BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 05 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!
Cummings Lake Trip Report
by hmf4
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 30, 2007
Entry Point:
Crab Lake and Cummings from Burntside Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
This is our second trip to the BWCA. Last year we looked like a couple of Paris Hilton's with all the junk we brought. :) We learned our lesson though and this year was alot better.
We arrived Friday night, June 29th at about 8:00pm via my friend’s private plane. It’s the only way to travel! We grabbed some chow at the Ely Steakhouse and bunked at Voyageur North Outfitters.
Day 1 of 5
We headed out 7:30 am Saturday morning. The folks at VNO towed us across Burntside Lake to the Crab Lake portage. I broke my ankle in December and had 2 plates and 5 screws installed by the surgeon – needless to say I was a little apprehensive about the mile long portage to Crab. We got about 30 yards in the portage and realized we had not applied bug dope. Whoops! Once slathered up we were on our way. The Crab Lake portage is long but not too difficult. It took about 35 minutes each way and it took us two trips. By 9:30 we were paddling up Crab Lake. We continued on through the 20 rod portage to Little Crab, onto the Korb River, and then took the 70 rod portage into Cummings Lake. We were hoping to set up camp at the first island campsite but it was occupied so we landed at the northern island site and it became “Home Sweet Home”. The trip in was 5 hours total. We set up camp right away and set out for firewood. We found a dead cedar tree still standing across the way from our site and two hours later we had enough wood split up for the whole trip. We went for a quick fishing trip, cooked a little chow, had a fire and crashed at around 10:30. 
Day 2 of 5
Sunday, July 01, 2007 - Our plan was to get up at 5am on Sunday and get fishing right away, but we decided to sleep in after a long hard day traveling in. After a little breakfast we were on the water fishing. We started catching smallies on crankbaits – infrequently. Back to the campsite for late lunch and with slightly darkening skies we were back on the water. More smallmouth on crank baits and it rained on us for about an hour. That killed any desire for a fish fry so we cooked up one of our freeze dried dinners. Another fire with vodka and fruit drink finished off the night. 
Day 3 of 5
Monday, July 02, 2007 - Monday morning it started raining about 4:30 am and didn’t quit until close to 10:00am. It was also pretty dang chilly. We guessed it might be only 60 degrees or so. We scarfed down some chow and started fishing. We started catching smallmouths on leaches right away. Not very big, but plenty of ‘em. Ran into the first people we had spoken to the whole trip. Spent mid afternoon reading and napping and picking ticks off our legs – they were everywhere! Once again we finished off the evening with a fire and the vodka/fruit juice combo. 
Day 4 of 5
Tuesday, July 03, 2007 - Tuesday had been declared serious fishing day, so we were up and at it by 5:30am. We stayed with the jighead/leech combination and started catching smallies right away. Jim caught a really nice largemouth that went close to 3 lbs. I pulled a couple more large mouths out of a blown down tree and it was time for shore lunch. Honest Abe, our resident eagle watched carefully as I cleaned our fish and Jim did a great job cooking up our catch – it was delicious! We took a short break and then got back after it. Late in the day I started catching smallies on topwater. I must have caught a fish on 20 or 25 consecutive casts. It was a blast. All told, we think we caught about 150 smallies on the trip. None of them were very big, but the action was steady the whole trip. And of course, the evening was wrapped up with a fire and the last of the vodka and fruit juice 
Day 5 of 5
Wednesday, July 04, 2007 - It was time to pack up and head out Wednesday. The weather was fantastic. We decided to take Korb Lake home. It was a little marshy at the portage, but a pretty paddle. The trip out was uneventful and took the same amount of time as coming in. We got back to Voyageur North Outfitters for a shower and shave and a lift to the airport. Jim had us back in Milwaukee at 5pm – just in time for dinner! Great trip all the way around – we would definitely recommend Cummings Lake for some smallmouth action! Thanks to John and Lynn at VNO for setting us up again – Great Job!!
