BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 22 2024
Entry Point 4 - Crab Lake & Cummings Lake
Crab Lake and Cummings from Burntside Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 23 miles. Access from Burntside Lake with a 320-rod portage to Crab Lake. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
Number of Permits per Day: 3
Elevation: 1406 feet
Latitude: 47.9337
Longitude: -92.0269
Crab Lake & Cummings Lake - 4
Number of Permits per Day: 3
Elevation: 1406 feet
Latitude: 47.9337
Longitude: -92.0269
Crab Lake & Cummings Lake - 4
Might be my Last Rodeo
by Bearpath9
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 12, 2024
Entry Point:
Slim Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
1
Trip Introduction:
This trip was supposed to be 5 nights. I bailed out early for a few reasons. As some of you may know, I tore my meniscus in two places last fall. It isn't as bad as it was, but there a certain things you don't do,and it isn't as strong as it should be. Thus, I am a little bit slower. My wife objects since I go solo, and I am almost 66. I see her points, and I even agree with her, to some extent.
Day 1 of 4
Monday, August 12, 2024 Got up early, and drove from Cliff Wolds bunkhouse to the lake. When I got towards the end of the portage to the lake, I noticed the little stream next to the trail was running high. Got to the shore, and saw that it was quite a bit further up than last year. Not a problem, just a surprise. I actually triple portaged to the lake(I rigged up a dry sack so I could carry it with the canoe, and lighten pack weight). Despite all the work I did to carry heavy loads, my knee was barking a little bit. I was in no hurry, anyway. The weather was a little gray, and kind of muggy, but better than rain. I headed towards the south end, since I really had never been down there. It was already in my mind to just do 3 days, so I took the first open site. I went along the shore and spotted the fire grate, but no landing spot. I continued along the shore and came upon a little marshy area that looked like it. Not a bad landing, but it takes a little maneuvering to get in and out of. Unloaded the canoe, and lifted it up onto the shore, tied it to a tree and went for a look at the site. It is a short walk from the landing to the actual site. The first thing I noticed was that it is very rocky, And not a lot of topsoil so it was also pretty rooty. It is pretty open, with a lot of trees, perfect for hammocks, not so much for tents. I did manage to find a good pad for the tent, just about the only place for one. The rest of the site seemed to go on forever, but it was just the openness of the place. I did know that I was close to hiking trails, in fact, the entire area was riddled with trails. Which brings me to the latrine. It is back in the woods, which are really open, more of a park-like setting, but the damn thing is on a hill ! Looks like they piled up about 4-5 feet of earth, and capped it with the throne. You do have a great view of the surrounding area,which means you can be seen doing your business. Got the tent set up first, then brewed myself a cup of tea. It was getting on to lunch time, so I ate a sandwich(salmon&mayo, wrapped in a tortilla). I purchased a bunch of those foil packs of tuna and salmon. A lot cheaper, and probably healthier, than the freeze dried food. I liked the freeze dried(Mountain House, etc) stuff, but too much sodium in them. I did bring some along, though. I finished the unloading, found a place to stash my bear vaults, and went to do a little exploring around the camp. I wandered up in a northerly direction, and it was pretty cool. Like I mentioned, there is not a lot of undergrowth, so I was pretty easy walking. About 100 yards from camp, there are 2 big slabs of rock, and they both have trails leading off of them. My map showed the main trails, but not all of the other ones. Went back and grabbed my compass, and went for a walk. Hiked for about an hour, didn't see anyone, did hear them though. Since I didn't want to catch up to them, I turned around and headed back to camp. Made another cup of tea, got my book out, found a comfortable spot in the sun near the shore and relaxed. As evening approached, I made some dinner, ate that, had my nightcap as the sun went down, and headed for the tent. I will say that setting the tent up was fun. With my knee, you don't want to kneel on it(pain)or bend it too much(more pain)so when I set it up I have to splay my left leg out, and kneel down on my right knee. Or try to do it bending over. But at least I didn't have rain coming down on me, as was the case on my last 2 trips. Also, getting into the tent and then the sleeping bag are interesting exercises in contortionism.
Day 2 of 4
Tuesday, August 13, 2024 Woke up early, around 6 or so. Hauled my butt out of the tent and wandered over to the kitchen. Got the water boiling and had a cup of tea. The lake was like a sheet of glass, with wisps of fog scattered on the surface. Turned on the weather radio to see what was what. Sounded like a perfect day coming up. 2 in a row, I must be doing something right. Went back in the woods, got my breakfast pouches of oatmeal(with brown sugar and fake maple syrup flavoring)fired up the stove and had breakfast. The sun was getting higher up by now, so I cleaned up my breakfast dishes(large mug and a spoon)and pondered what I wanted to do. I decided to get on the water and head up north. Last year, I came across a deadhead with a stamp on the end, and I wanted to see if I could find any others. Now on this landing, I quickly found out that the best way to get back on the lake was to back out, turn the bow lakeward, then back up again to avoid the big rocks under the surface, and then head onto the lake itself. As I was heading up along the shore, I observed that there were really no places to put a campsite, much less land a canoe. FS really had their work cut out for them to put sites on Slim. I got to the bay where I had found the log, and just kinda paddled and coasted. I don't know if there is a more perfect setting-sun shining, light breeze blowing, and sitting in a canoe with the lake to yourself. I continued to paddle and coast while looking for deadheads. They can hard to see, since only a few inches of the log are visible. Kinda like looking for a manatee coming up for air. I got into the big bay on the west side and just floated along. There is an enormous bluff on that side, kind of on a point, then you go into the bay. I had an urge to see if I could land the canoe and hike up it. Silly me. The shore was rocky, and it looked like the rocks extended out into the water. I did find one place, but it was pretty marshy, and I didn't like that, so I gave up and went back to my search, which proved to be fruitless. I turned around and headed back to camp, lunch was definitely on my mind. After lunch, I checked the weather forecast and they were saying Thursday was going to be wet. I thought to myself if it holds off till mid-morning I should be dry during the portage back to my vehicle, which I was in favor of. I had just started my stove for some tea when I heard a voice. Looking around, I saw a guy about 100 yards away. He didn't come any closer, so I gimped my way up towards him. Turns out he was a hiker, and had never been this way before. He showed me the trail he took to get here on his map, which was the same one that I was on the day before, except I turned back before the junction with the main trail. We chit-chatted for a bit, and he took off. So I went back to my stove, re-lit it, and made a cup of tea. I grabbed my book, and headed down to the shore to read a bit and just look around. It must have been around 2 or so, and I was feeling my age, so I grabbed my PDF, put it against the large rock near the kitchen, leaned back and dozed off. I was woken up by a strange sound. Sounded like somebody was grunting nearby. Cracking one eye, I looked around. Nothing. I hauled myself up, and I could still hear it over my head. Yup, a little red squirrel was upset at me. He and I traded insults for a bit, then he took off. We repeated this scenario for the rest of my time there, about 3 times a day. That was about the only wildlife I saw, except for the loon that showed up in front of the site on Monday and gave a few calls and then took off. I wasn't really hungry enough to cook anything for dinner, so I just sat on the shore, read a little bit, and nibbled on trail mix until the sun started setting. Gimped up to the tent, and debated about whether to take the rain fly off. Forecast was for clear skies, but after my last two rainy trips, I was a little paranoid. Decided to take it down, since I wanted to see if the Aurora would make an appearance. Of course, I slept like a log, and didn't wake up once.
Day 3 of 4
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 Got up around sunrise, turned on the weather channel, and caught the forecast, which was more of the same good weather I had been enjoying. Ate some oatmeal and had my tea, pondering what I could do today. Decided to read a little bit, and wait for the sun to get higher. Around 10 or so, I put on my water socks and sandals, along with my brace for my knee(I only put it on for strenuous stuff)and backed the canoe out and into the lake. I still had the southern part of the lake to explore. I knew that the south end, from where I was, was smaller in area than the previous days trip, so I took my time. The shoreline(west side)was about the same-rocky, hilly, and clear views into the interior. I'm still not seeing any wildlife, other than the occasional bird. I entered the bay, and went around the shoreline, looking for that other campsite. I found it, or what I thought was it, about mid-way up the bay. It appeared to be on a hilltop, and I thought I found the landing, but I decided not to explore it, since I didn't like the landing, and I didn't want to climb the hill. So I went around to see the other side, in another small bay. Couldn't get down very far, as a tree had fallen and blocked the entrance. Paddled over to the east side and headed north. As I cleared the point, I checked out the small island off of the point. And it was small. Looked to me like it was just a hump of rock with little growth on it except for one tree that had burned. I really wanted to check it out, but there didn't seem to be anywhere good. Since my canoe was kevlar, and rented, I didn't want to return it with a couple of big gouges in it. I swung over to the east side and continued on. The east side was more hilly, and all the rock leading down to the water was covered in moss. The moss was various colors, green, gray, and rusty brown. Very pretty. I kept going until I reached the bay for the EP, then cut across to the west side and down to my site. It was around 1 by now, so I made some lunch and listened to the radio. I grabbed my book, and my cup of tea, and headed to the shore to relax. The day so far was just like the previous two, sunny, an occasional cloud and a light breeze. No biting insects, but plenty of ants. I don't mind them, they go about their business and I go about mine. Since I keep a clean camp, they didn't bother me. I did do a patrol of the camp after I got stuff set up, and it was pretty clean. I did find about 20-30 feet of fishing line, and a pair of needle nose pliers, which looked like they had been there for a few years, and a sock. Not a pair, just the one. I read and just looked out at the water for a while, then I decided I needed to clean up if I was leaving in the morning. Got down to my skivvies and had a good swim around the shoreline. Water wasn't bad, little chilly at first. I had just put on some clean clothes when I saw a canoe with two people headed my way. Waved as they went by, and saw that they were headed to the southernmost site. Other than the hiker, they were the first people I had seen since I got here. I had some time until dinner, so I went back into the woods and picked up some wood for the next people for their fire. It has been picked pretty clean, but I managed to get enough for at least one fire going. I don't usually have a fire. Don't know why, I just don't. Maybe because I don't cook anything. Gettin on towards evening, so I ate another sandwich, and watched the sun go down. Gimped up to the tent, put the rain fly back on, and headed down to the water for a nightcap and a glimpse of the stars. It was getting cloudy, so not much in the way of stars. Went back to the tent, climbed in and called it a night.
Day 4 of 4
Thursday, August 15, 2024 Got up around 6, and poked my head out. Kind of gloomy(since it was still early)and definitely cloudy. Got all the way out and went down to the shore. Yep, it was cloudy. I made a cup of tea, and got the weather on the radio. Yep, rain on the way. Went and got the bear vaults, put 'em by the canoe, and went back into the tent. Rolling up the sleeping bag and the tent took a little longer than normal cause no kneeling. But I got everything into the packs, and into the canoe. Backed out and started for the EP. Started to feel a couple of rain drops on the way, but nothing more. I landed, and grabbed the portage pack and headed to the truck. When I got back to the landing, the people who were on the southernmost site pulled up. We chit-chatted a bit, and I let them go first and checked out the stream that flows along the trail. With the high water in Slim, it was running much faster than last year. Put on my other pack, tipped the canoe up and got under it and headed to the truck. They had left by the time I got there, and I left soon after. When I reached the road and pulled out, I noticed that the stream from Slim was going into Burntside, something I did not know before. Got into Ely, went to Cliff Wolds and returned the paddle and yoke. I left the canoe at Slim, Ryan has let me do this for 3 or 4 years. He has even dropped it off at the EP the night before I go in. Went next door and topped off the tank, got a 1/2 dozen bismarks(it's a long drive). I pointed the truck in a southerly direction and headed home. It started raining about 5 minutes later, and rained off and on 'til I hit 35. I chose wisely. So that's it. I don't know when I will be back. Hopefully next year, but that will depend on my health(I have another issue that has come up)and how well I can sweet talk my wife.
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