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BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 18 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.

Mudro - Jackfish Bay - Basswood River - Crooked - Gun - Mudro

by cyclones30
Trip Report

Entry Date: August 17, 2014
Entry Point: Mudro Lake
Number of Days: 7
Group Size: 4

Trip Introduction:
We've been planning this trip for a while, it was the first ever for my wife of one month and first in 9 years (too long) for my brother, father, and myself. We rented MN II canoes and got food thru VNO, otherwise brought our own gear.

Day 1 of 7


Sunday, August 17, 2014  This is my first ever trip report, hopefully it goes well... After staying the night at the VNO bunkhouse (nice and convenient) we got a good breakfast at Brittons, and were packed and putting in at Mudro around 8am. We saw a moose in the road on our drive up! First ever for 3 of us. Our goal was to make it at least into the no-motor section of Jackfish Bay for night one and see how things were going since the mile portage around the upper falls loomed.

Things went well for the first small lakes but the wind was getting stronger out of the NE which wasn’t good for Jackfish Bay. Dreading what we’d see when we got there, we were delighted to have a slight headwind but no huge rollers. We got lunch at a nice beach site and then started looking for a site for the night on the “whale island” but both were taken. We got one just to the NW and set up. We also noticed my dad (who always has his watch) forgot it so our only way to tell time were our 2 way radios with weatherband. Glad we had those, but it was also nice to not know what time it was :)     Mudro Lake, Sandpit Lake, Basswood Lake

 

Lakes Traveled:   Mudro Lake, Sandpit Lake, Basswood Lake,


Day 2 of 7


Monday, August 18, 2014 Woke up to a lot of fog and haze (common theme this week) and got the long portage out of the way while picking blueberries along the way. My wife wanted to try carrying the canoe so she got it on the following 2 portages which ended up being 2 of the harder for their length. She did extremely well. Lunch below lower falls was good. Mist turned to light rain by the time we saw the picto’s and then harder rain by table rock. We were looking for sites but didn’t like what we’d seen to that point. We ended up in the Wed. Bay area and wet. Good thing I ordered a CCS tarp a month ago.   Basswood Lake, Crooked Lake

 

Lakes Traveled:   Basswood Lake, Crooked Lake,


Day 3 of 7


Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Our goal was to get a site between Thurs and Fri Bays, we ended up at the one on the north end of Friday Bay on the island. Wednesday was supposed to be dry so we stayed an extra day here to dry out, relax, and fish. Good decision.   Crooked Lake

 

Lakes Traveled:   Crooked Lake,


Day 4 of 7


Wednesday, August 20, 2014 We stayed at the same site and enjoyed our one partially sunny day for the week. Went for a swim and was able to get everything dried out on the rocks/line. 

 



Day 5 of 7


Thursday, August 21, 2014 Our goal was to get at least to Gun if not Fairy/Boot. Made it to the long Wagosh-Gun portage around 8 or 9 and had a good site on Gun by 10:30 or so. Fishing was downright slow on Gun which was a change but not unexpected.   Crooked Lake, Niki Lake, Chippewa Lake, Wagosh Lake, Gun Lake

 

Lakes Traveled:   Crooked Lake, Niki Lake, Chippewa Lake, Wagosh Lake, Gun Lake,


Day 6 of 7


Friday, August 22, 2014 Get to Fourtown early to get a site so we’d have a short trip on Sat. morning to get picked up at 10 at Mudro. We got to a nice site before 10 just as the previous group was packing up and they let us claim it, which was great because many other groups came by and asked the same thing while we were there. Fishing was verrrry slow during the day Friday and then picked up in the evening which was nice.

    Fairy Lake, Boot Lake, Fourtown Lake

 

Lakes Traveled:   Fairy Lake, Boot Lake, Fourtown Lake,


Day 7 of 7


Saturday, August 23, 2014 Not much besides the roughest portages of the whole trip. We got out around 10:10 (I think) and said our goodbyes to the wilderness for now. When we were loading the van at Mudro, I did see a maroon Saturn Ion with a Kevlar and flying moose onboard. Our driver was ready to go so I didn’t get to chat but hope you’re having a good trip right now! (whoever you are)

  Fourtown Lake, Mudro Lake

 

Lakes Traveled:   Fourtown Lake, Mudro Lake,

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