Intro
Zach, Bill, and I decided to take the trip up to the BWCA and started planning a few months prior to July. Zach had the only experience up in this area, but Bill and I were looking for an adventure and were excited for the challenge. Being our first trip up here we read a lot of forums with suggestions how to pack (and not over pack), but ultimately brought too much stuff (and not enough of the important stuff like Band-Aids). I planned the route we would take based on a few lakes I read about on the forums. I had never caught a lake trout in my life, and it was my one fishing goal of this trip. All of us worked together on the same team so our boss was not super excited about all of us taking off together for a week, but it all worked out for us, and we found a week in July to make the trip happen.
Friday, July 10th, 2015
We left work by noon and decided to make one final stop at REI to pick up some last minute items. Zach gets some extra fuel for his stove and I bought a new tarp for my tent. We get on the road by 12:45 heading north from the west side of Madison. We arrive in Ely around 7:30PM with only one stop for gas in Virginia, MN. We get our official “last supper” at a small burger joint called Stony Ridge Resort & Café. Sixteen dollar burgers seemed rather expensive, but when they came out from the kitchen, it made more sense. These things were enormous and delicious. Two beers helped to wash it all down. We realized this would be our last cold drink for over a week and enjoyed every last sip out on the patio of the restaurant.
We got back on the road around 8:45 and arrived at Smitty’s close to 9:15PM. We were planning on dispersed camping (off the side of the highway) that evening, but wanted to first see where exactly we were headed in the morning. Surprisingly, there were some people inside Smitty’s and the front door was unlocked. The two people who were inside were friendly and agreed to write up the permits for us that evening. This was a good thing, since they said the morning person who was slated to arrive at 7AM didn’t know how to write up permits as they don’t need to do it very frequently (I’m guessing most people stop at the DNR office just outside of Ely). We skipped this since the DNR office was closed when we drove through Ely. They suggested that we set up camp back in the gravel pits behind Smitty’s since it would be close to our put-in and we wouldn’t get bothered by any law enforcement officials for having our car on the side of the highway. We took their advice and setup camp as quickly as possible as the mosquitoes were beginning to come out since it was getting real dark. The stars were out nice and bright by 10:30, but the mosquitoes ultimately won the battle, so we crawled in our tent and headed to sleep for the early morning.
Saturday, July 11th, 2015
We woke up just after 5AM and decided to start packing up camp. We get to the Snowbank boat launch, unload our gear, and start paddling snowbank by 6:30AM. The water is perfectly flat and there are already a few motor boats roaming the lake. We paddle through the islands and make our way to the north end of the lake. We passed some scenic island campsites and already checked our maps several times to be sure we were heading to the correct bay. A tow boat passes us with a pair of canoes and showed us the exact direction to head. On the way I catch a 12 inch smallmouth bass. By the time we reach the northern shore near the portage, there a couple guys waiting for a pickup from the tow from Smittys. They were using a Kevlar canoe with two packs that were about 1/3 the size of ours. These were the first canoers we came across, so after chatting them up for a bit we found out they took nearly the same path we were about to head out on. These guys were obviously more experienced and packed as light as possible to cover as much distance as possible. The guys said they did a similar path to us in 3 nights, while we were planning to stay for 7 nights. Being our first trip in the BWCA, we planned to single portage this whole trip, and used this first portage to figure out the best way to carry all of our stuff. 
Sunrise over a flat Snowbank Lake.
The portage was short to Boot Lake, but in the process Zach and Bill figured out that they would not be able to single portage this trip with all of their gear. On Boot we saw some canoers across the lake and figured they were at the portage so we started travelling towards them. After travelling 90% of the way across the lake we realized that they were campers at a site, and had just packed up their camp. We checked the map and sure enough, we had travelled across the wrong section of the lake. We turned around and headed back to the other end of the lake and headed further east to our next portage. This would be our longest portage of the entire trip and we were nervous and excited to get this portage out of the way. We had read a lot of horror stories on the Boot to Ensign portage and I feel they all were pretty accurate. This portage went up and down and around and felt like it was never going to end. I single portaged the whole thing while Zach and Bill were both planning a double portage. When we got to the Ensign side, there was a larger group just finishing up the long portage, and another group that was already on Ensign. We decided that I would paddle on down Ensign in my kayak and find a campsite while Zach and Bill finished up the second half of the double portage. I was planning on travelling all the way down to Splash today as I read the campsite on Splash was supposed to have a beautiful sunset view from camp.
After getting to the wider section of Ensign, there was a stiff breeze directly in my face. This section of Ensign would not be a fun paddle. After about halfway across I passed by the largest island and decided to stop at the first open site as I had already passed 3 groups of campers going west to east and I didn’t want to be stuck going all the way to Splash only to find out the site I was aiming for had been taken. It was already pushing noon, so after checking out the site and ensuring it had 3 nice pads, I decided I’d make Zach and Bill’s afternoon a little better by cutting some mileage off of day 1’s paddling.
Fire/Grill area on Ensign Lake site.
After setting up my tent and unloading most of my gear, I head out fishing while I wait for Zach and Bill. I don’t have any luck, but it sure was a beautiful day, and boy were there canoers out. I saw a few more groups including a group of boy scouts heading east. Every canoe heading west I figured had to be Zach and Bill, yet still no signs of them. After 3+ hours I started to get a bit nervous and decide to head back the 1 ½ miles back towards the portage of death. Much to my delight after roughly 5 mins of paddling I could see Zach and Bill’s green old town heading through the channel my way.
Upon seeing them my heart finally started beating again and all of the crazy thoughts of what could have happened to them disappeared from my mind. I’m pretty sure as happy as I was to see them, that they were even happier to see me. They told me some stories of Zach getting bit by a spider and his finger swelling to double the size. Fortunately, some helpful canoers on the portage trail recognized the allergic reaction and had Benadryl along which they offered up to Zach and it almost immediately took down the swelling. In addition, Bill faced some severe dehydration and almost fainted on the long portage. From that point forward we made the conscious decision to not split up our group anymore (at least not without radios). We set up the rest of our camp, ate our dehydrated dinners in a bag, and in the process of us hanging our food bag, we got the rope stuck in the tree. We decided to take the food bag to a nearby uninhabited island and watched the sunset out in the middle of the lake so we could get a nice view while it went down. Overall it was an exhausting day for all of us, and after counting a few satellites that night; we hit the hay and slept like babies.
Rope stuck in a tree on Ensign Lake site.
Sunset over Ensign Lake.
Portage Distance – 3 portages (321 rods) 1 mile
Total Distance Traveled - 8.25 miles
Sunday, July 12th, 2015
We slept in a little late due to the tough previous day, and it was needed. After breakfast, we packed our bags, cleaned up camp, and hit the water around 9:30. We headed west towards Splash and the series of portages to Newfound/Sucker and as we started paddling there was a stiff breeze in our face. As we headed through the narrows to Splash, there were a couple canoes pushed to the side and we couldn’t figure out exactly what they were doing. Most of the canoers were outside of their canoes in about knee deep water, to the side of the river which led into Splash. They waved us through, so we checked out the little rapids and decided to run the river since it was pretty tame and wide enough for both the kayak and the canoe. We paddled the short distance to the next portage and ran into two more groups of people at the portage into Newfound/Sucker. We waited in the water about 15 minutes for the landing to clear before being able to unload. This portage had a group of girl scouts who were waiting for a pickup from the Moose Lake outfitters tow service.
Once past the portage and into Sucker we ran into a series of motor boats heading to Birch. The weather was starting to look like rain, and I think their captains didn’t want to get stuck in the storm. They were empty tow boats obviously on their way to pick up travelers who were heading out for the weekend. With a bunch more paddling in front of us, I threw my fishing pole in with a blue/silver rapala and trolled the entire length of Newfound and Sucker. We made the short portage into Birch and ran into the couple groups who looked like they were getting the tow out. They wished us luck with the weather and we realized that our tail wind was giving us a nice boost as we headed down Birch. I quickly caught my first fish of the day which was another below average small mouth bass. There was an almost black thunder cloud travelling north next to us which produced an incredible lightning and thunder show. Once that blew through about ½ way up Birch, we started getting sprinkles which soon led to a persistent rain. We rode the wind and the rain for about an hour before we spotted the first portage of the series to lead us to Knife. Before we got to the landing I caught my 1st northern pike of the trip. It was a small guy ~20 inches, but was a good fight compared to the immature smallies I’d been catching so far.
The 50 rod portage into Carp Lake was mostly up hill, but easy and scenic. The rain had produced a little stream right down the center of the portage, but there was plenty of footing on this well-travelled path. We had a quick lunch under a large tree and as the others packed up their canoes I hit Carp Lake with my pole and started casting. I almost immediately caught a 13 inch smallmouth bass. After a series of portages we made our way through Melon and Seed. This whole area was scenic and connected by a series of flowing rivers which had some nice white waters. By now the rain had finally quit and as we headed into Knife, we still had our nice tailwind. Upon setting out on Knife, I warned Zach and Bill that if I hooked into a big fish I might need their assistance with the wind blowing as strong as it was. I put on a giant 10” rainbow ThunderStick to see if I could hook into something bigger. As we trolled east looking for a campsite, I could really start to feel the drag that this lure put on the kayak. I had to paddle nearly twice as hard and had a hard time keeping up with Zach and Bill as they were not fishing. Not five minutes after explaining what would need to happen if I caught a big fish, I caught a big fish. He stayed down nicely and didn’t want to budge an inch off the bottom. After a couple minutes he started giving me a little line and eventually I had the fish close enough to the surface to show me what it was. It was about a 40” inch northern that got off soon after I saw what it was.
Disappointed that I didn’t get a picture with the fish, we continued onward looking for an island site on Knife. Unfortunately the first two were taken. We looked at a few sites on the BWCA side of Knife and decided to push on to the next set of islands. After another hour of paddling we started to feel the long day hitting us and decided we would take just about any site at this point. Luckily the next site was a beautiful site looking over the nearby islands and had a point looking straight west which should give us a good sunset view (although the clouds didn’t cooperate that night). As we investigated the area we ran into a snapping turtle laying eggs within 30 feet of our camp. We ate our dinner, had a little fire, and went to bed pretty early due to the long day of canoeing. We went to bed listening to the loons.
Snapping turtle laying eggs on Knife Lake site.
Looking out over west over Knife Lake from our site.
Looking out west from the rock point near our site on Knife Lake.
Portage Distance – 8 portages (243 rods) 0.76 miles
Total Distance Traveled - 12.34 miles
Monday, July 13th, 2015
We arose at 6:30AM on Knife Island to a mostly dry camp. It had lightly sprinkled during the night. We decide to eat breakfast on the trail, so we started packing up camp and got on the move. We picked up our bear bag and trash on the way and headed towards the south arm of Knife Lake. It started drizzling when we left camp, and never stopped until our final destination of the day. On our way down Knife we got passed by a group of singing college age students. With 3 people paddling and the wind at their back they were flying down this lake.
When we arrived at the Eddy Falls Portage a group of 3 canoers also pulled in. We decided to eat the trail breakfast here. Hot coffee tastes so much better in the cold wet rain. While waiting for the other group to portage, we explored the paths around Eddy Falls. The waterfall was gushing with the extra rain we had over the past two days. The warm mist splashed on our face as we sat on a log near the base of the falls and ate a snack before heading thru the Kek ponds. The portage at Eddy falls was short, but almost entirely uphill when heading into Eddy Lake.
We moved on to Eddy Lake with a new burst of power from the breakfast and coffee. A short portage later we were on to the Kek Ponds. With no campsites in this area, I feel this landscape is as pristine as you can find in the area.
A rainy day at the Kek Pond.
We arrived on Kekekabic Lake around 2PM. There was a strong wind in our face, so we took the east campsite on Kek which had its own little bay and a beautiful view of the northern cliffs on Kek that was unforgettable. We set up camp, explored the area, and went fishing before eating supper. We caught a few small fish off shore before dark.
Northern cliffs on Kekekabic Lake.
Portage Distance – 6 portages (72 rods) 0.23 miles
Total Distance Traveled – 9.32 miles
Tuesday, July 14th, 2015
Day 4 was known as relaxation day. I knew busting our asses to get to Kek in 3 days would be worthwhile; this gave us the whole day to explore and fish Kekekabic. After a late breakfast (coffee & ramen) we decided to pack up camp and look for another site on the southern side of Kek while we fished and explored throughout the day. After days of badgering Bill and Zach, I had finally convinced them to throw a pole in the water and troll along as we travelled. The sun was shining brightly today on the cliffs of Kek, and once again we had a strong wind behind our back as we travelled southwest across this magnificent lake. On the north end of the lake, I caught my first lake trout of the trip.
My first lake trout.
More cliffs on the northern banks ofKekekabic Lake.
We continued on toward the large island site and about an hour later Zach and Bill were flagging me down as they also caught a laker. It was nearing lunchtime, so Zach and Bill checked out the island site to see if it was open, but unfortunately, it was not. We went to the burned area of the east shore and decided to have a pan fried trout lunch at one of the open sites. I filleted the fish while Zach and Bill prepared the breading and got the oil heated up. The fresh trout was one of the best meals of the entire trip. We checked the map for another good site, and decided upon checking out the site on the southeastern corner. The site had a nice kitchen/grill area and had 3 nice tent pads within a couple feet of the lake. This was definitely the spot since it was so close to our portage for tomorrow.
Our view from the grill area of the southern site on Kekekabic Lake.
After we setup camp, Zach went on a short hike, while I decided to go fishing for another laker. I paddled back around the big island, and on the north side of the island there is a large reef where I picked up another fish. I headed back through where Bill and Zach picked up their fish but didn’t have any luck. When I got back Zach and Bill wanted to fish, so we all headed out in the canoe. We took the same path as I did, but had no luck. We did catch a beautiful sunset prior to getting back to our camp. It was starting to get dark so I gutted the fish and got the fire ready for supper. This time I planned to cook the whole fish directly over the fire and pick in between the bones. My dad taught me this technique years ago, and always said it was the best way to not waste any of the meat on the fish. I got some water boiling for some bacon & cheddar mashed potatoes and threw the fish directly on the grating over the fireplace. One flip was all that was needed and soon another lake trout meal was ready to be devoured. By the time I was done the fish looked like a pile of bones, but once again, the fresh trout up here was way better than anything you could ever get at a restaurant back in Wisconsin. After dinner we checked out the stars for a bit and called it a night. The clouds started moving in, and it looked like we might get some rain that night.
Portage Distance – no portages
Total Distance Traveled – 3.74 miles
Wednesday, July 15th, 2015
We woke up to a cloudy morning, it had sprinkled a bit overnight. Everything was pretty dry yet though, so we decided to eat a quick meal at camp before the chance of more rain. While cleaning camp we watched four other canoes go towards the same portage we were heading towards. Once again we were looking at busy portage trails. The first portage of the day was no joke, 84 rods and 90+ feet uphill. We decided to take the boats first, which was a good choice, since the first initial climb already had me panting. When we got to the other side there was a group of 4 guys that had just caught a bass off the banks of Strup. I immediately launched my kayak and started casting the shores. After about 10 minutes Zach and Bill caught up and we continued on. The portage between Strup and Wisini had a ramp which was very steep (had to be careful here).
On Wisini, we knew there was a site which everyone calls the “Hilton of the BWCA” on the forums, which we figured would be a good spot to eat a quick lunch if it was open and check out the sites. To our amazement it was still open, so we docked the canoes on the rocks and ate a nice lunch. While sitting on the rocks overlooking the lake and watching groups of canoes travel by, we ultimately made the decision to set up camp here and enjoy this little lake all to ourselves, since this was the only site on the lake. We got the gear up the steep rocks by using an assembly line and setup camp. Bill started fishing off the shore and caught a nice smallmouth while 3 canoes travelled by watching the entire fight.
Bill's smallmouth on Wisini Lake.
Zach and I went for a hike and bushwhacked our way towards a small pond to the east of Wisini. As we travelled, we noticed a fair amount of raspberry bushes and continuously got distracted, as they were all nice and ripe. We eventually found our way into a whole hill of raspberry bushes where we proceeded to pick a ziplock bag full of berries(we never made it to the pond). Bill decided to unexpectedly take a dip in the lake close to dinnertime; this was the first BW fall of the trip. Supper was chicken, rice & vegetables with fresh raspberries for dessert. We also infused our water with some or the raspberries which was delicious. The clouds started to roll in so we hit the hay early as there would be no star watching tonight. I heard there would be a chance of rain tomorrow.
Raspberries for dessert tonight.
Portage Distance – 2 portages (96 rods) 0.3 miles
Total Distance Traveled – 1.69 miles
Thursday, July 16th, 2015
We woke up to a mostly cloudy morning. We packed up camp and ate breakfast before it decided to rain and soak our gear. We got on the lake and paddled south towards some huge overhanging rocks on Wisini. The portage out of Wisini was our longest of the day, and was another steep one. We had two little lakes before Frasier and 3 little portages. None of which were overly difficult, but we were happy when we got to Frasier since we now had several miles of canoeing from Frasier into Thomas. Today, I decided to ride in the canoe with Bill and gave Zach a shot at trying out the kayak. We caught a nice ~30 inch northern at the south end of Frasier, which turned out to be the big fish of the trip.
Northern pike on Frasier Lake.
We went through the narrows into Thomas which was scenic, changed up our lures and started paddling Thomas. There was a cool campsite on the east end of Thomas we traveled past. We stopped on a little rock island for lunch on the north end of Thomas. We helped some clueless canoers find the portage on the river, believe it or not they had their center passenger turned into a sail. The next few portages into Hatchet and Ima were very scenic. Some moving water, rapids to navigate, and a lily pad freeway with the current and wind at our backs were all memorable.
Moving water on portage trail to Hatchet Lake.
When we got to Ima there was a strong side wind. The sites already looked pretty full, so we split up in search for a camp. One on the Northshore and one on the island facing south, and neither of them looked great. We continued on towards the Ima/Jordan portage with hopes one of the last two sites being open on the west side of the lake. Coming around the islands Zach caught a nice 20” laker with a purple deep diving Mitzumo. We came around the corner of the island to find an open campsite with a rock ramp leading up to the site. We quickly made it our home since it was already after 4. I filleted some fish for supper, we had a fire and went to bed. Tomorrow would be our last full day in the BWCA. We couldn’t believe how fast the time had come and gone.
Zach's laker on Ima Lake.
Rocky ramp down to Ima lake at our site.
Portage Distance – 7 portages (236 rods) 0.74 miles
Total Distance Traveled – 8.92 miles
Friday, July 17th, 2015
I woke up to the clanking of canoe paddles on the side of the gunwales of canoes. Upon looking out there was a group of 3 canoes going across our little bay on Ima. We definitely slept in this morning! We had some breakfast and starting packing things up to get on the move to find one last campsite before we head home the following day. A few more canoers travelled by right as we were about to set out, this was looking to be another slow morning/afternoon. Our first portage took us to Jordan Lake. We passed a few nice rocky campsites on this medium sized lake, and headed our way west towards the portage to Cattyman and Adventure. When we got to the portage, the other group was still there unloading all of their gear. As they took up their last canoe, what looked to be an outfitter guide stumbled in the water with a full pack and aluminum canoe on his back and took a serious fall. Ouch, that one hurt me just watching it. We made sure he was alright, which he was, and he continued on.
We travelled on through Cattyman, Adventure, & Jitterbug. Jitterbug was a cute little horseshoe filled with lilypads blooming. The next lake was Ahsub and it was our plan to be our final destination for the day (as long as one of the two campsites were open). We had to wait for a couple canoes of ladies heading into Jitterbug as the path through the lily pads was narrow near the entrance to the portage. Upon getting into Ahsub, I immediately saw that one of the two campsites was occupied. Luckily the second site was open, so we had our site for the night. This site was up about 30 feet on top of a rock ledge and was one of the most scenic of all of the campsites on our trip. The weather was beautiful, so we took a dip in the lake and went fishing for brook trout. I caught a few smallies, but no trout. Got back and cooked some dehydrated fettuccini alfredo w/chicken (which was delicious). We had a promising night for stars, however, the mosquitos came out thick, so we headed to our tents while the fire fizzled out and waited for the stars to come out in all their glory. We all passed out while waiting.
Our view from the grill area of our siteon Ahsub Lake.
Portage Distance – 5 portages (142 rods) 0.44 miles
Total Distance Traveled – 3.69 miles
Saturday, July 18th, 2015
On our final morning before heading out, we woke up to a sunny morning for the first time all week. We had a strong southeast wind and we knew today would be some tough paddling. We ate breakfast and cleaned up camp to get ready to go by 9:30. Disappointment Lake was a scenic gem as it was filled with islands. Unfortunately, we also had a strong headwind throughout the entire lake. We hid behind the islands as best as possible to help block the wind, but it was still a tough paddle. Lots of canoe traffic on Disappointment (you could tell it was a weekend and we were nearing the entry point on Snowbank). One final portage into Snowbank was a happy and sad realization. The portage was long and windy, but in excellent shape, w/ lots of colorful mushrooms along the way. At this portage we met the couple who was stayed on Ahsub in the other site the previous night.
Upon arriving at Snowbank we were greeted with whitecaps and our first real paddling scare of the trip. While I was fine in the kayak, Zach and Bill were struggling in the canoe as some of the waves were going right over the bow of the boat. Bill bailed water up front while Zach paddled. We got about halfway across the lake and rested behind the big island. With the wind coming from the west, the second half of the journey was less scary, and we ultimately made it to the parking lot in one piece. We loaded up our gear, strapped down the canoe & kayak, and headed back down south towards Wisconsin. On our way through Virgina, MN we stopped at a Wendy’s and ate until we had our fill. Fast food never tasted so good!! We got back to Madison after dark and went our separate ways. One thing was decided on the long trip back home… Next year would be a 10 day trip.
Portage Distance – 2 portages (171 rods) .53 miles
Total Distance Traveled – 6 miles
Trip Portage Distance – 33 portages (1281 rods) 4 miles
Trip Total Distance Traveled – 53.83 miles
