BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 26 2024
Entry Point 23 - Mudro Lake
Mudro Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 19 miles. Three accesses into Mudro Lake involve portages ranging from 20–185 rods.Easiest access is from private la nd with parking fee.
Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1166 feet
Latitude: 48.0356
Longitude: -91.8301
On the Water- Monday July 20th-
On the water late considering how far we need to go today. Up the Horse river to the falls by 6pm. Started raining and NO campsites available. Mudrow-Alruss-Tin can Mike-Horse Lake-Horse River-Basswood. 13 miles by water. (not counting portages)
Tuesday July 21st-
Rain all night, all morning and all day. Went north by petroglyphs, table rock and the the Crocked Lake Narrows across Thursday bay to campsite. Basswood-Crooked Lake-Wednesday Bay-Thursday Bay. 11 miles in the rain.
Wednesday July 22nd-
Up early and calm winds to take advantage of, considering the big water we have to cross. Found beaver dam to lift over and did a portage from hell between Pandos lake and Chippewa Lake. VERY steep and slippery after rain. Many mud holes. Then the mile portage after Wagosh Lake to Gun Lake. Never saw another soul in a canoe or campsite the entire day! Thursday bay-Friday Bay-Pandos Lake-Chippewa Lake-Wagosh lake-Gun Lake. 11 miles by water.
Thursday July 23rd-
Finally had a dry night. got everything dry!!! A few portages today to Fourtown Lake campsite. Easy day by comparison. Gun Lake-Fairy Lake-Boot Lake-Fourtown Lake. 6 miles. Put the long miles at the first of the week for a buffer for contingencies!
Friday July 24th-
Last day. Stormed last night bad. A few portages today with one bad one between Fourtown Lake and Mudrow lake. To entry point by 1pm. Ready for a hot shower! 4 miles
Total-
45 miles by water
13 miles by portage (3 trips each)
58 miles total.
Number of Permits per Day: 5
Elevation: 1166 feet
Latitude: 48.0356
Longitude: -91.8301
On the Water- Monday July 20th-
On the water late considering how far we need to go today. Up the Horse river to the falls by 6pm. Started raining and NO campsites available. Mudrow-Alruss-Tin can Mike-Horse Lake-Horse River-Basswood. 13 miles by water. (not counting portages)
Tuesday July 21st-
Rain all night, all morning and all day. Went north by petroglyphs, table rock and the the Crocked Lake Narrows across Thursday bay to campsite. Basswood-Crooked Lake-Wednesday Bay-Thursday Bay. 11 miles in the rain.
Wednesday July 22nd-
Up early and calm winds to take advantage of, considering the big water we have to cross. Found beaver dam to lift over and did a portage from hell between Pandos lake and Chippewa Lake. VERY steep and slippery after rain. Many mud holes. Then the mile portage after Wagosh Lake to Gun Lake. Never saw another soul in a canoe or campsite the entire day! Thursday bay-Friday Bay-Pandos Lake-Chippewa Lake-Wagosh lake-Gun Lake. 11 miles by water.
Thursday July 23rd-
Finally had a dry night. got everything dry!!! A few portages today to Fourtown Lake campsite. Easy day by comparison. Gun Lake-Fairy Lake-Boot Lake-Fourtown Lake. 6 miles. Put the long miles at the first of the week for a buffer for contingencies!
Friday July 24th-
Last day. Stormed last night bad. A few portages today with one bad one between Fourtown Lake and Mudrow lake. To entry point by 1pm. Ready for a hot shower! 4 miles
Total-
45 miles by water
13 miles by portage (3 trips each)
58 miles total.
Crab Lake w/ a kid
by K2
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 08, 2009
Entry Point:
Crab Lake and Cummings from Burntside Lake
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
3
Trip Introduction:
This was our second trip to the bwca.
Day 3 of 6
Monday, June 08, 2009 We spent Sunday night in the bunkhouse at V.N.O. got up Monday morning and had breakfast at Brittons Cafe. After returning from breakfast we loaded our gear and headed for the public access on Burntside Lake and took the tow over to EP 4. From there we dug in and made the portage. We doubled it so it was twice the fun. I should mention there were two adults and my 10 year old son. All morning it had been looking like rain so we were trying to hustle and get to camp and set up before it started. Naturally, in the rush I ended up in a different part of the lake. I realized I was one off from the cove with the portage, must have been the angle and rush but, that's what happened. We got to the site with the chair and realized the mistake but, rain was coming so we went for it. Set up the tent, tarp and got a fire literally right before the rain. It rained all night so we hung out and ate some hot dogs then later cooked supper and settled in for an early night. 
Day 7 of 6
Tuesday, June 09, 2009 We woke up to continuing rain from Monday night and felt like sleeping in a bit so we did. Finally got up had some bagels sat around a bit and got restless. We decided to go on out, a little rain never hurt anyone. We went down the dead end creek for a look around and a little fishing, pretty cool area. Then we headed back in to have some lunch, fish sandwiches. After eating we went out and did some fishing catching a few nice fish and releasing them. While fishing we were headed toward the portage to Little Crab when we saw that the last sight on right before the portage was open. Wow, it really looked a lot nicer than ours. So we pulled up and looked around, decided to throw out a line from the bank and caught two nice bass. Immediately we decided we would move first thing in the A.M. 
Day 8 of 6
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 Up early for moving day. Mike and my son took a load of stuff over to stake our claim while I packed the tent, tarp and anything else. After an inspection to make sure all was clear we finished the move. Arriving at the other site we set up quickly and went fishing. After catching a few nice bass we decided they were looking good for a lunch date. After lunch back out and caught and released fish all evening. Back for supper we made some ham steaks on the fire and they were great then a couple of cocktails for dad and off to bed. 
Day 9 of 6
Thursday, June 11, 2009 Big day trip. We headed for Cummings Lake through Little Crab and up the Korb all the way to Cummings, fishing the whole time. We had an incredible day with all of us catching fish all day long even right in the middle of the day. We stopped for some good old PB & J sandwiches and worked our way back. This was the greatest day and no trip report I could write would do it justice. 
Day 10 of 6
Friday, June 12, 2009 Last full day. We mostly just fished all around on Crab. Heading toward the big cove with a couple of sites to the back. In the afternoon a pretty good rain had come in so we headed back to camp fished from shore had a dinner and a couple drinks and began packing for the trip out in the morning. 
Day 11 of 6
Saturday, June 13, 2009 Up early and at the portage by 0800. Double portaged, caught our tow unloaded gear and got a shower. Bummer that it all went by so fast. All in all we had a great week with great weather it just went too fast. The folks at V.N.O. are wonderful to work with. They even sent my boots and bag I forgot by the shower. Only negatives to this trip were losing my sunglasses and getting a ticket in WI for 80 in a 65, ouch. 
discuss this trip report (10 comments) - last post on June 27, 2009