Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Two Rivers and a Big Lake (plus others)
by bapabear

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 06/03/2012
Entry Point: Brule Lake (EP 41)
Exit Point: Homer Lake (EP 40)  
Number of Days: 9
Group Size: 2
Trip Introduction:
This year my usual BW group had to change plans when work got in the way of fun. We were scheduled to enter on June 2 but a new work contract forced most of our group to reschedule for September. Terry (my son‘s father in law), and I would have been canoe partners anyway so we got together and decided to make something happen in June on our own. Knowing my son and his family have wanted to get our two grandsons involved in the canoeing experience but a BWCA trip wouldn't work for them this year we planned a “two part” trip. Part one was to travel north to Trego, WI and do an overnight canoe trip down a 22 mile stretch of the Namekagon River. When that ended son Jeff , Kim, Samuel, and Aaron would head home and Terry and I would continue north, pick up our permit at Sawtooth Outfitters, camp overnight at Temperance River State Park, and then head into EP 41 the following day.
Day 1 of 9
Sunday, June 03, 2012 I would canoe the Namekagon again in a heartbeat. We caught it at just the right time with no other people on it and every campsite was unoccupied so we had our pick of the best spots. The river was running about 5-6 inches high which picked up the current a little and helped us skim over many spots. In fact, the St. Croix River that it flows into was “closed” by the DNR due to high water and flooded campsites so we were lucky. With a 3-4 mph current we moved along and feasted our eyes on many deer, beavers, kingfishers, eagles, orioles, and had some luck with small mouth bass. The two grandsons got to paddle, see wildlife, camp out and had a great time. We put in late on a Sunday (4:30) found a wonderful group campsite after a short paddle, still had plenty of time for fishing, paddling, camping fun.