Paddling through Lake One was pretty easy work, we got blessed with beautiful weather and a little mist coming off the lake made for beautiful views. Our first portages into Lake Two weren’t near as efficient as they could’ve been, but what else can I expect for a bunch of our first portages. We then had some more fairly easy going through Lakes Two through Four, weather stayed nice and we could shield ourselves from the wind for the most part. From there it’s three short portages into Lake Hudson, which we handled swiftly and got on our way. Hudson was not my favorite lake we’ve paddled so far, oddly shaped and still showing a lot of burn damage from the Pagami Creek fire of 2011. This is also where we started to feel some of the wind in the open area of Hudson. From Hudson we had to conquer our longest portage of the trip, 93 rods into Lake Insula. This portage was a doozy but went quicker than I thought it would. Coming out of it into Insula we had to pause to refill our waters and were met by a couple that was unhappy with that decision.

It was at this point I started to realize I may have slightly underestimated the challenge of this route. We made our way into and through Insula and for the first part of it didn’t have too much trouble, our tired arms were able to push through behind islands that mostly protected us from the afternoon winds. The latter half is where we really ran into trouble. The lake widened and we had to cross a big open section through some strong winds to get to our final portage into the Kawishiwi River. I’m not sure if it was pure stubbornness or stupidity that pushed us through, but we managed to make it all the way across Insula and were greeted by two very friendly dogs with another group at the portage as a nice little gift for our efforts.

The river was barely holding a current and was narrow enough to shield us from the wind again, which made for easier paddling even with our exhausted bodies. Once we turned the corner into Alice that protection was quickly gone. We immediately were able to see the campsite we wanted to get to, nearly all the way across the wide-open surface of Lake Alice. With no one packing binoculars, we had no choice but to start paddling into the wind and hope we would be greeted by an empty site. Nearly 45 minutes of straight paddling against the wind we were just close enough to make out that the site was indeed empty, and we could focus on putting all of our reserve energy into making it there.

Mercifully, after over 9 hours of paddling and portaging, nearly 22 miles in the canoe and about 1.5 miles of total portages (accounting for the double portages), we had made it to where we would be calling home for the next 4 nights. To reward ourselves for our hard work, I had packed some frozen ribeye steaks I threw in the sous vide at home along with some instant mashed potatoes. Well deserved dinner after a strenuous day. First day in the boundary waters done, couldn’t have gotten much better weather, and couldn’t have pushed much further than we did. Well worth it though.~Lake One, Lake Two, Hudson Lake, Insula, Lake, Alice Lake [paragraph break][paragraph break][paragraph break][paragraph break]

After a quick breakfast and cleanup, we set off through some moderate winds to head back out through the Kawishiwi river. Easy paddling through there and two easy-enough portages had us on our way there. While the pictographs were cool to see and had me in awe of the history held within all these lakes in the wilderness area, the real take away for me was the quality of fishing on Fishdance. Seems that lake must’ve been named aptly.

I started out throwing a small jig head and had a little luck, more snags than I cared for, which lead me to try some top water action. I’ve not had much luck back home with the lure I decided to tie on, but I thought at least I’ll stop snagging on rocks. It only took a couple of casts to learn that the fish here are not shy of biting on top water no matter the time of day. Over the course of the next few hours, I was hunting along weedy shorelines for anything that might bite. I wound up with 7 smallmouth bass and 2 pike (one of them the skinniest I’ve seen for his size). Everyone else managed to have a bit of luck too but only one guy tied on a top water lure of his own and he managed to haul in the biggest fish of the trip, a pike that looked to be over 30”. I can’t say I’ve ever had that much fun fishing before, which says more about this lake than my previous experiences.

Even on the narrow Fishdance Lake, we could tell by mid-afternoon that the wind was starting to pick up, so we decided to cut the fun and make our way back to camp. Getting back through the river was no challenge again, but when it opened up into Lake Alice, it was clear right away that we were in for a fight. Paddling NE to camp fighting winds from the NW made for a big challenge. Crashing down over white caps and exhausting all our remaining strength through the wide-open lake while trying to stay level felt almost as difficult as our paddle in on Sunday. At least we had more energy in the tank today. Two of the canoes made it while one had issues with weight distribution and had to take a pit stop. This was when we decided it’d be best to swap canoe mates to pair the two heaviest and two lightest guys for tomorrow’s journey to Lake Two/Three.

After we all made it back to camp some of the fellas were nice enough to start on dinner while I took some selfish time to lay out in the sun on the beach and take a swim in the lake. The cold water refreshed my sore muscles. While I was being selfish and enjoying myself, the boys were cooking up the best dinner we had all week: peanut butter chicken ramen. I’m not exactly sure what all was mixed together with the packaged chicken meat but I don’t know if I want to know, it just tasted like heaven that night. After dinner there was just enough daylight left for one more swim, then to pack up camp and prep for the travel day tomorrow. We were blessed once again with a beautiful weather day (save for the wind) and our best sunset of the week. Early night to try and be well rested for tomorrow.

After breakfast and cleanup, we made our departure from Lake Alice into some more beautiful weather and finally no wind. After Alice we went back through Insula and this is where I was very glad for our early departure to try and beat the winds before they got going. We were lucky through the open part of Insula with minimal wind and as it picked up slightly through our paddling, we ducked behind islands to stay out of it. Back through Hudson where I was reminded of my ill feelings of this lake. I’m sure in a few years as the new growth replaces the burn it’ll be a nicer looking lake, but for the time being it was my least favorite we traveled through.

Into the portages to reach the number chain we ran into a traffic jam so I decided to wait back and throw my top water lure again. Just as I was about to be done and the jam was clearing, I had the biggest blow-up I’ve ever had on top water. Pulled in the biggest bass of the trip and close to the biggest I’ve ever caught. The young boy in the canoe coming into Hudson looked at me the way I imagine I looked at my favorite athletes when I was a kid. He immediately reached for his rod and his dad told him to give it a shot, I don’t think he knows that he helped make my day (along with that bass).

Through the numbered chain is where our luck with the wind ended. Parts were shielded and easy enough while parts we had to empty the tank and push through. The whole group re-upped in Lake Three and decided we had enough in us to push on to Lake Two and try and find one of two island sites. As we’re pushing there we notice a family coming up behind us seemingly also gunning for one of those sites. Closing in on the islands we can see the first one is taken, so our best canoe pair decided it was time to lock in and separate from the pack. Felt a little bad stealing a nice site from that family, but we also didn’t have much gas in the tank to push on if we didn’t land this one. That’s the way she goes, I spose.

Somehow, the travel back went a little quicker than it did on Sunday, only taking us about 7 hours to go 17ish miles back into Lake Two.

For our final night in the BWCA, we all decided to do a little more shore fishing and I talked one guy into jumping into a canoe and testing our luck. We had none but of course still were able to have fun and just enjoy each other’s company. I like to think we all recognized how fortunate we were to be in a place so beautiful and peaceful with such a great group of guys. Blessed with another beautiful sunset and the sounds of foxes in the distance, and another early night for tired bodies.

Only 2 hours of paddling got us to our outfitter where we packed up the cars, settled up with Frank at Kawishiwi Lodge (highly recommend staying here if you’re using EP30), bought myself a new hat and sweater, and we were on the road to head back to Minneapolis. Of course we made a pit stop in Ely for some coffee, and then in Cloquet around 11:30 for lunch at Gordy’s Hi-Hat. I’ve been there once before, but this time was an eye-opening experience. Don’t think I’ve ever had a burger taste better than that one did. From there it was a long drive home that felt at least twice as long as the way up did. I’m happy to get home to see my fiancée and dog, but I’m already trying to figure out when the next time I get to go back is. As expected, the trip I’ve been waiting for all year came and went way too quick.