BWCA South Temperance Lake question/info Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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08/18/2019 07:45PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Just a question. If you can handle the potential big waves on Brule, why not just paddle from the Brule EP to the 10 rod portage to S. Temperance? Seems like every post here starts at Baker Lake.

Yes, I know Brule can get really rough. Been there and done that, and I was quite afraid we were going to dump with a tandem canoe once. But, I can't recall anyone saying they entered S. Temperance from Brule.

By the way, there used to be a resort on Brule where the S. Temperance portage is. As I recall, the footings and artifacts were on the south side of of the portage nearest the Brule end. This was maybe 25 years ago or more when I saw them, so it could be hard to find anything there these days.

Tomster
 
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Michwall2
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08/18/2019 08:12PM  
You nailed it. Brule is not to be trifled with in windy conditions. The last post that I suggested starting at Baker Lake was for a couple that was new to the BW and had little canoe camping experience. You will notice that I did offer the Brule entry if the winds were behaving?

The problem is that most people have to reserve a permit several months in advance from hundreds of miles away. There is no way to predict what the winds will be like on entry day. So you arrive at Brule Lake landing with a howling 15-30 mph gale from the northeast. This is your entry day and your permit. What do you do? You can see the rollers and the white caps out there and have no stomach for a long paddle in such conditions. No, your trip is finished before it ever started. In these conditions, the Baker Lake entry is still paddle-able. The hills surrounding it protect the winding lakes. You might have a little trouble keeping the canoe pointed in the right direction, but you can probably make it to a campsite inside the BW and wait for a better day to paddle and travel.

Add to it that the Baker Lake entry offers a beautiful paddle, some river like sections, relatively easy portages, a chance to fish the ends of rapids, a chance to see moose, the abandoned mine, etc. It is a wonderful BW experience. Yes, Brule Lake entry may get you there easier and/or faster, but sometimes the journey is a better experience.

My $.02 about why I suggest the Baker Lake entry. Others?
08/18/2019 08:18PM  
My group starts at Baker in the Spring primarily because for fishing opener- many years Brule still has ice. Like this past year.
Didn't know about the resort. Thanks for sharing.
08/18/2019 08:21PM  
I stayed on both South and North Temperance this year. At least 1/2 the groups on the two days I was there were from Brule. A couple of the groups either planned on staying on Brule or only portaging 10 yards as their canoes were double stacked with equipment.

I didn't even consider Brule. Solo canoe, so wanted to play it safe. Other than the last portage into S. Temperance the trip from Baker is easy and scenic, nice portages. Lots of moose in the area, which is one reason I chose to come up from Baker, I did end up encountering one on the way in, and one at my camp on S. Temperance.
08/18/2019 11:26PM  
JackStraw: "I stayed on both South and North Temperance this year. At least 1/2 the groups on the two days I was there were from Brule. A couple of the groups either planned on staying on Brule or only portaging 10 yards as their canoes were double stacked with equipment.


I didn't even consider Brule. Solo canoe, so wanted to play it safe. Other than the last portage into S. Temperance the trip from Baker is easy and scenic, nice portages. Lots of moose in the area, which is one reason I chose to come up from Baker, I did end up encountering one on the way in, and one at my camp on S. Temperance."


OT, but JackStraw might you be from Wichita?
08/19/2019 07:00AM  
The size of the lake is the issue. However I think it would be better if you can get on the water by latest of 6:30 am. Lakes are usually calm early in the morning.
jillpine
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08/19/2019 07:26AM  
Visited s temp early June from sawbill. Done as a day trip from Cherokee. Sites were all taken. Went to n temp, two sites taken and one was a large (loud) group. Back on Cherokee, met a guy from Hayward carrying his stripper across Sitka portage. He stopped to rest and speak to us. He said he was with one of the other groups on s temp (so two of the taken campsites) and they had entered from Brule. He was aware that the other two sites were also occupied by folks who had come from Brule. Not sure about n temp. When canoearoo had trouble finding sites for s temp, the pressure was from folks coming from Brule. When I solo'd up there two weeks ago, there were four groups in one day (5 if you had counted me) all headed for that area in one day from baker, unknown about Brule. I elected to stay on jack. My point being, I think Brule EP applies plenty of pressure to the temp area. I think there has been a lot of talk about EP 39 lately for all the reasons michwall and others say - playing it safe with solo or new persons or families with little kids etc. Baker is really pretty but as others have stated, going through this ep in high season requires flexibility, early travel and a willingness to be surrounded by others from multiple ep's headed in the same direction.
Michwall2
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08/19/2019 08:01AM  
x2jmorris: "The size of the lake is the issue. However I think it would be better if you can get on the water by latest of 6:30 am. Lakes are usually calm early in the morning."


True. Earlier usually is better, but there are the exceptions. My son and I left LIttle Sag on a particularly breezy early morning and I think we were the last ones to paddle that lake (or many others) that day. We headed south on small lakes and were the only people we saw paddling all day. Brule would have been impossible all day.

bruleman
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08/19/2019 01:05PM  
Began going to Brule Island Camp, with my dad, in 1957. The Lake was unlimited boat and motor size, but had been incorporated in the BWCA at a future date. We fished and vacationed there for many subsequent years. Through the tear down of the Brule Island camp, the opening of the Sky Blue Water Lodge and then full BWCA restrictions. There is quite a lot info posted on the history of Brule, to be searched on this message board. There were two fishing camps in the late 50's, Brule Island and Ruan Trucking had an island camp, out in the open lake, south of Cone Bay.

In the early sixties, the camp manager took the guests for a day of fishing in South Temperance Lake. I recall a cabin near the portage site, but no fishing camp, but am not sure on this, because we spent most of our time at the east end of the lake, fishing North Bay and later in the Spring, Cone Bay. I am always surprised to see the posting on this site about the rough water on Brule. I recall only one time that we spent an entire day off the water because of the wind. We did do most of fishing from a motor boat, which I agree is a lot different from a canoe. I don't want to get into that argument, but Brule has many bays and islands and we almost always found an area that blocked the wind.

I recall the camp manager portaging a 14 Alumacraft boat, by himself, across that short portage in South Temperance. We caught enough walleye for a shore lunch and were back to the Brule Island camp before night fall.

I have many fond memories of those Brule trips. My grandson and I were last on the Gunflint Trail in 2018. He worked one Summer at the Seagull Outfitters, but is in the Army now. I may have made my last trip, but it wouldn't take much to convince me to go again.
08/19/2019 08:49PM  
minnmike: "
OT, but JackStraw might you be from Wichita?"


OT continued. You got the the idea right minnmike. "Ripple" was already taken.
 
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