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!
EP36 - Hog Creek / Perent Lake
Entry Date:
June 27, 2014
Entry Point:
Hog Creek
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
4
My son Jesse and his friend Garrett decided to join us, each have been to the BWCA once before. Ronnie did some canoe trips when he was a camp counselor, but it had been years, so I took over the planning process, which included, of course, more than one trip to the bwca.com forums :)
My first step was to go over my trusty master list and start packing, marking off, and making a new list for things to buy and borrow. I've also been making a wish list over the years, and timing couldn't have been better, as Father's Day was around the corner. My wife & kids bought me almost everything on my wish list, which included a new Katadyn Base Camp water filter. The thing works great, so much easier than pumping water.
We all met at my house in Proctor on Friday morning, loaded the truck, and were on the road at 8:30. At the Ranger station in Tofte, Paulette was wonderful! We watched the video, Paulette joked around with us, and we left with Permit in hand. After a stop at Holiday in Tofte for bait and a few other things, we were on our way up the Sawbill Trail raring to go.
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While loading at Hog Creek, we met someone that was going in for a day trip. Super nice guy, and we chatted about his new Bell Magic canoe. It was a beauty! After carrying the Alumacraft down the steps, I figured I needed to add one to my new wish list!
The portage on Hog Creek came up pretty quick. There, we met a family on their way out who told us about the site they just left. Island site, lots of cedar trees, plenty of room, SOLD!
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The gentleman we met a the landing caught up with us at the portage, so we let him go ahead of us. After he was done, he came back and helped us out. What a stand-up guy! Hog Creek was just as I remembered, lots of turns. In fact, Jesse and Garrett counted 99 of them on the way out! paddle, paddle, rudder, paddle, paddle, rudder. However, the water was high, so no need to get out and climb over beaver dams or high spots.
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We kept on the lookout for wildlife and saw turtles and a crazy snake that swam alongside us for a while. Managed to get a pic of the snake, but the turtles would dive in before I could get the camera out to snap a photo.
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We made it to Perent Lake around 2pm and the wind was at our backs as we headed to the campsite. When we found the one we were told about, a really cool green dragonfly was there to greet us. It even posed for a picture on Ronnie's canoe paddle. The site had three different spots to land the canoes with nice views of the lake, three nice tent sites, and an additional area to put up a screen tent. The screen tent was one of those things we went back and forth on about bringing. We brought it for the mosquitoes, but didn't really need it for that, as we had a constant breeze. It worked very well for our gear as a shelter from the rain, though. As for bugs, the mosquitoes were ruthless in the woods, making trips to the latrine very quick! I'd definitely suggest a head net for the trip.
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While setting up, Jesse and Garrett got the fire rolling and Ronnie cooked up some fire-grilled steaks. Nothing like a good meal after a long day of paddling and portaging. After eating, we went out fishing for a bit, caught some small walleye and northern, but had to head in with only one keeper when the rain started coming. Very thankful for the screen tent at this time, as it kept everything dry and we had a place with lots of room to change into rain gear and grab supplies needed. Jesse and Garrett gathered more wood and got the fire rolling again while I made sure everything was secured from the rain. Once the rain was done, we enjoyed the fire and each ate half a walleye fillet. We could now say we had a fish fry, in case we didn't catch anything the next day :)
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It rained overnight, but had pretty much stopped when we got up. Only casualty for the night was some of Ronnie's trail mix that a squirrel had gotten into the evening before. We had put it in the garbage, and the squirrel came back for more overnight. With trail mix cleaned up, Ronnie cooked a breakfast of hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, and egg in a bag. New to me, egg in bag worked out quite well and made for lots of laughs throughout the day! I made a pot of highlander grog, and we all headed out to fish.
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Ronnie caught a northern casting from shore, then we headed out for a day of fishing. The morning and early afternoon were overcast, but warm. Then, the sun broke through the clouds and it was beautiful out, which gave us all a bit of sunburn since we forgot the sunscreen. We had talked to many different groups we met along the way, and every one of them said they had only caught a few small ones, so we weren't expecting much. We picked apart the lake and tried different depths with help of the depth finder. Very glad I brought it! We ended up catching walleye in 5-6 FOW near the reeds on jigs and crawlers while moving very slowly. Once we found them, we had no problem catching keepers. We also caught northern and perch, as well. In all, we kept 11 walleye and 2 northern, enough for a nice fish fry and some extras to bring home. Biggest walleye was about 16 inches.
While out fishing, Jesse and Garrett collected firewood from around the lake. After filleting the fish, we had a nice fire, ate some fish, and told stories. We turned in for the night once we heard thunder and the rain started.
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Saturday night brought just enough rain to where we had to wipe down the tents before packing up. Because of the screen tent, everything was nice and dry while packing. A quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, and off to Hog Creek. We were going right into the wind and whitecaps on the way back, which made for an interesting paddle. Jesse and Garrett trolled on the way in, and Jesse picked up a keeper walleye on a rapala. Worked out perfect, since none of his from Saturday were keepers, and he didn't want to leave until he got one! On Hog Creek a storm went by us just to the east. Heard lots of thunder, but just caught a little rain. We finally caught a picture of a turtle right before the landing. There were three on a rock and two dove off while I was getting the camera. This guy stayed and posed for a pic :)
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Every trip I go on, I learn more, and can't wait to use my newly learned skills on the next trip. I'd like to do two more trips this summer/fall. One lighter pack, longer portage trip. I'd also love to do an easy trip and bring my 9 year old daughter with. Still working on getting my wife to go!