BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
October 10 2024
Entry Point 54 - Seagull Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 8
Elevation: 1205 feet
Latitude: 48.1469
Longitude: -90.8693
Seagull Lake - 54
A Paddling Partner for Life, Part 5. A Quick Little Fall Adventure
Entry Date:
October 08, 2010
Entry Point:
Seagull Lake Only
Number of Days:
3
Group Size:
3
The trip would actually start on Thursday evening around 7pm when I picked up my brother at his home in the Milwaukee area. We planned to drive all night and stop somewhere near Grand Marias and sleep until sunrise. We ended up parking the car about 3am at a pull out near Cascade River State Park just west of Grand Marias. When we awoke we were greeted by a fantastic sunrise over Lake Superior.
After taking in the views and getting stretched out after sleeping in the car, we drove into town and stopped at Buck's Hardware so my brother could grab his fishing license and gas up the car. Next, we were headed up the Gunflint Trail to grab some breakfast prior to meeting Debbie and Dave at Seagull Outfitters to take a look at the canoe. It was a bit strange seeing the place "put to bed" for the year. The only canoe remaining outside was the Northwind and after bit of discussion and poking around the deal was made!
The original plan was to use the Larch Creek entry point and paddle into Larch or Clove Lake, but because the water levels were so low and we didn't feel like dealing with a muddy start, we opted to paddle on Seagull Lake instead. It ended up being a great choice as the weather was fantastic and the waters were glassy calm. After about an hour of paddling we made it to the campsite just behind the Palisades and claimed it as our home for the weekend.
The views from the camp were great. After setting up camp and having a quick lunch (salami, cheese and crackers) we headed out to fish for the afternoon. The only fish we caught was a Lake Trout by accident. The lake had obviously turned over as the water temperatures were very cold making the fishing a challenge. Nonetheless, who could complain given the great weather!
Dinner was beef stroganoff, hash browns and corn. The rest of the evening was spent attempting to fish from shore, enjoying a warm camp fire and watching the stars come out. Darkness hit around 7pm. Lauren was fascinated finding the constellations, the satellites and even a couple shooting stars!
We woke with the rising sun and stepped out of the tent to a chilly morning. Nothing a good camp fire, hot cocoa and breakfast couldn't cure. Pancakes and sausage was on the menu.
Today would be spent lounging around camp and fishing. We didn't paddle too far from camp, but did fish around Miles Island, Seagull Rock and did a bit of trolling on the big water. By mid-day is was getting pretty warm (60's I'd guess) and the lake was very calm. Aside from the dog rocking the boat from time to time, we enjoyed just casually drifting around all day. The fishing was again slow, but we did manage to catch a couple nice pike at the base of the Palisades. One was about 25 inches and the other 35 inches. We kept the 25 incher for dinner and boy did he taste good with the Cajun flavored Shorelunch and hashbrowns.
Evening time brought out another gorgeous sunset and we again enjoyed some quality star gazing, some shore fishing and a warm fire. I managed to catch a nice sized laker (25 inches plus) from shore on a Chartreuse Wiggle Wart. We even got to hear a pack of wolves in the distance howling! Very cool!
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Morning time again brought with it a beautiful day. From the pictures you can see how vibrant the colors were and how calm the lake was. After a pancake and bacon breakfast we packed up camp and started to paddle back home to Seagull's dock. We fished and trolled along the way resulting in another lake trout in the big part of the lake just before you enter the small bay that the outfitter resides on. Again, the Wiggle Wart came through! :)
We arrived back at the dock around 11am, packed up the car and away we went back down the trail headed home.
All in all it was a great trip and I'm sure we got a rarity in the great weather we experienced in October. My brother was very happy with his purchase of the Northwind and the trip went off without a hitch. Aside from a couple canoes we saw on Saturday, we had the lake to ourselves. A couple loons were still around, but it more quiet at night than in the summer time.
I'm not sure I'd bring the dog on longer trips, but she did behave very well and didn't bark at all. Tent and canoe time with her went well.
Time to start planning for 2011! Enjoy!