BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 02 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.
Girl just want to have fun.
Entry Date:
July 02, 2023
Entry Point:
Brule Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
6
Our group made a list of campsites and was thrilled to find #908 vacant. This campsite is the best in BWCA I've stayed at yet. All six of us brought tent hammocks and had plenty of trees to hang them on. The cooking range and seating area are at the top of a large boulder, giving campers an elevated panoramic view of the lake, perfect for capturing sunrise and sunsets. Within the first few minutes of our arrival at the site, while soaking in the view, we watched another moose cow swim across the length of the lake. I still can't believe I was lucky to see four moose in one trip.
We're an easy-going group that likes to relax more than work, so we hunkered down and stayed our entire trip at campsite #908. We explored North Temperance, fished, watched the loons cry at the eagle family, and swam, as it was pretty warm. The black flies were out in full force. We were riddled with bites and were thankful the wind picked up on our last day, giving us some reprieve from the black flying devils. Lightweight long sleeves and pants were my saving grace.
I wondered if the Fourth of July holiday would bring more people to BWCA. Perhaps it did, and the masses went elsewhere; we were lucky to have the entire lake to ourselves and only saw two other canoes pass through to take on the 240-rod portage towards Weird Lake. It's always bittersweet leaving BWCA. We paddled out on July 6th around 6:45 am, and when we reached Brule, a strong westward wind brought whitecaps. The wind blew just right that it did not help push us to the east end, and we had to fight to quarter into the waves for two hours straight. Thankfully no weird competing gusts, the wind was predictable, and we all made it back safely to entry point #41.