I am planning an overnight hike on the Eagle Mountain trail. I have not found much, two reports but few pictures. any advice / thoughts. Other than there only being two campsites on the trail (and 999 overnight permits), I am planning on the following. Leaving Duluth about noonish to Eagle mountain and hike in, set up camp and rest for the evening. Next day hike to the summit, take the trail from the mountain to Brule and back and maybe do the summit again before resting one more night and then heading home the next morning.
Any thoughts? is two nights overkill? I am there and once I go in, The first night is $22 and the second night is free!
Anything else to see? Should I bring the fly rod for Whale (maybe I should post in the Fishing thread?). Thanks for any help.

I've hiked to Eagle Mountain. I don't think two nights is out of the question. The trail is very rocky and you have to pick your footsteps the whole way, so the 3 1/2 miles from the parking lot to the summit seems a lot farther than it is. The summit is totally anticlimactic by the way; you can't see anything because of the trees. You do get some nice views on the way up.

I don't know anything about the trail to Brule, but I would say that out and back from Whale Lake is a full day for most people.

I don't think the lake has much for fish. DNR lakefinder says it has small northerns.

I recall taking this hike back in the 60's. We were camped on Brule after the shut down of the Brule Island Camp. It was likely a bad weather day and we were looking for some other activity, other than fishing. We easily traversed the Trail and rested at the summit, in a half a day. It didn't seem that long to me. The view from the end of the Trail was spectacular and unobstructed. It seems unbelievable, that there has been that much growth, but I will take your word for it, since that was almost 60 years ago. Our minds tend to get foggy, over time. I have 8mm movies and 35mm slides taken that day. I wish there was some way to post them on the internet. It was well worth the trip. We did not hike the Trail to Brule.

I’ve camped at whale lake dozens of times. When I was in college it wasn’t bwca yet, we would pack in twelve packs of beer. The trail is rough, hopping from rock to rock but mostly flat. There is a nice view near the top, views shrike lake towards the west. I’ve fished there several times and caught scores of smallish northerns.

bruleman: "I recall taking this hike back in the 60's. We were camped on Brule after the shut down of the Brule Island Camp. It was likely a bad weather day and we were looking for some other activity, other than fishing. We easily traversed the Trail and rested at the summit, in a half a day. It didn't seem that long to me. The view from the end of the Trail was spectacular and unobstructed. It seems unbelievable, that there has been that much growth, but I will take your word for it, since that was almost 60 years ago. Our minds tend to get foggy, over time. I have 8mm movies and 35mm slides taken that day. I wish there was some way to post them on the internet. It was well worth the trip. We did not hike the Trail to Brule. "

I was there about 10 years ago. The forest at the top was young, thick "doghair" balsam fir, so it's totally believable that it was wide open 50 years ago. And who knows if it's changed again.

From almost the top of eagle mountain a few years ago. It’s going to be a very long time before trees grow here.

jwartman59: "


From almost the top of eagle mountain a few years ago. It’s going to be a very long time before trees grow here."

Yeah that’s how I remember it. Then you enter thick balsams before the actual high point. Wouldn’t know it was the highest point without the sign.

Thanks for sharing the experiences. I am looking forward to my trip in may, and not having to worry if the water is soft or not! Hopefully I can get some good exercise going up and down the summit from camp and maybe get some good sunrise/sunset pictures!

A person can catch walleyes from shore on a couple of the nearby lakes in the evenings that time of year. I'd make it 3 days, what the heck.