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BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog

December 02 2024

Entry Point 49 - Skipper & Portage Lakes

Skipper and Portage Lakes entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Gunflint Ranger Station near the city of Grand Marais, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 28 miles. Access is a 320-rod portage from Poplar Lake or a 230-rod portage from Iron Lake. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.

Number of Permits per Day: 2
Elevation: 1865 feet
Latitude: 48.0517
Longitude: -90.5366
Skipper & Portage Lakes - 49

Appler, Cross Bay to Poplar Lake

by Patuxent
Trip Report

Entry Date: September 15, 2023
Entry Point: Cross Bay Lake
Exit Point: Lizz and Swamp Lakes (47)
Number of Days: 7
Group Size: 1

Trip Introduction:
This was my first BW trip after 2 nights the year before in the UP in the Sylvania Wilderness Area. This 7-day BW trip may have been too ambitious for a 67 year old novice and loner, but I survived.

Report


This was a grueling trip for me, which left me with an injured tail bone and lots of ideas. The most important one for me was to not go solo again. Apart from the want of comradery, there is too much work to do alone and too much danger of facing misshaps unaided. I did some falling, some sinking into the mud, and some capsizing at landings. I quckly learned how to assess landings better. I had a windy paddle along the length of Winchell in my smallish rented Prism; earlier I had a miraculously calm paddle along much of Brule Lake. My equipment and food loads could have been lighter. So it was a hard shake-down trip that might lead to more pleasant trips in the future.

 


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