BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 24 2024
Entry Point 39 - Baker Lake
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.
Alton base camp
Entry Date:
July 26, 2015
Entry Point:
Sawbill Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
My wife and I don't like sitting around camp so every day we take sidetrips. Monday morning we canoed up to north side of Kelso lake, Down the Kelso river into Sawbill lake,back to our campsite on Alton lake.
Tuesday we explored the southern part of Alton Lake and Wonder lake. The portage between Alton lake and Wonder lake was filled with blueberries.
Wednesday we decided to break camp and head into Sawbill lake. We stayed at the first campsite closest to the Sawbill entry point. Officially it's not in the BWCA but it's a great site. It's up off the water and with the wind we had no bugs. It was pretty windy in the morning and early afternoon so we just stayed at camp relaxed and play Yahtzee. 4:00pm we decided to take dinner with us and head and explore the north side of Sawbill lake. We were going to find a campsite on the northside of Sawbill and eat dinner,but all the sites were full. So we decided to head up the river to Handle lake. Beautiful area with a giant beaver dam.
Thursday morning we packed up early headed to Sawbill outfitters and the long drive back to Chicago. Overall had a great trip few bugs,saw several Eagles. Listening to the Loons outside our campsite every night. We even had a hummingbird visit us. Now I get to plan my more adventurous solo trip in September. 
