BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 27 2024
Entry Point 29 - North Kawishiwi River
North Kawishiwi River 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 15 miles. Access the North Kawishiwi River through Ojibway Lake and Triangle Lake using two portages.
Number of Permits per Day: 1
Elevation: 1249 feet
Latitude: 47.9543
Longitude: -91.5641
Tuesday, June 25, 2019 “Getting into A Rhythm” The night before we decided that with the wind blowing as it was, we wanted to get an earlier start than the previous day. We deemed Zach as our alarm clock as he woke up earlier than the rest of us and he got us going. We had breakfast of Oatmeal, dried fruit and coffee (coffee being the most important of course). After everything was cleaned up and camp was packed away, we were back on the water at about 10am. Parings were Eric and Tony, Tony in the bow. Zach and Nate, Nate in the bow. The plan for the day was to paddle to Ester and find a campsite there and rest up for a longer stretch the next day. The skies were partly cloudy with the wind out of the west and blowing steady. This was our first encounter with the wind on big water. The wind was blowing from the west right down the length of Knife lake churning the lake into a wavy playground. There were a couple of white caps but nothing to worrisome. We paddled into the waves until we were protected by an island, made an about face and rode the waves into an arm of Knife heading north and protected from the wind. Nate and Zac decided that they were going to troll for lake trout today as we were in a prime location to do so. This is where Zach conquered leg two of the BWCA grand slam, although not with a lake trout. Zach hooked into a decent sized northern pike. Although the pike was not boated due to the net being too small, we considered it a catch. The portage to Hanson from Knife was a little more difficult to find but our trusty navigator got us where we needed to be on time with no delays or backtracking. It really is amazing how you can navigate in the BWCA with just a map, we didn’t even use a compass! Although I would recommend bring a compass for sure. The portage from Knife to Hanson was to be our longest portage of the trip and only portage for the day. Being 120 rods, we were eager to get a move on. This was hands down one of the most beautiful places on earth I have ever seen. About 30 seconds into the portage you are walking along a bubbling stream and serenaded by running water, few sounds in nature are more calming and relaxing. About half way you come to this waterfall next to some absolutely enormous Cedar trees. The place was small and intimate and perfect. The waterfall was framed in by some downed trees and the water was white, a stark contrast to the surrounding foliage and made the waterfall stand out. The trail is relatively flat until you reach the waterfall and then you take a right turn and climb towards the top of the waterfall before the trail flattens out again. A little way further you start a short decline with the trailing running past a beaver damn and the pond that was created. Although we did not see any beavers it was not from lack of trying. As you continue on the trail it winds its way up again through some stands of pine studded with groupings of purple and white flowers and onto a sharp decline to the landing on Hanson lake. This was my favorite portage. Once on Hanson, it was pretty much a straight shot to Ester lake. Hanson is a little longer north to south so we hugged the western shore and stayed out of the wind for the most part. Zach and Nate trolled the whole way with no luck. In thinking over our trolling strategy, we were probably paddling to fast. Guestimating the distance traveled and the amount of time traveling, we were probably traveling at a crisp average of 5 miles per hour. This is way too fast as far as trolling is concerned which would answer why we caught no fish in this manner. I looked into it after we got back to civilization and one-person paddling is more than enough to get the speed needed for trolling. Any future trips when trolling, one person paddling and one fishing. It took us about an hour or so to go the length of Hanson and reach the portage. The word portage is a little misleading here as there is a channel you can float through to reach Ester. No leaving the canoe necessary. Tony and I waited on the other side of the channel while we waited for Zach and Nate to catch up as they were zigzagging all over the place while trolling. They probably paddled more than a mile farther than Tony and myself. Once Zach and Nate caught up, we noticed that the clouds were starting to build so we should find a campsite sooner rather than later. There is a larger island on Ester with two campsites on it. We tethered the canoes at a spot on the shore and sent Nate in to do some recon. We were starting to wonder what became of Nate when he came back and directed us to a landing spot for the campsite that was to be ours for the night which happened to be another campsite Andy circled on our map. Site # 2009 is on the north west side of the island and it was awesome! It was roomy, spacious, with views for days. The site actually has 2 landings although we did not know this when we got there. It was only after we got everything unloaded and we started planning where to set everything up that we found the other landing which was right around the point a little farther down the shore. Although, tread with caution, the rocks at this second landing were very slippery. There were two levels to this campsite, a lower level and an upper level. On the upper level there is a large opening in the trees looking to the northwest towards the shore of Ester which has some high cliffs showing the rock face. The cliffs are probably several hundred feet high and were impressive to look at. The USFS fire grate is in an opening on the upper level and you can sit and look out this “window” at the rock face of these cliffs and relax. There are plenty of places to set up a tent and numerous trees for a hammock. The latrine is about 40 yards off the back of the campsite up the hill. From this vantage point, you can gaze down on the campsite. This site is 5 stars and hands down the best campsite of our trip. Again, we set up the tarp and then our shelters shortly thereafter. Gathered and prepared some firewood and just started to relax when the first rumbles of thunder were heard. The storm was impressive rolling in from the northwest over the aforementioned rockface cliffs. During this time, we fried up yesterday’s lunch of turkey wieners with buns and fruit and sat under the tarp waiting for things to clear. Fortunately, the storm had more bark than bite and the after about 45 minutes of rain it rolled away and we were treated to the most vibrant and impressive rainbow I have ever seen. There was a double rainbow at one point. Obviously with a rainbow you need the sun and we were in for a BWCA sunset that would rival any I had ever seen anywhere. The setting, a little chop on the water, the clouds, the color, everything was beautiful. Words cannot begin to describe it. Dinner was chicken and dumplings with peas. This meal took a little while to prepare so in the down time some fishing was done. There were several smallmouths caught on leeches and slip bobbers but nothing else. Once dinner was consumed and cleaned up, we started up a fire and tried to wait out the stars. This was our first BWCA night that was clear and we were hoping for a view of the heavens in all their glory. Unfortunately, this did not happen. I am not sure if we didn’t stay up long enough or if we were too close to the summer solstice but the stars did not come out to shine. We went to bed about 11pm. Distance traveled: 5 miles (0.38 miles portage) ~South Arm Knife Lake, Hanson Lake, Ester Lake
some morning fishing
Breakfast
packing up
ready to portage! North arm of the South Arm of Knife Lake
longest portage of the trip and absolutely the most beautiful
the view from underneath the canoe
check out the impressive size of these trees!!!
the waterfall on this portage is beautiful
just beautiful
find the canoe
the beaver pond on the portage
Hanson side of the portage
the upper level of the campsite
the lower level of the campsite
here comes more rain!!
waiting out the rain
with some games
Rainbow!!
make that a double!!
so bright!! The pot of gold was at the bottom of our lake!!
The rock cliffs opposite the campsite landing
the best sunset of the trip
the air was so clear, the colors so crisp
note the loon
Just after sunset
our version of a nightcap
Number of Permits per Day: 1
Elevation: 1249 feet
Latitude: 47.9543
Longitude: -91.5641
Tuesday, June 25, 2019 “Getting into A Rhythm” The night before we decided that with the wind blowing as it was, we wanted to get an earlier start than the previous day. We deemed Zach as our alarm clock as he woke up earlier than the rest of us and he got us going. We had breakfast of Oatmeal, dried fruit and coffee (coffee being the most important of course). After everything was cleaned up and camp was packed away, we were back on the water at about 10am. Parings were Eric and Tony, Tony in the bow. Zach and Nate, Nate in the bow. The plan for the day was to paddle to Ester and find a campsite there and rest up for a longer stretch the next day. The skies were partly cloudy with the wind out of the west and blowing steady. This was our first encounter with the wind on big water. The wind was blowing from the west right down the length of Knife lake churning the lake into a wavy playground. There were a couple of white caps but nothing to worrisome. We paddled into the waves until we were protected by an island, made an about face and rode the waves into an arm of Knife heading north and protected from the wind. Nate and Zac decided that they were going to troll for lake trout today as we were in a prime location to do so. This is where Zach conquered leg two of the BWCA grand slam, although not with a lake trout. Zach hooked into a decent sized northern pike. Although the pike was not boated due to the net being too small, we considered it a catch. The portage to Hanson from Knife was a little more difficult to find but our trusty navigator got us where we needed to be on time with no delays or backtracking. It really is amazing how you can navigate in the BWCA with just a map, we didn’t even use a compass! Although I would recommend bring a compass for sure. The portage from Knife to Hanson was to be our longest portage of the trip and only portage for the day. Being 120 rods, we were eager to get a move on. This was hands down one of the most beautiful places on earth I have ever seen. About 30 seconds into the portage you are walking along a bubbling stream and serenaded by running water, few sounds in nature are more calming and relaxing. About half way you come to this waterfall next to some absolutely enormous Cedar trees. The place was small and intimate and perfect. The waterfall was framed in by some downed trees and the water was white, a stark contrast to the surrounding foliage and made the waterfall stand out. The trail is relatively flat until you reach the waterfall and then you take a right turn and climb towards the top of the waterfall before the trail flattens out again. A little way further you start a short decline with the trailing running past a beaver damn and the pond that was created. Although we did not see any beavers it was not from lack of trying. As you continue on the trail it winds its way up again through some stands of pine studded with groupings of purple and white flowers and onto a sharp decline to the landing on Hanson lake. This was my favorite portage. Once on Hanson, it was pretty much a straight shot to Ester lake. Hanson is a little longer north to south so we hugged the western shore and stayed out of the wind for the most part. Zach and Nate trolled the whole way with no luck. In thinking over our trolling strategy, we were probably paddling to fast. Guestimating the distance traveled and the amount of time traveling, we were probably traveling at a crisp average of 5 miles per hour. This is way too fast as far as trolling is concerned which would answer why we caught no fish in this manner. I looked into it after we got back to civilization and one-person paddling is more than enough to get the speed needed for trolling. Any future trips when trolling, one person paddling and one fishing. It took us about an hour or so to go the length of Hanson and reach the portage. The word portage is a little misleading here as there is a channel you can float through to reach Ester. No leaving the canoe necessary. Tony and I waited on the other side of the channel while we waited for Zach and Nate to catch up as they were zigzagging all over the place while trolling. They probably paddled more than a mile farther than Tony and myself. Once Zach and Nate caught up, we noticed that the clouds were starting to build so we should find a campsite sooner rather than later. There is a larger island on Ester with two campsites on it. We tethered the canoes at a spot on the shore and sent Nate in to do some recon. We were starting to wonder what became of Nate when he came back and directed us to a landing spot for the campsite that was to be ours for the night which happened to be another campsite Andy circled on our map. Site # 2009 is on the north west side of the island and it was awesome! It was roomy, spacious, with views for days. The site actually has 2 landings although we did not know this when we got there. It was only after we got everything unloaded and we started planning where to set everything up that we found the other landing which was right around the point a little farther down the shore. Although, tread with caution, the rocks at this second landing were very slippery. There were two levels to this campsite, a lower level and an upper level. On the upper level there is a large opening in the trees looking to the northwest towards the shore of Ester which has some high cliffs showing the rock face. The cliffs are probably several hundred feet high and were impressive to look at. The USFS fire grate is in an opening on the upper level and you can sit and look out this “window” at the rock face of these cliffs and relax. There are plenty of places to set up a tent and numerous trees for a hammock. The latrine is about 40 yards off the back of the campsite up the hill. From this vantage point, you can gaze down on the campsite. This site is 5 stars and hands down the best campsite of our trip. Again, we set up the tarp and then our shelters shortly thereafter. Gathered and prepared some firewood and just started to relax when the first rumbles of thunder were heard. The storm was impressive rolling in from the northwest over the aforementioned rockface cliffs. During this time, we fried up yesterday’s lunch of turkey wieners with buns and fruit and sat under the tarp waiting for things to clear. Fortunately, the storm had more bark than bite and the after about 45 minutes of rain it rolled away and we were treated to the most vibrant and impressive rainbow I have ever seen. There was a double rainbow at one point. Obviously with a rainbow you need the sun and we were in for a BWCA sunset that would rival any I had ever seen anywhere. The setting, a little chop on the water, the clouds, the color, everything was beautiful. Words cannot begin to describe it. Dinner was chicken and dumplings with peas. This meal took a little while to prepare so in the down time some fishing was done. There were several smallmouths caught on leeches and slip bobbers but nothing else. Once dinner was consumed and cleaned up, we started up a fire and tried to wait out the stars. This was our first BWCA night that was clear and we were hoping for a view of the heavens in all their glory. Unfortunately, this did not happen. I am not sure if we didn’t stay up long enough or if we were too close to the summer solstice but the stars did not come out to shine. We went to bed about 11pm. Distance traveled: 5 miles (0.38 miles portage) ~South Arm Knife Lake, Hanson Lake, Ester Lake
some morning fishing
Breakfast
packing up
ready to portage! North arm of the South Arm of Knife Lake
longest portage of the trip and absolutely the most beautiful
the view from underneath the canoe
check out the impressive size of these trees!!!
the waterfall on this portage is beautiful
just beautiful
find the canoe
the beaver pond on the portage
Hanson side of the portage
the upper level of the campsite
the lower level of the campsite
here comes more rain!!
waiting out the rain
with some games
Rainbow!!
make that a double!!
so bright!! The pot of gold was at the bottom of our lake!!
The rock cliffs opposite the campsite landing
the best sunset of the trip
the air was so clear, the colors so crisp
note the loon
Just after sunset
our version of a nightcap
A (South) Wilder Trip
by L.T.sully
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 21, 2009
Entry Point:
Lake One
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
This trip had been a goal of ours for 2 years since we made North Wilder however South Wilder eluded us, South Wilder looked like a perfect lake on the maps, as it was a dead end lake no one would be tripping through, and it was a nice paddle from the Aluminum Highway of the # chain, we would soon find out if our assumptions were true.
Day 1 of 5
Sunday, June 21, 2009 Having taken a slow 3 day trip up from Indiana we would enter Lake One from the Kawishiwi Lodge early Sunday morning. Waking up at 4:45 we took our time eating breakfast and getting ready to hit the lake. However as we speed the process along we would forget small but important things that it would not take us long to realize had been forgotten once we hit the water, I will save the big one as a “surprise” for the end. 
[paragraph break] Once the canoe was loaded we set off a little after 6 in the morning, the mosquitoes were already terrible and we were killing them constantly while paddling Lake One. The morning is picture perfect however with water as calm as glass, and no one else on the water. We make good time to the first of the portages, but not before I remember that I forgot my sunglasses in the car, and the bright morning sun will not let me forget it. When we land on the portage we are instantly greeted by a swarm of mosquitoes like I have never seen before, this pushes us over the portage quickly, but the swarm follows us to the second portage, and I give in and use bug spray which I hardly ever do. Once we hit Lake Two we see the first group of the day going the other way, we were impressed at how quickly these people must have broken camp that morning as it was still hardly 7:00. The rest of the number chain is easy sailing and we only see a few groups in the other direction. The day begins to get warmer by the time we hit the series of portages from Lake 4 to Hudson, and while I want to take my long sleeve shirt off I don’t, but the mosquitoes aren’t as bad on these portages. 
As we leave Hudson we hope that it will be the last time that we see anyone else for the next 5 days, until we return to Hudson. We have paddled the Wilder creek before, but not in this direction, that fact makes it tough when we come upon what seems to be a fork in the creek that is not on the map (in fact on other maps the creek is displayed but on our newer map it is only marked as a swamp, this creek goes to Zitka Lake) We make the right choice and follow the larger creek which is the real creek. After a few more twists we get lead to a new beaver dam which had not been there two years before, however it is mostly under water and is not too hard to push over. The portage to North Wilder is again a mass of mosquitoes which seems large enough to suck every drop of blood out of us if we were to give them a chance. The portage is the toughest one of the trip, 45 rods, a little overgrown, and a few patches of swamp. This time the rush to escape the swarm will be to our disadvantage as I attempt to push the canoe further into the water it looses balance and one of our packs is dumped, we quickly recover it, and after an exchange of pleasantries we are on our way. We eat a much needed lunch on North Wilder, and continue on our way to South Wilder. The creek to South Wilder is even narrower than the previous creek, and the twists and turns are tighter, making for a slow paddle. We reach the first beaver dam on this creek, and it is about 1.5 feet high, pulling over is easier than expected, but still a bit difficult as the water and muck is very deep on either side of the dam. The sun comes out again while we paddle down the creek and this keeps the mosquitoes to a minimum on the portage into South Wilder. The portage is flat and pretty easy except for the creek crossing, and the rocky path between the Pow Wow and South Wilder. Once on South Wilder we paddle along to the first of the two sites, this site is dark, overgrown, with no good tent pad, and broken down benches, hopefully we don’t have to camp here. The other site on the lake is much nicer, with a rocky peninsula, the largest benches I have ever seen, decent tent pads, and lots of wood in the site; it seems as if maybe 1 or 2 groups had been here before us this year. 
We make camp and get all the needed chores done, the wind has picked up, and we don’t think tomorrow morning will work out for fishing. Besides it might be hard to wake up as one of the only items badly damaged when the pack slid into the water was the alarm clock used to wake up for fishing. Dinner is steak, peas, and potatoes, it goes off without a hitch, and we button down expecting a storm to hit overnight. 
[paragraph break] Once the canoe was loaded we set off a little after 6 in the morning, the mosquitoes were already terrible and we were killing them constantly while paddling Lake One. The morning is picture perfect however with water as calm as glass, and no one else on the water. We make good time to the first of the portages, but not before I remember that I forgot my sunglasses in the car, and the bright morning sun will not let me forget it. When we land on the portage we are instantly greeted by a swarm of mosquitoes like I have never seen before, this pushes us over the portage quickly, but the swarm follows us to the second portage, and I give in and use bug spray which I hardly ever do. Once we hit Lake Two we see the first group of the day going the other way, we were impressed at how quickly these people must have broken camp that morning as it was still hardly 7:00. The rest of the number chain is easy sailing and we only see a few groups in the other direction. The day begins to get warmer by the time we hit the series of portages from Lake 4 to Hudson, and while I want to take my long sleeve shirt off I don’t, but the mosquitoes aren’t as bad on these portages. As we leave Hudson we hope that it will be the last time that we see anyone else for the next 5 days, until we return to Hudson. We have paddled the Wilder creek before, but not in this direction, that fact makes it tough when we come upon what seems to be a fork in the creek that is not on the map (in fact on other maps the creek is displayed but on our newer map it is only marked as a swamp, this creek goes to Zitka Lake) We make the right choice and follow the larger creek which is the real creek. After a few more twists we get lead to a new beaver dam which had not been there two years before, however it is mostly under water and is not too hard to push over. The portage to North Wilder is again a mass of mosquitoes which seems large enough to suck every drop of blood out of us if we were to give them a chance. The portage is the toughest one of the trip, 45 rods, a little overgrown, and a few patches of swamp. This time the rush to escape the swarm will be to our disadvantage as I attempt to push the canoe further into the water it looses balance and one of our packs is dumped, we quickly recover it, and after an exchange of pleasantries we are on our way. We eat a much needed lunch on North Wilder, and continue on our way to South Wilder. The creek to South Wilder is even narrower than the previous creek, and the twists and turns are tighter, making for a slow paddle. We reach the first beaver dam on this creek, and it is about 1.5 feet high, pulling over is easier than expected, but still a bit difficult as the water and muck is very deep on either side of the dam. The sun comes out again while we paddle down the creek and this keeps the mosquitoes to a minimum on the portage into South Wilder. The portage is flat and pretty easy except for the creek crossing, and the rocky path between the Pow Wow and South Wilder. Once on South Wilder we paddle along to the first of the two sites, this site is dark, overgrown, with no good tent pad, and broken down benches, hopefully we don’t have to camp here. The other site on the lake is much nicer, with a rocky peninsula, the largest benches I have ever seen, decent tent pads, and lots of wood in the site; it seems as if maybe 1 or 2 groups had been here before us this year. We make camp and get all the needed chores done, the wind has picked up, and we don’t think tomorrow morning will work out for fishing. Besides it might be hard to wake up as one of the only items badly damaged when the pack slid into the water was the alarm clock used to wake up for fishing. Dinner is steak, peas, and potatoes, it goes off without a hitch, and we button down expecting a storm to hit overnight.
Day 2 of 5
Monday, June 22, 2009 Phil and I both wake up at about 8:00 with the sound of nearby thunder, and lots of rain, it is an easy choice to stay in the tent, and wait it out. At about 10 we get up, with a clearing in the storm, and debate weather we should try and start a fire to do bacon and hash browns as planned, or to do oatmeal and save the bacon for tomorrow, before we get anything started the wind shifts and it begins pouring again, and we hurry up to get everything under the tarp, and get ourselves back in the tent. Finally at nearly 3 in the afternoon the storm clears, and the sun comes out, and this time it is for good, we get out of the tent and begin to dry things off in the sun, and since we are both very hungry by now we quickly start a fire up for bacon and hash browns. The weather gets better the whole time, and after eating at 4 we decide to fish. On one of the very first casts a fish chases the lure to the surface only to dive once it saw us. While out fishing the clouds disappear and the wind dies off we come back in at 7:30 and only make the main dish to eat since we had just eaten “breakfast”. Freeze dried Chili Mac takes very little time to prepare and clean up from and by the time we are done eating and cleaning up the mosquitoes are out in full force so we retreat again to the tent. We come out of the tent at about 10 and it takes time to get a fire going with a lot of the wood still being damp, however once going we are happy to have it. While looking at the stars we discover our sites other inhabitant a painted turtle. At about 11 we can see flashes off to the South, and while we hope it is just our campfire flaring up we know it is really lightning. When the lightning gets close enough to be heard we go into the tent and try to sleep which it tough after sleeping on and off in the tent all morning. 
Day 3 of 5
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 The Storm never hit us as hard as we expected, and we wake up at 4:00 without an alarm, at the very first crack of light, and head out fishing. It is so early even the mosquitoes aren’t so bad. On the lake the fog gets thicker the entire time until you can barely see 10ft in any direction, before it gets too bad we see a beaver going across the lake and slap its tail before diving. Eventually after 4 hours and combing almost the entire lake without as much as a nibble we head back into camp. We make our breakfast of oatmeal, and after everything is set we finish drying everything out. 
At about 11 we decide to try our planned day hike to Pose Lake. We start at the eastern end of the lake looking for any landing with access to the trail however after finding no easy entries to the trail we settle on a rock ledge we had noticed fishing that morning that was directly across from our campsite. This part of the trail is very rough, we struggle over the terrain and when it takes us 20 min just to cover the half mile to the end of South Wilder we realize that the 5 mile round trip to Pose will simply take too long, and we head back to camp. Today is another very hot day, and I finally take my long sleeve shirt off, which would later lead to a nice sunburn. For the rest of the afternoon we fish and explore the lake more. I try to climb to the top of a large rock by the portage which I had seen on the way in, the rock got the better of me and I only made it about halfway up. We also look at the small creek into Pioneer lake, and decide not to try a bushwhack. When we come back to camp we discover another turtle, this time a large snapper. Just like yesterday the wind has calmed and after we eat tonight’s dinner of Beef stew, and corn we head back out fishing determined to catch something. After several more hours of disappointment we head back to camp at about 9:30 and start tonight’s fire. We watch the skittish painted turtle, and the large snapper both dig holes in the dirt while it gets dark out. Once it is dark we can clearly see a nasty storm off to the East and while there is not a cloud in the sky where we are there is near constant lightning off to the east. Throughout the night we watch this storm move from south to north in the eastern sky. At about 12:30 we start to see flashes to the south, and at 1 we call it a night, and head into the tent, there will be no fishing at 4:00 tomorrow. 
At about 11 we decide to try our planned day hike to Pose Lake. We start at the eastern end of the lake looking for any landing with access to the trail however after finding no easy entries to the trail we settle on a rock ledge we had noticed fishing that morning that was directly across from our campsite. This part of the trail is very rough, we struggle over the terrain and when it takes us 20 min just to cover the half mile to the end of South Wilder we realize that the 5 mile round trip to Pose will simply take too long, and we head back to camp. Today is another very hot day, and I finally take my long sleeve shirt off, which would later lead to a nice sunburn. For the rest of the afternoon we fish and explore the lake more. I try to climb to the top of a large rock by the portage which I had seen on the way in, the rock got the better of me and I only made it about halfway up. We also look at the small creek into Pioneer lake, and decide not to try a bushwhack. When we come back to camp we discover another turtle, this time a large snapper. Just like yesterday the wind has calmed and after we eat tonight’s dinner of Beef stew, and corn we head back out fishing determined to catch something. After several more hours of disappointment we head back to camp at about 9:30 and start tonight’s fire. We watch the skittish painted turtle, and the large snapper both dig holes in the dirt while it gets dark out. Once it is dark we can clearly see a nasty storm off to the East and while there is not a cloud in the sky where we are there is near constant lightning off to the east. Throughout the night we watch this storm move from south to north in the eastern sky. At about 12:30 we start to see flashes to the south, and at 1 we call it a night, and head into the tent, there will be no fishing at 4:00 tomorrow.
Day 4 of 5
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 We wake up at about 8 and head out to fish; we have to catch fish on the trip. However after two more hours of nothing we head into camp to start today’s breakfast: Pancakes with eggs. Everything starts out well, however the skillet is not greased enough and the pancakes are not cooking so well. Then my dad leaves the whisperlite on too high with the eggs on, and burns the eggs. This will come to be remembered as the “Disaster Breakfast” as we later found out we also burned a hole straight through the biggest pot in our cook set. In the end we have a huge mess to clean up and no food to eat, so breakfast is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. A temporary fix for the pot with various tapes is the best we can do so that it will at least hold water for the dishes. We spend almost the entire afternoon fishing, possibly the most exciting part was watching a pair of loons. We hit one weed bed where we seem to be getting nibbles but no bites, and eventually the wind blows us away from the bed and we fish the entire southern shoreline of the lake. When we hit the eastern shore 6:00 we head into camp for good to cook dinner. Tonight we see the snapper along with two painted turtles; we begin to think that our site must be a turtle breeding ground. It is too cloudy to stay up and stargaze tonight, so we simply keep a small fire going all evening, and take apart everything we won’t need in the morning. At about 9:30 we head in. 
Day 5 of 5
Thursday, June 25, 2009 On the last day the alarm doesn’t go off, but we still wake up at about 5:30. Breakfast is quick this morning, oatmeal again, we take down everything in camp quickly, making good time. It will be hard to say goodbye to what for the last 5 days has been our own site on our own little lake. The turtles aren’t really out this morning which is nice since they we always near our canoe landing. By 8:00 we have everything packed and the canoe loaded, we are now on the water. The bugs on the first portage out are horrible, taking the portage this early in the morning is tough however we take it quickly and make it to the creek. The creek is nice and peaceful early in the morning, and when we hit the beaver dam it was a little annoying that it was just as hard to go down it as it was to go over it. Once on North Wilder the wind begins to pick up some more, and we see two seagulls on the lake possibly descendants of the one we had seen nesting on the lake two years earlier. The sun makes the portage from North Wilder much easier by keeping the mosquitoes at bay. Paddling the combined 5-6 miles up the two creeks takes longer than expected however the serenity of the creek makes up for that. When we hit the mouth of the creek at Hudson Lake we instantly see the first group of people for 5 days. While on these portages we see several interesting groups pass us, including two that were two person carrying their canoes over the portages. Once we finished the last portage and were on the shores of Lake Four we eat a quick lunch. We are headed directly into the wind for the entire trip across Lakes 4,3,and 2. The portages into Lake One are much nicer without the mosquitoes, and once on Lake One we make good time arriving at the landing at the lodge at about 2. Once back at the lodge we unload the canoe and waste no time checking our car and then asking the lodge about the most important of the items we had left in the bunkhouse before leaving: my fathers’ wedding ring. While they found the blanket we had left they did not find the ring, and it is no where in our car either. The only conclusion could be that some scumbag who used the bunkhouse after us took it for keeps. After our investigation into the whereabouts of the ring we load the car up, and take a shower at the lodge. We hit Ely a little before 5 and eat at the boathouse, and then leave town for my uncles and then the next day for home. 
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