BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 03 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!
Hog Creek memorial day weekend
Entry Date:
May 23, 2014
Entry Point:
Hog Creek
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
I had to work till noon, so we had packed the night before and my husband loaded up the car and drove to pick me up from work. We were out the door and on the road at noon. We live in the Twin Cities and made great time up to Tofte, picked up our permit at Sawtooth, watched the film, and headed on to the back roads. We were horrified to see 17 cars and trucks at the put in, but made it onto the water by 5:00 PM. Hog Creek was very high and had a noticeable current, we had a lot of fun paddling it to Perent. We checked out the first 5 or 6 sites on Parent, all full, and decided to head to the west end to see if we would have better luck there. David got a migraine aura from all the glinting water and paddling straight into the sun, but we pulled up to a nice available site before the migraine hit, and had the tent set up and him in his sleeping bag pretty fast.
Saturday May 24:
We had hash browns and scrambled fresh eggs for breakfast, and were on the water by 7:30. We stopped at all three west end sites to evaluate them, and decided they were all fine for fall or spring, but would be a bummer in summer, though shady. No good breezy rocks to escape the bugs. They go in descending order of niceness from the portage east.
We crossed the portage and began our river adventure. The first few sections of the river are lovely, really amazing scenery. The portages are pretty nice, and my Chota boots kept my feet warm and dry. Then we entered, left, and finally re-entered the Pagami Creek fire area. It was interesting, but heart breaking. This must have been one of the nicest routes in the whole BWCA before the fire. We had lunch at a portage in the burn down that would have been the most beautiful campsite before the burn. The best part of the burn down was it seemed populated exclusively by very loud melodious frogs, and more than the usual water fowl.
We kept thinking we would get to a site outside of the burn area, and kept going way further than we had planned, 12 portages and all the way to Boga lake. I have never been happier to see green trees. The site (I’m not clear if it’s still on the river, or on Boga, my maps disagree) right after the burn is fantastic. Good sitting rock, nice fire area, 3 tent pads, one very protected, one very breezy, and good hammock hanging places. We had a great afternoon lazing around the site. We had curry chicken noodles for dinner.
Sunday May 25:
We had a cold breakfast and an early morning because David was worried about fighting the current all day. We headed back into the burn. But in the event, other than a few places the current was not noticeable and we made great time back over all 12 portages. We took the site closest to the portage on Perent, and had another pleasant lazy afternoon of lying in the hammocks, reading books, and napping. We did attempt to swim, but I could only make it thigh deep, David actually got all the way under water and then basically sprinted to shore. The portage has a nice sandy beach for times when the water hasn't been recently frozen.
We had Red Beans and Rice with home dehydrated chorizo for dinner, and got to bed early.
Monday May 26:
I wanted to sleep late, but I ended up awake by dawn. Took some pictures but the bugs seem to have noticed the 80 degree weather and finally hatched. We packed and ate pretty fast, enjoying our corn pan- bread and coffee while pacing the site. We decided to tour all the sites we missed on the east end of Perent, and wow, there are some great looking sites over there. We will have to come back earlier in the day on a non-holiday or weekend to get one of those fabulous sites. The creek was a bit lower, and the current manageable. We got back to the EP by 11. Stopped to visit some friends at their cabin, but were still back home by 5.
This new concept we have of driving up and going started last year by accident, my son and I decided to pack and go on a whim, and the only permit we liked was for that same day, so we drove straight to the EP and jumped in the water. From decision to go to campsite in under 8 hours. Somehow this makes a trip seem much more doable and less overwhelming.
I also had my new Chota knee high 4 mil boots with. I went back and forth about them, but I think they are a good thing. They were comfortable to portage in, kept my feet warm and dry, and I didn’t overheat even with the crazy 80 degree weather. My husband had .5 mil neoprene socks and his keen sandals and that worked great for him. I would say if you are prone to cold feet and squeamish about wading through puddles on a portage the Chota are for you. If you suffer more from heat and don't mind rocks in your shoes, my husband’s solution would work better. I can't wait to have the Chotas in October.
