BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 07 2024
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1497 feet
Latitude: 47.8452
Longitude: -90.8169
Summary: A 5-day loop from Baker up the Temperance lakes to Cherokee, and back through Sawbill and Smoke lakes back to Baker. A fairly difficult trip.
Day 0: We drove up from Stillwater in the morning and camped at one of the 5 walk-in campsites at Baker Lake, and it was nice.
Day 1 (Baker to S. Temperance) - A beautiful day, we decided to paddle all the way to South Temperance the first day which was a great paddle with easy portages except for the last one. We picked the campsite on top of a huge rock that was close to the middle of the lake. Tried fishing some but no luck
Day 2 (Rest) - In the night, we encountered the worst storm of the entire season. While we were there 19 people had to be rescued from the BWCA. We had about 50mph straightline winds, and I'm still surprised that the huge tent we had stood up to it. We slept in and took a rest day because of the intense winds. Amazingly beautiful sunset.
Day 3 (S. Temperance to Cherokee) - We left as early as we could to beat the heat, but it was no good. The lengthy, hilly portages were challenging and by the last portage we were pretty beat. We overpacked and single portaged which led us to speedier exhaustion. Still amazing weather. North Temperance was a beaut- I wish we had stayed there instead of South. We took the southeasterly facing campsite on Cherokee on the southeastern skinny island. Neat little site.
Day 4 (Cherokee to Sawbill) - Left a little later in the day but it was ok. We took our time going down the river letting out of the southwest part of Cherokee and it was a great area. BEWARE: The area between Ada and Skoop Lakes appears to be floatable, but a dam built recently has made the portion impossible to float. Be prepared for a long portage through muck and water. A guy that we saw there said he had been going to the BWCA for 40 years at least once per year and it was the worst portage he had ever seen. By the time we got to Sawbill it was pretty hot. We paddled all the way down to the site next to the portage onto Smoke.
Day 5 (Sawbill to Baker) - Cooler, cloudier weather for the first time on the trip. We were pretty hungry (I underpacked food a little and I felt really bad) and we were taunting each other with vivid descriptions of the burgers we were going to eat ASAP after getting out. We paddled back to Baker and returned our gear to Sawtooth outfitters.
Overall great route.
kicking the fledglings out of the nest...
Entry Date:
July 17, 2018
Entry Point:
Kawishiwi Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
4
We drove up to The Cliff Dweller for the night, after stuffing ourselves silly at the Rustic Inn on the way up. Some day I will save enough room for a piece of pie, I swear! My new pup, Amelia, rode in the truck with me, with the Prism on top and our packs in the bed. My son Jesse, god daughter Alex, and her son Nick (age 10), drove up as a group...getting used to traveling as a team! We had an early night, and slept well. 
The morning was clear and cool, and we had coffee and a quick breakfast at the motel and headed for Sawbill to pick up the rental canoe. Soon we were loading up our gear and on the water!
I really love that part of a trip, when you push off and the lake opens up before you, it's so full of possibilities. How far will you go? Base camp or travel? What new sights await you? I'd been on this route once before- it's the first trip in the BWCA that I took my kids on.....only 25 years ago. Nope, did not remember any of it.
Nick only balked briefly when I helped him on with the lightest Duluth pack at the first portage, and then he did great!
There might have been some bickering as the human pups got the hang of navigating a twisty stream, and I confess that after the first little portage I pulled ahead in the prism and just let them do it. The 5 rod portage into kawasachong has moved downstream quite a ways now, beaver busy at work I assume.
We had decided that if one of the kawasachong sites was open, we'd take it......and the second one was free, so we had our new home for the night. The rest of the group caught up with me eventually, and they set up camp with ol' mom as straw boss. They fried up steaks and made mashed potatoes, and Nick elected smores as dessert. It was a warm night, and you could hear this noise from the woods as dusk approached....and then the swarm was upon us! We drove for the tents, and maybe a hundred mosquitoes made it in with us. After killing the little varmints, and inflating my new solar lantern, we read until bedtime and then slept like babies.
~Kawishiwi Lake, Square Lake, Kawasachong Lake 
The rain came, and the rain went, and the crew decided to putz around the lake and explore.....nope, you can't really get down/up any of the streams, but we stopped in the burn area across the lake for lunch and BINGO! Nick named it Blueberrytopia. We picked and ate and picked some more. Amelia figured out the hang of it, and what a blueberry plant looked like, and we brought back at least a quart of berries for later. The eagles that live nearby spent lots of time in the few remaining jackpine and birch skeletons there, looking for small things to wander through the blueberries, I imagine.
It's been 7 years since the Pagami Creek fire, and the burn area is a wealth of life- blueberries, raspberries, shoulder high lush jackpines, fireweed. You can tell that there's a lot going on there.
Alex made chicken wild rice soup and biscuits for dinner, and got the hang of the jello mold oven pretty quickly. This time when we heard the mysterious noise from the woods we hit the tent before our company arrived!
Morning was gorgeous, partly cloudy and warm. We had blueberry pancakes and drank our coffee and gazed out at the water...heaven. The crew elected a day trip into Polly, so we loaded up, secured the camp, and headed out.
Without gear to portage, the trip into Polly was a breeze.....and what a lovely lake! We paddled around all the little bays, admired the campsites, and found an empty one to have our lunch.
Back in camp, for our last night before heading home....never long enough. Nick helped cut more wood, and we explained about "pay it forward". He thought it was a good idea, and cut wood with vigor!
Jesse braved the mosquitoes long enough to get some sunset pictures, and joined me in the tent, looking somewhat shaken. It's possible that the tent walls were bouncing a little as our friends tried to join us.
~Kawasachong Lake, Townline Lake, Polly, Lake
Our last morning, just oatmeal and hot beverages and packing up. What is there to say....it's sad but also happy, because....showers! steaks! salads! ice cream! Yay! We left you lots of wood, whoever you are, so you're welcome.
The paddle out was uneventful- I forged ahead in the prism with Amelia, and the "kids" came on behind. We paddled across Kawishiwi together, me straining mightily against the wind but ultimately successful. Not too bad for a old lady. Amelia was wise and lay down in the canoe when the wind got bad. What a good girl she is- gonna be a great canoe partner!
Alex discovered a flat tire in the parking lot. Sigh. She changed her tire and we headed off to civilization again.....another great one under our belts.
Next year, they do all the planning and packing too!
