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July 14 2025

Entry Point 14 - Little Indian Sioux River North

Little Indian Sioux River (north) entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by La Croix Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 32 miles. Access is a 40-rod portage heading North from the Echo Trail.

Number of Permits per Day: 6
Elevation: 1364 feet
Latitude: 48.1466
Longitude: -92.2103

Relaxing Jaunt to Nina Moose

by Skarc75
Trip Report

Entry Date: June 28, 2018
Entry Point: Moose/Portage River (north)
Number of Days: 3
Group Size: 2

Trip Introduction:
Each year I make an early summer trip with my best friend from college. He is mostly fixated on fishing, while I'm searching for wilderness connection as well as a few walleyes for dinner. For this year's trip, we decided to tackle a river route, and after much deliberation we decided to enter at Moose River and head north. Our plans were to fish on the way in and stay wherever the walleyes were biting. It just so happened that Nina Moose provided plentiful fishing and surprising solitude.

Day 2 of 3


Friday, June 29, 2018

We both woke at about the same time Friday morning (approximately 6am). A distant rumbling could be heard on this early morning, and we thought we better get our tarp hung before the rain begins. We quickly secure our gear and get the tarp set over the fire grate area as the coffee is percolating in the kettle. The storm clouds appear fairly unimpressive and we watch as they envelope the lake from west to east. The storm hit around 7:30am. First came rain; heavy rain. The wind followed soon thereafter. I can't say for certain, but I would estimate we saw wind gusts in excess of 60mph. We stayed under our tarp watching trees nearby. The lake was nearly impossible to see through the driving wind and rain. (I really wish I had my camera handy during the storm) We began asking whether or not to head further into the woods for protection, but the storm had begun to subside. It was about 9:00am, and there were just a few residual sprinkles hanging around. We took inventory of our gear, and I'm happy to report that we had no failures. As we took a look at the lake we noticed a kevlar canoe floating in the middle of the bay. We then noticed the campsite across from us was missing a canoe... I was glad to see that they did still have a second canoe, and once the lightening stopped, they went out to retrieve the canoe. I never worried about securing my canoe until a storm whipped up last year. I am very glad I had moved my canoe to high ground and tied off to a tree.

We brewed a new batch of coffee (my kettle had blown over during the storm), and began drying ourselves and our gear on the clothesline.

The sun began peeking through the clouds by lake morning, and we decided to spend the afternoon fishing from the canoe. We continued to troll the rocky shoreline and picked up numerous healthy walleyes. In fact, we picked up a walleye or two on each pass. We decided to keep a couple nice eater sized fish for dinner.

We finished our day by eating a late dinner out of the rocks in front of our site and watching as the stars grew more and more apparent.

As the mosquitoes pushed us into our tent, we settled in to the sound of distant thunder once again. 

 



Day 4 of 3


Friday, June 29, 2018

We both woke at about the same time Friday morning (approximately 6am). A distant rumbling could be heard on this early morning, and we thought we better get our tarp hung before the rain begins. We quickly secure our gear and get the tarp set over the fire grate area as the coffee is percolating in the kettle. The storm clouds appear fairly unimpressive and we watch as they envelope the lake from west to east. The storm hit around 7:30am. First came rain; heavy rain. The wind followed soon thereafter. I can't say for certain, but I would estimate we saw wind gusts in excess of 60mph. We stayed under our tarp watching trees nearby. The lake was nearly impossible to see through the driving wind and rain. (I really wish I had my camera handy during the storm) We began asking whether or not to head further into the woods for protection, but the storm had begun to subside. It was about 9:00am, and there were just a few residual sprinkles hanging around. We took inventory of our gear, and I'm happy to report that we had no failures. As we took a look at the lake we noticed a kevlar canoe floating in the middle of the bay. We then noticed the campsite across from us was missing a canoe... I was glad to see that they did still have a second canoe, and once the lightening stopped, they went out to retrieve the canoe. I never worried about securing my canoe until a storm whipped up last year. I am very glad I had moved my canoe to high ground and tied off to a tree.

We brewed a new batch of coffee (my kettle had blown over during the storm), and began drying ourselves and our gear on the clothesline.

The sun began peeking through the clouds by lake morning, and we decided to spend the afternoon fishing from the canoe. We continued to troll the rocky shoreline and picked up numerous healthy walleyes. In fact, we picked up a walleye or two on each pass. We decided to keep a couple nice eater sized fish for dinner.

We finished our day by eating a late dinner out of the rocks in front of our site and watching as the stars grew more and more apparent.

As the mosquitoes pushed us into our tent, we settled in to the sound of distant thunder once again. 

 



Day 5 of 3


Saturday, June 30, 2018

2:00am - We both awoke to a heavy thunderstorm. We decided to head out and make sure all was secure in our site. The wind never picked up, so we decide to wait this one out in the tent. There were passing thunderstorms throughout the early morning hours, and I finally fell asleep around 3am.

We both awoke around 7am. We were groggy and a little damp from the previous two storms. We began brewing coffee again and decided to hang the rain fly and tent as water had made its way between the ground tarp and tent floor.

I could tell that my trip partner had enough wilderness and hadn't slept well. Although I would have loved to spend our last night in the wilderness, I yielded to his request to pack up a day early.

As the sun came out, we dried all equipment on the clothesline and began slowly packing. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day in the BWCA.

This trip had a lot of positives and a few negatives for me. On the positive side, I am very glad to have experienced this small portion of the BWCA. I'm glad I didn't let the traffic and heavy use of this area deter me from exploring it. Quite frankly, I felt a great deal of solitude here and I absolutely loved the scenery. Also, I really did enjoy the experience of the heavy storm on Friday morning. On the negative side, I've never cut a trip short in the BWCA before, and I'm a little disappointed that we left so early.

 


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