Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Wood Lake Excursion
by Birch66724

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 08/01/2017
Entry & Exit Point: Wood Lake (EP 26)
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 2
Trip Introduction:
Hello! I am writing my first ever trip report of entry point 26, Wood Lake
Day 1 of 4
Tuesday, August 01, 2017 Woke up at 6:00 AM, double checked we had everything we needed, took a shower, and headed off with my father at 6:40 AM from Wabasha, MN. We stopped and had a quick, very nutritious breakfast at McDonalds. As I was looking over the email print out for our permit conformation, I read about registering our canoe. Now, I had never been to the BWCA before, and my dad hadn't been in fifteen years, and he was thinking that we didn't need one. After a few phone calls, we worked out that we did in fact need to register our watercraft. Once we arrived in Ely, we went to the registration bureau, and got it figured out, no big deal. Then we walked down half a block and had a very nice lunch at Britten's Café. We stopped of at Spirit of the Wilderness and got an updated, plasticized map of the area. Then up to the Kawishiwi Ranger Station, watched the video, and out to the trailhead we went. It was a warm afternoon, and we were on the water by 3:00 PM. The initial 180 rod portage was easier than expected. If you are having doubts about entry point 26 because of the long entry portage, I would say go for it. There are several places along the trail to lean your canoe on a tree and take a breather. We saw two people on the portage, and one on the lake that night. We cruised around for awhile, checked out a couple campsites, and made camp early at the site farthest East on Wood Lake. It was very nice as campsites go. Good logs for sitting, good sticks for burning, good tent pads and a nice spot for fishing and/or swimming. We had a meal of pouch chicken, taco seasoning, Knorr's taco rice, tortillas and a prepackaged brownie for dessert. After dinner, it rained for about 30 minutes, then cleared up to be a beautiful evening. Afterwards, went for a nice swim. To top it all off, we were more than pleasantly surprised at the lack of bugs. ~Wood Lake