BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 20 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!
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!
Isabella - 35 to Kawishiwi River - 32
by aj1959
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 29, 2018
Entry Point:
Isabella Lake
Exit Point:
South Kawishiwi River (32)
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
1
Trip Introduction:
I decide to do a partial visit of my first BWCA adventure.
Report
I took my annual canoe trip the end of August, this one was a four-night solo trip to the BWCAW, Boundry Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I made arrangements for Piragis Outdoors, an outfitter in Ely Mn to do a shuttle. I left Willmar at 1:30 am and arrived in Ely just after 7 am. My shuttle appointment wasn't until 9 so I had a too-large breakfast at Britton's Cafe, big meal not a big cost. I wandered down to Piragis a little after 8 and my driver had just ducked out for a cup of coffee. I picked up my permit, we loaded all my gear into their van and were on the road by 8:30. (if you ever do a BWCA trip out of Ely I highly recommend Piragis, you can't get more professional). I followed the shuttle driver, I wish I remembered his name, very friendly guy, to Entry Point 32 on the Kawishiwi River, where I left my truck. This is the point I was going to paddle to over the next 4 days. I am guessing 25-30 miles..... I got into shuttle van and we headed to Entry Point 35, Lake Isabella, arriving about 10. We unloaded all my gear, canoe, 2 packs, misc. canoe stuff, fishing gear and 2 paddles, a bent shaft which I made a couple of years ago, and a solo canoe paddle by Bending Branches. (Think a very long kayak paddle, for me, it's a lifesaver in strong winds and big waves). I did a double portage from the parking lot to the lake, around 70 rods each way, a rod equaling 16.5 feet. By 10:30 I was ready to head out. Spent the first night on the Isabella River, I was going to try for Quadga Lake, however, several years ago a fire went through the area so I wasn't sure on the availability of campsites. The one I found on the river had the only unburned trees as far as I could see. Other than a beaver that was rather loud, splashing around all night I had a good sleep. The next morning early I headed down the Isabella River, the plan was to cross Bald Eagle Lake and the to spend the next 2 nights on Gabbro Lake. The new growth from the fire recovery was 8-10 feet high and there were signs of animals all along the burned-out stretch. I didn't see much activity but you could see areas where moose had been, along with many, many beaver channels. I arrived at Bald Eagle Lake in good time, right into a strong wind and smaller white-caps. Out came the solo canoe paddle and by hugging the west shore I made it to Gabbro Lake, proceeded across that lake and I found an open campsite toward the west end. I set up camp and settled in for the next day. My plan had been to do some fishing that day but the wind was uncooperative, so I spent most of the time reading, doing laundry and just relaxing. The smart purchase for this trip was a Leki Chiller camp chair. Wow for comfort, beats sitting on a log! Saturday I packed up and headed out of Gabbro Lake, through Little Gabbro, portaged around an old dam put in years ago by the logging companies, and then started downstream to my final campsite on the Kawashiwi River. I found an open site just upriver from my take-out point at EP 32. A big wind must have gone through a few years ago as some very large trees were down. I woke up Sunday morning at about 6 and thought I would stay in the sack till 6:30. That is until 6:10 when I heard a gunshot from the next site upriver from me! I am guessing a 9mm handgun. Why I don't know, did he see a bear? Signaling a friend? Shot himself in the foot? (I have since had comments that the sound was a breaking branch, and this is very likely based on the trees down in the area) Needless to say, I was then awake, so I had breakfast, loaded up my gear, found the portage trail to my truck and was loaded up by 9. Stopped at the Northern Grounds coffee shop in Ely for 2 cups of coffee, 2 pastries and headed for home, arriving around 5. Another great trip! 
discuss this trip report (3 comments) - last post on September 22, 2018