Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Turning 40 in the Boundary Waters
by jwise82

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 08/16/2022
Entry & Exit Point: Mudro Lake (EP 23)
Number of Days: 5
Group Size: 2
Trip Introduction:
I recruited my brother-in-law to help me celebrate my 40th birthday with a wilderness canoe trip. We began planning in December and used Piragis Outfitters for complete outfitting. It was an awesome experience and we are already looking for an opportunity to go back!
Day 1 of 5
Tuesday, August 16, 2022 We awoke early with excitement and headed over to Piragis to pick up our gear and receive some last minute instruction and explanation. The guys at Piragis tossed the bags, paddles, and life jackets in the car, strapped on the canoe and sent us on our. We made a couple calls home and stopped off for a donut and coffee in Ely then headed to Mudro. We loaded the canoe and launched about 8:15 with a goal of reaching Gun or Gull later that day. We made good time across Mudro and entered the triune of portages leading to Fourtown. As newbies we had no idea what to expect other than some research we had done on this website. The first portage was ROCKY! We got across and made the short paddle to the long, and also rocky 140 rod. It was an eye opener, large boulders, steep, sloped rock faces, and the length. We took our time, took a couple breaks and got all the gear and canoe across in two trips. After another short paddle we climbed up then down the short portage to reach Fourtown about 11 am. We enjoyed the paddle over to the Boot portage, we were quickly seeing the enjoyment in paddling versus portaging. We quickly unloaded and got portaged to Boot. We met a family at that portage who were coming out from across the border, we agreed we didn't want to go that far!!! As we paddled up Boot it began to look like rain. We got to the Fairy portage, made that quickly in the rain and paddled across in a heavy rain, thankfully no wind or lightening. As we got into the Gun the rain let up and we decided to make a break for Gull, hoping for the eastern campsite and some better fishing. We entered Gull and it was obvious the eastern site was taken so we scouted out the two near the portage to Thunder and chose the western site. It was about 3pm when we began unloading and setting up camp. We took a quick look around, got to work setting up tents and gathering firewood and other camp chores. We were pretty beat but after a dinner of steak and fried potatoes we decided to try a little bobber fishing from camp. Success! 2 walleye, 3 smallies, and a giant bluegill in about 30 minutes. ~Mudro Lake, Fourtown Lake, Boot Lake, Fairy Lake, Gun Lake, Gull Lake

Lakes Traveled:   Mudro Lake, Fourtown Lake, Boot Lake, Fairy Lake, Gun Lake, Gull Lake,