BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 04 2024
Entry Point 12 - Little Vermilion Lake
Little Vermilion Lake (Crane Lake) entry point allows overnight paddle or motor (Unlimited max). This entry point is supported by La Croix Ranger Station near the city of Cook, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 45 miles. Enter from Crane Lake. Note: Not the entry point to use for Trout Lake (#1)
Number of Permits per Day: 6
Elevation: 1150 feet
Latitude: 48.2995
Longitude: -92.4268
Little Vermilion Lake - 12
Number of Permits per Day: 6
Elevation: 1150 feet
Latitude: 48.2995
Longitude: -92.4268
Little Vermilion Lake - 12
4 Trying to Fish
by tigag
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 16, 2024
Entry Point:
Lac LaCroix Only
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
4
Trip Introduction:
Same 4 guys year #5. What adventure awaits???
Day 1 of 6
Sunday, June 16, 2024 Up early for the :45 drive to Anderson's in Crane Lake. Arrive 6:00 AM to Mark's awesome Bagel sandwich and coffee. Prep takes about :45 minutes and its off to load the boat for the trip to Lac LaCroix. Trip into LaCroix is non-eventful. The mechanical portages are interesting and it is about a 1:45 trip to Bottle Portage. As we got closer to Bottle Mark notices a 5 start camp site is open directly across from Warrior Hill. It was not our target site but is hard to pass up knowing we will only have to Paddle about :20 to the site. Not knowing what else is open we go for it. Mark drops us off on an island directly in front of Warrior Hill and off we go. Site is nice, on an island and we are fully set up within another hour. Site even has some wood waiting for us. After a quick scrounge for more wood I decide to toss a few lures and within minutes have a small pike. Consider our past trips, and our lack of fish this seems like a good omen. Dinner, a few drinks and its time for bed. No stars tonight-cloudy.
Day 2 of 6
Monday, June 17, 2024 Despite the lack of work we had to do yesterday, Monday was a pretty lazy day. Gathered more wood, explored the island and just fished from shore. A few Bass and another pike gives us dinner, but not much luck today. We were lucky to get what we did. Wind slowly picks up, little do we know what we are in for. By mid afternoon the rain is here and we settle in under the tarp.
Day 3 of 6
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 4:30 AM...CRASH!!! A widow maker falls not 15 feet from one of our tents. We immediately made sure everyone was ok. Each of us always check for Widow Makers, but this was a live tree, not particularly big, nor was it leaning. Just goes to show....... Rain, Rain, Rain, and thunder and lightning all day. Fortunately we had extra tarps to keep the rain from coming in sideways. Day was spent under the tarp just hanging out. Some slept a little, but I found it impossible to sleep with the wind, rain, and memory of the Widow Maker. As time went on and water begins to pool, I find myself grabbing a stick and running a small relief trench so the water flows away from my tent. All our tents remained dry inside, but with so much rain 7+ inches, you never really feel dry. Everyone heads to their tents early and we try to sleep to the "lullaby" sounds of thunder and lightning. Gonna be a long night.
Day 4 of 6
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 Rain finally stopped in the early morning. After 2 nights we find ourselves pretty exhausted and with the wind now kicking up white caps we're pretty much island bound. Day is spent cleaning up camp, fishing a little from shore with no luck, and just thanking God the rain is gone. Tomorrow, our last day is gonna have to be the fish day.
Day 5 of 6
Thursday, June 20, 2024 Our last full day. We awake to a perfect day. No wind, sunshine, and finally a chance to Fish. We take Anderson's advice and head to a Lake about a mile away in Canada. We are told it is a Bass only lake but one of the best. After a hike up Warrior Hill we head to the quick portage into the lake. Unfortunately the portage and landing area is filthy. Zups has 3 boats sitting there for their customers. However, we do have the lake to ourselves. We spend the next 2 hours paddling a long the shore of the lake and watching the bass hit anything we throw. Having barbless hooks is a new experience and I lose quite a few, but man was it fun. Minimum 3 pounders to 5. No monsters, but considering our normal fishing "luck" this was a great day. Tonight is a fish fry, some stars and drinks, and prepping for tomorrow's return.
Day 6 of 6
Friday, June 21, 2024 Pickup time is 9:30 on the island directly in front of us in Canada. We are all up early , ready and packed. So we paddle to the island early and decide to relax there and wait for the boat. Anderson's boat is perfectly on time, and 1:45 minutes later we are back to Andersen's for a hot shower and the 4 hour drive to Eau Claire where we will spend the night, before our 7.5 hour drive home the next day. Trip was good. Every trip has it's trials and tribulations, and this was no different. But we survived and as always learned a little more. One of these years we may get the perfect trip...............
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