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.
Sawbill to Phoebe Lake and back
Entry Date:
July 17, 2022
Entry Point:
Sawbill Lake
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
5
Sunday was our outbound assault on the objective. We chose the dry-foot method with sturdy hiking boots (ankles support!) and used standard backpacks (e.g., Kelty Redcloud 90) with watertight packing inside. I can see the benefit of Boundary Bags because they don't have stuff dangling outside to get caught up in/out of the canoe. However, we really enjoy the solid fit of the regular packs for the portages. Our packs were in the 50 pound range so good support was important. Outbound we chose pack+boat on portages for one trip on each. You really have to be in somewhat beastmode shape to do that with a 30-man canoe and 55 pound pack but we managed.
If you are in reasonable shape and have the blessing of favorable weather, the trek from Sawbill to Phoebe (via the long portage into Grace) in one day is not an issue though we were spent and ready to be done. There were some downed trees across the portage paths but really, it just added to the adventure. The lilly pads and blossoms were delightful. It took our crew about 7 hours to reach Phoebe site 1030 {beautiful!!!) with a decent amount of daylight to pitch camp, filter water, eat, and crash before the hoard arrived. Yes, the mosquitoes were substantial even during the day and swarming after dark-much more than in 2020. You get creative about where you spray that Picaridin and how you use that bandana to keep the airspace clear while answering those collect calls from Ma Nature.
We intended to spend 2 days exploring Phoebe and fishing before returning on day 4 but a member of our group became ill so part of the crew explored for a day then we bailed a day early. The hit/miss thunderstorms throughout the trip mostly hit at night but there was enough wind, etc. during the day that our fishing was not productive beyond a few fingerlings. This was despite hauling in the lures, etc. recommended by other trip reports (no live bait for us). Other groups we encountered (they were outbound while we were inbound) reported excellent fishing results on Phoebe so talent+weather+time of day+kit will produce varying results. Sidenote: Thunderstorms rolling over the lake at midnight are amazing to hear approaching, if not slightly terrifying.
Outbound we doubled the portages (pack or boat but not both) because we had an odd pack as a result of unloading our ill team member so the trek was somewhat longer, though no less beautiful. Lunch provided enough delay for the whitecaps and wind to fade on Grace to improve our odds of forward progress on the lake. The eastbound journey required some effort but was productive and rewarding.
This route is a good combination of some portage grinding/hiking and open water paddling. It's a good experience for the newbies but not so hard that you can't do it. BWCA Is an international treasure and we worked hard to leave no trace. We hope you do, too, as you enjoy the great outdoors.
Sunday was our outbound assault on the objective. We chose the dry-foot method with sturdy hiking boots (ankles support!) and used standard backpacks (e.g., Kelty Redcloud 90) with watertight packing inside. I can see the benefit of Boundary Bags because they don't have stuff dangling outside to get caught up in/out of the canoe. However, we really enjoy the solid fit of the regular packs for the portages. Our packs were in the 50 pound range so good support was important. Outbound we chose pack+boat on portages for one trip on each. You really have to be in somewhat beastmode shape to do that with a 30-man canoe and 55 pound pack but we managed.
If you are in reasonable shape and have the blessing of favorable weather, the trek from Sawbill to Phoebe (via the long portage into Grace) in one day is not an issue though we were spent and ready to be done. There were some downed trees across the portage paths but really, it just added to the adventure. The lilly pads and blossoms were delightful. It took our crew about 7 hours to reach Phoebe site 1030 {beautiful!!!) with a decent amount of daylight to pitch camp, filter water, eat, and crash before the hoard arrived. Yes, the mosquitoes were substantial even during the day and swarming after dark-much more than in 2020. You get creative about where you spray that Picaridin and how you use that bandana to keep the airspace clear while answering those collect calls from Ma Nature.
We intended to spend 2 days exploring Phoebe and fishing before returning on day 4 but a member of our group became ill so part of the crew explored for a day then we bailed a day early. The hit/miss thunderstorms throughout the trip mostly hit at night but there was enough wind, etc. during the day that our fishing was not productive beyond a few fingerlings. This was despite hauling in the lures, etc. recommended by other trip reports (no live bait for us). Other groups we encountered (they were outbound while we were inbound) reported excellent fishing results on Phoebe so talent+weather+time of day+kit will produce varying results. Sidenote: Thunderstorms rolling over the lake at midnight are amazing to hear approaching, if not slightly terrifying.
Outbound we doubled the portages (pack or boat but not both) because we had an odd pack as a result of unloading our ill team member so the trek was somewhat longer, though no less beautiful. Lunch provided enough delay for the whitecaps and wind to fade on Grace to improve our odds of forward progress on the lake. The eastbound journey required some effort but was productive and rewarding.
This route is a good combination of some portage grinding/hiking and open water paddling. It's a good experience for the newbies but not so hard that you can't do it. BWCA Is an international treasure and we worked hard to leave no trace. We hope you do, too, as you enjoy the great outdoors.