Boundary Waters Trip Reports, Blog, BWCA, BWCAW, Quetico Park

BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 28 2024

Entry Point 30 - Lake One

Lake One 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 21 miles. Access is a canoe landing at 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!

May 21-23

by Eglath
Trip Report

Entry Date: May 21, 2004
Entry Point: Snowbank Lake
Number of Days: 3
Group Size: 2

Trip Introduction:
We bring minimal gear--tent, cookset, small stove, fishing gear, sleeping bags, journals, and not much food (two clif bars per person per day, 1/4 lb. of trial mix per person per day and a packet of Vigo beans and rice to share each night) because we usually catch a fish or so a day to eat. We intended to reach Jordan or Ima on the first day, camp two nights and then head back, but the gods had other plans for us... Trip Map at the bottom

Day 1 of 3


Friday, May 21, 2004
Snowbank Lake, Parent Lake, Disappointment Lake

We woke up at 5 a.m. in Duluth and headed for Ely. We got liscenses, bait and our permit and hit the entry point around 9 a.m. It felt great to be there, but Snowbank didn't look like a very happy lake. The wind was steady out of the NE and the waves were about 6 in. or so. Not too bad, but we didn't especially want to go broadside, as we were in a shallow, 15 ft. redwood canoe. We were originally going to head straight to the direct portage to Disappointment, but because of the wind, we tacked down around Burnt Island and back up to the portage into Parent. Parent was a little wavy, but we had no trouble getting to the portage to Disappoinment. At the other end, we discovered four separate groups with six total canoes headed into Disappointment, so rather than end up in a huge caravan, we decided to fish our way up the channel just north of the portage. Josh was steering while I was casting a jig with a spinner at shore. Fifteen minutes later, about halfway down the channel, I hooked a fish. We couldn't believe it--a 3 lb., 17.5" Smallmouth Bass. So we checked the map, and headed for the southern island campsite. When we landed on the island, we realized what a beautiful site it was. It has a central tent-pad (out of the wind) and a landing area on the leeward side (at least for that day). So, we cooked and ate the Smallmouth, set up camp and had the rest of the day to relax. Sat around a nice little fire, not too cold, had some beans and rice and a bit of Jameson and went to bed.

Map: [Paddling in green, Portaging in blue, fish marked by red fish]

 



Day 2 of 3


Saturday, May 22, 2004
Disappointment Lake, Ahsub Lake, Jitterbug Lake

We got up early and made Earl Grey with a dash of Bailey's (since it was a bit chilly) and some trail mix for breakfast. Then we packed our fishing gear, stove, kitchen stuff and pans and headed out for a day trip. We fished our way up through most of Disappointment without much luck, but on the SW shore of the big bowl on the north end, I hooked a 24" Northern. So we hauled him in and headed for Ahsub, hoping to find a campsite to cook him up for lunch. But there were no open sites, so we paddled slowly (for the Northern's benefit) through Ahsub and portaged to Jitterbug where we found four canoes and eight people landing to go the other way. Luckily, there was space near the portage to cook and eat the Northern. So we did. Jitterbug didn't look like especially good fishing, so we decided to head back the way we came. We fished Ahsub for a while, but couldn't find the Brook Trout that are stocked there (neither of us really know how to catch stream trout in a cold lake on a cloudy day). So we trolled our way back down through Disappointment, as it was about six o'clock. We were nearly all the way back, literally 50 ft. from the landing point on our island when Josh hooked a 20" Walleye. Beautiful fish. Excellent dinner (we put the larger chunks in the beans and rice--fantastic). We sipped a bit of whiskey, toasted to an excellent day and went to bed.

Map: [Paddling in purple, Portaging in blue, fish marked by red fish]

 



Day 3 of 3


Sunday, May 23, 2004
Disappointment Lake, Parent Lake, Snowbank Lake

This was one of the most ridiculous days i've experienced in the BW. the temperature had risen a bit, but the wind had nearly doubled. the 10-12" waves on Disappointment were a bit disconcerting. we tried a bit of fishing in the morning, hoping the wind would quiet down a little by noon or so, but that didn't work out so well. so we broke camp, packed up, and headed out. the wind was out of the NE and was blowing waves by our island on both sides, which then crossed to the SW of the island, where we needed to head to stay out of most of the waves. it was a bit tricky in our little 15 ft. canoe. but we made it around the little islands and back to the portage. when we reached Parent Lake, the water seemed calm. this was, of course, an illusion. we headed directly for the portage with the wind at our backs. but the waves just kept getting bigger and bigger, topping out at over a foot from trough to crest. i was in the bow, paddling as hard as i could to keep us moving forward and josh was in the stern, draw-stroking as hard as he could to keep us from going broadside. absolutely ridiculous. we ended up going directly east and landing on shore near a campsite. after weighing our options (paddling directly into that wind that had just blown us off course, bushwacking 1/2 a mile to the portage or just jumping out into the freakin' cold water and walking the canoe 1/3 a mile down the shore to the portage). so we jumped out. i'm just happy neither of us twisted an ankle or lost permanent feeling below our knees (it was dang cold). the portage to Snowbank warmed our feet a little, so that was good, but when we got there, we could see huge rollers coming down from the NE corner of the lake, directly across the path we needed to take to get to the landing. as luck would have it, there's an isolated resort near the Parent-Snowbank portage. so we paddled over, and the nice people who own the Wilderness Bay Resort gave us (and our canoe/gear) a ride back on their pontoon boat. altogether a harrowing day. and don't even get me started about the 30 mph crosswinds that tried to blow the canoe off the car between Ely and Duluth...

Map: [Paddling/Walking in the water in red, Portaging in blue, Motorized boat in yellow]

 

Lakes Traveled:   Disappointment Lake, Parent Lake, Snowbank Lake,

Routes
Trip Reports
a
.
Routes
Trip Reports
Routes
Trip Reports
Routes
Trip Reports
.
Routes
Trip Reports
Routes
Trip Reports
x
Routes
Trip Reports
fd
hgc
Routes
Trip Reports