BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 19 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.
GHOST Shoe
Entry Date:
June 12, 2018
Entry Point:
Sawbill Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
The Ghost SHOE.
Are you missing a shoe from your recent BWCA trip? Let me know and I will send it to you.
Back in mid-June, my wife and I put in at Sawbill and paddled the Cherokee Loop.
We were portaging from Ada to Scoop Lake. The first of two portages was a short 1 rod. But we kept following what appeared to be the portage and it seemed to grow longer and more precarious. More and more muddy. We thought we must of missed where to put in, but the “portage”was well traveled. About half way through this slog, I sank into the mud to my thigh. I managed to get the canoe off my shoulders and began to extract myself from the bog. As I did this, my right water shoe was sucked off by the mud as I was lifting my leg out. THWACK! My wife arrived and saw me covered in mud and with no right shoe. After she stopped laughing, I set out digging for my shoe.
As I was digging with my feet and my arms up to my shoulder in mud, she said, “well, if you don’t find it, you can always use this shoe.” I looked up and saw she had a running shoe that was covered in dried mud. She said, “it is a right shoe.” I laughed. What? In this pristine wilderness, you just found a shoe? Yep, she said. “Just next to this supposed “portage” where the bog dries.”
I cleaned it up. Put it on. It fit pretty well. The shoe carried an appropriate name: GHOST 7. I guess for lucky 7.
My wife gave me another 20 minutes to find my water shoe, before we had to push on, now with my new GHOST 7 on my right foot and my water shoe on the left. About a minute before the designated period ended, I touched what I thought was my water shoe as I was digging with my leg. The water shoe floated to the surface as the buzzer sounded.
While, I did not need to use the GHOST 7 running shoe, I decided to take it with us. I thought maybe someone had lost it, like I had lost my shoe. Later, perhaps it floated to the surface, where my wife found it.
But as time passed, I began to wonder if the GHOST owner actually left it there on purpose. Clearly violating BWCA protocol, as he (less likely she with a men’s 11) had left it there, in case some other poor paddler would lose their shoe where he did.
Well, hopefully the true owner of GHOST 7 will come forward and solve this mystery and be reunited with their long lost right running shoe.
PS I washed the shoe, before taking this photo. 