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!
There and Back Again
by mhclon
Trip Report
Entry Date:
June 24, 2007
Entry Point:
Crab Lake and Cummings from Burntside Lake
Number of Days:
7
Group Size:
6
Trip Introduction:
We were planning on going to Pine from Crab and back to Cummings but...
Day 1 of 7
Sunday, June 24, 2007 A pretty easy day overall. We waited around for the last person of our group to show up Sunday morning until 11:00. Our ire was up, little did we know how valuable he would prove... Got on Burntside finally at about 1:00. Got to the portage after an hour(we were confused about where the public access was on the map). For the second year in a row I have not done the food shopping, so unlike the year before where we didn't have enough, this year we had way too much. On the mile and a quarter entry, I carried the food pack, which weighed at least 100 lbs., I made it 3/4 of the way and had to put it down. Had I known that I was almost at the top of the hill... It took our group almost 3 hours to do the portage to Crab. Needless to say, we were ready for camp. My wife and I checked out the first campsite south of the entry, thought that it was nice but was only big enough for 2 tents. The first site to the north is a beautiful site with enough room for 4 tents, which we had with 2 singles. We enjoyed steaks the first night and discovered a new treat. Take a pita and coat it with olive oil and garlic and grill it on the fire grate. 
Day 2 of 7
Monday, June 25, 2007 The portage into Crab kicked our a$$=$ so we had a hard time waking up. Got up at about 9 and decided to do a little fishing. Now Gus the dog doesn't normally go after lures, but when my wife pulled up a stick he dicided to try it out! We spent the next (what semmed like an hour) struggling with Gus to get the hook out of his tongue. It took two people to hold his body and three to hold his jaw open and grab the TREBLE hook with a pliers to rip it out of his tongue. I know that there have been more traumatic experiences in peoples lives, but at the time it was happening, everybody was shaking and the people holding the jaw had numerous puncture wounds. Everybody was OK, but we decided to stay another night on Crab. Had pesto pasta with bagged chicken and pine nuts. Cocktails and diapers all around.
Day 3 of 7
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 Decided to go to Cummings. Went to Little Crab to the Korb river, through Korb Lake to the first island site on Cummings. One of the most beautiful campsites in the BWCA. On the way we had to sit through a two hour downpour on the Korb river, but after that the night was great. We planned on going as far as we could towards Pine Lake the next day, but it doesn't always work out that way. I think that this is a good time to praise the virtues of having a bartender with you. Although he got up late every day, he was always gungho to stoke the fire and make the tasiest cocktails every night. 
Day 4 of 7
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 The wind had really picked up during the night. It was coming staight from the west and that didn't bode well for us. We decided to change our plans and head back to Little Crab and go as far as we could west. When we got to Little Crab and took the unnamed creek to Lunetta, we were hoping the campsite was nice... Not the case. Nobody has been to the compsite on Lunetta in years, (at least tried to clean it up.) We went back to Little Crab at stayed at a very nice site.h 
Day 5 of 7
Thursday, June 28, 2007 We got up late as usual (#%!@ bartender). Our first task was to head back to Lunetta on the creek we had done the day before. It is a lovely creek with many lillies and lotuses, the best kind of river paddling. From Lunetta we went south to Hassel on the 280 rd. I have never been on such an unkept portage. There were three places where I had to set the canoe down and drag it underneath a downed tree, (not to mention the ten step overs). This was actually great forshadowing for the rest of our trip. We saw two groups while we were camped on Crab and saw some people having lunch at the site that we stayed on Little Crab. These were to be the only people we saw during our trip. From Hassel we went to Battle and then to Phantom and on to Boulder. While the site on Boulder looked as thoug it hadn't been occupied in years, we made it home. It was very hard to fit our four tents at the Boulder site, but we did it. There is really only room for two tents. I like nothing better than getting to design the seating around the fire grate. 
Day 6 of 7
Friday, June 29, 2007 From Boulder we went back to Phantom to Sprite to Meat lake. My plan was to eat the rest of our jerky on Meat but we didn't do it. The water level was really low on Meat so it added another 50 rods to get to Clark. 
The portage from Clark back to Crab has to be one of the most beautiful portages I have ever seen. 
We decide to take the first campsite on Crab that looked good. 
h
The portage from Clark back to Crab has to be one of the most beautiful portages I have ever seen. We decide to take the first campsite on Crab that looked good. h
Day 7 of 7
Saturday, June 30, 2007 From our site on Crab it seemed like an easy out. It was for the most part. The paddle across Crab was easy, the portage to Burntside only took an hour versus almost thrre on the way in. The paddle across Burntside was the hardest part of the day, only because of the boaters, (those $@&$*!!*@(*). We had to paddle into their wakes at least ten times. 
When we got back to the landing, we talked to the first people we had talked to in week. The route we ended up taking was the most isolated I have ever felt in the BWCA. We were apprehensive gonig in, but ended up having one of the best trips ever. 
When we got back to the landing, we talked to the first people we had talked to in week. The route we ended up taking was the most isolated I have ever felt in the BWCA. We were apprehensive gonig in, but ended up having one of the best trips ever.