BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 25 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.
Moose To Neglige May 27th to May 31
Entry Date:
May 27, 2015
Entry Point:
Moose Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
3
In hindsight I was a little overzealous in putting this trip together. Some might say a touch aggressive as putting a 9 yr. old and a 14 yr. old in a canoe for the very first time, a brand new experience for them both, as was camping all together in late May, on a four day, five night trip, four lakes in not well thought out.
By 9:30am we were on Moose Lake entry point 25 having left South St Paul at 3:30am. We took a water taxi through Moose and Newfoundland, as they are super long lakes and started at the portage into Enign. Sunny with clouds and still a little cool.
Once through the initial short portage and a second super shorty we were into Ensign and I was quickly reminded of the effects of wind, a 17-foot canoe with no keel and the ineffectiveness of a rookie 14-year-old bow paddler.
Regardless the rods were out, lines in the water, wind was a struggle but not winning the battle all together so we travelled Ensign which did have a good number of inhabited campsites and other canoeists. Picked up a small Northern and bass a long the way, one for each daughter, which “hooked” them into the wonderful adventures of canoe tripping. I wont go into how we got turned around fighting the Northern to the point where I put us onto the wrong portage and into the wrong lake, and had to back track, my girls were not impressed!!!!
We eventually made it into Vera which is a hilly 180 rod trek and brought the full experience of canoe tripping home to my girls. That and the night time temperatures that hovered around 32 degrees both Friday and Saturday night, rain most of the day Friday, a rainy snow mix Saturday morning which them turned into the most beautiful day ever and Vera is the quintessential picturesque lake, crystal cleat waters, great mix of rock and treed shoreline, beautiful campsite. . . . . . . . .
We then also worked through Trader (brownish waters) via an unmaintained portage into Neglige to go after my Brook Trout. The portage into Neglige is tough for a 17- footer, very tight, lots of “fighting” to get around corners.
My youngest daughter picked up a Brookie so it was all worth it!
On our trip out the wind was quitter than the previous days so it was a good paddle, we were sad to leave Vera and Ensign. Though we picked up 6 Northerns on the way out, one double, my girls were all smiles!!! A great trip was had by all. Though my time with a rod in hand was probably less than two hours as I was the designated paddler. My girls loved it, and came away with freckles, sun/wind burns, lessens on bush survival, canoeing, camp fire cooking and understanding the true beauty of the BW’s.
Can’t wait to get back on the waters!!!!!!
I want to thank all those that offered advice and their knowledge of the BW’s!!
Moose Lake, Newfound Lake, Ensign Lake, Ashigan Lake, Vera Lake, Trader Lake, Neglige Lake 
