BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 25 2026
Entry Point 30 - Lake One
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
Seagull to ?
Entry Date:
May 31, 2011
Entry Point:
Seagull Lake
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
1
Left home Monday May 30 towards Grand Marais. Nice long drive, arrived at Seagull outfitters in time to pick up my permit.
Proceeded to Gunflint Outfitters, as I had a bunkhouse reserved for the night. As I was checking in, the gal asked me for my username on BWCA.com. Hers was Mocha. So nice to meet people you’ve shared things online with. She had plenty of information on portages and routes, changed mine a little. Really altered my trip later.
Had dinner in the Gunflint Lodge, wasn’t the greatest, I think the cooks are deviating the recipes a bit. JMHO.
Woke up 6:00 am May 31, had coffee with Mocha, chatted a while. Went to have Breakfast at the Lodge. Omlette was pretty good.
Went to End of Trail Campground and entered the BWCA. A little breezy, but got worse soon. Made it to Fishhook Island, started to head down to the 105 rod portage. Wind blowing so hard the rocks on shore were passing me.
Made my way back to one of the Island campsites. Managed to catch fish for dinner, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Yes I was stuck there for 2 days.
Thursday morning nice and calm, broke camp and headed to the 105 rd portage. That Ham Lake fire a few years ago really devastated the area. Still a nice Lake. Alpine. Portaged from Alpine to Red Rock Lake. Where I camped on the NW campsite closest to the portage to Red Rock Bay.
Friday morning had breakfast, felt a little strange, and decided to cut my trip short, and backtrack out. I had planned to paddle through Red Rock Bay, and swing around the north tip, and come back through Grandpa Lake.
Made it out Friday about 3:00 PM, stopped in to let Mocha know I’m out of the woods. I feel it is really important to have an itinerary, planned, and if you change it like I did to let someone know. 