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BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 19 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!

Lake Three Adventure - No Regrets

by alpine525
Trip Report

Entry Date: September 06, 2010
Entry Point: Lake One
Number of Days: 3
Group Size: 2

Trip Introduction:
We live in the suburbs of Chicago and we have been exploring the Boundary Waters for more than 15 years. Most of our trips have been off the Gunflint Trail - until two years ago when we started exploring the Ely area. We know all of the routes off Gunflint - have done many of them multiple times. Ely offers lots of new opportunities - and this year we decided to explore the numbered lakes. My husband, Frank, is 65 and is diabetic. He's in great physical shape, but we approach our trips a bit differently than most. My name is Barb and I'm 56. I like to think I'm in pretty good shape - I can still carry the heavy packs over moderately difficult portages. We use Duluth Packs - and I love the feel of the canvas on my back. Weird as it may sound, I love to carry the food pack - it's my favorite thing to carry on the portages. Over the last couple of years we planned trips where we could base camp and spend our days fishing and exploring the surrounding areas on day trips.

Report


This year our goal was to see the numbered lakes and to base camp on Lake Three. From Lake Three there are lots of great opportunities for day trips.

We had a very warm summer in Chicago - the week before our trip we had 90+ temps. On Monday, September 6th we woke up in the VNO bunkhouse to a cold 36° at 6:00 a.m. Ooooh - so cold! We had a quick breakfast of hot oatmeal, yogurt and coffee to get us started. We packed up our gear and went over to the outfitter building and loaded our gear in the van. I picked up an extra paddle....wanted to keep my Whiskey Jill paddle looking good - I used the extra paddle to dodge rocks!

Because of the cold temps I was dressed in lots of layers and I had a warm hat, gloves, and a fleece jacket. Frank, on the other hand, was walking around in a pair of nylon shorts and a t-shirt. He's usually never cold and he wears shorts and t-shirts when everyone else is bundled up. When we were packing for this trip, he refused to bring long pants or a jacket. But on this particular morning, he was looking kind of cold. So, I surprised him by pulling out a hat, a pair of gloves, and a fleece jacket. I think he was grateful!

We headed out on our way to Lake One. The sun was shining so brightly, the driver had to slow down. She had to swerve to avoid a deer coming out of the woods. When we got to the entry point, we discovered the lake was entirely covered in thick fog. We could not see across to the other side. Bright sunshine further complicated things. We definitely could not begin to paddle. We took our time and organized our gear, and eventually we set out to paddle at 7:50 a.m. There was still fog - so we paddled slowly.

Got wet feet right off the bat - the water was clear and cold. As we paddled we found our way to the correct channel - no mistakes thanks to all the info from board members! Before too long, the fog lifted and we were winding our way through the channel and the maze of islands in Lake One. We easily found the first portage which was a very short portage. Less than 5 minutes later we got to do it again -- another short, easy portage. We saw people on both portages - most everyone was leaving - just one other canoe was heading in. This was Labor Day - many people were ending their trips. As we paddled on - we saw three bald eagles soaring over Lake Two - three flying together - a beautiful sight. As we made the turn into Lake Three, we came across a couple in a canoe who just left a campsite and were beginning their paddle out. They told us about their campsite - it was nice (and large) and they said they left plenty of firewood. So we paddled into Lake Three took their site - the landing was great - a small patch of nice soft sand. Before unloading the canoe, we looked around. In my opinion it was a four star campsite. There were three or four level tent pads - one had a nice pad of green grass. There were lots of trees for tarps and hammocks as well as large rocks all along the shore.

We set up camp - we put one tarp over the entrance to our tent - as we were expecting rain almost every day. We put a second tarp up closer to the "kitchen" area. After most everything was set up, we had PBJ sandwiches, chips and a peach. We hit the hammocks for a nap in the warm afternoon sun.

We saw lots of canoes coming in after us - all looking for campsites in our area. Most, if not all, of the good sites were taken. At about 4:00 p.m. it started to cloud up a bit. It was warm during the day - somewhere around 65°. That was as warm as it was going to get. It was a little windy - but not too bad. No mosquitoes yet - but plenty of bees.

Our dinner plans didn't work out exactly as planned. We keep our fresh food in a soft sided cooler, along with four frozen water bottles. Since our steaks were still frozen, dinner was Mountain House Buffalo Chicken Wraps and tortillas which were very good - but a bit spicy. We had red wine - cabernet sauvignon - and chocolate cake for dessert. The wind was blowing and it started to cool off - 55°. Went to bed a little after 8:00 p.m. as it started to rain. It rained all night. We were warm and cozy in our Big Agnes Parkview 3 tent - sleeping on our comfortable Exped Downmats and snuggled in our sleeping bags.

Tuesday, September 7th

The next morning I got up at 6:30 a.m. when nature called and went back in the tent until 9:45 a.m. It was not raining - but it was windy. When we finally got up, we went over to check out the food packs, and we found that "critters" got in one of our food packs (a small, soft-sided cooler, hung in a tree). We lost our fruit (4 apples, grapes and peaches) and our steaks for Tuesday's dinner - not to mention they ruined a very nice NRS cooler. The critters left our steaks on the ground - but everything else was completely gone. I'm not sure what kind of animal got into the cooler - but we found the cooler "unzipped", and the top of the cooler had been "slashed", exposing the foam insulation. I'm thinking about getting a blue barrel to minimize the risk of this ever happening again.

Got water started for coffee and breakfast - egg skillets from Mountain House with tortillas. They were ok - but not great. We saw about four canoes go by looking for campsites between 11 and noon. There were no campsites available around us. Straightened up and went back in the tent at 12:30 because it started to rain. Spent most of the afternoon under a tarp trying to keep dry and warm -- cut some large downed logs to expose dry wood and made a fire in between the sprinkles. It rained lightly on and off all day. We watched the squirrels run around - there were so many of them around this site - more than we've ever seen. We were fascinated by the number of eagles on Lake Three - entertaining us for long periods by soaring over the water and diving for fish. We didn't eat lunch because we had such a late breakfast. Just snacked on some nuts and trail mix. Watched two gray jays near our fire pit looking for handouts. For dinner we had a Mountain House Mexican dinner - chicken, beans, black olives, with tortillas. It was good. Once again, we had our red wine and chocolate cake.

After dinner we fished a little from shore. Although we didn't catch anything, there were fish jumping out of the water right off our campsite -- frustrating. As dusk approached, we hung our food pack in a tree - hoped the "critters" would leave it alone. We built a nice campfire and enjoyed the warmth for more than an hour. I put out the campfire with a bucket of water and got ready to hit the sack. At about 9:00 p.m. it was starting to get chilly. There was no wind - just a bit of cloud cover - as the sky was starting to clear up. I was thinking that it was going to be cold that night. As I was writing this entry in the tent, I was using my headlamp - a gift from my co-workers last year for my birthday. As I reflected on the day - I realized it wasn't the best day we ever had (weather wise) - the temperature never made it past 45° and the sun never came out. But that was ok - last year (summer 2009) we had stunning weather every day - sunshine and temps in the 70's - and not one drop of rain. Some years the weather is just better than other years - and we've learned not to let the weather ruin our trip. We're flexible - we go with the flow.

Somewhere around midnight we woke up to some strange sounds...sounds we have never heard before. It sounded like huge logs were dropping from the trees. We heard it twice and then we went out to investigate. I had a flashlight and I looked around the campsite - all the packs were safely in place - and I didn't see anything at all. So we went back in the tent. Once back in the tent, we heard the same sound - just like a huge log being dropped from high up in a tree. The rest of the night was peaceful.

Wednesday, September 8th

Woke up to calm weather - a light breeze and clouds. Our thermometer said the temperature was 40°. No sun yet - we hoped it would show up soon. I re-organized the tent and added more air to our Exped sleeping pads. Was looking for my gloves - couldn't remember where I put them. Every year there is something I seem to lose track of for a few days - this year it was my gloves.

Around 9:00 a.m., the couple in the campsite next to ours, paddled by and told us that they were leaving because they had a bear visit their campsite during the night. The bear took their entire food pack - left nothing behind - it was a "leave no trace" bear. ?? (They did not hang their food pack - it was left on the ground.) Without food - their trip came to an end.

We then realized that the bear must have visited our campsite as well. The sounds we heard during the night must have been the bear swatting at a tree or stomping the ground with his/her paw. Since our food was contained in plastic containers inside the pack to eliminate odors - and the food pack was hung well - the bear didn't succeed at getting our food. Since Frank is diabetic, our food is very important - we can't be without it - especially when paddling and portaging. We knew the bear would be back again - so we made the decision to leave later in the day. I suppose we could have moved to another site - but we chose to leave instead. In hindsight, we made the right decision. We later learned that the bear activity continued on Lake Three - and Lakes One and Two in the following days (nights).

We had coffee and granola with milk for breakfast. Feeling a bit disappointed, we slowly started to break camp - and we left at some point in the early afternoon. We weren't sure about the exact time, because Frank had taken off his watch to stuff the sleeping bags in their stuff sacks. He didn't want to snag the fabric on the sleeping bags. He forgot to put his watch back on - and it got rolled in the tent and put into the Duluth pack. We found it days later when we unpacked our gear.

It was a calm but cloudy day. We paddled out through the maze of islands in Lakes Two and One -- missed the Lake Two portage - but eventually found our way. The water was cold - my feet were cold and wet. All the while we were paddling, I felt depressed. We had planned on fishing and exploring the surrounding lakes on day trips and hiking a bit of the Pow Wow trail. It just wasn't meant to be. I usually approach my trip with the attitude "no regrets" - which means we keep on with our plans no matter what obstacles may come our way. Well not this trip. In hindsight, I still support our decision to paddle out - I might have had regrets if our food pack disappeared.

We continued to paddle through Lake One to Kawishiwi Lodge and called VNO to come and get us. After paddling away from the Lodge, we paddled through a very pretty stretch to the entry point and unloaded the canoe -- and as we did this -- our driver pulled up.

We went back to the VNO bunkhouse and got a room for the night. Took showers and headed to the Ely Steakhouse. I had a burger and fries and Frank had Walleye and a baked potato. We headed back to the bunkhouse and watched TV - the Discovery channel - Bear Grylis. After we closed the door to our room, two other parties came in - one upstairs and one downstairs. There was lots of noise for quite a while - these guys were really excited about their trip. It took a long time before they went to sleep, and the next morning they got up early - and they were gone by 7:00 a.m.

Although we wished we could have stayed out on Lake Three longer, our vacation wasn't over yet.

Every year after our canoe trip, we spend a couple of days in a cabin in the area. Last year we stayed at Moose Track - this year we were heading up the Echo Trail. We had reservations at a place called Echo Trail Outfitters on Fenske Lake. Fenske Lake is beautiful, small and intimate. We stayed in their White Pine Cabin - a cozy little one bedroom cabin with a full kitchen, living area, a deck, and a private dock (complete with aluminum canoe)! The only missing element was hot running water. If we wanted hot water, we had to heat it in a large kettle on the stove. I was "ok" with that - it just added to the experience.

Over the next four days we really enjoyed our stay on the Echo trail - we took a day trip along the LIS river- another to Hegman Lakes - we hiked the Dry Lake trail near Bass Lake - and we fished. At night we sat on the deck, watched the sun set, and had campfires. Each night at dusk, a family of beavers headed to our little bay to feast on the vegetation. They would glide right by our dock and we could hear them "munching" for a long while.

There were a couple of days when we drove into Ely for shopping and meals. We visited the North American Bear Center which was very interesting. We had breakfast at Brittons twice - lunch and dinner at the Chocolate Moose (on different days) - and another dinner at the Boathouse. The Chocolate Moose ranks as my favorite (loved the strawberry rhubarb pie) followed by the Ely Steakhouse. We spent a good amount of time at Piragis - we felt like kids in a candy shop. We never walk out of that store empty-handed.

All in all, it was another wonderful trip to canoe country. Even before we left - we were planning our next trip. I'm not sure where it will be, but the chances are good for LIS river - our daytrip there left us wanting more.

 


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