BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
July 26 2024
Entry Point 57 - Magnetic Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 3
Elevation: 1554 feet
Latitude: 48.0969
Longitude: -90.7621
Magnetic Lake - 57
Clove Lake Canoe Derby 2013
Entry Date:
July 29, 2013
Entry Point:
Magnetic Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
6
Sue and the crew got us loaded up and trailered us to the public landing on Gunflint where we put off.
The paddle on Gunflint and Magnetic was great, with very little wind we relaxed and took our time. Even circled the island with the Swiss Chalet on it. 
As we made our way down the Pine river, the scenery was gorgeous, the portages were rocky and the blueberries looked promising! We had a lunch of gorp, granola bars and jerky overlooking the falls.
When we arrived on Clove, the northern campsite with the sandy beach was taken, but the western campsite was available so we took it. It's a solid site, getting in and out is a little tricky but otherwise fine. We did some fishing from shore and had some luck with a few northerns and bass. Rowan caught the big fish of the night with a three pound smallie, when you're 42 lbs yourself, that's a big fish!
As we paddled back down Knife, I clicked endless photos while we sang a song that had been trapped in our brains since the ride up – The Brady Bunch. I’d purchased season 1 and the kids watched one episode after another all the way to Ely. Five hours of the Brady’s must be some kind of record. So there we were, happily singing and paddling, not realizing that it was long past sunup and the wind had absolutely remained still. We came to the Isle of Pines where Dorothy Molter used to live and make rootbeer and we found her beautiful ribbon rock.
With calm water still on our side, we decided to canoe for as long as mother-nature made it easy – which led us to a conundrum that every canoeist crosses. We came to the point where we had to decide to either stop and camp, or portage on and hope for a campsite on the other side. Our dilemma was a bit more complicated since we needed to make four portages before coming to the possibility of available campsites. We took a vote and determined to forge ahead. “And that’s the way they became the Brady Bunch!” Our daughters were troopers, often carrying packs that weighed more than they did. After tackling portages, hunger, and 90 degree weather, our daughters looked at the map and told us where to go. We got to Birch Lake and found the mapped out campsite available and absolutely gorgeous. Every tree had an imaginary yellow ribbon around it - as it felt like we were coming home from war. We naturally fell into our routine – quickly setting up the kitchen, tent, and Barbie fort. When my husband walked out onto the little island adjacent to our camp and saw loads of smallmouth bass, he figured that it was a two-night stop for sure, and we agreed.
With sore muscles and full bellies, Jack London put us all to sleep within minutes. When I heard my husband get up in the middle of the night for a potty break, I knew exactly why he didn’t come back right away; he was looking up in utter amazement at full moon surrounded by the star-filled sky, just as I’d done minutes earlier. The wilderness has a way of screeching everything to a halt and freezing us in our tracks to gaze across the water or marvel at the moon. 
We did find a honey hole for bass that was working like a charm. I assumed that most of clove was just northerns except for the Pine River scour hole, but we lucked into a nice little spot.
While taking Rowan to the 'potty', I followed a lightly used trail and came to the top of our 'hill'. While I had heard of great blueberry picking this time of year, I had thus far been disappointed, well disappointed no more. Endless blueberries were to be found just 30 yards from the throne! The crew could not have been happier.
Took a trip up the Granite a few portages and explored the area, wish we would have fished a little more but it's tough with the little ones.
After our Bear Creek Soup supper, we got out for a little more fishing and Rowan caught the fish of the trip! His Kool-Aid mustache and face painted forehead say it all. 
At this point in the trip -- my dad still couldn't tell you what a Senko was but he was catching a lot of fish with them. Rowan liked his tubes and I convinced my brother Mike that catching a top water fish is worth pulling three in on a rapala -- life was good. Had a few bites on a white Zulu of QueticoMike fame, still found it difficult to set the hook but it was good to see it in action. We tripped into Larch -- seemed nice enough, the island campsite looked great. Half heartedly tried for some crappie, didn't get a single bite.
Spaghetti for supper was the call of the day -- accompanied with the 'pizza dough' bannock with sprinkles of garlic and parmesan, delicious!
The weather was so great that we took our sweet time breaking camp, probably didn't leave our site until after noon. Nice little paddle out. The wind had really kicked up on Magnetic and Gunflint on our way out, fortunately it was on our back. The 'surfing' was a little nerve racking at times but we made it through just fine.
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