BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
January 22 2026
Entry Point 30 - 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!
Rain, rain, go away
Entry Date:
June 24, 2016
Entry Point:
Lizz and Swamp Lakes
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
3
Headed out of N.WI cabin promptly @ 3:30 am to grab our permit and canoe. Carl from Rockwood greeted us with a newly purchased used 3 person aluminum. Carl set us up wonderfully with bungies, a seat back, and pipe insulation for the front person's legs. We will definitely be back to Rockwood!
Paddled the short distance to Lizz portage, flew on to the portage to Caribou, and choose the far southwestern camp for our base camp. After our ceremonial sausage and cheese snack, we set up camp and started to plan our first fishing outing. 
We knew the forecast called for potentially severe thunderstorms for early am - so we got up early to eat breakfast and enjoy our coffee. Almost exactly at 8 AM, we got nailed with thunder and rain. The wind was not too strong, so we waited it out under the tarp. By late morning, storm was mostly gone - with some lingering showers from time to time. Everything was wet - so we set out to fish. Brandon and James did the casting, while I kept a paddle in the water to counteract wind. 
Horseshoe Lake day trip. Wind, wind, and more wind. Had a big breakfast. Traveled with the wind from the SW corner of Caribou toward the Horseshoe Lake portage. Could only fish the western shorelines of Horseshoe as the wind picked up. Approaching toward Vista, we had a visit from a Moose and her calf. Haven't seen one for a few years, so it was the treat of the day. James and Brandon caught some northern's as we decided to head back to Caribou. The wind was very strong at this time - straight out of the west. We decided to point the nose straight into the wind and paddle like mad. The wind kept us extremely focused - as we were not going to allow a spin out. The paddle is just over a mile - but it seemed like it took over an hour. Tough one. 
Early AM Caribou bass success. The sun came out for a visit today. Pretty cold overnight - as we watched the fog lift off the water. Decided to head out early on this sunny and calm morning. Brandon nailed a huge bass - then James nailed another. We caught 4 good size bass - and had an awesome shore lunch. Sun was a bonus - as we later found out this would be our only dry day.
Afternoon was spent enjoying the dry day, drinking water, and planning our future day trip to Swamp Lake. 
Rain and cold. We trolled around Caribou looking for fish. Although we caught at least one fish every day, we only ate 4 full fish meals. The wind and clouds forced us to be selective during our fishing. I believe we ended up eating two Northern's - and they tasted just great. 
Swamp Lake day trip
Day started off sunny and calm...but as would be the case this week, the wind came to play during the afternoon. We headed down the Swamp Lake portage last morning - mosquitoes were pretty nasty. Once on Swamp, the wind let us know were probably were not going to fish the eastern shoreline. Caught a couple of keeper Northern's again - dinner again. While cooking dinner, the western skies turned dark. I was just finishing up the last of the fish, we the rain came. Again, thunder and rain, but not too windy during the thunderstorm.
Hoped for sun, but got mostly dry/cloudy instead. Due to last night rain, we packed wet things. Mosquito's were as bad as they'd been on the entire trip - as if they knew we'd be leaving. We were packed and on the water before 8....Heading to Rockwood on Poplar. Carl and Mike were very nice and professional. We will use them again for sure. I highly recommend them!