Boundary Waters Trip Reports, Blog, BWCA, BWCAW, Quetico Park

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-Crooked Lk with some first timers !

by ksprinkles
Trip Report

Entry Date: June 16, 2019
Entry Point: Mudro Lake
Number of Days: 6
Group Size: 6

Trip Introduction:
I have taken five trips to the BWCA since 2012 I have always went to this same destination, with different group sizes from 2-6. I enjoy the planing aspects of the trip so I tend to serve the roll of group leader. This trip included;Me and my son Dominic, our cousins from western Kentucky, Troy(father) and Clay(son), My Brother in Law, Marc and our long time friend Brian. Brian and Marc have never been to the BWCA but love to fish and both are always up for and adventure. The Michigan group left after work on Friday June 15th for the long drive to Ely. We meet Troy and Clay in Superior WI on our way through early Saturday morning. We arrived in Ely mid morning on Saturday and went to check on our bunkhouse at VNO. They were nice enough to let us check in early and even let us throw some frozen food to the cooler since it wouldn't fit in the fridge in the bunkhouse. We had our permits and canoes reserved at Spirit of The Wilderness so we went down there and loaded our canoes, picked up our permit and got our fishing license. We had a great lunch at Rockwood, followed by a nap and then dinner at Sir G's.

Day 1 of 6


Sunday, June 16, 2019

I don't think any of us could sleep, I woke up several times throughout the night, the plan was to get up at 4:00 but by 4:15 we were up and loaded. We went to the gas station and grabbed some coffee and snacks for breakfast, and then off to the Mudro Entry Point. We were on the creek and paddling by 5:30, water levels were surprisingly low so we had to pull the canoes along for the first hundred yards or so. Once we made it to Mudro we were in good shape, light winds, cool temps and clouds. We ran into a couple groups on their way out. The first timers were getting used to paddling the canoes and after the first couple portages they had that part down too. We managed the Horse River with only the three marked portages, but we did have to get out and pull through a couple of the rock piles. We made it to Lower Basswood Falls by 11:15 and much to our surprise their was no one camped at any of the sites, any time I have been there they all looked full ..!!! We paddled past the pictos and stopped at a campsite for a little rest and lunch. We had the long paddle to Thursday Bay ahead so we didn't stay long. We paddled steadily to Table Rock to show Brain and Marc the big flat rock and stretch our legs and backs. We were then off in hopes of securing the Island campsite in the southern end of Thursday Bay. I think we all were tired and were relived to find the site open when we came around the corner of the island. We set up tents, tarps, gathered firewood, put together our fishing gear and got into some dry shoes. I caught a walleye on the first cast with a deep-diving firetiger Rapala right off camp. I had laid out steaks for dinner along with some instant mashed potatoes. We built a fire and Clay cooked the steaks while I got the stove set up and made the potatoes. 

While we were eating dinner an interesting thing happened. About 7:30 a solo paddler camp up to the west side of the island, We hadn't seen anyone camped on the bay but I assumed it was someone out for an evening paddle as it was a beautiful evening. Then a tandem canoe pulled around the east side of the Island. When they came together they started talking. The called up to our camp so I went down to see what they wanted. One of the guys in the tandem asked if there was room on the site for then to camp for the night. At first I felt bad for telling them we didn't really have extra room and suggested they paddle to the island site just to the north and stay there. He then said this was his favorite site and he had been coming there since 1979. He also said they had came from Fall Lake that day. I have no idea how far that is but I know it is a long day. They wished us luck and paddled to the Island. The more I thought about it the more it irritated me. Am I being over sensitive or did I have legitimate reason to be irritated ? If we had been on a dead end lake, bad weather, injured paddler or near dark I think I would have felt different. 

After dinner we paddled out and fished for little while then came back and did dished and went to bed

Wildlife: Deer Eagles Beaver lots of Ducks and Geese

Fish Total: 7

Lakes Traveled: Mudro Sandpit Tin Can Mike Horse Lake Horse River Basswood Crooked

  

 



Day 2 of 6


Monday, June 17, 2019

I was up early, just before 5:00, I just don't sleep well on a sleeping pad. Maybe its time to try a hammock( I brought along a cheap dept store model to nap in around camp) . Bacon and eggs for breakfast and then out to fish. The smallmouth bite was a little slower than we hoped but we managed some good fish. We came back to camp for a big fish fry for lunch, we had a combination of pike, walleye and a couple smallmouth. We spent the rest of the afternoon slip bobber fishing for walleye. That evening we paddled out and fished some of little bays close to camp and piked up a few more fish. Back to camp for hamburgers and time for bed. 

Wildlife: Eagles Otter( Swam right past camp between our slip bobbers)

Fish Total:56

 



Day 3 of 6


Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Up early again after another restless night. Today looked like rain but we all got up and ate and went out to fish in our rain gear. Slow day so we came back for lunch and slip bobber fishing. We did well on the Walleye this trip, Clay caught a limit today himself. Everybody loves the fish so we planned another fish fry for tonight. A few of us decided it was time for a swim between the rain showers, man is that water cold. We went to the west side of the bay that evening and found a few bigger fish, the rain drove us back to camp. Troy and I filleted fish in the rain as the other guys cooked some rice. The rain let up after dinner and Clay and Dominic paddled out a caught a 32" pike,...Dishes, campfire then bed.

Fish Total:46

 



Day 4 of 6


Wednesday, June 19, 2019

The rain had cleared and today was going to be beautiful. Breakfast and then out to fish. We all fished the rock faces west of camp. The warm sun seemed to be getting the fish fired up. A funny thing happened, Clay had his Zara Spook bit off by a pike, about 15 minutes later Brian and Marc fished over the same spot and caught the pike with the Spook still in his mouth. Afternoon was swining and bobber fishing. We had Campfire Pizzas for dinner and they were a trip favorite !

Today I asked everyone to sum up the BWCA in one word:

Me: Indescribable Troy: Creator Clay: Unpredictable Dominic: Majestic Marc: Unforgettable Brian:Immense Fish Total:48  

 



Day 5 of 6


Thursday, June 20, 2019

Today was another beautiful day. Today Troy and Clay fished the main bay, Marc, Brian, Dominic and I went to check out the little lake on the south end of the bay. I am not sure if it is an unnamed lake or just part of Thursday Bay. We caught a few pike. Our original plan was to get all the way to Jackfish Lake, but with the low water levels we figured the little creek would be a major pain to get down. We did go all the way to the portage and walked to the other side and saw some moose tracks. We spent the rest of the day fishing and packing up gear for the paddle out tomorrow. 

I think Brian and Marc enjoyed their first trip and learned a few things, The both agreed they would portage in different shoes. Marc wore trail running shoes, but decided the extra support of a boot would be better. Brain wore vintage Jungle Boots, the soles fell off and he had to duct tape and para cord them together for the trip out.!

I was the last one out by the fire at the end of the night reflecting on our trip and just what a special place this is !

Fish Total:60

 



Day 6 of 6


Friday, June 21, 2019

We were up early and packed and ready to go after a quick breakfast and coffee. We were going out through Friday Bay. The morning was sunny and calm and made for good traveling. By the time we go to the mile portage out of Wagosh Brain and Marc were tired and realized they were not fans of carrying the canoe. Dominic offered to Portage their canoe across for the affordable price of 2 beers at the Ely Steakhouse, they agreed to his terms! The last half of the trip was into a stiff headwind. By the time we got to the portages out of Fourtown we were all spent. The was lots of traffic on the portages which made it more challenging and slow. We made it out around 4:00 and were shortly in town for a shower at VNO and then to Ely Steakhouse. We then hopped in the truck for the long ride back to Michigan

We will be back again soon

Lakes Traveled: Crooked Papoose Chippewa Niki Wagosh Gun Fairy Boot Fourtown Mudro

 


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