BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
September 22 2025
Entry Point 45 - Morgan Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 1
Elevation: 1845 feet
Latitude: 48.0008
Longitude: -90.4098
Morgan Lake - 45
Looking into the future
Entry Date:
September 16, 2025
Entry Point:
Lizz and Swamp Lakes
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
3
She almost backed out the week before we left, felling nervous about the long drive up from the Elk River area, but finally re-committed to the trip and we planned all the meals we would cook for each other. She was also looking forward to getting to know my partner Ole better, and meeting her new puppy, Suzie Q. Ole and I had been getting Suzie used to sitting in my old Alumacraft in the back yard, so we were all pretty excited.
Around lunchtime on the 16th, Ole and I packed up the dogs and the food, lifejackets, my good paddle, dog crates and fences for the pups, and hit the road. We stopped for coffee at the Java Moose, and before we knew it we were pulling into the driveway at Rockwood to find my mom waiting anxiously. She had no cell service and was sure we'd had an accident or something, even though we were on time. It's hard getting old, she worries all the time. We settled into the cabin and quickly agreed to all share the big bedroom on the first floor. It was a lovely afternoon and evening- we had lasagna and french bread and sat around enjoying the quiet until bed.
Morning dawned calm and beautiful. We drank coffee and then I got mom down to the dock, fitted in a life jacket. She sat down on the dock and slid into the bow seat and we were off! We dawdled down the lake, around the islands and up the western shore. A kingfisher graced us, flitting along the shore as we paddled. I've never been in a canoe with her before, since I was adopted and didn't meet her until I was almost 30. It was pretty special time for both of us. Once we got back to the dock she got out of the canoe without incident, and I took Suzie Q out, with Ole in the bow. We floated around a little, then returned to the dock and had Amelia join us. With both dogs settled in we paddled briefly and returned before Suzie got restless.
The dogs played and swam and we just enjoyed watching them have so much fun. We had a nice fire in the evening, and all slept well that night! 
[paragraph break] Day two was cloudy but not cold, and we decided to drive up to the end of the trail. We went to Chik Wauk (well worth it!) and drove through the campground at the end of the trail taking notes on the sites we liked most, then had lunch at Trail Center. We napped a bit in the afternoon, then I drove up and hiked the Needham Road to see the old camp I used to go to (Voyageur's Landing). It's all private houses now, but some of the buildings are still distinguishable. Bittersweet....it's where I learned to love the north woods, but some bad stuff went down there too.
[paragraph break]
Our last full day dawned windy and chilly. Mom hung around the cabin reading and relaxing, and Ole and I did some backroading on the Lima Grade, searching unsucessfully for the trailhead for Lima Mt. We ended up hiking George Washington Pines, which is always nice.
And then it was our final morning. Chilly and raining. We packed up, had breakfast at Trail Center and went our separate ways. It was a great 4 days, full of story telling and some firsts and lasts. There's a good chance that it was the last time mom will be in a canoe. Suzie will have many more canoe adventures. I'm hoping we've started a cabin tradition with mom, because she really enjoyed it, but she may not be able to make the drive many more times.
I know someday that will be me. Someday it will be us all...hard as it is to accept when we're healthy and relatively young. I hope I bend with those winds with as much grace as the Spartans, these friends I've never met.
