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       Trip Report - Sawbill to Lake One, Across the Center of the BWCA
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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 07:40AM
Trip Report - Sawbill to Lake One, Across the Center of the BWCA

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
MN_Lindsey 08/06/2018 09:58PM
It's rare that I'll read such a long trip report, but it was the perfect nightcap before bed.


I really enjoyed reading your trip, and hope that my MiniMN turns into as good of a canoe partner as M.


The burn area was really interesting. Hauntingly beautiful.


I bet it was really strange coming into civilization on Insula/Lake 4 etc when you hadn't seen people the whole first part of your trip.


Great report. Thanks for sharing.
aruthenb 07/24/2018 10:07AM
Great trip report and pictures, sounds like it was a special week to spend with your daughter. Also congrats on the Grandma's Marathon finish (see your shirt in last pic)! My wife and I ran again this year and then went in on EP19 the following week, the legs were a little sore on the portages!
TominMpls 07/24/2018 08:25AM
Thanks all! It was a fun trip and it was fun to write it up - even in less than two weeks I was surprised at how much I'd forgotten, so I really like getting it written down while I still mostly remember.


BendingBranchesPaddler: "I'm also very impressed with your daughter and her love of the BWCA at a young age - you've done a nice job fostering that and I hope to be able to do the same with my 2.5 year old, although I have some time to figure out the best way to get him as interested as I am."
Thanks! She's a great tripping partner and I try to remember not to take that for granted. We've built slowly and followed her interests; I kept our early trips short enough that she was always complaining that they weren't long enough. I don't think I got some specific thing right, I think she just loves getting out into the wilderness.

cyclones30: "Great report! Can I ask how much the shuttle was? I've been thinking of doing something similar. "
Yes, it was $350. That's a lot to spend on a shuttle, but compared to the overall costs it's justifiable for us to enable a cool route.


"What was your favorite lake?"
Tough question! I think Polly and Insula were my favorites. Insula in the early morning, almost glass-smooth, with all the rocks and islands, and the first sight of the burn area, was really magical.


M says her favorites were Insula and Koma. We were caught on the storm on Koma so that surprised me, but she says, "it scared me into loving it" :)
cyclones30 07/23/2018 12:50PM
Great report! Can I ask how much the shuttle was? I've been thinking of doing something similar.


The only portion of your route I've experienced was Polly thru the NW portage out of Malberg this June. That one was muddy at the N end and a pond in the middle. Glad you got a good site on Polly, our trip in and out through there had it looking pretty busy.


What was your favorite lake?
BWfishingfanatic12 07/22/2018 06:13PM
Good report. I've paddled many of those waters before. That is definitely a cool area! I will have to try out the lady chain sometime though. My main focus is fishing though.
scramble4a5 07/20/2018 09:43PM
Wonderful report! Thank you for sharing.
johno 07/20/2018 03:10PM
Great trip report! I especially enjoyed your description of the snowshoe hares and the reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I'm also impressed that your daughter was reading one of the books from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. I still haven't figured out why there are 4 books in that "trilogy". :-)
BendingBranchesPaddler 07/20/2018 10:11AM
What a great trip and just as impressive report, you describe the ups and downs of your trip so well I know many of us can relate to them as if we were there.


I'm also very impressed with your daughter and her love of the BWCA at a young age - you've done a nice job fostering that and I hope to be able to do the same with my 2.5 year old, although I have some time to figure out the best way to get him as interested as I am.


Thanks again for the report and I look forward to reading more in the future!
rdgbwca 07/19/2018 11:16AM
Nice write up. Thanks for posting.
landoftheskytintedwater 07/18/2018 06:39PM
Great report! I exited LIS on the same day but wasn't as fortunate as you to get out before the storms so I enjoyed a late lunch at the Ely Steakhouse. Thanks for sharing!
boonie 07/18/2018 03:43PM
I'm glad to hear your trip went well. Thanks for the report and pictures. BTW, the portage out of Malberg is only muddy when the water is low and it extends well out into the creek, so the rain was probably what kept it from being muddy. I haven't been east of Alice, or on the Lady Chain, but it's on my list.
Twins87 07/18/2018 12:23PM
Thanks for the great trip report... I've been hoping you would post it soon. Loved hearing about the very different areas you traveled through. I've been intrigued about the 1-1/2 portage system as we never travel light enough to single.


Number Chain was the very first trip we took 27 years ago and at the time we had only car camped at state parks. It didn't feel crowded then but now it does. We usually trip off the Gunflint Trail or out of Sawbill. We enjoyed the solitude of the Lady Chain last summer so much that I want to go back to Phoebe and basecamp one of these years.

Loved all the photos. Your daughter seems so at home in the wilderness - love to see teens out there enjoying it.
inspector13 07/18/2018 11:19AM

Snowshoe Hares are common in the Arrowhead region. Cottontail Rabbits are very rare that far northeast. I’ve never seen rabbits north of Duluth but see Snowshoe Hares almost every day at my property in Lake County.


TominMpls 07/18/2018 10:29AM
New Trip Report posted by TominMpls

Trip Name: Sawbill to Lake One, Across the Center of the BWCA.

Entry Point: 38

Click Here to View Trip Report