Good afternoon! I hope everyone got the permits they were hoping for today.

I'm leading a trip starting at Wood Lake with my dad, uncle, and brother in June. My uncle's a pretty seasoned BWCA veteran but my dad and brother are first timers. I usually stay at Fall Lake the night before going in, but a couple of them are more interested in staying in a bunkhouse for a bed the night before and so we don't have to re-pack the tents in the morning (which I don't really mind doing).

We're set to pick up the permit at Spirit of the Wilderness and they offer a bunkhouse there. I'm wondering, has anyone stayed there recently? Fall Lake is $36ish a night and SotW is $37 a night per person. Is it worth paying a little over $100 extra for a bed and to not have to pack tents and gear again in the morning?

No offense to SotW by any means here - they're great! I just have to keep price in mind a bit for the trip and I'm curious of your thoughts. Thanks in advance!

For me it is. I like to wake up and get going without messing with gear. The couple of times that I've stayed in a campground I've just slept in the vehicle because I didn't want to deal with the gear. But I prefer a bunkhouse.
I want to get going as soon as I can in the morning. Like first light or even sooner if possible.

I don't mind "dealing with the gear" in the morning... I'll be dealing with it all week anyway.

bobbernumber3: "I don't mind "dealing with the gear" in the morning... I'll be dealing with it all week anyway."

Agree, though might use a different tent than I travel with.

Once I started staying in a bunkhouse the night before entry, I never went back to tenting the night before.

I'm like ducks and prefer not to camp the night before so it's worth it to me, but YMMV.

I think when we stayed with SOTW, they had us stay in a house several blocks west of their store. It was fine. We had a room to ourself in that house. They're good people, and probably share a lot of info for Wood, Good, etc.

We're considering going to Wood this year as well. When are you going? We'd be going in on the 22nd of June. We pulled a permit, but we may end up changing to a loop trip someplace else, depending on who's coming with, and what they want to do. I've been looping lately, and not getting as much fishing in, so I thought we would just base camp on Wood, and make it a fishing trip, instead of all the extra time spent setting up/breaking down, and traveling. Wood is supposed to have pretty good fishing I've heard.

Assuming by SotW, you mean Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters? Abbreviations aren't always obvious, at least to me. :)

Jackfish: "Assuming by SotW, you mean Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters? Abbreviations aren't always obvious, at least to me. :)"

Yes! Sorry, I mentioned it in the 3rd paragraph but maybe I should have put that in the title.

The biggest draw to stay there would be to get up and just grab the permit right away and head in with all gear packed. I also don't mind repacking things in the morning either and I have considered a separate tent as well so I can keep my other one packed.

All good thoughts/ideas here everybody! Thank you for the input. If anyone else has feedback on Spirit of the Wilderness' bunkhouse specifically I'd appreciate it!

analyzer: "I think when we stayed with SOTW, they had us stay in a house several blocks west of their store. It was fine. We had a room to ourself in that house. They're good people, and probably share a lot of info for Wood, Good, etc.


We're considering going to Wood this year as well. When are you going? We'd be going in on the 22nd of June. We pulled a permit, but we may end up changing to a loop trip someplace else, depending on who's coming with, and what they want to do. I've been looping lately, and not getting as much fishing in, so I thought we would just base camp on Wood, and make it a fishing trip, instead of all the extra time spent setting up/breaking down, and traveling. Wood is supposed to have pretty good fishing I've heard."

We're heading in 10 days before you! I typically like to do a few loops up through Moose River North or Snowbank as well, but Wood is my "basecamp and fish the days away" lake. Decent size, but not too big where you'd become landlocked if wind is bad. I can indeed confirm that we haven't gone hungry on Wood. Sometimes you have to work for it, but definitely a lot of fun spots to try.

analyzer: "I think when we stayed with SOTW, they had us stay in a house several blocks west of their store. It was fine. We had a room to ourself in that house. They're good people, and probably share a lot of info for Wood, Good, etc.


We're considering going to Wood this year as well. When are you going? We'd be going in on the 22nd of June. We pulled a permit, but we may end up changing to a loop trip someplace else, depending on who's coming with, and what they want to do. I've been looping lately, and not getting as much fishing in, so I thought we would just base camp on Wood, and make it a fishing trip, instead of all the extra time spent setting up/breaking down, and traveling. Wood is supposed to have pretty good fishing I've heard."

I went to Wood with my 15 year old daughter last year on Tuesday, June 20. I liked it a lot and will go back some year with my 5 year old son. I have a couple of friends that have each gone there a lot (sometimes multiple times within the same year) and they really like it. It was really windy and extremely hot but the lake was small enough to still get out fishing. We ate some walleye for dinner and caught a bunch of smallies. Our campsites was invaded by dozens of turtles laying eggs each night.

All permits were taken for many days before our entry and I was shocked that there was only one other vehicle in the parking lot. The other group that entered our day was dropped off by an outfitter and was just starting their final time down the portage when we started unloading the vehicle at 7:00am. They took one of the sites on Wood and there were still 3 sites for us to choose from. We didn't see any other canoes on the water while out fishing and we only saw 2 groups pass by over our 3 days in camp. It was surprisingly quiet for an EP lake and the fishing was good.

billconner: "

bobbernumber3: "I don't mind "dealing with the gear" in the morning... I'll be dealing with it all week anyway."

Agree, though might use a different tent than I travel with."

I used to do this as well. But after a few all night soakers…either you start your trip with wet gear or if you bring a separate tent (done both) it sits in your vehicle wet getting destroyed by mold all week. NO THANK YOU!

The alternative is to dry it all out but if it is raining your first day or you need an early entry that’s impossible.

It is so nice just starting off a trip dry and knowing your vehicle is dry and all of your gear is packed away dry. For a few bucks more it is well worth it. I probably just have bad rain luck but I can cry about it or plan better…

T

For those of you that don't sleep in a bunkhouse, what is your alternative? Do you camp at the EP, even though most have a sign saying no camping or do you just drive up and head in right away and spend the first night on the EP lake?

Personally, I stay at my buddy's house in Duluth then we both drive the rest of the way in the morning. We have run into the issue before though, where there are others coming from further south and having a group of guys crashing at my buddy's house wasn't the ideal situation for his family.

We sleep at the EP in our truck. I interpret "no camping" as not setting up a tent or hammock. I'm just parking a vehicle.

Yep, I've stayed at their bunkhouse and would do it again. It's worth the extra for me to sleep in a bed, head to Brittons and be on the water bright and early after a full last night's sleep before a week or more of roughing it. I'll take a real bed over car camping any day (but I'll take a night on a rock in the wilderness over a 5 star hotel too). Car camping and wilderness camping are as different as night and day. So for me it is very worth the bunkhouse on the night before.

I've tried everything the night before entry. I like the bunkhouse option the best. The decreased rigamarole to get on the water, a great breakfast and coffee are usually available, parking sometimes is easier, and wifi to get out any last minute messages and confirm weather details. I also enjoy talking with other groups and getting to meet different outfitter staff.

Spirit of the Wilderness is a great outfitter that we have stayed with many times over the years. We usually stayed in the house that was located in Ely west of SOTW. Our group of 8 was always comfortable here.

Last year they fixed up an area that is connected right to the SOTW building. It's a nice big room with bunk beds and can handle a large group. The only negative that we had to deal with was that every time the grandkids moved in the top bunks it sounded like Geppetto's Workshop! I think the nuts and bolts needed to be tightened down a lot. Lol!