BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 18 2025
Entry Point 30 - Lake One
Lake One 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 21 miles. Access is a canoe landing at Lake One.
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
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!
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
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!
Turning 40 in the Boundary Waters
by jwise82
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 16, 2022
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
I recruited my brother-in-law to help me celebrate my 40th birthday with a wilderness canoe trip. We began planning in December and used Piragis Outfitters for complete outfitting. It was an awesome experience and we are already looking for an opportunity to go back!
Day 1 of 5
Tuesday, August 16, 2022 We awoke early with excitement and headed over to Piragis to pick up our gear and receive some last minute instruction and explanation. The guys at Piragis tossed the bags, paddles, and life jackets in the car, strapped on the canoe and sent us on our. We made a couple calls home and stopped off for a donut and coffee in Ely then headed to Mudro. We loaded the canoe and launched about 8:15 with a goal of reaching Gun or Gull later that day. We made good time across Mudro and entered the triune of portages leading to Fourtown. As newbies we had no idea what to expect other than some research we had done on this website. The first portage was ROCKY! We got across and made the short paddle to the long, and also rocky 140 rod. It was an eye opener, large boulders, steep, sloped rock faces, and the length. We took our time, took a couple breaks and got all the gear and canoe across in two trips. After another short paddle we climbed up then down the short portage to reach Fourtown about 11 am. We enjoyed the paddle over to the Boot portage, we were quickly seeing the enjoyment in paddling versus portaging. We quickly unloaded and got portaged to Boot. We met a family at that portage who were coming out from across the border, we agreed we didn't want to go that far!!! As we paddled up Boot it began to look like rain. We got to the Fairy portage, made that quickly in the rain and paddled across in a heavy rain, thankfully no wind or lightening. As we got into the Gun the rain let up and we decided to make a break for Gull, hoping for the eastern campsite and some better fishing. We entered Gull and it was obvious the eastern site was taken so we scouted out the two near the portage to Thunder and chose the western site. It was about 3pm when we began unloading and setting up camp. We took a quick look around, got to work setting up tents and gathering firewood and other camp chores. We were pretty beat but after a dinner of steak and fried potatoes we decided to try a little bobber fishing from camp. Success! 2 walleye, 3 smallies, and a giant bluegill in about 30 minutes. ~Mudro Lake, Fourtown Lake, Boot Lake, Fairy Lake, Gun Lake, Gull Lake
Lakes Traveled:
Mudro Lake,
Fourtown Lake,
Boot Lake,
Fairy Lake,
Gun Lake,
Gull Lake,
Day 2 of 5
Wednesday, August 17, 2022 It rained overnight with some thunder, my first such experience in a tent. I got up and going about 6:30 and found Kyle fishing his Whopper Plopper from shore. We made up some coffee and tea, enjoyed a hearty breakfast of sausage and egg scramble and got geared up to go fishing. Kyle tossed his Whopper Plopper while I trolled a spinner rig with a crawler. I dropped in and bang, got a nice eater walleye that I tossed back. Later in the morning we caught a couple nice walleye for dinner. Kyle was hoisting some hefty bass as well. We fished for a while with a little smallie and northern action before a lunch break at the unoccupied site we passed up last night. We thought we'd check it out. We headed back out with a focus on topwater smallies. We caught several and a few were quite nice. We worked our way back to camp around 3, the sun was out, wind had died down, and we had to prep for our fish dinner. We had a couple nice walleyes, a northern, and a large gill. Dinner was tasty, after camp chores we did a little bobber fishing and headed off to the tents to beat the skeeters.
Day 3 of 5
Thursday, August 18, 2022 Up early this morning, about 5:15, headed out towards the kitchen area to watch the sunrise. We whipped up some coffee and tea to go with our bacon, egg, and cheese bagels. We hatched a plan for the day, work our way to Beartrap to chase some walleye. It would entail three portages going thru Mudhole and Thunder. We were unaware of the floating bog landing at Mudhole and made for an interesting time getting the canoe launched there. We managed and quickly scooted across to the Thunder portage and made quick work of it. We fished for smallies on Thunder towards Beartrap. There wasn't much action, just a couple small northern. We made it to Beartrap and worked a couple shorelines for smallies, nothing doing so we switched to walleyes. It was sunny, hot, and flat calm, the walleye weren't to interested as we trolled spinners around the small islands. After a lunch break (blueberry bagel with summer sausage and cheese, odd combo but quite tasty!) on the islands we noticed it was starting to cloud up some and the wind was picking up. We thought we'd give the north shore and eastern island one more shot before we headed back. We picked up for nice walleye and a decent northern before some thunder and looming clouds pushed us back to camp. It didn't storm but we could hear thunder all evening and got a little shower. Kyle had some pad thai and I did a cup of soup. We went out on Gull for some evening smallie action and I landed a dandy. The day concluded with some pudding fireside.~Mudhole Lake, Thunder Lake, Beartrap Lake
Lakes Traveled:
Mudhole Lake,
Thunder Lake,
Beartrap Lake,
Day 4 of 5
Friday, August 19, 2022 This was our last day on Gull lake. After our tea and coffee we enjoyed some blueberry pancakes and bacon. Our goal was to have another meal of fish so after breakfast and camp chores we headed out to get our walleye. We trolled spinners all around the north and west shores to no avail. All we could manage was smallies, northern, and bluegill. So we decided to switch our effort to some topwater smallies. The sun was burning through the clouds and we quickly had a few hits. Near the portage to Home I tossed my popper near the bank and BANG, an angry strike and battle ensued. When I got it to the canoe it was a 21" walleye!! On a topwater no less, we thought that would be just enough fish for our last dinner. The clouds thickened back up and some rain moved in so we headed back to camp. It stopped and we whipped up our fish meal, it was delicious and soon after came more rain and thunder. We napped under the tarp in our camp chairs, it was quite relaxing. The rain broke around 3:30 so we headed out for some evening fishing. We picked off a few smallies and northerns before some more rain showers. The rain stopped and we decided to try to get a fire going for our last night. We were successfull and it was the nicest night of the trip, we stayed out til after 10 with very few bugs. Goodbye 39...Hello 40!!
Day 5 of 1
Saturday, August 20, 2022 We got up early and watched the sunrise while enjoying some coffee, tea, and oatmeal. I had managed to turn 40 in the Boundary Waters!! After breakfast we began breaking down camp. It took us a little time to get all packed up and we headed towards Fourtown. The plan was to grab a site and make a quick run out the next morning. We poked through Gun topwater fishing and got a couple smallies. After jumping over to Fairy we tried the shoreline for some more smallies but no luck. We decided to skip fishing on Boot and get to Fourtown to try for a site. We met a group headed to Iron and they mentioned it was busy around Fourtown. After a quick paddle down Boot in calm, sunny conditions we portaged over to Fourtown. We had a little snack at the portage and broke out the map to look for campsites. After heading down the lake and seeing some activity we decided to make a run for the car. We got to the car about 5pm, sorted the gear and packed up to head to Ely. Pit stops were made at DQ for a birthday blizzard, then Piragis to turn in our gear, and a couple souvenir shops before we headed south. Overall it was a great experience and we can't wait to get back!!