BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 24 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!
Kawishiwi Lake to Malberg Lake and Others
Entry Date:
June 22, 2020
Entry Point:
Kawishiwi Lake
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
4
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We made it from Kawishiwi Lake to Lake Polly in about 2 1/2 hours, and another 2 1/2 hours from Polly to Malberg, single portaging. The 20 rod portage between Square Lake and Kawaschong Lake was not necessary and involved just a couple of small beaver dam pullovers. The 11 rod portage was more like a 2 rod mini portage over a massive beaver dam. The 48 rod portage between Polly and Kona can be waded through in either direction but there are several points where you have to pull the canoe over rocks. One of our canoes portaged and got to the end of the portage a couple of minutes before our canoe which we waded and dragged through. We arrived at Malberg Lake around 2 p.m., but it took another hour or more to find a good campsite. We ended up at a great 4 rated campsite on the west end of Malberg across the bay from the 67 rod portage. The landing was a wide sandy beach, there were plenty of trees for tying off tarps, and hammocks, etc. and four or more tent pads. The site had a great fire grate and log seating area, and plenty of shade. This would be an ideal site for a large group. A large brown snowshoe rabbit was seen at the site and was not scared off by these campers. 
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On Tuesday morning, we all took a 5 or 6 hour excursion to Fishdance Lake to see the pictographs there and explore the rest of that lake. That evening our fisherman caught some good small mouth bass and walleyes but since we had already eaten, he did not keep them. On Wednesday, we checked out some other campsites on Malberg, including the highly rated Campsite 1058 on the far east end, which in my opinion was inferior to the far west end Campsite 1042 where we camped.
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On Thursday, we paddled down to Lake Polly and camped at the nice 4 rated Campsite 1081. There were at least three good tent pads, plenty of trees and a good spot for a camp kitchen area. It was worthy of its good rating. There were lots of big boulders for laying out on or viewing the lake from a couple of directions. Our fisherman caught a nice 12" - 15" small mouth bass which we enjoyed as a supplement to our supper. The mosquitoes were swarming at dusk and their humming filled the air, soon to be replaced by frog croaking for most of the night. 
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On Friday, we paddled down to Kawishiwi Lake and camped at Campsite 1006 on the northwest end, which we found most worthy of its 4 star rating. It had a maximum of three tent pads, and a deluxe pit toilet. A grouse was observed walking along the toilet trail, and a larger unidentified animal ran across the trail on another trip. Butterflies were prevalent at this site, and the massive rock sloping bank was ideal for laying out. Our fisherman caught some small mouth bass near the campsite which supplemented our supper. 
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We arose early on Saturday morning and paddled to the landing in 25 minutes and got loaded up for our long drive back to Ely. On the Forest Service road leading out of Kawishiwi Lake, a large moose was seen running along the roadside, and soon after that a bobcat ran across the road. We got back to Voyageur North Outfitters by 9 a.m. and showered and soon started our long trip back to Illinois and Indiana. It was a most enjoyable trip with great weather and great people. Next year's trip is already the object of great expectations. 