We are from Duluth, so left around 7 AM and drove up through Ely to Snowbank Lake. Our "usual" bait store in Ely, Babe's, was closed this season, so we had to check out a couple others. Unfortuantely our main "go to" bait leeches were tough to find. We found some tiny ones, so had to rely on worms more this time. The drive was otherwise uneventful. We did see a Ruffed Grouse (actually 3) on the dirt road going into snowbank (see pic).

We arrived at Snowbank, loaded up our Kayaks and ventured in. The wind was from the NW and gave us some trouble getting in, but nothing crazy. We met a poor group at the first portage who struggled getting in the night prior (Gail force winds) and actually had the canoe capsize!! Poor guys spent over an hour in the 59 degree water! We made it into Disappointment without any trouble, the portage there is a little long, but pretty well maintained. This lake was PACKED! We have never seen the BWCA as busy as this before. Good to see others using it, but also is somewhat hard to see so many people. We paddle around the lake to find that every campsite except one was taken. We had no choice but to take it, and what a perfect site it was! We didn't get set up until later in the evening, so we just fished off the rocks and caught some small bass. We made some delicious steaks over the fire and enjoyed the quiet.