BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
March 10 2026
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.
Solo Ram to Bower Trout
Entry Date:
June 27, 2025
Entry Point:
Ram Lake
Exit Point:
Bower Trout Lake (43)
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
1
Day 1. Brutal uphill 80 rod portage to start trip from truck to Ram lake, followed by three more that were no cake walks thru Craft, Rum and Little Trout. I planned to stay at little trout, but there was a big group on the island site and the other site I checked on the northwest side didn’t speak to me, so I decided to pushed on to Misqua. I read bad things about that portage, but I figured I’d rather get it out of the way than start day 2 with a doozy. It was a doozy, big time up hill to begin with, then some ups and downs and a boggy section where I lost a sandal. Got to Misqua and found the campsite open, so I took it. Really only a site that a mother could love, but I was beat. There was moose scat and fallen trees, plus no where flat to pitch a tent, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Tried fishing because I thought I read it had lakers, trolled the whole lake, got hung up twice, but no fish. Found a nice rock by the lake, had a cigar and a stiff drink and soaked it all in. Was visited by a couple of otters, so there must be fish. Dehydrated baked beans and pre-cooked sausages for dinner, all good. 
Day 2. Nice calm morning on Misqua, so I made a coffee, had oatmeal, packed up camp and got going early. Portaged into Vista and promptly caught a perfect filleting size Walleye, but it was much too early in the day to keep it. Portaged to Horseshoe and then Gaskin. My plan was to take a look at Winchell and if the wind wasn’t too bad I’d make my way part of the way west on it since it was still fairly early. Loud wind in the trees made me apprehensive, but it had enough south in it so the lake wasn’t too bad. Ran out of gas about 1/3 of the way up so I took a decent site and called it a day. Site was ok, except a bunch of downed trees, and a pile of wolf scat near the crapper. I was worn out from the portages the day before so I put up a hammock and took a nap. When the wind died down in the late afternoon I tried trolling again for lakers, but no luck. Why are there so many trees sawn down? Is it the forest service dropping widow makers, or is it some jackass with a saw and a bad attitude? Gonna have a drink, make dinner and hope for calm conditions in the morning.
Day 3. Didn’t sleep much listening to the wind all night. Last thing I wanted was to wake up to a big west wind on Winchell. Fortunately the bark was worse than the bite and I was able to make it down the lake in about an hour. Portaged to Wanihigan, and then braced myself for the Grassy lake portage. I had heard that sometimes you walk the whole thing, so I didn’t know what to expect. After 200 easy rods I got to the put in for the “lake” which was a mucky stream, so I looked for the way around. Only path I saw was through the tussocks, so I took it. Rough going, but I made it through. I decided to take a paddle back and give it a try with the canoe. I have a Rheaume Solo that drafts pretty shallow, but I immediately regretted my decision. I was muck bound before I even got going. There was no pushing off the bottom, so I paddled as hard as I could and after 100 agonizing feet I made it through the worst. It was still only 3 or 4” of water over feet of muck, but I managed. Portaged to Mulligan, Lily, then to Brule and when I got to the main part of the lake the wind was up and there were choppy white caps. I turned the corner east and surfed the waves with the wind at my back all the way to the east Bay. Took the first site and it was looking threatening to the west, so I put up my rain fly over the highest ground . Lucky thing I did because I had a thunderstorm with hail and heavy rain within 1/2 hour of getting there. After the storm blew out I went fishing and caught a few nice Walleye. Didn’t have energy to fillet them, so I let them go. Every tent pad had standing water during the storm, so I pitched the tent under the rain fly. 
Day 4. Slept like a baby. When you have a tent under a rain fly/tarp, then you don’t need to put the rain fly on the tent, and it stays so much cooler in there. Think I’ll do that more often. Packed up early, as usual, and headed towards Vernon. I made a mental note never to go from Vernon to Brule because it’s more of a cliff than a portage. Saw a swan on Vernon and I told it that it was on the wrong lake. The 290 rod portage from Vernon to Swan was relatively easy going. I had planned to stay on Swan, but 2 sites were taken and I hate “crowds” so I decided to move on. Ironically when I got to the next lake there were 2 more swans with cygnets! It was looking like weather was brewing, so I decided to push on to the finish line. About 4 more portages, got to Bower Trout lot a little afternoon, walked a mile or 2 to get my truck at the Ram lot, and beat the storms. The whole route from Brule to Bower Trout was beautiful and I would highly recommend it. I read about people going in reverse from Bower Trout to Ram and I’m not sure why they do. If you go Ram to Bower Trout it is more downhill than uphill (except at the beginning) and you are going with the current of the Brule River. Terrific route that I would recommend to anyone that doesn’t mind a little portaging. 