BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 07 2024
Entry Point 24 - Fall Lake
Number of Permits per Day: 14
Elevation: 1324 feet
Latitude: 47.9527
Longitude: -91.7213
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!
Horse Lake
Entry Date:
July 28, 2015
Entry Point:
Mudro Lake
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
9
I'd spent many months planning the trip and the day finally had come. Half of the group was from the Green Bay area and the other half from Madison. We met up in Wausau to drop off a car and caravan up to Ely. My 8 year old and I hopped in the van and were off to pick up my mother-in-law. We met the rest of the crew in Wausau and made our way to Ely where we'd be staying at Cliff Wold’s Outfitting Co. Bunkhouse. Not knowing what to expect, it was a room with bunk beds ;) It was quite hot and humid and unfortunately around mid-night one of the 13 year-olds had to throw up. The two 13's ended up sleeping outside on the porch along with my uncle due to the heat. Thankfully when we got up in the morning he was feeling much better. Too much junk food on the way up and a hot room were a bad mix. 
We set the alarms for 4:45 and had a quick bagel breakfast before we were off to hit the bait shop for leeches. We set our sights on the 5-star site at the mouth of the Horse River with the beach landing and wanted to get to the entry and hit the water ASAP. It takes a little organizing, be we soon have our 3 canoes on the water. The creek at Mudro was a little low, but for the most part not to bad. Having done this entry before, I prepped the group for the portage from Mudro to Sandpit Lake. While it is short at only 70 rods, the steep grade is difficult. Having dropped 30 pounds over the past 2 months, it wasn't as difficult as I remembered, but still a good challenge for our group. As we made our way to Tin Can Mike we chatted with 2 guys from Missouri that were headed to Horse as well. They had their sights set on the Island site at the north end of the lake. We met 3 different groups coming out of Horse and one said they stayed at the site at the mouth of the Horse, the plan is taking shape!! I decide since a group vacated it this AM, my mother-in-law, myself and my 8 year-old are going to push ahead to get the site. As we come into Horse, I notice the site on the large rock face is vacant, but really want the site by the Horse River. We pass the 2 guys from Missouri on the lake and are on our way. Excitement is short lived as the site comes into view. I can see a tent out near the point... We decide to paddle up anyway. Turns out they've been on the site for several days, I guess the group coming out was confused. Bummed we turn back to the large rock face site. We meet the rest of our group on our way back and finally pull into what will be home the next several days. As we look over the site we're pleasantly surprised at the ample tent pads and space. We set up camp and decide to do some shore fishing. The kids catch several bass and nice sized sunfish. The sunfish would make their way to our plates along with a few walleye we got from the canoe later in the evening. My cousin Jackson had the catch of the day. One of the rods was pulled into the water by a large sunnie and he was able to retrieve the rod along with the fish. Everyone hits the hay a little early tonight after a long day. 
We planned to fish the lake pretty hard today. After breakfast of scrambled eggs mixed with left over brats from the night before, we hit the water. The wind makes the current was a little stronger than I like it for jigging, but we were still able to manage a few walleye. My son Drew was chomping at the bit to do some shore casting so I tied on a spinner bait I expected to lose within a few casts to a BWCA rock, but was pleasantly surprised. Cast after cast, the lure returned ;) Then he thought he had a snag so he handed me the rod. I gave a few tugs and the drag began to pull. I gave him the rod back and said "you have a fish on!" He landed a nice bass. We were able to hit the water before dinner and landed a few more eater walleye for dinner. Not quite enough to just have fish for a group of 9, so we supplemented it with some freeze dried spaghetti and meat sauce. This would be a windy night in the tents. Thankfully I could sleep through a train going by. 
We had tentatively planned to head up to Basswood Falls today, but the kids wanted to do some exploring of the islands and fish instead. I've been to Basswood and recommend it to anyone heading to Horse, but ultimately we wanted the kids to enjoy their time and they were excited to check out some of the islands. The winds were a bit challenging for our newbie paddlers, so in hindsight, probably a good idea we didn't head up the Horse River. Having had good luck on a previous trip to Horse on the north end near the island, my mother-in-law and I paddled into the wind with Drew riding middle to get some walleye. Unfortunately the trip down didn't produce any walleye, but Drew pulled in a good sized northern on 4 lbs test using a jig and leech rig. Glad I had my collapsible net in the canoe as the line cut as I was bringing in the net from the water. Drew couldn't have been happier. We also caught some sunfish and a bass that the rest of the crew wanted to give a try. Wouldn't you have guessed it? The wind switched on us and we had to paddle into the wind on the way back too. While we were gone the others caught a few walleye near the campsite in a spot we had zoned in on the previous couple days. The fish hit the spot and we added a little freeze dried chicken and rice. Later in the evening after some of the boys went out fishing, we saw a couple beavers near camp working on a beaver dam. The kids thought this was pretty cool, as did I. Another fairly early night to bed after a tough day of paddling into the wind. 
My uncle and the two 17 year-olds had to leave today since my cousin had a baseball tournament on Saturday in southern Wisconsin. They got up early and were gone my 7 am. On their way out they met a group of 3 canoes on the portage from Sand Pit into Mudro with only 5 paddles. In talking to one of their group members, my uncle found out someone had forgotten it and they were trying to paddle a canoe with two people and just one paddle. Since my uncle and the two boys had 3 paddles, he offered one up. That would have been a difficult trip IMO. Unfortunately for those that are still back at camp, it would rain off and on throughout the day. We were still able to catch several walleye and sunfish throughout the day when the rain gave us a break to have a nice meal that evening. As we tried to start packing up some of the miscellaneous gear, the rain continued to be an issue. We got as much done as we could and set the alarm for 5:45. Thunder and lightning would crack throughout the night. 
We had a good amount of rain and everything was wet in the morning. Nothing like packing up wet tents and other gear. We made the best of it and were on the water heading out at 7:40. Down 3 of our bigger guys we were a little concerned about getting the gear out, but the 3 young guys stepped up to the plate and did awesome. I expected to have to triple portage most, but only ended up having to carry the 2 canoes out. We had great teamwork that got us to the parking lot in 3.5 hours and then headed to Ely for a well deserved stop at Dairy Queen. 8.5 hours later, Drew and I pulled into our driveway. He hit the showers and I started hanging tents and other gear in the basement to dry out. Another great trip in the books. Can't wait until next year! I probably wouldn't do a group this big in the future. That's a lot of gear and food to haul in and out. 4-6 people seems to be the sweet spot for group size. 