BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 17 2025
Entry Point 49 - Skipper & Portage Lakes
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1865 feet
Latitude: 48.0517
Longitude: -90.5366
Skipper & Portage Lakes - 49
Work Harder, Not Smarter
Entry Date:
August 12, 2024
Entry Point:
Lizz and Swamp Lakes
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
2
Awoke to coffee and breakfast. Decided to grab the Mondale site if it became vacant. For our week, that site was occupied for all but 1 hour - as someone grabbed it almost immediately after a group left. It is one of the 5 star campsites we found throughout our time. No luck for us - so remained at our site for the week. Fished bays throughout Gaskin - caught plenty of small bass. James was determined to catch walleye, so we found deeper holes and casted accordingly. With our delicious food pack full, catching fish was without pressure, as we caught and released most fish for the week. Some brief thunderstorms were forming west, so we headed back to camp for cover. Lots of thunder and some lightening, but no deluge of rain. With so many dinner choices, we decided to eat Ellie's special sauce Asian beef with noodles entre. Such a far cry from the general mountain house meals. Some special sunset pictures appeared for our evening.~Gaskin Lake
Working harder but not smarter continued. Day trip thru Henson to Omega for fishing. On Omega, we decided to head to Winchell and paddle the length back to Gaskin. Winchell has always been intimidating due to westerly prevailing winds, but today, the winds were mostly from the NE. After 4 portages and 11 miles of paddling, we were ready to hit camp and relax. Having never seen the western part of Winchell, we were rewarded with the palisades and open blue water. We continue to admire our food pack - and were amply rewarded.~Gaskin Lake, Henson Lake, Omega Lake, Winchell Lake
Awoke to sun and heat - but the forecast told us a steady rain was slated for the afternoon into the evening. Forecast was correct - and after fishing Gaskin some more, we hunkered down under the rainfly and played cribbage. In the early days, we would have donned our rain gear and stood under trees or ditched into the tent. Nowadays, we have quarter ton camp chairs, an aluminum foldable table, and a 10x14 rain fly. Never even put our rain gear on. As the rain subsided a bit, the clouds would not allow a sunset. Hit the tent early for early fishing in the am.~Gaskin Lake
Looking at the map, James was determined to catch walleye. We plotted a day trip thru Jump Lake and into Allen. The two portages to get into Allen were short, but steep. Thankfully, we only single portaged the canoe and fishing gear. Caught some bass and northern in Jump. Arrived in Allen and headed for what we believed was the only hole in a long and narrow lake with a river on both ends. James' diligence proved wise - and he caught some walleye exactly where he predicted. Can't remember a time we caught and released eater size walleye - but that is what we did. Knowing our last burrito meal was hanging in the tree, we didn't want to mess with keeping fish alive on our return portages. Stopped and ate lunch at the only site on Allen. We could tell this is a rarely used site - but would be perfect on a return trip for us someday. Never saw another canoe on Jump or Allen. Enjoyed our last evening discussing future trip plans and our return trip to Rockwood.~Gaskin Lake, Jump Lake, Allen Lake
Working harder and not smarter, took our time breaking camp. Throughout the week, we found less garbage than the past couple of years. A nice trend. After all packs were ready, we did the ceremonial twice over to make sure LNT principals are sound. Did not have a fire all week - as bugs were never an issue. We are thrilled with the new water system - a far cry from the days of pumping full each water container one at a time. We'll never go back to our old system of food planning - as home made dehydrated meals are for us. Fishing was good. Wind was not an issue. The Wenonah Champlain is a beast - perfect for us and gear.
Showered at Rockwood and said goodbye until next year. 25 years in a row. 1999 seems like a lifetime ago. James and Ellie's son Spencer arrived in late June - so my future goal/hope is a 3 generation trip. ~Gaskin Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Caribou Lake, Lizz Lake, Poplar Lake
