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.
South Kawishiwi River
Entry Date:
August 04, 2011
Entry Point:
South Kawishiwi River
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
8
On the way saw several other canoe groups. Paddled up through the rapids quite easily, we traversed the 70 rod portage into Clear Lake only to be met by a group coming in the opposite direction also looking for a campsite. They told us all 5 campsites on Clear lake were full. To check for ourselves we paddled around the lake only to find out they were correct!
So back across the 70 rod portage we went to find all close available sites in the river were also taken. Getting late now, about 4-5pm I reckon, we started paddling back in the direction we came from. Every site taken. We met a guy in a kayak who was at the Kawishiwi River campsite 7/1702, who told us that on his map it showed an old no longer used campsite, just around the peninsular from where he was camping. He said we could also share his site with he and his wife if we wished. He showed us the 'unauthorized' site and we chose to use it for the night. He said they were leaving their site in the morning. It was actually a nice flat site, no latrine or fire grate, but for one night it was great. We were all exhausted anyway by that time.
Day 2; Our new friend vacated campsite 7/1702, so we made a beeline for it and set up a base camp there. This day was a recovery day so to speak from day 1. Later in the day we saw other groups paddling past our site also unable to find campsites? In fact we had heard of one group camping on a portage! In all the 11 trips or so I have been coming up here I have never had trouble finding a campsite. It kind of makes me wonder if all groups actually had permits? Or were there illegal campers? Anyway we now had a site and we were staying put!
Day 3; We fished and had great luck finding walleyes and bass and had a great fish meal later in the day. We also took a trip to the rapids at site 10/1131, which we paddled through and continued on to a near by 30 rod portage, that we walked just for fun. On the way back we met a husband and wife who came in at Farm Lake, and were looking for a campsite. That was about 5pm. Late that night we endured quite the downpour, but managed to stay dry.
Day 4; Time to go out. Overall a fun trip. Saw too many other groups though. Next time I will go in at a more easterly BWCAW entry point. Fewer people and better luck finding a campsite I hope.