BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 27 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!
Isabella Lake to South Kawishiwi River
Entry Date:
June 24, 2019
Entry Point:
Isabella Lake
Exit Point:
South Kawishiwi River (32)
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
5
The Monday forecast called for rain most of the day, but it was a light rain and did not impede our plan to get to Bald Eagle Lake by the mid-to-late afternoon. A 15 rod portage and 8 rod portage along the way were avoided by paddling through some fast water. The 39 rod portage south of Quadga Lake was very overgrown and hard to find in places. The 130 rod portage near Rice Lake was very flat, but the 141 rod portage near Bald Eagle Lake was a little more difficult, especially since it was the 8th or 9th portage of the day. We were single trip portaging two 18.5' Alumnacraft canoes and three SeaLine 115 Pro Packs weighing 65, 65 and 55 lbs. (on the first day). Day One mercifully ended at Campsite 1729 on the eastern shore of Bald Eagle Lake, at a very nice 4-Star campsite, where we spent two nights.
On Wednesday morning, we were on the move again, with three or four hours of paddling to Campsite 1711 on Gabbro Lake, on a little bay with great walleye fishing. It was another 4-Star campsite in my book, although some BWCA reviewers only rated it 3-Star. The campsite was surrounded by water on two sides and there were lots of insect, bird, turtle, and beaver activity. Portage99 discovered some molting nymphs becoming dragonflies, and we watched one of them for two hours until he came out of his crusty shell, dried and flexed his big wings and took his first flight.
On Friday morning, after two nights on Gabbro Lake Campsite 1711, we were on the move again with a three or four hour paddle and a moderately difficult 122 rod portage to South Kawishiwi River. There was some up and down, lots of roots and rocks, and muddy spots, but really nothing too bad. We checked out a few campsites on the way south on South Kawishiwi River and decided to stay at Campsite 1696, the closest site to the South Kawishiwi River EP 32. The campsite was not as good as the 4-Star sites we occupied on Bald Eagle Lake and Gabbro Lake, but it was at least a 3-Star site and only 10 minutes from the 147 rod portage to the EP 32 Parking Lot. Early on Saturday morning, we reluctantly left the beauty of the BWCA and took a short paddle to the moderate 147 rod portage from South Kawishiwi River to the parking lot where we found our vehicles and drove the 15 miles back to Ely and a much-needed shower at Voyageur North Outfitters. After cleaning up, we shopped a little at Paragis and visited the Dorothy Molter Museum in Ely. At 11:00 a.m., we started our 13 hour drive back to Indianapolis, or 10 hour trip for Portage99 to Bloomington, IL.
This was a most enjoyable and leisurely trip with less than 30 miles of paddling, and about 12 portages. We ate very well, cooking dinners four nights on the fire grates and baking cakes, cornbread, and apple pie in the reflector oven. We pre-treated our clothing with Permethrin and had no bug problems whatsoever. We also tried out home-made Reflectix pot cozies and found them very effective in keeping food hot after cooking.
