BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
December 21 2024
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
Baker Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Tofte Ranger Station near the city of Tofte, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 26 miles. Access is a boat landing at Baker Lake with a 10-rod portage into Peterson Lake to reach first campsite. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.
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.
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.
Brule Lake, 2024 - the tire tragedy
by greenjenbyers
Trip Report
Entry Date:
September 11, 2024
Entry Point:
Brule Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
Though I have been to the BWCA several times and put in at this entry point before, this was my first time as trip lead. I applied for a permit early and spent over half a year planning, packing and putting together our itinerary, menu, outfitter rental order, etc.
Report
Though I tried my best, this trip seemed doomed from the start. My trip mate was in poor health (still able to go, but not with full strength at all). Then, on the road in (and already out of cell phone service area) our tire hit some sort of nail or staple and began to lose air rapidly. We were so close to the put-in at that point that we decided to go for it and were able to park before the tire was completely flat. That had us on edge as we put in, later than planned, around 10AM. Because it was a Wednesday and Brule has a lot of sites, we thought we'd have no problem with vacancy, so we paddled to a spot that had high reviews and was en-route to the portage to Vernon Lake and the waterfall there. That spot was taken, as was the next, and next and next. By 1PM we found an open spot in the North Bay that was terrible. Bad landing for the canoe, terrible hike to the grate/camp area which was in an open field with no trees/shade and no lake views. We were exhausted and stressed. As trip lead, I did not know if we had enough person power to continue to search if ultimately we would need to paddle all the way back to the car (and then re-pack and fix a flat). My tripmate suggested that we paddle back towards the put-in, checking the three possible campsites that we would pass anyway in the hopes one would be open. BWCA Campsite 953 saved the day as our second stop on the way out. It was open, it had a wonderful landing pad for us to paddle into and unload. The site didn't have much lake view, but was nice otherwise and we were happy to call it home for 5 days. The weather varied greatly (warm enough to swim at first, then cool enough to need layers and hats by the end of the weekend) but was wonderful and almost bug-free (shocking). Our site was home to two red squirrels that yelled at us a lot and were fun to watch. I was again, as I always am, amazed at the peace and beauty of the BWCA. Talk about sacred. On a less poetic note: Since being back, I have been reading other reviews of sites in the area. I like Brule and it feels a bit more accessible for an older person like me who is dreaming of trying a solo trip. However, it seems to be a common theme the Brule Lake campsites are full/hard to find open. Do they just allow too many permits on Brule? Does this seem to be the case for others who stay on Brule Lake or is that a misconception on my part?
discuss this trip report (2 comments) - last post on September 18, 2024