BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 18 2025
Entry Point 30 - Sawbill Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 11
Elevation: 1802 feet
Latitude: 47.8699
Longitude: -90.8858
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!
Fall Colors - Homer > Vern > Juno > Brule > S. Temperance > N. Temperance
Entry Date:
September 29, 2007
Entry Point:
Homer Lake
Exit Point:
Brule Lake (41)
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
The weather sucked - rainy and cold - but it made for more of an adventure. We were prepared, so we stayed warm and dry, and were able to test out all of our gear to it's fullest!
We paddled out of Homer on the morning of 9/29. We got a late start . . . we left the Cities later than planned on Friday, realized that the ranger station would be closed by the time we got there, and therefore took our time in Duluth with a nice dinner. We didn't have anywhere to stay - we had planned on camping someplace close, but without our permit, we thought we'd best stay off of 61. So we stayed at Lamb's Resort and slept in the back of the Suburban. It was pitch black when we came in and the campground was packed. There weren't any vacancies at any of the motels, so it was no wonder.
We arrived at the ranger station as soon as they opened at 8, watched our video, got our permit, and talked for a while with the staff. Then we made our trek up the Caribou Trail to Homer Lake. We were surprised by the number of cars at the boat landing, but we think it was mainly hunters. Pretty much as soon as we put in, it started to rain. We paddled along the south shore, allowing Luke to get used to the canoe, then turned down the Vern River and up towards Vern Lake. That was a really fun paddle. We saw one occupied campsite on Vern Lake - looked like one or more hunters.
By the time we reached the portage to Juno, it was raining in earnest and the wnd had picked up. Unfortunately, when we put in on Juno, we were paddling right into the wind. We had intended on reaching the first island campsite after the portage to Brule for our first night, but ended up pulling in to the third campsite on the north short, about a mile from the portage. It was a nice, sheltered site . . . and pretty much as soon as we got our tent and kitchen tarp up, the rain stopped.
The bad weather picked up again the next day. We only made it as far as the island campsite that we intended on reaching the day before. The wind and rain was too much on Brule, and with Luke in the canoe we were concerned about capsizing. That site is pretty exposed to a SW wind, which was the direction this day, but Sean put up an incredible lean-to using the kitchen tarp, so we could site by the fire and be sheltered from the wind and rain. We scattered leaves over the mud, found some pretty dry wood, and were very cozy under our lean-to. Our original plan was to make it to Cherokee Lake one day two, and then make our way back down to Brule on days three and four. We obviously weren't getting as far as we wanted and we were concerned about getting stuck on the western shore of Brule on day four, when we really needed to get home to our kids that day!
So we made the decision to day trip out of this campsite. It worked out perfectly. We stayed put on day two - just explored the island a bit and settled in. Then on day three, we paddled up to North Temperance. We didn't make it to Cherokee - we got a late start and were concerned about being out after dark. But what a great day trip! The portages were beautiful, S. and N. Temperance lakes were stunning - the fall colors were gorgeous.
We were treated with some great wildlife sitings . . . both golden (we think) and bald eagles on Brule Lake, a family of otters on N. Temperance, and on the way back we got up close and personal with a cow moose. The bull was nearby in the shrubs and although we didn't see him, we did see all of the trees and shrubs in his vicinity quake as he moved away from us. We were in our canoe and Sean (with his eagle eyes) spotted the moose. Looked like a dead tree to me. He put a hand on Luke's head, told me to get the camera and stay still, while he one-handed paddled into the bay. I could finally see that it was a moose and started snapping away. Fourty pictures later and we were still getting closer. Luke, thankfully, didn't seem to care. Finally we just sat off the shore a bit and watched her. She finally decided we were harmless and finished her drinking and then ambled off to find her mate.
Day four - our departure - we were completely foggedin in morning - couldn't even come close to seeing the opposite shore. We waited until 10:00, then the fog seemed to lift and we were able to paddle out. The paddle was tough - still strong winds - but we stuck with it and reached the boat landing on Brule. We left our gear and hiked back to the Homer boat landing where we retrieved our car, back to Brule for our gear, then we were on our way to Northern Lights in Beaver Bay (can't pass up their Elk pie and Fruit of the Forest pie) and then home to our kids.
I'm writing this two weeks later and I'm still wishing I were back in the BWCA!
View our photos at http://gallery.mac.com/bjscons.