BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 25 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!
Fourtown Weekend Trip
Entry Date:
July 21, 2023
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake (restricted--no camping on Horse Lake)
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
2
Nice trail down to the river which seemed low. We walked the canoe the first 200 yards before we were able to get in and start to paddle the deeper channel. A few tight spots and shallow spots made us get out of the canoe for a few steps until we got to Mudro. Once we go to the portage on the N side of Mudro we could hear far off thunder. At the first portage we got our gear out and I was able to float the canoe another 50 yards. We double portaged this short .1 miles. The path is obvious but trechorus with wobbly rocks. Then paddled the short distance to the larger .3 mile portage. We double portages this as well. Although longer and steeper than the previous walk it was less trechorus due to the flat rocks. With a tiny paddle we were happy to see the last portage was just as short as the map said. By the time we got onto Fourtown we could feel the weather get cooler and the thunder louder. With the impending storm we pulled over to the first site which to our surprised was spacious and full of berries! As I get our gear under a tarp my other half picked berries for the next mornings pancakes. Before we knew it the storm rolled on in on us. The thunder and lighting was on us, a little too close for comfort. We rode it out for 30-60 minutes until the sky’s opened up and we could watch the storm in the distance. At this time we headed north with the goal to get one of the campsites near the 2021 burn area. On the troll over I picked up a nice northern and lost what felt like a big one. Even better my wife reeled in a bigger northern and a nice eater walleye. It looked like all the sites on the way to the burn area were taken so it was to our surprise to find the two on the south side open! We took the one farther from boot lake. It’s a spacious site with plenty of shoreline to walk and fish. By the time we got set it up was past dinner time so we cooked and did some shore fishing while watching the sunset. No bites.
We woke up to a beautiful day. Low 60s and not very windy. We loaded the canoe with fishing supplies and snacks and set out. We may have made it 30 yards from the launch when I hooked into the first walleye of the day, a smaller one but one for the fry pan. As we trolled towards boot and around the islands working back past our site and north .5 mile we picked out 3 northern ranging from 10in to 24in, 2 small mouth bass and the wife reeled in a twin walleye for the fry pan. It was heating up and we were getting hungry so off to camp. After eating the clouds in the distance didn’t look nice. We had set a lean to shelter near a large rock for protection incase of a lightning storm as there was no shortage of towering red and white pine. It was fun watching the storm pick up and roll in, we even watched a deer in the distance swim from one side of the lake to the other. Slower than the day before the rain picked up and the noise picked up until we found ourselves hunkered down under the tarp sitting on life jackets. The storm droned on never getting as intense as the previous one but still blowing and pelting our site. As the lightning storm shrunk and become faint in the distance by wife decided it was time to go take a nap in the tent to which she found water. When we opted for the larger 3-4 person tent for this trip, we forgot we haven’t used it in over 3-4 years and the 15+ year old tent had a couple leaks. It was not a total loss, just meant some possible damp sleeping. After hanging gear in the sun we took off for some afternoon fishing. Paddling N around the burn area we were able to hook into a handful of small mouth, a few more northern and even a couple more walleye for the fry pan. We had a great night by the fire, little to no mosquitos.
** best fishing was trolling with the rapalas that have 2 treble hooks. Fire tiger or orange and silver. No luck jigging or with a bobber and leach.
Woke up to another beautiful day, slightly cooler than the previous morning. Had breakfast then loaded up and took off. Waved good bye to the giant resident bald eagle near our site. Had the wind to our back the whole way so cruised across Fourtown picking up a smallie and walleye on the way. Passed a lot of people headed in, atleast 3 groups of 4 full canoes. Portages were quick and easy with a slightly lighter pack. Nothing exciting on the ride out.
Overall great trip, will definitely be coming back to Fourtown and checking out the surrounding lakes. 