BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 27 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.
Fourtown Weekend Trip
Entry Date:
July 21, 2023
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake (restricted--no camping on Horse Lake)
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
2
Nice trail down to the river which seemed low. We walked the canoe the first 200 yards before we were able to get in and start to paddle the deeper channel. A few tight spots and shallow spots made us get out of the canoe for a few steps until we got to Mudro. Once we go to the portage on the N side of Mudro we could hear far off thunder. At the first portage we got our gear out and I was able to float the canoe another 50 yards. We double portaged this short .1 miles. The path is obvious but trechorus with wobbly rocks. Then paddled the short distance to the larger .3 mile portage. We double portages this as well. Although longer and steeper than the previous walk it was less trechorus due to the flat rocks. With a tiny paddle we were happy to see the last portage was just as short as the map said. By the time we got onto Fourtown we could feel the weather get cooler and the thunder louder. With the impending storm we pulled over to the first site which to our surprised was spacious and full of berries! As I get our gear under a tarp my other half picked berries for the next mornings pancakes. Before we knew it the storm rolled on in on us. The thunder and lighting was on us, a little too close for comfort. We rode it out for 30-60 minutes until the sky’s opened up and we could watch the storm in the distance. At this time we headed north with the goal to get one of the campsites near the 2021 burn area. On the troll over I picked up a nice northern and lost what felt like a big one. Even better my wife reeled in a bigger northern and a nice eater walleye. It looked like all the sites on the way to the burn area were taken so it was to our surprise to find the two on the south side open! We took the one farther from boot lake. It’s a spacious site with plenty of shoreline to walk and fish. By the time we got set it up was past dinner time so we cooked and did some shore fishing while watching the sunset. No bites.
We woke up to a beautiful day. Low 60s and not very windy. We loaded the canoe with fishing supplies and snacks and set out. We may have made it 30 yards from the launch when I hooked into the first walleye of the day, a smaller one but one for the fry pan. As we trolled towards boot and around the islands working back past our site and north .5 mile we picked out 3 northern ranging from 10in to 24in, 2 small mouth bass and the wife reeled in a twin walleye for the fry pan. It was heating up and we were getting hungry so off to camp. After eating the clouds in the distance didn’t look nice. We had set a lean to shelter near a large rock for protection incase of a lightning storm as there was no shortage of towering red and white pine. It was fun watching the storm pick up and roll in, we even watched a deer in the distance swim from one side of the lake to the other. Slower than the day before the rain picked up and the noise picked up until we found ourselves hunkered down under the tarp sitting on life jackets. The storm droned on never getting as intense as the previous one but still blowing and pelting our site. As the lightning storm shrunk and become faint in the distance by wife decided it was time to go take a nap in the tent to which she found water. When we opted for the larger 3-4 person tent for this trip, we forgot we haven’t used it in over 3-4 years and the 15+ year old tent had a couple leaks. It was not a total loss, just meant some possible damp sleeping. After hanging gear in the sun we took off for some afternoon fishing. Paddling N around the burn area we were able to hook into a handful of small mouth, a few more northern and even a couple more walleye for the fry pan. We had a great night by the fire, little to no mosquitos.
** best fishing was trolling with the rapalas that have 2 treble hooks. Fire tiger or orange and silver. No luck jigging or with a bobber and leach.
Woke up to another beautiful day, slightly cooler than the previous morning. Had breakfast then loaded up and took off. Waved good bye to the giant resident bald eagle near our site. Had the wind to our back the whole way so cruised across Fourtown picking up a smallie and walleye on the way. Passed a lot of people headed in, atleast 3 groups of 4 full canoes. Portages were quick and easy with a slightly lighter pack. Nothing exciting on the ride out.
Overall great trip, will definitely be coming back to Fourtown and checking out the surrounding lakes. 