Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

4 days 38 miles to Thomas Lake and Back
by mortenson99

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 06/07/2021
Entry Point: Moose Lake (EP 25)
Exit Point: Lake One (EP 30)  
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 7
Trip Introduction:
Intent: two teams; Team One starts at EP25, Team Two starts at EP30. Meet at Thomas Lake. One team travels clockwise on loop and the other counter-clockwise. Upon arrival to Thomas, make radio contact to link up at select campsite.
Day 1 of 4
Monday, June 07, 2021............ I am submitting this report from Team One perspective starting from EP 25 traveling clockwise on the loop towards Thomas Lake. My team would pass through 12 portages for a total of 415 rods with the longest at 112. Goal on Day 1 was to camp at Ashigan Lake on site #1205 located on NE corner of the lake. We paddled for approximately 9 miles which was long and grueling. Departure from EP25 around 8:40 am we arrived roughly 4pm. My son used a Kayak of which he admits to NEVER do again. From the start point to the first portage (#P439) it was a lot of paddling whereby other parties used the motor boat ferry. We opted out of the ferry due to the cost. BUT, we did have to endure the extra waves created from the wakes of speeding boats. After several hours of paddling we opted to stop at Campsite #1229 located on Ensign Lake for what we thought would be our camp for the night, but after doing a quick map recon we decided to continue on to Ashigan
~Moose Lake, Newfound Lake, Splash Lake, Ensign Lake, Ashigan Lake
Arriving to Ashigan Lake we found campsite #1205 which was close to the portage point. The decision to get to Ashigan Lake was solely on getting through the portage of 112 rods on Monday night instead of doing it the next day. The portage was tougher than the others mainly due to the length and we were happy to have it behind us. The campsite was awesome! Three casts from the fishing rod bagged two fish. Had steaks for dinner and fell asleep around 9pm.