BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 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!
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!
Father Daughter trip
by twistertail
Trip Report
Entry Date:
July 07, 2019
Entry Point:
Snowbank Lake
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
This is my first time doing a trip report so not sure how well this will turn out but since I got so much information from the fine folks on this site I wanted to share the great experience I had with my daughter. I've done 2 trips about 15 years ago and this was my 14 year old daughters first trip.
Day 1 of 6
Friday, July 05, 2019 
Our first portage of the trip went great, was loaded up and leaving central Ohio at 6:00am. We are about 14.5 hours from Ely so we decided to split it up and stay in Rice Lake Wisconsin the first night. Driving was great, no rain, no delays other than a few slow downs through Chicago and we got to the Super 8 in Rice Lake about 6:00pm, which was really 5:00 with the time change. We ate at the Mandarin which looked like a dump but was delicious. Funny note about the Mandarin, the bathroom is in the basement and it looks like you are in the basement of the Fratellis hangout in the Goonies, I was fully expecting to hear Sloth down there. Really though if you like Chinese food and dont mind a rough looking place check out the Mandarin in Rice Lake.
Our first portage of the trip went great, was loaded up and leaving central Ohio at 6:00am. We are about 14.5 hours from Ely so we decided to split it up and stay in Rice Lake Wisconsin the first night. Driving was great, no rain, no delays other than a few slow downs through Chicago and we got to the Super 8 in Rice Lake about 6:00pm, which was really 5:00 with the time change. We ate at the Mandarin which looked like a dump but was delicious. Funny note about the Mandarin, the bathroom is in the basement and it looks like you are in the basement of the Fratellis hangout in the Goonies, I was fully expecting to hear Sloth down there. Really though if you like Chinese food and dont mind a rough looking place check out the Mandarin in Rice Lake.
Day 2 of 6
Saturday, July 06, 2019 With just about 3.5 hours to get to Ely we had plenty of time to make some stops along the way. The first was at Hensons Country foods in Minong for some jerky. Even though it was a good deal we didnt think we needed the 10lb bag of beef jerky 
We did get a 1 pound bag that was around $8 which is still a good deal and also some Jack Links breakfast sausages which I had not seen before and were really good. Along the way we made stops at Bettys Pies and a few spots along the north shore. 
We made it to Ely in time to stop at the International Wolf center, which I thought was pretty disappointing and we only spent about 15 minutes there. Checked in the Motel Ely then walked around town a bit and ate at the Boathouse Brewpub, decent food and beer but nothing special really. Back to the motel and early to bed so we can get an early start for the wilderness Sunday morning.
We did get a 1 pound bag that was around $8 which is still a good deal and also some Jack Links breakfast sausages which I had not seen before and were really good. Along the way we made stops at Bettys Pies and a few spots along the north shore. We made it to Ely in time to stop at the International Wolf center, which I thought was pretty disappointing and we only spent about 15 minutes there. Checked in the Motel Ely then walked around town a bit and ate at the Boathouse Brewpub, decent food and beer but nothing special really. Back to the motel and early to bed so we can get an early start for the wilderness Sunday morning.
Day 3 of 6
Sunday, July 07, 2019 I was up by 5:30 and went to VNO to get the canoe and let Ashley sleep in a little more. Got the canoe and talked for a while with the guys about fishing and campsites and they marked some spots on the map for me. Went back to the motel got the kid and was at the Snowbank Landing about 8:00 
I could not have asked for a better day for paddling, weather was great! We made it across Snowbank with no issues and hit the 140 rod portage to Disappointment. Ashley did great, we had to double portage and her pack was 35-40 pounds but she made the whole portage without stopping or complaining. The bugs were not bad at all but the trail was a little crowded with people heading out. After loading the canoe back up and getting back on the water I asked her if she wanted to find a campsite or move on, she already had the map and compass out finding where the portage to Ahsub was and said we were going all the way to Ima today! We made it on through Ahsub, Jitterbug, Adventure, Cattyman and Jordan with great weather no wind or waves to deal with and very few people, it was just a great day of canoe travel. We got to Ima and were heading to a camp site on the big island on the south side of the lake, about half way there we saw it was occupied so we started heading to the north shore for another site the guys at VNO said was nice. We had just started heading north and saw a group of 4 canoes come around the islands on the west side of the lake heading the same way we were. I told Ashley to dig in and the race was on. One of their canoes broke out ahead of the group but we got there first! It was a long day for a guy who hadnt canoe traveled for 15 years and a newbie but I think we did pretty good. We set up camp fixed some chicken and rice burritos and then fished around camp the rest of the evening but didnt catch anything.
I could not have asked for a better day for paddling, weather was great! We made it across Snowbank with no issues and hit the 140 rod portage to Disappointment. Ashley did great, we had to double portage and her pack was 35-40 pounds but she made the whole portage without stopping or complaining. The bugs were not bad at all but the trail was a little crowded with people heading out. After loading the canoe back up and getting back on the water I asked her if she wanted to find a campsite or move on, she already had the map and compass out finding where the portage to Ahsub was and said we were going all the way to Ima today! We made it on through Ahsub, Jitterbug, Adventure, Cattyman and Jordan with great weather no wind or waves to deal with and very few people, it was just a great day of canoe travel. We got to Ima and were heading to a camp site on the big island on the south side of the lake, about half way there we saw it was occupied so we started heading to the north shore for another site the guys at VNO said was nice. We had just started heading north and saw a group of 4 canoes come around the islands on the west side of the lake heading the same way we were. I told Ashley to dig in and the race was on. One of their canoes broke out ahead of the group but we got there first! It was a long day for a guy who hadnt canoe traveled for 15 years and a newbie but I think we did pretty good. We set up camp fixed some chicken and rice burritos and then fished around camp the rest of the evening but didnt catch anything.
Day 4 of 6
Monday, July 8, 2019 I was up early, about 5:00, let Ashley sleep in and fished from shore around camp again with no luck. Ashley was up about 8:00 so we had some breakfast then went out fishing. We fished all around the islands on the west side of the lake and even took the portage back to Jordan and fished where the small stream dumps in and then down the narrows and again no fish at all. Back to camp in the afternoon for some lunch and naps. 
We had planned on heading to Hatchet lake in the evening to fish but the winds picked up and the waves were just to big to try it, so we just hung at camp and fished from shore the rest of the evening.
Day 5 of 6
Tuesday, July 9, 2019 Was hoping the wind and waves would settle down over night, and it did but not much. Was afraid if it got worse we'd not be able to leave the next day like we had planned so we decided to pack up and spend a few night on Disappointment lake in hopes that we'd have some better fishing. It was a tough paddle across Ima and I was a little nervous at times but Ashley did great and is a strong paddler so we made it across with no problems. The only other lake that was a little difficult was Jordan but it was'nt that bad compared to Ima. We made a stop at Cattyman falls along the way. 
Found a nice campsite on the west end of Disappointment set up camp and did some fishing and finally found some fish. 
Ashley caught a walleye and a few pike that we had for dinner and they were delicious.
Day 6 of 6
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 The plan was to spend most the day fishing and then head out in the evening and back to Ely, well the wind was whipping pretty good so we packed up camp and headed towards the landing on Snowbank first thing in the morning in fear that it would just get worse as the day got later. It was tough paddling and we could hear some thunder rumbling on Snowbank but made it to the landing safe and dry. We got back to VNO and returned the gear showered up and even had time to get to Brittons before they closed. It was my first time eating at Brittons and it certainly lived up to the hype, great food and huge portions.
We decided to head back by going across the UP of Michigan and so glad we did, beautiful drive and we made a few stops along the way. 
In all it was a great trip and we made lots of wonderful memories and hopefully we'll do it again sometime.
discuss this trip report (18 comments) - last post on June 25, 2023