BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 19 2024
Entry Point 31 - Farm Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 3
Elevation: 1392 feet
Latitude: 47.8932
Longitude: -91.7183
Farm Lake - 31
Lake One to Hudson July 28-31, 2010
Entry Date:
July 28, 2010
Entry Point:
Lake One
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
4
Arrived at Kawishiwi Lodge late afternoon, unloaded our stuff and parked the vehicle. We would be staying in the bunkhouse, and heading out early the next morning. In other trips to BWCA, it was an early, early start for the 7 or 8 hour drive, then immediately into the water. I have to say that made for a long day. The extra cost for the night's stay was worth it, not only for the break, but paddling out first thing in the AM was quite pleasant. We spent a leisurely evening on the dock, did some repacking/reorganizing, and eating. 
Thursday AM greeted us with partly sunny skies and a light breeze. Perfect for paddling/portaging. I had purchased a GPS, and this trip would be a practice/figure-it-out exercise. I clicked to start tracking, and we were off. The first two portages were busy, and everyone was polite and considerate, as always. Next, a longer paddle through Lakes 2 , 3, and 4. By this time, I was ready to get out and move. Three more portages, the last one into Hudson being particularly rocky, and we were paddling in search of a campsite. We were hoping for the one on the island, and were glad to see that it was open. We landed and starting setting up camp. First order of business was to paddle back out and fill up the Katadyn bag filter, and get some water. None of us had any water with for the trip in, and the warm temps and portaging had taken it's toll on us. The original goal was to pack light, but we still ended up double-tripping the portages. We don't skimp on food, and we brought chairs as well. Also, the canoes we had were a Grumman aluminum and a Old Town Tripper... both 17 footers, and neither one what you would consider a lightweight. The next thing to do was to find some firewood. My son and I went into the woods and found some nice, dry stuff... cut it off with the camp saw and drug it back to camp. He began to clip off the branches with the hatchet, while I was busy with something else. I hear the chopping stop, and him make a grumbling noise, so I turn around to see him walking away from me, into the woods. He has his hand up, and is looking at it... it is completely covered in blood. OK, we've been here an hour, and we're 5 hours from a phone. I'm thinking “this is not good”. Turns out, a small piece of a branch had sprung up, and stuck him inside of his nose... bled like crazy for about 30 seconds. Scared the crap out of me! So then, with camp set up, some fluids back in, and a little rest, it was time for supper. This is where the extra portaging is rewarded... rib eye steaks over the fire. Never has anything tasted so good! It was 9:00 and some mosquitoes had appeared, so we decided to hit the tents. Shortly after, a light rain began to fall. It sprinkled off and on over the night... nothing major. 
After the light rain Thursday night, Friday morning brought in some wind. Not horrible, but a steady blow, and occasional white-caps could be seen. We observed a few parties coming out of Insula, traveling past our island campsite, and some of them were struggling with the wind/waves. Spent most of the day relaxing and just enjoying the day. Went out after supper to try fishing.... no luck. Mosquitoes right on schedule at 9:00, and another sprinkle or two overnight. 
Saturday the wind went down considerably, and was a really nice day. The guys wanted to walk the Hudson-Insula portage, take some pictures, and collect some Insula water. Later, we paddled up the northern end of Hudson, and checked out the campsites up there. Looked to be a nice, quiet area. Fishing was a bust up until this evening... the FIL caught a northern right about where Hudson starts to get narrow at the north end, and my son caught a couple of walleyes out by the rock in the middle of the lake. It was just about dark. They came in, and cleaned the fish.... fried them up in a stick of butter. Mmmmm. Had a campfire, so we put up with the mosquitoes for a little while. Saturday night was clear, and pleasantly cooler... no rain.
Sunday AM... time to pack up. We did oatmeal for a quick breakfast, and loaded up for the trip back. We paddled into a breeze most of the way, but as it was fairly warm again, it felt pretty good. The portages seemed easier, as did the paddling. This was the opportunity to test the Trac-Back feature on the GPS. Except for a short diversion towards Drumstick Creek when I inadvertently hit a button and temporarily lost my track, it worked flawlessly. For being a “wilderness area”, Lake One looked like a major recreation hotspot...canoes everywhere. We got back to Kawishiwi around noon, stopped at the Pizza Hut in Ely for lunch, and then took off for home. Very nice trip overall... family, nice weather, bugs not too bad, a couple of walleyes... can't ask for much more than that.