BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 24 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!
Chicago to Disappointment and back
Entry Date:
July 14, 2010
Entry Point:
Snowbank Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
4
Left Downtown Chicago at 5:05pm. Architects don't get many vacation days as I am told, hence the late departure. Making great time, until we get hit with the single largest storm I have ever had the opportunity to drive through, just past the Dells. 70mph became 50, which soon led to 30, which eventually past 10 as we had to stop on the shoulder of 90/94 because I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me at 10 mph. The lightning was so intense it made dizzy as I was trying to drive straight. An hour later the storm breaks and we are able to continue northward.
After several failed attempts at finding a vacancy in about 12 tries, we pull into the Coates Plaza Hotel in downtown Virgina,MN just shy of 3am. We are tired. The night manager scoffs at our 6:00 wake-up call request. 
5:45, I wake up before our call; excited. We check-out with the same night manager and drive the rest of the way to Ely, buy leeches and a license, and pick up our permit at the AWESOME new ranger station (I went to school at Vermilion C.C. and knew the old ranger station very well. This one is better, to say the least). We continued up 169 to Smitty's on Snowbank where some very nice gentlemen helped us into our canoes and sent us on our way.
Paddled HARD across high whitecaps brought on by 20mph+ winds. We chose to take the long portage directly to Disappointment. My wife and I made it 2/3 of the way over the portage before the weight of my pack, the food pack, and half the canoe was too much for my shoulders to bear. We reached Disappointment, dropped the canoe and headed back to retrieve my gear pack. We returned to Disappointment to find 5 other canoes and 11 people preparing to portage. Needless to say we tried to hurry out of that mess of canoes and bodies. Passing several 4-canoe groups we make our way into Disappointment and end up finding the best campsite ever, because it was available! The site is numbered 3 on the back of the latrine; it faces south and is north of the first island site. We count ourselves extremely lucky when in the next hour; we were passed by 4 other groups looking for sites on the lake. Set up our camp, after a pretty long search for a useable overhanging branch comes up empty, we find a few trees 30 yards from camp and set up a 2 rope system to hang our food. After a nice afternoon paddle we return to find a group of 4 guys who decided to camp illegally on the rocky point 50 yards down the shore from our legitimate campsite and 20 yards from our food pack. This is bothersome to us, but we choose not to confront them. We eat venison steaks, potatoes, and we sleep. 
Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Today is a planned day trip to Cattyman Falls, which starts out great until the wind hits us as hard as on Snowbank the day before, not enjoyable. Aside from the wind, the trip is great; beautiful scenery and sunshine. The portages were short, but with more elevation than I was expecting. Jitterbug “dock” helped out a lot, but the water was still a bit low which made re-entering the canoe a balancing act.
As we finish the portage onto Cattyman we see from a distance some fellow campers enjoying the falls. As we approach we realize there are 6 watercraft and more than 11 people all about the falls, so we stop across the lake, eat lunch, and wait until the pile of people and canoes thins out. The falls are a beautiful accomplishment and enjoyed to their fullest before we leave.
As we return to our campsite on Disappointment the “squatters” down the shore had left during the day, which is nice, but we notice another set of “squatters” camping on a small island without a campsite just to the SW of our site. This is less bothersome than the others, but we smell mary-jane on the air and hear them clean their dishes into the lake. In the early evening we see 7 loons together, swimming, squawking, and splashing. This is a first for me and I love the show. 
The “neighbors” clean their dishes and brush their teeth into the lake, one of my biggest pet peeves. Anyway, today we have nothing but relaxation planned, and we nail that goal! Some walleye fishing comes up empty handed but we land some small smallmouth, so we weren’t skunked on the trip. The second set of “squatters” departs by lunch, thankfully. The wind has finally died down so we spend most of our day on the lake, investigating its many bays, nooks, and crannies. It couldn’t be a better weather day, and the sun sets through the trees quicker than expected. Tomorrow we leave, but don’t want to. 
4am brings thunder and lightning and rain. My shoes will not be dry when I get up this morning. After about 2 hours of storms we unzip at 6:30 to find the lake is as still as glass and a rainbow has developed in the southern sky; two very good signs. It takes 50 minutes to pack everything up and we are on our way back the way we came.
This time with most of the food eaten, we are able to single portage without stopping, and this feels great. Snowbank lake greats us with fluffy white clouds, and most importantly calm waters. As we cross this massive calm lake I reflect on the many trips I have made into this pine-filled heaven and conclude this morning’s paddle is one of the best I have ever had. I thoroughly enjoy this revelation while I soak up the sun and the scenery. The trip has come to an end here, because the 12 hour drive back to Chicago that follows our docking at Smitty’s is just not something I am going to keep in my long-term memory. 