BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 04 2025
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.
2 trips in one?
Entry Date:
December 30, 2012
Entry Point:
Lizz and Swamp Lakes
Exit Point:
Clearwater Lake (62)
Number of Days:
8
Group Size:
6
Jan 31st 4 of us took a ski day trip down the length of Allen into Pillsbury on the Hensen, Gaskin, Jump and Back to Allen. It started cold but the sun was warm and was pretty still so there was no wind chill to speak of. Snow depth was great for skiing with the tips never buried into the snow. There was some slush but not a lot, never had to stop and scape. Got back as it became dark. Great moonlight evening with a few wispy clouds. A New Years celebration, and lighted Frisbee on the lake capped off the evening into the morning hours. The Jan 1 was an afternoon into early evening ski to Jump Gaskin and returning to Allen by way of Horseshoe. It was fun to see where I had been this past October.
Jan 2 was a longer day ski through Jump, Gaskin to Winchell. I had left early to be able to take pictures and not slow down the others. As it turned out due to a later then anticipated start and an equipment failure I stayed out in front until I turn around at Winchell’s cliffs. There was low hanging clouds and rime ice on the trees, a very pretty sight to see. Moose tracks on Winchell and a number of Otter slide kept my interest on some of the long stretches of Winchell. Returning the headlight was needed on the last portage back into Allen Lake.
Jan 3 we packed up and returned to our vehicle and left to start the second leg of our adventure. Parking at the Clearwater landing we skied off for Deer lake as the sun was setting. The Cliffs on Clearwater were rosy as the sun went down. The old railroad grade had been skied so it was easy going. Deer lake was windblown and we needed to keep our faces down to keep the wind off them. Moon lake came slowly and there was not a lot of light. Camp was made in the dark. The wood stove gave us warmth and cooked us a filling supper. After plenty of hot liquids it was off to a long night of rest.
Jan 4 I set up the second group tent in anticipation of 4 friends who would be joining us. I then skied back to Deer Lake and the old railroad grade to possibly them, wolf tracks were fresh in last night ski tracks. Wind whipped the snow into little tornados on Deer Lake and there was no sign of them. So I went back to camp where firewood was prepared for the evening. The four showed up as the sun was going down, and firewood was finished and supper started. January 5 came all sunny, Brian picked up a great Northern with a tip up, and it was returned to get bigger. We then did a ski adventure on to Ivory, Rocky, Johnson Falls , Pine, Little Caribou, Caribou Deer and back to Moon. This is the second time I had done this bushwack to the top of Johnson Falls. A rewarding trip and a long day all in one. The flowage did not seem as froze over as the last time, but had it’s own beauty. There were many deadfall and tangles to maneuver through and around. A mess on Little Caribou where some folks had cut lives Pines and made a fire on the shoreline rocks was disheartening that those people had no sense of those to follow. Caribou seems to go on and on at the end of the day when muscles and energy seem spent. The temps were pleasant and conditions to ski on the lakes were great. But a warm tent and supper soon brought stories of the day and thoughts of future where to visit and explore.
Jan 6 Packed up and return to the Cities. 
