We spent Wednesday night at a hotel in Tofte and made the drive up the Sawbill Trail arriving at Sawbill a little before 8am. After organizing and packing the rest of our gear, we picked up our permit and got a shuttle from Sawbill Outfitters over to the Kawishiwi Lake entry point. We were the first shuttle to Kawishwi of the year for Sawbill. When we arrived one car was in the parking lot, so we claimed we were the second group into Kawishiwi of the year.

On the date of our departure, Sawbill was mostly free of ice but Alton was still iced over but we were hopeful it would be out by the beginning of out trip.

Within a couple minutes of leaving the landing on Kawishiwi Lake, we encountered very light sleet/snow for a few minutes. A fitting start to the trip.

High water levels made for an easy paddle up the beginnings of the Kawishiwi River into Square Lake were we encountered the beginning of the Pagami Creek Fire damage. Last time I was through this area was about three weeks before the fire spread east rapidly to Square and Kawasachong.

Fire damage on the Square to Kawishiwi River portage.

More fire damage along the Kawishiwi River.

Just before we hit Kawasachong, Molly pointed out "that rock looks like a Moose" then added "It IS a moose!" A cow with two calves was back in the woods a little. The first moose I've seen in the BWCA in 21 trips.

After the moose excitement, we paddled across Kawasachong, hiked over some downed trees on the portage to Townline Lake, crossed the portage into Lake Polly, and made our way to the north end of the lake to continue our trek down the Kawishiwi River. It was cloudy and cool, but no rain so we had no complaints.

A little break for pictures at the end of the portage just south of Koma Lake.

As we neared the portage into Malberg, Molly spotted a second moose sitting on the north shore of Koma. Unfortunately, this cow immediately got up and walked into the woods with a calf once it noticed us. It was quite the sight when it stood up and walked into the woods. She was massive.

There was an incredible amount of water flowing around the infamous rock between Koma and Malberg.

After one last paddle up Malberg, we decided to camp on the site that sits up above the lake in the narrows just west of the middle of the lake. As we paddled by the campsite adjacent to the portage into the Louse River, we noticed the grate area was entirely under water! 

A brisk morning, down to about 26 overnight. Coffee was the first item on the agenda.

Then a photo opp with the resident moose skull.

We headed off on a day-trip into the Kawishiwi north of Malberg and first stopped to check out the raging water flowing out of Malberg into the Kawishiwi by the northeast portage.

On the portage back into Malberg from the northwest, Molly spotted a grouse.

A nice afternoon to enjoy the view from our campsite.

Brownies for dessert.

Some sunset shots.   

After an hour or two with little luck, our thoughts again turned to Otto Lake. The portage looked a bit steep so I decided to scout it out before attempting it with any gear. After walking its entire length and back I convinced the others that it was difficult enough that Otto Lake probably wasn't worth it and that we should stay on Henson. We decided to try fishing again after a lunch break.

The western-most campsite on Henson was good enough for lunch but did not appear good for much else. We did not find a decent tent pad here and the site seems little used. Getting to the latrine requires a long, steep hike. We did try a few casts from shore here and were able to find that a northern or two hangs around so that is a plus.

Once we were re-energized with lunch, fishing resumed in earnest. Kirby and I would try for some bass near a deadfall hanging off shore while Matt and Stephen were going to check out a promising bay for northerns. After a couple casts, I got a big hit and my rod was bent 180 degrees! This fish was a beauty and certainly did his part to bolster the smallie's fighting reputation. After a few minutes I managed to get this trophy-sized bass to the canoe and I reached down to pull it aboard. Then, with one last flip, it spit the hook and was gone!! So close and yet, nothing! Oh well, try again and on the next cast I hooked another one that felt just as big. This one was also quite the fighter and I got to watch it breach to put just about a foot between its tail and the surface. I did not let this one get away and measured the fish at 19.5 inches. About that time, Stephen and Matt paddled up to us showing off their success with a couple of nice northerns on the stringer. We were eating fish for supper! We decided if we ate just a bit early, we would have time to check out the waterfalls on the south shore of nearby Winchell Lake so it was back to the campsite on Omega for our fish feast.

After our early meal, we did head out toward the falls on Winchell and one short portage from Omega brought us to this big beautiful lake. Thankfully, the breeze was very light providing for flat water and we were able to find these hidden falls after a quick, scenic paddle to the southern cliffs on Winchell. These falls are a thin, pretty little series of cascades and you can climb right up them to the top for a great view of the lake. After a few pictures and snacking on some wild raspberries that Stephen found, we headed back to our Omega Lake camp so we could get there before dark. Again, this evening we enjoyed a nice fire before calling it a night.

Morning coffee after a much warmer night.

The first 90 rod portage as we moved east back into the Phoebe River was no issue, but the next 5 rod portage required about 5 rods of bushwhacking on each side because of high water. The last two portages were easy with no issues.

As we arrived to the 285 rod portage from Grace to Beth we were greeted by a canoe from another group and a nice pile of snow on the portage. We met the group on their second trip and they informed us the Alton Lake had iced-out the day before and they had spent the last few days waiting it out on Kelso Lake. I warned them about the river/downed tree west of Knight and we finished the portage and ate lunch.

The paddle across Beth was nice with a breeze at our back and we also noticed snow at the east end. As we got closer, we also noticed some ice but we had no problems pulling into the landing. With a nice snow pile off to the side of the portage, we decided to make a snowman.

This portage was in better shape than most we encountered and we were soon headed up Alton Lake, hugging the west shore to stay out of the wind. Once we got to the peninsula south of the portage into Sawbill we crossed the middle and rounded the corner only to be greeted with a wall of ice. Though Alton was 95% out, all the remaining ice had been pushed to the east shore of the lake. A little spooked from remembering the couple found dead in their life jackets on Alton in 2011, I wasn't interested in getting between the ice and waves, so we decided to head up to Kelso and get to Sawbill via the Kelso River. The wind decided to kick up at that moment and we embarked on a scary crossing of Alton but quickly arrived on the west shore so we could paddle out of the wind up to the Kelso portage. The rest of the tripping was uneventful and we arrived at the Sawbill landing about 4 in the afternoon.

All in all, we had a good but challenging trip. We saw two moose, had some really nice weather, covered a ton of ground, and enjoyed our campsite on Malberg. Tipping and our ice detour certainly added a sense of accomplishment to the journey.