BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
June 22 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.
There and Back Again
by mhclon
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 24, 2007
Entry Point:
Crab Lake and Cummings from Burntside Lake
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
6
Trip Introduction:
We were planning on going to Pine from Crab and back to Cummings but...
Day 1 of 7
Sunday, June 24, 2007 A pretty easy day overall. We waited around for the last person of our group to show up Sunday morning until 11:00. Our ire was up, little did we know how valuable he would prove... Got on Burntside finally at about 1:00. Got to the portage after an hour(we were confused about where the public access was on the map). For the second year in a row I have not done the food shopping, so unlike the year before where we didn't have enough, this year we had way too much. On the mile and a quarter entry, I carried the food pack, which weighed at least 100 lbs., I made it 3/4 of the way and had to put it down. Had I known that I was almost at the top of the hill... It took our group almost 3 hours to do the portage to Crab. Needless to say, we were ready for camp. My wife and I checked out the first campsite south of the entry, thought that it was nice but was only big enough for 2 tents. The first site to the north is a beautiful site with enough room for 4 tents, which we had with 2 singles. We enjoyed steaks the first night and discovered a new treat. Take a pita and coat it with olive oil and garlic and grill it on the fire grate. 
Day 2 of 7
Monday, June 25, 2007 The portage into Crab kicked our a$$=$ so we had a hard time waking up. Got up at about 9 and decided to do a little fishing. Now Gus the dog doesn't normally go after lures, but when my wife pulled up a stick he dicided to try it out! We spent the next (what semmed like an hour) struggling with Gus to get the hook out of his tongue. It took two people to hold his body and three to hold his jaw open and grab the TREBLE hook with a pliers to rip it out of his tongue. I know that there have been more traumatic experiences in peoples lives, but at the time it was happening, everybody was shaking and the people holding the jaw had numerous puncture wounds. Everybody was OK, but we decided to stay another night on Crab. Had pesto pasta with bagged chicken and pine nuts. Cocktails and diapers all around.
Day 3 of 7
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 Decided to go to Cummings. Went to Little Crab to the Korb river, through Korb Lake to the first island site on Cummings. One of the most beautiful campsites in the BWCA. On the way we had to sit through a two hour downpour on the Korb river, but after that the night was great. We planned on going as far as we could towards Pine Lake the next day, but it doesn't always work out that way. I think that this is a good time to praise the virtues of having a bartender with you. Although he got up late every day, he was always gungho to stoke the fire and make the tasiest cocktails every night. 
Day 4 of 7
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 The wind had really picked up during the night. It was coming staight from the west and that didn't bode well for us. We decided to change our plans and head back to Little Crab and go as far as we could west. When we got to Little Crab and took the unnamed creek to Lunetta, we were hoping the campsite was nice... Not the case. Nobody has been to the compsite on Lunetta in years, (at least tried to clean it up.) We went back to Little Crab at stayed at a very nice site.h 
Day 5 of 7
Thursday, June 28, 2007 We got up late as usual (#%!@ bartender). Our first task was to head back to Lunetta on the creek we had done the day before. It is a lovely creek with many lillies and lotuses, the best kind of river paddling. From Lunetta we went south to Hassel on the 280 rd. I have never been on such an unkept portage. There were three places where I had to set the canoe down and drag it underneath a downed tree, (not to mention the ten step overs). This was actually great forshadowing for the rest of our trip. We saw two groups while we were camped on Crab and saw some people having lunch at the site that we stayed on Little Crab. These were to be the only people we saw during our trip. From Hassel we went to Battle and then to Phantom and on to Boulder. While the site on Boulder looked as thoug it hadn't been occupied in years, we made it home. It was very hard to fit our four tents at the Boulder site, but we did it. There is really only room for two tents. I like nothing better than getting to design the seating around the fire grate. 
Day 6 of 7
Friday, June 29, 2007 From Boulder we went back to Phantom to Sprite to Meat lake. My plan was to eat the rest of our jerky on Meat but we didn't do it. The water level was really low on Meat so it added another 50 rods to get to Clark. 
The portage from Clark back to Crab has to be one of the most beautiful portages I have ever seen. 
We decide to take the first campsite on Crab that looked good. 
h
The portage from Clark back to Crab has to be one of the most beautiful portages I have ever seen. We decide to take the first campsite on Crab that looked good. h
Day 7 of 7
Saturday, June 30, 2007 From our site on Crab it seemed like an easy out. It was for the most part. The paddle across Crab was easy, the portage to Burntside only took an hour versus almost thrre on the way in. The paddle across Burntside was the hardest part of the day, only because of the boaters, (those $@&$*!!*@(*). We had to paddle into their wakes at least ten times. 
When we got back to the landing, we talked to the first people we had talked to in week. The route we ended up taking was the most isolated I have ever felt in the BWCA. We were apprehensive gonig in, but ended up having one of the best trips ever. 
When we got back to the landing, we talked to the first people we had talked to in week. The route we ended up taking was the most isolated I have ever felt in the BWCA. We were apprehensive gonig in, but ended up having one of the best trips ever.