Hello! I joined here in July of this year and didn't see a forum for introductions so I hope this is ok to post here. My name is Brandon, my wife Mellisa and I will be taking our kids (20 year old girl and 15 year old boy) for our first BWCA trip in May of 2025. I got the itch when my dad was diagnosed last year with Pancreatic cancer. BWCA was a trip we always talked about (he has been 4 times) but never really seemed to pan out for us. Looking back I can't put my finger on why we never went, but that will never happen now. He is terminal and they are saying he hopefully has a year left. It crushes me that we will never get to take this trip, so I made it my single mission, no matter the cost, to get my family up there and make memories with those who are the most important to me.

When we decided on a time frame to go, I went into full planning mode. I joined here, read darn near every post, contacted outfitter for trip tips, went full geek mode and created an excel document that is probably WAY more details than I need.

Being that I have a heart condition, I knew we needed to keep portages to a minimum. So after doing my own research and help from outfitters, we decided on Entry Point #30, thru Lake One into Lake Two and depending on how we feel onto Lake Three. Using Navionics Boating app, onX Backcountry (which I already had from hunting and ice fishing trips) and the entry point campsite maps, we picked several sites we like. Since I have hunted and fished my whole life we had a lot of gear already, but not much on the side of light or ultralight for a trip like this.

I want to thank everyone who has posted here with their tips and tricks. They have been invaluable and I hope to learn much much more before we set off on the 6 hour trip North to start one of hopefully many trips to the BWCA.

If anyone is interested in checking out my planning excel sheet, let me know and I can send it to you. Maybe you can give me some tips or tell me how much it sucks, either is fine, I have thick skin. haha

Anyways, thank you for reading this and I hope you are having a great day!

Hello, Brandon. Sorry to hear about your father, but good that it's motivating you to create memories with your wife and kids. I'm sure you've already absorbed lots of information. If you want to send your planning documents I would look at them and would be able to offer focused comments.

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your dad, but at least a positive is coming from it in the form of getting you to the BWCA finally. That is a good area for beginners though sites fill fairly quickly in that area, but you should be able to find a site on at least one of the numbered lakes.

Welcome. Lots of good info here.

Welcome. Good idea to take a trip. Nothing is set on your entry point until they are released to the public in Jan 2025. But good to have a plan and have backups in case that one doesn't work out for one reason or another. You'll likely get it if you or your outfitter are logged in that morning and go for it. If you wait days or weeks or months to reserve it you may not get the EP you wanted on the day you wanted.

That said, there are lots of other options for trips that are similar. Do a search for half day trips or half day paddles. Hog Creek to Perent comes to mind that would have very little portaging and less traffic than Lake One.

But you also can factor in do you want to start/end near Ely? Wolf and Bear centers there to check out if you've never been. Grand Marais? Don't really care what town?

Thank you for the info! Since deciding we wanted to do this trip we have researched allot of entries and kind of landed on #30. It seemed to offer the most camping spots between the 4 lakes with just the two small portages. Plus with Kawishiwi being right near there we were going to use them for canoe rental, vehicle parking and entry point.

But I am certainly open to hearing other routes and would love to research them as well!

Welcome to bwca.com!

Welcome to the site. There are definitely more trip options to choose from over the next years, you and your kids will have great times.

If your dad is able to travel you might consider a houseboat trip or possibly a cabin stay at the edge of the wilderness. You could get him out on a pontoon so he can have the woods and water and fresh air experience,

Enjoy the planning stages. It’s almost as fun as the trip itself!

Welcome! Our group took our first trip up the Mudro and haven’t stopped… 13 years now. Lots of information here, free expression of ideas, etc… very neighborly.

Welcome! This is an exceptional group, as I'm sure you have discovered by now, and can answer just about any questions you could ask. So sorry to hear about your dad, I lost mine a few months ago...very tough.

Welcome to BWCA.com! As a fellow cardiology patient (after a pretty big heart scare in 2013), I'm with you when it comes to taking it a little easier on the portages now.

Good luck with your trip planning. Lots of experienced paddlers here that love to share helpful information.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the website, Brandon! I have learned so much through this site! Have fun scrolling!

Welcome! Great website!

Welcome to the boards! Lake One is a very popular entry point, so be sure to log into recreation.gov first thing on permit day. You would be amazed at how quickly some permits go!

I know what you mean about your dad. When my father got cancer, I asked him if he wanted to do anything. His reply was, I would love to go on one of those fishing trips that you take to Minnesota! That being said, for various reasons he and I never made it up there. At some point in the future, I will be taking a solo trip through Missing Link lake because he was an anthropologist, and always looking :)

Best of luck in your continued planning, and I hope your trip is a massive success!

Brandon