BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 05 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!
Overnight To Dorothy's
Entry Date:
July 29, 2022
Entry Point:
Snowbank Lake Only
Number of Days:
1
Group Size:
2
From Ensign, we didn’t take the direct route since the scenic route has always been more our taste. Besides, who wants a straight out and back trip anyways? We turned north into Trident since neither of us had ever been that way. The portages were steep, overgrown, and rather poison ivy covered, but we made good time up to the border. The portages would be familiar again as we pushed east. We encountered another group on the portage, two people with three packs and a canoe. Thankfully, all three were Portage North and/or Kondos packs which gave me some pride in seeing our gear doing what it does best. We made it to Carp Lake just as the sun was setting. This beautiful scene was canoe paddling at its best and spirits were high. As we rounded the corner, we heard a loud exclamation from the southern campsite “Dad, come quick, Uncle **** hooked himself!” With a fair bit of wilderness first aid knowledge between us and some experience with self-hooking besides, we figured we should at least go follow up on the situation. The gentleman had hooked himself in the thigh, but seemed rather nonchalant about it as he referred to it as “I hooked myself AGAIN.” After their assurance that they could handle it, we made our way for the portage. It was fun recollecting here as our first season guiding brought us this way for staff training. We made it to Seed and ended up walking the canoe through the rapids thereafter. This would have been a normal routine had the sun not already departed and visibility dramatically declined. We took the final portage into Knife in the dark and arrived by about 10:30 and set out into the darkness for our destination. Embarrassingly, these two seasoned wilderness guides would actually get a tad turned around on Knife since a storm system to the north pretty well darkened the sky. We caught ourselves before going too far, and pulled off on a point not far from Isle of the Pines. We sat on a rock by the shore and admired the stars and pulled our special treat from the packs: two Dorothy Molter root beers and a block of fancy cheese from Mitska’s. Now I know, folks will say that it isn’t the same recipe that Dorothy made. Others will say we should know better than to bring a glass bottle into the BWCA, they are forbidden! But we wanted to do this moment right and we are the last people to ever leave a bottle behind (I even routinely use a larger pack than I need so I have space to carry other people’s garbage out.) In any case, it was special to sit and drink root beer, watch the stars, and experience the raw power of the storm which was lighting up the sky with lightning behind us.
The impending storm had us a tad nervous for how the remainder of our overnight paddle would proceed, so we made good time to the portage. Long portages always feel longer in the dark but, with minimal gear, we moved well across to Vera. From here, things would be a slog. The tiredness would begin to set in on the paddle stretches as we struggled to stay focused on the task at hand. Portaging would prove a welcome reprieve to wake back up a bit. Snacks helped too. Also the lightning flashing in the distance was beautiful to watch as it never seemed to get closer. In fact, it never even made a sound. In the silent flashing, we were able to get fading views of trees and clouds who passed in and out of the shadows from the brief moments of lightning. Finally back on Ensign, we paddled around the corner. I forgot my lesson learned in my fatigue and, all of a sudden, the poor canoe came to a grinding halt. Sigh.... big rock. Wonder if anyone lying in their tents on Ensign were questioning that noise! We back out to open water and made our way to Boot, not traveling as efficiently as we had been some 6-7 hours earlier. Over the portages we went into Boot and eventually out the pond and on to Snowbank. Little did we know what lay ahead. Despite being 3:30 in the morning at this point, there remained a huge chop on the lake, this time into our faces. It would be a struggle southward towards the car. As we worked our way across the lake, the horizon began brightening ever so slightly. It’s a strange feeling to begin paddling mid-afternoon, enjoy the beauty of the sunset, and to still be paddling as the sun began to rise again. We pulled off mid-lake for a break and a snack before the last push. The primary stability of the Beaver was being called into question again as the big chop and the tired paddlers made for a potentially wet combination. As we set off towards the parking lot, the skies finally opened up for some good wind-propelled rain. We limped back into the landing by about 6:00 after a long, hard fight across Snowbank. This little adventure was a cool one. We were able to push ourselves a bit and share in a one-of-a-kind experience. It seemed surreal in a way to spend time on the incomparable Knife Lake without any camping before or after. Sleep would follow shortly after returning to camp with dreams filled with beautiful scenery, fascinating history, and the challenges set before us in a way that only wild places can. 
~Snowbank Lake, Boot Lake, Ensign Lake, Trident Lake, Frog Lake, Birch Lake, Carp Lake, Melon Lake, Seed Lake, Knife Lake