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

BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

March 28 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.

Faith Men's BWCAW 2016 Trip

by on2paddle
Trip Report

Entry Date: September 08, 2016
Entry Point: Sawbill Lake
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 6

Trip Introduction:
Our group of 6 men entered at #38, Sawbill Lake. The folks at Sawbill Canoe Outfitters treated us well and with enthusiasm as we wrapped up the few loose ends on gear. We decided to rent two of the three person Wenonah Minnesota III's. The perfect choice for a group of our size. We had various levels of BWCAW experience and opted to take it easy with just a couple of portages, base camping and exposing a couple of the guys to the BWCAW for the first time. Sawbill to Smoke to Burnt and set up and island base camp. We had a cross wind on Sawbill and the wind at our backs as we crossed Smoke and Burnt. A rare tailwind for me. We had driven from the Twin Cities late on Wednesday night through a heavy thunder storm leaving the portages a bit on the soupy side, but no water or mud over the boots on our two portages. Campsite access was good, no major obstacles. Camp was set, a hammock, 3 tents, a tarp and a pair of perfect hanging trees. We fished, caught northern's, walleye, and small mouth bass near camp over the next few days. We had some off and on rain, sun and clouds. Stars were out and so was the a bright moon. Got to love those moon shadows. The food was adequate, nothing special (except for the fried fish) and nobody went to bed hungry. A good time was had by all. A blessing it was to experience canoe country with this group of men.

Report


 


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