BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 24 2024
Entry Point 23 - Mudro Lake
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.
The Kindness of Strangers
Entry Date:
August 01, 2012
Entry Point:
Wood Lake
Exit Point:
Moose Lake (25)
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
6
After about an hour, our scouts returned with the good news that they had found an open campsite. I expressed my additional gratitude for their help and stated that as soon as they pinpointed it on our map we would be off to beat the darkness. They responded that they would be happy to take us to the site! I told them that an escort would be terrific since that would save us some time and give us a little more chance to get the tents set up before the night-time bugs descended upon us. They said not to worry about the tents because they had already set them up for us!!!
We were all flabbergasted at the level of kindness and generosity that we were being shown and made sure that we got names and contact information so we could properly thank our new friends once everyone returned home. As we parted, they even made a point to inform us that if we liked their site better than the one they had found for us, we could have theirs in the morning since they were moving on the next day.
This encounter on Day 1 really made our trip.
On day two, we did indeed move to this party's former site. Here we enjoyed a leisurely day with swimming, fishing (and catching!), a tasty and relaxing meal and a cozy campfire. The sound of a few gentle raindrops on the roof of our tents lulled us to sleep.
On the third day, we portaged over to Wind lake and camped at a pleasant spot that faces north from the mainland out over Wind's widest part. This day was much the same as the second day with more swimming, fishing (and more catching!), good food and another evening fire. This night's rain was heavier than the night before but we still stayed dry and comfortable in our tents.
On day number four, we traveled from Wind into Moose Lake for a final paddle to the dock at Canadian Border Outfitters. A strong headwind on Moose meant that we were going to fight some whitecaps. While our rookie paddlers were now more experienced than just a few days before, I knew that this would still be a challenge for them. Therefore, I thought it wise to make sure that everyone's life jackets were secure and to emphasize a close-to-shore strategy on the populated side of the lake "just in case". Sure enough, a combination of waves and boat wake caught two of our canoeists broadside and into the lake they went. Fortunately, this happened in shallow water and help was close by. No one was hurt and nothing was lost other than a little pride and some left over toilet paper that got soaked even in its "dry" bag. Rather than let the cool temps and strong breeze induce hypothermia on a wet body we decided to end the adventure right there on shore and stayed warm while we waited for the pick-up that we then called our outfitter for to arrive.
On our way home I thought about the prayer that our church uses to send off each year's Boundary Waters group. It includes the words, “…while the trip may turn out different from what is expected, may it, at the same time, still be everything that is hoped for”. This year that prayer was certainly answered since that is exactly what transpired. The students learned a few great lessons through this experience and we all gained memories that will last forever.