Boundary Waters Trip Reports, Blog, BWCA, BWCAW, Quetico Park

BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 29 2024

Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake

Baker Lake entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Tofte Ranger Station near the city of Tofte, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 26 miles. Access is a boat landing at Baker Lake with a 10-rod portage into Peterson Lake to reach first campsite. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.

Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1497 feet
Latitude: 47.8452
Longitude: -90.8169
Summary: A 5-day loop from Baker up the Temperance lakes to Cherokee, and back through Sawbill and Smoke lakes back to Baker. A fairly difficult trip.



Day 0: We drove up from Stillwater in the morning and camped at one of the 5 walk-in campsites at Baker Lake, and it was nice.




Day 1 (Baker to S. Temperance) - A beautiful day, we decided to paddle all the way to South Temperance the first day which was a great paddle with easy portages except for the last one. We picked the campsite on top of a huge rock that was close to the middle of the lake. Tried fishing some but no luck




Day 2 (Rest) - In the night, we encountered the worst storm of the entire season. While we were there 19 people had to be rescued from the BWCA. We had about 50mph straightline winds, and I'm still surprised that the huge tent we had stood up to it. We slept in and took a rest day because of the intense winds. Amazingly beautiful sunset.





Day 3 (S. Temperance to Cherokee) - We left as early as we could to beat the heat, but it was no good. The lengthy, hilly portages were challenging and by the last portage we were pretty beat. We overpacked and single portaged which led us to speedier exhaustion. Still amazing weather. North Temperance was a beaut- I wish we had stayed there instead of South. We took the southeasterly facing campsite on Cherokee on the southeastern skinny island. Neat little site.



Day 4 (Cherokee to Sawbill) - Left a little later in the day but it was ok. We took our time going down the river letting out of the southwest part of Cherokee and it was a great area. BEWARE: The area between Ada and Skoop Lakes appears to be floatable, but a dam built recently has made the portion impossible to float. Be prepared for a long portage through muck and water. A guy that we saw there said he had been going to the BWCA for 40 years at least once per year and it was the worst portage he had ever seen. By the time we got to Sawbill it was pretty hot. We paddled all the way down to the site next to the portage onto Smoke.



Day 5 (Sawbill to Baker) - Cooler, cloudier weather for the first time on the trip. We were pretty hungry (I underpacked food a little and I felt really bad) and we were taunting each other with vivid descriptions of the burgers we were going to eat ASAP after getting out. We paddled back to Baker and returned our gear to Sawtooth outfitters.


Overall great route.

Disappointment on Brule

by Spartan2
Trip Report

Entry Date: June 01, 2013
Entry Point: Brule Lake
Number of Days: 3
Group Size: 2

Trip Introduction:
It was just Spartan1 and Spartan2 this year. This is the earliest we have ever been in the BWCA. We planned a six-day base-camping trip because of my joint pain issues and my inability to carry packs over the portages. I also wanted to exorcise the demon in my mind about nasty Brule Lake, since the only other time we were on this big lake we had the most dangerous and scary paddling experience of our lives. Things didn't work out the way we hoped. There wasn't any demon this time, but there were lots of other challenges.

Part 1 of 5


Prologue:

This was planned to be a really easy trip. For the past year I had been having increasing problems with back pain, foot pain, and knee pain. I have a knee replacement scheduled for later in the summer. We wanted to spend six days on the eastern end of Brule Lake, base-camping and taking some day trips, weather permitting. We were hoping for some nice weather, and some calm paddling conditions. As we approach our 68th birthdays this summer, we realize that we are slowing down, and our expectations were quite modest.

We left home on May 29th, after deciding to take a leisurely route across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this time, something we haven’t done in quite a few years. Since we weren’t taking our granddaughter with us for a cabin week before our trip as we had the past few years, there was no reason to go through Chicago. Our grandchild experience this time would be a cabin week with grandson Robert, after our canoe trip.

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Monday night’s first stop was at the Holiday Inn Express in St. Ignace. We had a lake view room with a lovely view of Mackinac Island off our balcony. This was a nice way to start getting into the vacation frame of mind. A big plate of lake perch at the Galley restaurant didn’t hurt, either.

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Since the pool at this hotel didn’t open until 9 AM, (this is a pet peeve of mine, as I like an early morning swim) we were on the road after breakfast and on the way to our next destination, Ironwood. This doesn’t take all day. That gave us time to take a little side trip down Peninsula Point to visit the little lighthouse there.

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Then we meandered across the U. P., finally ending up at Ironwood, where we stayed at the Comfort Inn. I was again frustrated there, as the pool hours said 7 AM-11 PM, but when I was there at 7AM in my swimsuit, the pool was being cleaned, and the maintenance man said, “It will be at least 7:30.” Since we wanted to get on the road, I again missed my morning swim.

The drive across Wisconsin and into Minnesota was pleasant, with sunny skies and dropping temperatures. We stopped in Duluth at the Duluth Pack store, and then at the factory, to inquire about repairs for our “Duluth Pack” which was damaged on last year’s canoe trip, only to find out (to Neil’s chagrin) that it isn’t a “Duluth Pack” at all, but some sort of knock-off! We bought the pack in 1973 used from Canadian Waters, and he has always assumed it was a Duluth Pack. He was quite crestfallen to get the news, and they were not willing to fix it, either! But it was a neat experience to see the Duluth Pack factory, at least!

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A lovely lunch at the Black Woods Grill helped to ease our pain, and then we were off to travel the north shore. It was foggy on Lake Superior, and sunny overhead. A beautiful day for driving our favorite route!

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We stopped to admire the Split Rock Lighthouse (of course.)

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And finally, we were at the Tofte Ranger station, ready to watch the obligatory video, take our quiz, and pick up our permit. Outside the ranger station we ran into “highplainsdrifter”, who introduced himself to us after seeing our flying moose sticker on the canoe. It was fun to have a quick, congenial conversation with him. He and his son were headed for a much longer and more strenuous trip than ours, and they were in a hurry to get back on the road.

On this night before our canoe trip we were staying at the "Cliff Dweller on the Lake". It is a place we have passed many times and always wondered about, a motel that is only one room deep with every room having a balcony overlooking Lake Superior. We checked in mid-afternoon, and I was so pleased to see the view from our balcony on this nice day. Of course I immediately start snapping photos!

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As we were getting our packs organized and ready for the next morning’s canoe trip departure, we kept looking out of the big window and watching the view of the lake. Slowly we began to notice that clouds were forming over the lake; it looked like a storm might be blowing in from across the lake, and it appeared that it was developing very quickly!

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I set up the tripod on the balcony to record some cloud shots, and to try to catch lightning if it should be possible. That was when we saw a “show” of cloud formations that was quite awesome. In retrospect, I should have just put the camera on video, but I was so busy snapping new frames when new formations appeared that I didn’t even think to change settings. Here are just a few of our favorites:

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After a rather spectacular thunderstorm, things quieted down again and we headed off to the Cascades Restaurant for dinner. Then we came back to finish charging camera batteries and doing the last-minute packing for our departure in the morning.

It was a restless night (I usually having trouble sleeping the night before a canoe trip) and I was awake at 4:30, disappointed to see that the sunrise was totally unremarkable. We had breakfast at the hotel and started out on the gravel roads for Brule on a cold, foggy, damp morning.

 



Part 2 of 5


Day One: Paddling to Brule Bay

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Arrived at Brule entry point at 9:05 on a cold, damp, rather ugly-looking day, but not particularly windy. A white-throated sparrow was singing welcome for us. Shortly after we pulled up, a group of four young men from the St. Cloud area drove up and started to unload also. I helped them out by taking a group photo. They said they were base-camping for six days also, and they were heavily loaded with coolers and lots of camping gear.

We also saw a Minnesota man with his dog, Gertrude. He said he was on bwca.com and I thought he said his name here was JHolman57, or something like that, but I cannot find a member with that name. He and his son were setting off after us, and we had a friendly conversation, after Gertrude initiated the meeting. She was a nice dog.

We set out on our trip at 10:10, under overcast skies with occasional very light mist, and just a bit of chop on the lake.

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We paddled into a little sheltered bay area by mistake (Spartan1 thought we could get through) and it was a good place for some reflection photos and some quiet contemplation, but didn’t get us anywhere that we wanted to go.

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Paddling was pretty gray and gloomy this morning.

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Two loons gave us a show near a couple of smaller islands. We assumed that they were a breeding pair, and that perhaps they either were nesting, or were planning to nest along the shore of one of the islands. One seemed quite interested in keeping us entertained and away from the other, so I obliged him (?) by taking lots of photos.

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How about a break to look for some fish?

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And the "dance" continued:

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And finally, it seemed to be done.

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At noon we stopped at a campsite for a lunch break. We discussed staying there for our base camp, but we didn’t like it a whole lot, and there was no reason to stop so early. It appeared that there were lots of campsite opportunities in Brule Bay, and we hadn’t seen much canoe traffic on the lake to make us think that there would be a lot of competition for sites.

As we paddled across to the other side of the lake, both of us mentioned a white spot in the distance that caught our eye and made us wonder what it was. It wasn’t an animal, as it didn’t move. Didn’t look like a broken tree—too white. Too high up in the landscape to be a rock, from what we could see. It was a puzzle. So we had to check it out. And as it turned out, it was nothing more than a rock inside a blown down root tangle. . .

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. . .so we paddled on. We checked out the next site on the map. It appears that there has been a recent small fire from this campsite and it looks like the site is closed. An area around it is burned, and the rocks are white. Not much green vegetation has grown up yet in the fire area, either.

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Two fishermen paddled by in an aluminum canoe. Then we saw two groups of three kayakers, each in their own watercraft, a colorful fleet as they paddled on the other side of the bay. When we passed by the next campsite, they appeared to be having a lunch stop, with three kayaks at the campsite landing, and three more in the brush a bit further down the shoreline (but only six people gathered together, and only three watercraft in one place.)

There was one more campsite to check out—the one at the very end of the bay. It was the most sheltered and private, and I thought it was the one where I would want to stay. We paddled up to it and I scrambled out, intent to find it just to my liking. Not so much! I rejected it quite firmly, enough so that Spartan1 didn’t even get out of the canoe. It was a rocky climb up to the fire grate area, and once you arrived, the entire place was just a rock garden! I couldn’t see myself maneuvering around all of those rocks and going up and down the rocky path to the water over and over for five more days—when I needed trekking poles to even get up there! Not a site for a person with mobility issues!

We decided to go back and check to see if the kayakers had, indeed, only been stopping for lunch. It pleased me to see that they were now approaching the portage to Vernon Lake, in two nicely legal groups. Four kayaks had already started to cross at the portage, and two more were holding back until the first group had made their way across. We paddled around in the bay until all six of them had portaged away, and then checked out the campsite across from the portage, which was much more to our liking. Flat, fairly open out back, with an unusually easy and flat biffy trail, and a decently level tent pad. It would do nicely for our stay on Brule Lake. And anyway, it was beginning to drizzle, so we were thinking that making camp would be a good plan.

The site is on a small point, with a flat area by the water. There appear to be two tent sites and we took the more open one nearer the fire grate. We were glad that we hadn’t taken the first campsite at lunchtime, as we liked this one much better than anything we had seen all day. Not exciting, but workable for us in most every respect.

I felt cold! The thermometer said 52 degrees, but with a breeze and the damp drizzle, it felt colder than that, and the temperature was definitely falling. By 3:10 it was down to 45 degrees and I was ready to get into my long johns! Decided to make some hot tea instead, and warming up the inside did help a bit.

We sent our first SPOT message at about 3 PM. We bought a SPOT messenger this spring and this was our first opportunity to use it. After testing the “I’m OK” message several times with our children along the trip as we came across the U. P., we felt confident that they would receive our message on this afternoon.

We had our supper about 5:30. First I fixed a Cache Lake Italian Fry Bread to enjoy while our Camp Chow Mac and Cheese (this is really mac and noodles) cooked on the stove. Added a few extra noodles to meet Neil’s carb requirements, and of course we had some hot decaf coffee (Starbucks VIA.)

A heavier drizzle started about 5 PM and continued into the evening. I was bundled in my rain gear over several other layers, and felt chilled with a temperature of 41 degrees. Unfortunately we had encountered Challenge #1: the pants of Neil’s rain gear had inadvertently been left behind. [All through our vacation I was under the impression that this was his oversight, but when we got home I saw them sitting by the sewing machine and realized that I had set them aside to repair a small tear—my bad!—so he wasn’t the one at fault after all.] I could see that he was shivering, so I sent him to the tent to put on long merino wool underwear and to warm up in his sleeping bag for a little while. This was the first realization that a lack of proper rain gear might be a deal-breaker for a planned six-day trip.

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I did up the dishes by about 7:30, and was feeling quite discouraged. With the cold and damp conditions, my arthritic joints were barely able to move and my mobility was so compromised that I was realizing more and more how helpless I was to contribute to anything of substance on the trip. My pain level was high and I was also worried about how the chill might affect Neil’s blood sugar during the night. Challenge #2 was the cold and damp late-spring weather.

We retired early, and slept fairly well, although the blood glucose sensor kept giving warnings, as the readings were on a roller coaster of highs and lows. There was a problem with the set on the insulin pump becoming unhooked and he ruined a second one when replacing it, leaving him with only one working set for the pump; this was problematic, as the backup insulin supply was only a vial of regular insulin (no long-lasting Lantis) and a handful of syringes. So now we already had Challenge #3.

 



Part 3 of 4


Day Two: Layover Day in camp

It was cold on Sunday morning. We don’t know quite how cold, as our thermometer had died during the night after giving us a low battery warning. I crawled out of the tent to see a tiny patch of blue sky disappear into a blanket of charcoal gray, and that pretty much lasted until mid-afternoon. There was a light mist falling occasionally. Neil was chilled, and now he was also nauseated. Immediately I recognized Challenge #4: he was ill.

He insisted that he would be “fine”, so I fixed breakfast about 7:30 as usual. 16 ounces of Tang, pecan pancakes with maple syrup, and bacon. As we were eating the last of it and savoring our hot coffee, I remarked, “I am too old for this anymore. Perhaps we should just do a cabin and take day trips from now on.” He replied, “We’ll see how you do after your knee surgery this fall.” And I said, “I’m pretty sure that this is my last trip.”

Just as I said that a loon piped up, “Oooh, nooooo!” It was eerie, the timing and the way it sounded. It brought tears to my eyes.

Neil went crashing off into the woods, battling his nausea, and came back in a little while with a nice center pole for the tarp. At 8:30 I was finishing up the dishes and having a second cup of coffee, and he was snoring in the tent. That’s when I knew he was really not feeling well.

He moped around, tried to drink water to keep hydrated but couldn’t keep much down, ate very little lunch and had no energy all day. For some reason bending down or moving his head brought on the nausea, so he tried to keep still as much as possible. It wasn’t a fun morning.

We made the decision, in light of a weather forecast for a warmer and nicer day on Monday, that we should just bail on the rest of our trip and try to get back to the entry point tomorrow if Neil was able to travel.

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The sun came out nicely about 11:00 and it warmed up some, but with a breeze it still didn’t feel very warm. It was pleasant to sit in the sun, and I wrote a few post cards while sitting in the chair.

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I got into my miscellaneous pack and robbed a battery from a small reading light to fix the thermometer, as we do like to have a temperature reading for our journal.

I took a few photos of lilies and plants in the open area behind the campsite. The clintonia were sending up buds but not open yet. There weren’t really any flowers except for pin cherries in the woods. The trees had leaves, but they were small, pale green, baby leaves. Spring was so late this year—the lilacs were in full bloom in Ely on June 1st and the May tulips were still blooming. We didn’t pick the best year to plan our earliest trip, since we don’t really have cold-weather gear.

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Suddenly, at 2:30, Neil said, “Let’s go see the waterfall!” I had wanted to try to cross the portage to Vernon and see the waterfall, so this was a pleasant surprise: still, I really wondered if either of us were up to the task. But we set out across to the portage, about a five-minute paddle, and Neil took the only photos, as I was busy with my trekking poles and a portage trail that was really beyond my capabilities. So sad to have declined to that point!

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The portage from Brule to Vernon is rocky, with a steep climb downhill. I made it down the first big hill and thought I was making good progress, but Neil, who had gone ahead much faster, met me on his way back and said I was only about 1/3 of the way, and it was just as bad or worse further on. He said I would never make it, and if I did, it looked like the pathway to the falls was another difficult, rocky trek that would be beyond me. I usually have learned to trust his judgement. Sigh.

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I was SO disappointed. But with him not feeling well, and me toiling to make the climb back up after struggling on the downhill sections so much, it just didn’t seem wise to even attempt to go further for the waterfall.

We went back to the campsite and sent a “We’re OK” message at 4:20, but I didn’t feel very “OK”. I felt pretty crappy, and I knew he did, too. It was clear skies now, windy (whitecaps on the lake) and promised to be a colder night. I cooked the most bland freeze-dried entrée we had on hand, AlpineAire Chicken with Pineapple and Orange (rice-based), and it was so-so, but Neil just couldn’t eat anything much, and was ill again afterwards. I was getting worried about how we would keep the blood sugar within normal limits during the night. He was shivering and looking demoralized.

We had a small fire. Not for cooking, but just for warmth. It didn’t help much. So we put it out and went into the tent at 7:30.

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It was a rough night. Neil battled the nausea and tried to remain as still as possible. The blood glucose sensor sent out warnings from time to time and he would eat marshmallows to keep from crashing. I don’t think either of us slept a great deal. We kept warm enough in our sleeping bags, but having to get up (senior citizens usually have to get up to pee in the night) was a chilling experience.

 



Part 2 of 4


Day Three: Pack up and head back to the entry point

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We were up at 5 AM. The temperature in the tent was 33 degrees, and as I was moving around outside in the sunshine a few minutes later it was 35. There was a misty sunrise, so I spent the time from 5:20-5:40 taking photos. It was a really pretty morning, and there were some fairly good shots to be made.

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But Neil ended up making the best one!

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Neil appeared to be feeling better this morning. We had a good time at breakfast, with a fire for warmth and the “God-light” streaming through the trees.

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We staged our portraits.

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Breakfast was oatmeal with NIDO and freeze-dried blueberries, and that tasted good. Then I cooked scrambled eggs with bacon, and we enjoyed hot chocolate and coffee.

The wind was picking up at 7:45 as we were beginning to break camp and pack up. It was a sunny morning, with a totally clear sky, and by 8:00 the temperature had risen to 44 degrees. The birch trees barely had leaves at all, they were just beginning to form on the branches.

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Our last campsite (if, indeed, that was what it turns out to be) was a pleasant one. No beautiful view, no sitting rock, but user-friendly and comfortable. Sheltered. We saw no humans all day yesterday. I think we both departed with some sadness, especially because it was warming up and the sun was shining. We left firewood for the next campers.

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Now Brule just needed to let us leave without incident. Somehow this trip had seemed jinxed: forgotten gear, cold weather, problems with the insulin pump, and Neil’s illness. (a 24-hour “bug”?) Even a portage that was beyond my capabilities. Surely there wasn’t another unpleasant surprise coming??

We set off at 9:45, after “toasting” the journey’s success with squares of German’s Sweet Chocolate for luck. Neil was looking tired and not very strong, but better than yesterday.

And Brule was lovely, blue, and most cooperative. Not calm like glass, but not at all scary.

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I noticed the difference in the way this little peninsula looked just two days later when photographed in sunshine.

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We met 2 canoes on the water and saw one camp. Not a lot of people out here yet.

We thought this log in the water looked like a wolf’s head.

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And the loons came out to visit with us again, too.

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We ended our trip at the landing at 11:06. Safe and sound.

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I camera-stalked a mourning cloak butterfly while Neil loaded the packs into the car and got the canoe tied down.

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By the time he had the car loaded, Spartan1/Neil was looking tired. It was the right decision to end early. This trip just wasn’t meant to be, somehow.

We sent another “We’re OK” message, but we didn’t really mean it.

 



Part 4 of 4


Epilogue: What do you do with the rest of the days?

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We stopped at Trestle Inn for a late lunch of burgers and onion rings, washed down with a cold beer. It was good to see Neil eating with gusto again.

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And we couldn’t just head for home now. Our grandson Robert, age 7, was joining us at Fenske Lake Cabins on Saturday for a week of fun in the Ely area. It was Monday. We now had time to spare, and no place to spend it. So we had to come up with PLAN B!

Fortunately the Spruce Cabin, which we had reserved for our week with Robert, was available for this week as well. It was pricey, and Neil gulped when I agreed to it, but we did rent it for the five days until his arrival, and moved right in.

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The cabin is very comfortable, with a nice view of the lake, a lovely screened porch, and some creature comforts we didn’t need (like a bubble-type bottom-jet bathtub and a dishwasher!) but did enjoy. We unloaded our stuff, decided what we needed right away—towels and supper—and took off for Ely.

Made a quick stop at Shopko for a set of towels, something I had forgotten to bring for the cabin, and got quick sandwiches at Subway. Hurried back to the cabin to shower and get ready for sleeping in a bed again. Much sooner than we had planned, but it did feel pretty good.

Tuesday we were back in Ely, doing laundry, buying a few essentials for the cabin time, getting groceries, checking out the Farmers’ Market and having dinner at Sir G’s.

In the evening we had a quiet time of reading books and enjoying the Maker's Mark that we had planned on imbibing beside our BWCA campfire. It wasn't all bad, actually. ;-)

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Wednesday was a rainy day. Perfect for staying in a nice, warm cabin and being dry. We got an invitation to come to Bill (Ho Ho) and David’s home for a get-together of friends, so I baked a cherry cobbler, and in the evening we joined them for brats, other delicious food, beverages, and conversation. Banksiana was there, and also Zulu, and some other folks, but I don’t think they are on bwca.com.

Thursday we slept in, had a nice breakfast, and took the canoe out to explore Fenske Lake before lunch. Nothing too exciting, but it is a pretty little lake.

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In the evening we treated ourselves to dinner at Burntside Lodge—probably my favorite place to dine in northern Minnesota. We had a lovely evening, shared a bottle of nice wine, stopped to visit with a friend on Pine Tree Trail for a few minutes, and on the way home I took a few photos of Shagawa Lake in the glow of sunset.

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Fenske Lake was smooth as glass that evening.

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On Friday we were cranky. I decided that we were getting bored and needed more activity.

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How about shopping? (This is really a joke, as I am famous for NOT liking to shop!) So we headed in to town, explored the Kess Gallery and bought some souvenirs. Went to Piragis and exchanged something we didn’t need for a drop-in seat for our canoe, which we did need, and then had lunch at “Taste of Ely”. Finally we bought a few more groceries, and got hot dog buns at Plum Bun Bakery for our cookout when Ed, Wendy and Robert arrive tomorrow evening.

After supper we paddled again on Fenske Lake, Neil fished a bit with no luck, and I took a few photos (ducks, mainly.) Reflections, too. I sat down on the dock to photograph the sunset but it wasn’t worth the bother, so I just gave up on that.

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And Saturday was the big day! It was finally getting warm in the Ely area, and it was gloriously sunny. We went back to town so that I could do another load of laundry, and Neil bought the beer we had forgotten. We had our lunch at the Honeybear Bar-be-que wagon in Zup’s parking lot—really very good—and topped that off with some pistachio custard at the Red Barn. Yum!

Our family arrived about 6 PM, remarking that it was a “long drive” from Omaha. I guess so!

We had a cookout. It was the first time Robert had ever cooked a hot dog on an open fire. Fun. And my three guys went out for a paddle together on Fenske Lake.

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Robert’s parents stayed the night and left him with us in the morning for a week of fun exploring Fenske Lake and Ely's "attractions". That’s another whole report. Perhaps I’ll write that one later.

 


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