BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 23 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.
Base camping w/ broken ankle
Entry Date:
September 01, 2018
Entry Point:
Trout Lake
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
3
After work on Friday, we drove from the Twin Cities to Pfeiffer Lake campground. After a hearty breakfast in Cook, we picked up the permit and drove to Moccasin Point on Lake Vermillion. We put on the water at 9:30am Saturday. The weather was beautiful with light winds and sunny skies.
At the 60 rod portage into Portage Bay on Trout Lake, my husband carried the canoe and a pack basket. I carried the lightest pack plus paddles and life jackets, while our son hoofed across with the heaviest pack before coming back and relieving me of my pack. The portage was quite flat and well worn. I just watched my footing extra carefully, but made good time. We still managed to keep our typical pace of 10 rods per minute.
We paddled directly over to the 240 rod portage into Pine Lake. This is also a well traveled portage, though due to its length it certainly travels up and down some hills, through some mud, and has moderate numbers of rocks. Other than the one group doubling back on the portage for the rest of their gear while one of them talked obnoxiously on his cell phone, it was an uneventful crossing.
The island campsites on Pine Lake were already taken so we turned south and headed for the site on the odd boot shaped peninsula. We kept thinking we had missed it, but finally found it. The landing area is small and the site is very hidden by trees and shrubs. What a pleasant surprise to find this site! It was barely used...nothing fresh in the latrine, ground completely covered in a thick layer of pine needles. It was very private, with a decent spot for a 4 person tent up on a bluff overlooking the lake. The fire grate was tucked down lower and was very protected from any wind. We arrived at this site about 1:30pm and quickly set up camp.
Swimming was tough from this site, but once past the large, slippery boulders it was enjoyable. My son and husband set out in the canoe for a late afternoon fishing expedition and came back with the biggest Crappie any of us had ever seen. It pan fried up beautifully and was a welcome addition to our meal of mac/cheese w/ salami.
Due to my ankle feeling pretty tender from the first day of travel, we decided to stay put at our lovely campsite on Sunday. Instead of packing up, we took a day trip to the northern end of Pine Lake and explored Pine Creek as far as the portage to Chad Lake. It was a lovely, winding travel and we kept expecting to see a moose around each corner. There were a couple beaver dams to pull over, and a few rocky areas, but otherwise was an easily passable creek. The portage to Chad Lake has a high bluff off to the left, so we scrambled up there to eat lunch and watch the eagles soaring. Afterwards, we strolled the portage path and found that the industrious beavers had flooded the Chad Lake end requiring extra work for anyone trying to pass through.
We had a quiet evening back at the campsite with wild rice soup and cheesy biscuits. Monday morning, we lazed around before breaking camp and putting on the water at 11:30am. My ankle felt stronger for the return passages across the 2 portages and I concluded that a BWCA trip was worth more than any physical therapy I might have done back in the Cities. We drove out of the parking lot by 4:00 pm and zipped back home by 8:30 that night.
I would love to go back to this area and explore the Little Sioux River or the Chad Lake/Buck Lake area and beyond. I had never been to this end of the BWCAW before. Other than the heavy motor boat traffic on Vermillion, it was a lovely place to visit.