BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
December 12 2024
Entry Point 52 - Brant Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 4
Elevation: 1500 feet
Latitude: 48.0692
Longitude: -90.8455
Brant to Tuscarora via Little Sag Route:
Round
Brant
Bat - Mud
Gillis - burn area is evident:
French
Peter - first lake trout:
Virgin
Little Sag - green trees again!
Mora - gorgeous divide of burn and green
Crooked
Owl
Tuscarora - second lake trout!
Missing Link - with lighter food pack, the portage is OK
Round
Seagull-Sag, abbreviated
Entry Date:
August 04, 2018
Entry Point:
Seagull Lake
Number of Days:
2
Group Size:
2
After starting out, we traveled for about 1/2-hour before encountering our first real obstacle--the set of rapids below the Seagull River Falls and just west of Trail's End Campground. While I knew that the falls were coming and that we would need to portage around them, I was not aware of these rapids so while a bit confused I thought this already might be the lowest end of the falls and was fooled by what looked like a portage on the campground side of the river. This turned out to be just a trail up to a nearby drive-in campsite and we could not find anything else that looked like another portage. It did not seem that the rapids would be very navigable by canoe but I did not like the option of walking the canoe up the rapids either, noting the significant current and not having any idea of deep spots or what the footing was like. We decided to try paddling up the rapids anyway. It was soon apparent this would not work since after multiple attempts at several spots we continued to get hung up and once even got turned sideways, nearly going over and almost snapping a paddle. We backed off and then sat there rather puzzled for what to do. After a while another party came by and they decided right away to walk their canoe up the rapids. Indeed this was quite difficult for them as at one point one of them lost footing on the slippery and uneven rocks and briefly went underwater. They eventually did make it safely through to the other side. After watching them closely we cautiously followed their path and then also made it through the rapids to paddle on to the "real" portage around the falls. This portage was no simple task either as the path branched off several ways, including the wrong turn we took before figuring it out and finally reaching Seagull Lake above the falls. Once we were there, a quick study of the map revealed how silly we had been. Had we only portaged from boat landing to boat landing through the parking lot at Trail's End campground, we could have by-passed the rapids and the falls all together AND dry footed it the whole way along a smooth level path! DUH!!!
An hour or two of paddling and a lunch stop later, we found ourselves at a nice campsite about 3/4 of the way down the lake west toward Alpine along Seagull's north shore. This would be home for the night. After pitching our tent on one of the obvious tent pads we now noted a threat of rain so we also constructed a rain-fly over the seating area next to the fire grate and quickly built a fire so we would have one available for cooking our steak and potato supper. Shortly before suppertime the rain hit and the first sprinkles soon turned into a significant downpour. At this point a couple of mistakes we'd made became apparent: we had not paid enough attention to how water would drain around the site and this "obvious" tent pad soon became a bowl collecting water and submerging part of our tent (and the gear inside) about 2" deep. We also had not angled the tarp well for drainage. After collecting water for a bit it collapsed and dumped water on much of our gear and on our now-struggling fire, extinguishing it completely. I assured Stephen that we would still be able to have a supper by cooking over our single burner stove. While he set about using this stove to pan-fry the steaks, I got busy slicing the potatoes. When the steaks were done, Stephen was going to plate them up for us when he suddenly lost grip of the frying pan and the steaks ended up on the muddy ground now covered by duff. I told Stephen not to worry as we would simply rinse them off and warm them up again. Once this was done he once again started to serve them and ONCE AGAIN lost grip of the pan and ONCE AGAIN the steaks ended up in the dirt! By this time he was so frustrated with himself, the weather and the general situation that he blurted out, almost in tears, "I just want to go home!!!"
Now Stephen and I had already been on several successful and enjoyable BWCA trips together that had also featured their share of challenges so I knew that we could hang in there and handle this if needed. But the trip was not just about our ability to endure. I wanted it to be about Stephen and about us having fun together and with all of our little setbacks throughout the day there was much of the time that the fun just wasn't happening. Stephen did offer that we wouldn't really have to go home but maybe could do a re-set on the trip by getting a room somewhere and playing some more in Grand Marais or maybe even exploring Duluth on the way home. I agreed to this as long as we would wait until morning to head back since we were several hours out from the outfitter and to make it back to them before dark would be hard to do. After dozens of trips to the BWCA, and dealing with many storms over the years, this would be the first time I had ever ended a trip early due to weather.
After re-rinsing and re-warming our steaks again we did manage to finally eat them although the potatoes also became a mud victim and they just got tossed in the garbage. Instead, we had some of our freeze-dried backup food to supplement the meal. Eventually the rain did let up enough to allow us to secure camp and before dark I was able to sneak in about 20 minutes of fishing from shore (one 18" walleye). Just before final turn-in for the night the clouds even cleared enough for us to get a peek at the stars. That served as a small but welcome reminder of why, despite the hardships, I so love coming to the BWCA! While the rain soon returned were able to stay dry in our tent and elevate up off the soggy floor on some gear that hadn't become soaking wet. We ended the day by achieving a decent night's sleep.
Once we got the gear loaded into our vehicle we returned again to the outfitter to get cleaned up and into fresh clothes before heading down the Gunflint Trail for lunch. A couple of awesome burgers and cold beers at Trail Center Cafe seemed to confirm that this was going to be a great day. When we got to Grand Marais the Fisherman's Picnic was still going strong and there was this fascinating fog rolling in off of Lake Superior. This was all the justification we needed for more exploration of the town. Once we did get back on the road we called ahead and booked a room in Duluth for that evening. Upon arriving in Duluth we were able to check out Canal Park, watched a ship come in, explored Minnesota Point, enjoyed some great food, beverages and friendly conversation at Sir Benedict's On The Lake and caught a late movie before doing even more "Duluth things" the next day, prior to our departure for home. Some great father-son time together!
Certainly the trip was different from what was planned or expected but as Stephen put it, "We Apollo-Thirteened it"--a successful failure full of its own experiences, stories and memories. 
