BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 02 2024
Entry Point 30 - Lake One
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
Island River to Isabella - Kid Friendly Base Camping Trip
Entry Date:
June 24, 2009
Entry Point:
Island River
Exit Point:
Isabella Lake (35)
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
5
-Find campsite on Isabella; on west-end peninsula (island was taken); has plenty of room, cedar trees; eastward facing. -Wind is mild and out of west; bugs are bad. -My new Taj 3 sets up lickety-split. -Supper is ham and Asian noodles; so far, they like the cook.
-Hang my new Byer Amazon hammock; it is awesome! -Catch a largemouth and a pike; Skip catches pike; I let my pike go; other pike & largemouth escapes thru weaknesses in the fish pen (that Skip warned me about) that the kids completed. -Kids name resident chipmunk “Chippie”; we never feed him, but he must think he’ll find something; he’s there dawn & dusk. -Hang the bear ropes and the food; using 5-gal bucket for the food works SWEET! -Short campfire; too warm for long one. -Go to sleep giving Isaiah (my son) a long backrub; he can’t fall asleep.
-Am in the canoe with the 2 boys (Isaiah and Skip); catch a (northern) pike… start to remove hook… pike shakes and drives xtra treble hook thru my thumb. -Ummm… OK. I can’t get it out. -Calmly paddle back to camp; boys are awful quiet. -Sit on log with Leatherman; can’t get it out myself; now what? -I’ve been OK up ‘til now, but now feel like passing out; lay on hammock. -Scott manages to file off the barb, then pull hook backwards thru thumb. -Becky bandages it; all better; time for a nap.
-Awaken from nap… and remove remaining front treble hooks from favorite 2-hook lures :) . -Scott catches eater walleye. -I catch 2 eater pike and 1 eater walleye… all while trolling shorelines; bobber w/ baits ain’t workin’. Small floating diver plugs (Shad Rap or Berkley Frenzy Shad) are workin'. Scott caught his walleye trolling a spoon. -Gonna walk on small island, but Isaiah notices a loon on her nest (good eyes, boy); we observe from afar & don’t walk on island). -Isaiah notices Seagull sitting on nest on different shore. -Supper is pasta, bread dipped in spiced olive oil.
-Scott filets the fish; (he says) to “keep him from getting voted off the island.” :) -After dinner snack is fried fish! -All 5 work as team to quickly wash dishes back in the woods; skeeters are harsh back there; hurry. -Short campfire… and g’nite. -Isaiah gets his backrub, but falls asleep very quickly tonight.
-We plan day trip to other end of lake & up Perent River; set out in late morning. -Isaiah doesn’t feel so well; is “tired”. Doesn’t paddle much as we cross Isabella. -After portaging to Boca, Sai says he’d like to go back; Scott, Becky and Skip continue on… I paddle Isaiah back to camp. -My son and I take long nap in side-by-side hammocks; divine.
-S-B-S return from trip, happy, hungry & THIRSTY; I had the water filter. :( -Isaiah feels better. -I paddle alone to fish; catch nothing. -Kids learn how to hang in hammocks… upside down. -Supper is chicken wild rice soup… and side dish of buttered rice; they still like the cook.
-Very calm evening; at dusk, bugs are everywhere. Not biting bad… damselflies by the thousands, dragonflies, etc, etc. -After dusk… bugs gone… calm; nice… very nice. -In the tent, I think to myself “could there BE any more sand in a tent? Sheesh! Perhaps I should buy an innie.”
-All 5 play President Scum card game. -Each hand bestows title upon each player… winner = “President”, 2nd place = “Vice President”, 3rd place = “Vice Scum”, 4th place = “Scum”. -We need a 5th place title; we choose “Dick Cheney”. -Then we replace President/ Vice-President/ Vice-Scum/ Scum/Dick Cheney with “Kirk/ Spock/ Checkov/ O’Hura/ Unnamed-landing-party-member-who-dies-first”. -Then… “Calypso/ Davy Jones/ Jack Sparrow/ Pirate with a fork stuck in his wooden eye/ drunken blacksmith”. -Then other movies… you get the idea.
-Scott & Isaiah carve wood… whittling; Scott cuts end of finger open. Nice. What next? -Downed cedar log is nearby; Scott and I carry it to fire grate; it’s the new bench. -All go on long walk for firewood; at campsite we cut up and leave enough for the next campers. -Becky is pummeled by boy humor. -Saw loon with baby on her back, just off shore. -Cold, lethargic dragonflies everywhere; they like to sit on our palms.
-Scott and I troll & cast for a while; he hooks nice pike, but it cuts his line.
-Supper is Red Beans & Rice with pepperoni-n-chicken… along with tortillas; they still like me (the cook). -Had a (small) fire going most of the day; evening campfire is GREAT! Cool enough and breezy enough to appreciate it! -A little wine… a little cheese… some crackers… trivia… jokes… yep, all the good stuff. -Bear pack is easy to hang tonight.
-It was not a hard trip, but a little trip with a variety of conditions and activities; a good trip for kids, newbies... and even those of us who are only slightly more experienced with BWCA stuff. I may be ready for a more arduous trip next time.
-The drive home includes stops at Beaver Bay (Agate City) and Duluth (Perkins).
-At home, unload the van immediately… then do weightlifting routines I missed while gone; life is good!
MON: -I’m at work. Ugh.