Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

OUR FIRST LOOP
by paddelingruth

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe

Entry Date: 08/20/2018

Entry & Exit Point: East Bearskin Lake (EP 64)

Number of Days: 6

Group Size: 2

Trip Introduction:

This is our 4th trip to the Boundary waters canoe area. My husband had been wanting to do a loop, in the past we have always went in and out the same way. Lakes traveled: Eastbear Skin Lake to Alder, Alder to Canoe, Canoe to Johnson Falls to Pine, Pine to Little Caribou, Little Caribou to Caribou, Caribou to Deer and Deer to Moon to Eastbear Skin Lake. My husband Dan and our dog Lil and myself left Nebraska on Saturday August 18th to camp at Spirit Mountain in Duluth. We ate at Sir Benedict's downtown Duluth across from Lake Superior. We found out that Jerry Vandiver would be there on Sunday night, it was a cool night so we thought it would be a great night to sit outside and enjoy the music. It was the wrong night but the nachos were amazing. On Sunday we headed to Ely Mn to go to Canadian waters outfitters to see about buying a used Kevlar canoe. We had not been in Ely before just wish we had more time to explore, we bought our canoe and had a great visit with them. We were headed to Rockwood Lodge Outfitters on the Gun flint trail. We still wanted to stop along Lake Superior and find Blueberries. We were happy we found them at our usual spot. We ate supper at a restaurant in Grand Marias called My Sister’s place, very good food. We then headed to our bunkhouse for the night at Rockwood Lodge. Enjoyed sitting on the dock at the lake and enjoying the nice evening. Great place to get our stuff organized and try and get some sleep.

Discuss Trip: View Discussion Thread (11 messages)

Day 1 of 6

Monday, August 20, 2018

We got an early start however had failed to check on what time Trail Center end opened. They open at 8:00 we left the Bunk house at 6:30 a.m. it is only about 10 or 15 minute drive. We did decide to go back and eat at Trail Center and then put in. It is a great place to enjoy other people heading out and great food. Ended up one of those groups were also putting in on East Bear Skin.

We were the first ones at East Bear Skin area #64, another canoe was just returning with two guys who had been camped on Canoe Lake site #701 with a 4 star rating, that is the spot we were hoping to head to today. We were excited to hear it was empty. We were taking our time and unloading the canoe and gear, when all the sudden 3 other vehicles pulled up and started unloading their gear. It was pretty crazy with 3 sets of people putting in at the same time. Each of the other groups had two canoes each. We just kind of hung back and let them go. It was about 9:45 when we started paddling. It was a long paddle on East Bear skin, we started out with sprinkles and our rain gear on. It seemed like the other two groups were planning on camping on Alder, which worked out great for us. We crossed into Canoe and the campsite we wanted was available. We were moved in and set up by 2:30. So glad to be there and ready to enjoy the rest of the day. It was very overcast from the fires in Canada and the rainy weather. Today we explored the Canoe lake some and watched quite a few other canoes on the portage into Canoe lake come over and check out the camp beside of us. We had our T-bone steaks and Baked Potatoes for supper, MMM good! We were in bed by 7:45 p.m. Hardly any mosquitoes.