BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 07 2024
Entry Point 31 - Farm Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 3
Elevation: 1392 feet
Latitude: 47.8932
Longitude: -91.7183
Farm Lake - 31
Expedition 2007--Snowbank to Ima and back
Entry Date:
July 22, 2007
Entry Point:
Snowbank Lake
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
3
After a restfull night before at the VNO bunhouse........
Our 2007 trip started out with the tradition of breakfast at Vertin's and then stopping back at VNO to pick up the leeches and recheck the canoe, making sure it was secure.... 18 miles later we pushed off from #27 into the cool waters and sunny skies of Snowbank Lake heading towards the first of 2 portages to Disappointment Lake via Parent.
We opted for the 2nd site marked on our map mainly because of the shade it provided....set up camp and I relaxed at camp taking a well deserved nap on the canoe while the sons tried their luck at shore- fishing the rocks in either direction from camp.....
Later we cooked the traditional 1st meal of rib-eyes, mashed potatoes, and vegetables and then launched the MN III for an evening of fishing.... Nick caught the 1st fish
BUT Disappointment was a disspointment as far as big fish---many, many SMALL mouth.
Monday started off great with our homemade bisquits and gravy and we packed the gear into the canoe for day 2 into Ima....BUT....a dreaded BWCA mistake was about to overtake the expedition....reading the map incorrectly.... After portaging back into Parent we realized the error of our map reader,that being me....
So, with much disgust, we paddled back across the entire length of Disappointment...and into Ashub, Jitterbug, Adventure, Cattymann and its waterfall, and finally Jordan.......deciding that the 90+ degree temps had taken a toll on all of us.....
We searched out the 1st available campsite on Jordan and would you believe.....it had a beautiful sand beach just waiting for us.....we all shucked our shorts and swam in our boxers, relaxing and cooling off in the aptly named "sky blue waters".
After swimming, we set up camp, and had something to eat and drank our fill of electrolyte propel/ filtered water...
Jordan was also a disappointment for fish ( one hammer-handle northern) but the campsite outweighed the no fish and we stayed two nights..
Explored Jordan cliffs for the pictos, swam, relaxed, and after a meal of tacos and blueberry cheesecake we ventured into Ima Lake to try fishing there.
Several nice smallmouth , a nice walleye and a nice northern rewarded our patience and paddling into another lake just to fish...
That evening the loons of Jordan serenaded us with much calling.... We got great pictures of them and were within 8 ft of them all across the lake back to camp...
Oatmeal and coffee gave us the energy to make our way back to Disappointment to find a "good" site to spend our last two night .....we were packed and paddling by 8:30 am.. Back through Cattyman, Adventure, Jitterbug, and Ashub.......we pushed for the island site on the southern end of Disappointment...
It was open, so at about 10:00 am we set up our final camp on a really nice island site and relaxed and swam and fished from the shore this afternoon....
Adam, the oldest son, fished leeches on a slip bobber setup, hooking and landing many SMALL mouths again....his presistance paid off when he hooked into something of some weight....A nice 30" pike.....supper was procurred......
and cleaned on the canoe bottom....
The pike, with mashed potatoes,and peas and carrots and banana cream pie was a great meal and we were all satisfied...
A campfire and good talk around it set the way for a good night's rest....
Thursday started with a really neat sunrise.......
we fished early and caught fish including a nice walleye 20"+
....then the storm clouds moved in and midday-early afternoon the skies turned from sunny to rather threatening... Later, that afternoon we fished some island shorelines and a couple and nice lillypad bays and channels picking up a number of fish which we again released... We took some group pics and that evening some sunset shots....
Friday morning, we awoke early, both anticipating the trip home and regretting that the expedition 2007 would soon be over..... We packed and pushed off towards our Snowbank exit .... We had another great and memorable trip to our beloved BWCA and I sure we are all anticipating the next one
Once again after the return of the rental canoe to VNO, the NEEDED-REFRESHING shower, the BEER, and of course another great Bucky burger meal at The Ely Steakhouse ......Nick and I said farewell to Adam and the BWCA until next we are on Expedition!!!
Woodpecker 8/03/07