BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 18 2026
Entry Point 7 - From Big Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1161 feet
Latitude: 48.0651
Longitude: -92.0188
From Big Lake - 7
Solo with no plans, lots of wind, and calling an audible
Entry Date:
May 13, 2026
Entry Point:
Slim Lake
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
1
On Monday (May 11) I checked and the weather was calling for 35-40mph gusts so I opted for the smallest water I could find. I checked Recreation.gov. There were many different EP permits available (they tend to get turned back in close to the day they are to be used). I saw a permit for Slim Lake so I pulled it knowing that it was a small lake and an easy in and out. I am very careful when it comes to soloing. At 60 years old I have learned not to take alot of chances with the weather all by myself. Knowing the projected winds could cast my Wenonah Prism around like a piece of driftwood, Slim Lake looked to be a good choice. [paragraph break]
I have entered Slim on two other occasions. The first time was 6.5 years ago when I brought my paddling partner Bob there. Bob was dying of brain cancer. He had paddled 50 consecutive years in the BWCA. When he was a boy his family used to camp at the Slim Lake EP and he had tons of memories. So for his last paddle, we went back and he showed me all the places he had paddled as a boy. I was so honored to share this last paddle with him. We spend 2 nights on Slim in October of 2020. He died a couple months later. Bob was the person who introduced me to the BWCA 35 trips ago, so to share the last paddle with him at Slim has left an indelible mark on my life. I also day paddled slim in October of 2025 as a 5 year anniversary of our trip. My last paddle of 2025. And now I was going to camp there again for the first trip of 2026.[paragraph break]
Monday night I called Spirit of the Wilderness to get a bunkhouse for Tuesday night, then packed my stuff and went to bed. [paragraph break]
Got up Tuesday, played with the dog and drove the 4 hours north to Ely. Picked up the permit at SOTW and went to the Boathouse for a burger. (They have really done a nice job redecorating in there in the past year if you haven't been there in a while)[paragraph break]
After dinner, an obligatory stop at Piragis shopping for things I don't need, then back to Spirit of the Wilderness for bed.[paragraph break]
Wednesday morning was entry day. I was up early and made my usual stop at Brittons for a pancake before I went out. Checked the weather and it said 50 degrees and 15 mph winds. Not a bad day. I was the only car in the parking lot. Unloaded Ryder, my Wenonah Prism. (Wenonah Ryder..if you know you know). Made the easy walk down the portage and hit the water, I know the far south campsite on Slim also has some easy access to the North Arm Hiking trails. So knowing I am the only one on the lake I made my way there and set up camp. It was open so I pitched camp. The day was wonderful as temps hit the 80's so I spent the rest of the day paddling the lake and enjoying being all alone. I made it back to camp for dinner. Also, a couple of years ago I built a small satellite radio that weighs less than a pound and runs of a phone charger brick. The whole setup fits in a gallon plastic baggie. I built it so I can listen to the Milwaukee Brewers games while I am camping. Don't judge....some people read books, I listen to baseball. After listening to the Brewers beat the Padres I settle down and head to bead.[paragraph break]
Thursday, I get up and immediately notice the wind. Heading from the North and blowing hard. I turn on my NOAA radio and it's calling for gusts of 35 mph today and as high as 50mph tomorrow.... that's a quick nope for paddling. But the bonus of this site is that it is close to the hiking trails. So I strap on my boots and bushwack my way to the trail to climb 'Ol Baldy Mountain, then head over to see the Sentinal White Pines on the trail. I hiked a couple miles and made it back to camp just after lunch. [paragraph break]
The point of this trip was to not make any plans but just go with the flow. That is normally a part of a solo trip, but this was a magnified no plan trip. So, knowing that the wind was not going to be getting any better (actually worse) over the next couple days, I decided to cut bait and paddle out. I still had a day to go, but again...I'm not getting any younger. So a quick teardown and I was back on the water. It was a brute to paddle against those gusts. There were some bigger waves, but the decision to stay on a smaller lake was seeming very prudent as I had to switch to the double blade paddle to make headway back to the EP.[paragraph break]
Made it back to my car at about 1500. I still had another day before I had to be home. A short way from the EP is the National Forest Campground at Fenske Lake. I had never stayed there. Since I still had a night before I had to get back, I pulled into the campground. Not a single car in site! So, I figured, what the heck. I picked a campsite down by the lake, filled out my self-registration and made camp.[paragraph break]
Early in the evening the wind died down just a bit, so I decided to try and paddle a bit. Fenske Lake is a small Lake with many little inlets, so I was able to actually make it a ways. Actually I paddled all the way to Sletton Lake. I stopped at the only campsite there, sat for a spell then knowing it would be getting dark in about 90 minutes I headed back. The wind was stiff, but the super small lakes made it doable.[paragraph break]
Back to camp and another Brewers game and some dinner. A bit of rain over night, but by morning it was dry. I was up on Friday at 0600 and the wind was even more intense than the day before. It reinforced my decision to leave the Wilderness early. There is always another day to paddle.[paragraph break]
I packed up my stuff and headed back to Wisconsin. When I got home that afternoon I learned that there were now wildfires burning in Two Harbors....where I had been a couple hours earlier.[paragraph break]
That ended the trip. I am headed back in 10 more days. I really enjoyed the no plan part of the trip--its kind of a different sort of freedom. And with a no plan trip you will never have something not go according to plan!!!![paragraph break]
Paddling Slim Lake [paragraph break] 
Campsite on Sletten Lake [paragraph break] 
Wenonah Ryder[paragraph break] 
On top of Ol' Baldy [paragraph break] 
My satellite receiver. Don't judge. More than 24 hours of power from a single phone charger.[paragraph break]~Slim Lake, Rice Lake, Hook Lake, Fenske Lake, Little Sletten Lake, Sletten Lake