold still searching.
The rain continued after supper, so we played a few games of cribbage & listened to the weather radio for the latest forecast. Predicted winds out of the north at 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25 didn’t sound too encouraging. Especially since tomorrow we hoped to cross Basswood Lake.
Crooked Lake, Basswood River