My buddy is making up our trip report to post in the "trip report" section of the forum, but I thought since us "Hangers" are above them ground dwellers, no pun intended, I'd share a quick mini trip report of our latest venture into the BWCA.

Left the Rochester area Sat the 23rd around 2pm on our way up to Waconia to pick up my buddy. Due to the recent flooding that took place in the Duluth area, we figured it best to get a head start in case there were detours. Arrived at the entry point down the road from the East Bearskin Lodge around midnight and parked/slept until morning. I didn't sleep a wink due to the loud snoring that everyone seemed to be doing. All woke up around 6am, nothing open so we decided to hit Grand Marais for a bit, check out the water, let the kids skip some stones on a glass smooth lake.

8am, back in the car, back to the lodge. Got our permit, watched the video and off we went. Hit the entry point, loaded our gear, and headed out on bearskin, taking the upper fork where we made our first camp on Moon lake. Great fishing, great scenery.

On this trip are myself, the buddy John, my son and one of his friends. My sons buddy caught the largest Pike of his life here, and his first Walleye. Here he is showing what's for dinner.


My buddy bought a new canoe. Well, new to him anyhow. A Bell Infinity. Took him a big getting use to it, not as stable as some, but very very light. We wondered how tippy it was so the 3 of them got in it and paddled out and rolled it to see just how easy/hard it would be to tip it.


Spent a few days on Moon, where we proceeded to move over to Little Caribou. Spent several days and nights there with day trips over the far East side of Pine and hit one of the Trout lakes to the South. I forget the name, but we did not catch any Trout. Kids spent lots of time swimming and jumping off the rocks into the water.

Hit Johnson and Rose Falls. That was pretty cool.



Moved on to our last spot on Canoe Lake. Stayed here until the 3rd. Had a great spot on the lake, but the lake itself did pan out real well for fishing. Did a day trip over to Crystal but only caught some smallies. Had a helluva storm come thru on the 2nd. Rolling thunder. You would swear you are the bowling alley on league night.

I was in my Claytor and my buddy was in his Hennessy. Both hammocks kept us high and dry from the storm. Was a bit nervous as this was my first "REAL" hang. No problems at all.

Here are a few more shots of what really matters. My hammock LOL and a few other shots.

Looks like a great trip.

Good report and pics. Thanks.

I did almost the same trip last year. And this year will be my first hang. Anything you learned that you didn't expect? Any major adjustments from tent camping?

quote toddhunter: Anything you learned that you didn't expect? Any major adjustments from tent camping?"

Not really. Heard about temps dropping below a certain point and how one can expect to get "cold butt". The first 2 nights, I experienced that, but I think that was due more in part to the fact that I was hanging 5 feet from the lake. That cool night breeze sorta took the warmth away, but I survived. From that point on, I used this AWESOME sleeping bag liner I got at Mills Fleet Farm in their Military Surplus sectiion. It's a Swedish bag liner, purple in color, made of fleece. Super soft and I placed that inside that slit that the Claytors have, worked like a champ. Warm and soft.

Major adjustments from tent camping? I think getting off the ground is a major adjustment in itself. Oh yeah, there is one thing. Handing the feet end of your hammock slightly higher than your head so you don't slide down. One of the site the ground was not even, sorta thru me off when I sighted up the hanging straps. Woke up with my feet bunched at one end LOL.

Having a hammock in my arsenal now just makes me want to camp more. Just wish I had the money and time to do so.

Thanks for sharing! I love that area and have tripped there at least a half dozen times. Stayed on Canoe twice; if you were on the middle of the three sites, that is a beauty! Likewise, never had much luck fishing that lake either.

If you ever decide to go back, spend a night or two on Crocodile, just one portage off of East Bearskin. Try to get the second site as you're paddling in, but if it's taken, either of the last two are okay. There is a really narrow section maybe a 1/4 mile before you hit the 3rd and 4th camp sites, and you will catch walleyes in this part of the lake, right at the narrows in about 5 feet of water. Most are perfect eating size, but a buddy this year did pull out a 29 incher.

I wanted to hit Croc this year, but our entry point wasn't for that area. Read many good reports on that area. Was even thinking maybe later this year doing a quick 2-3 day trip there.