BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 03 2024
Entry Point 29 - North Kawishiwi River
Number of Permits per Day: 1
Elevation: 1249 feet
Latitude: 47.9543
Longitude: -91.5641
North Kawishiwi River - 29
A (South) Wilder Trip
Entry Date:
June 21, 2009
Entry Point:
Lake One
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
2
[paragraph break] Once the canoe was loaded we set off a little after 6 in the morning, the mosquitoes were already terrible and we were killing them constantly while paddling Lake One. The morning is picture perfect however with water as calm as glass, and no one else on the water. We make good time to the first of the portages, but not before I remember that I forgot my sunglasses in the car, and the bright morning sun will not let me forget it. When we land on the portage we are instantly greeted by a swarm of mosquitoes like I have never seen before, this pushes us over the portage quickly, but the swarm follows us to the second portage, and I give in and use bug spray which I hardly ever do. Once we hit Lake Two we see the first group of the day going the other way, we were impressed at how quickly these people must have broken camp that morning as it was still hardly 7:00. The rest of the number chain is easy sailing and we only see a few groups in the other direction. The day begins to get warmer by the time we hit the series of portages from Lake 4 to Hudson, and while I want to take my long sleeve shirt off I don’t, but the mosquitoes aren’t as bad on these portages. 
As we leave Hudson we hope that it will be the last time that we see anyone else for the next 5 days, until we return to Hudson. We have paddled the Wilder creek before, but not in this direction, that fact makes it tough when we come upon what seems to be a fork in the creek that is not on the map (in fact on other maps the creek is displayed but on our newer map it is only marked as a swamp, this creek goes to Zitka Lake) We make the right choice and follow the larger creek which is the real creek. After a few more twists we get lead to a new beaver dam which had not been there two years before, however it is mostly under water and is not too hard to push over. The portage to North Wilder is again a mass of mosquitoes which seems large enough to suck every drop of blood out of us if we were to give them a chance. The portage is the toughest one of the trip, 45 rods, a little overgrown, and a few patches of swamp. This time the rush to escape the swarm will be to our disadvantage as I attempt to push the canoe further into the water it looses balance and one of our packs is dumped, we quickly recover it, and after an exchange of pleasantries we are on our way. We eat a much needed lunch on North Wilder, and continue on our way to South Wilder. The creek to South Wilder is even narrower than the previous creek, and the twists and turns are tighter, making for a slow paddle. We reach the first beaver dam on this creek, and it is about 1.5 feet high, pulling over is easier than expected, but still a bit difficult as the water and muck is very deep on either side of the dam. The sun comes out again while we paddle down the creek and this keeps the mosquitoes to a minimum on the portage into South Wilder. The portage is flat and pretty easy except for the creek crossing, and the rocky path between the Pow Wow and South Wilder. Once on South Wilder we paddle along to the first of the two sites, this site is dark, overgrown, with no good tent pad, and broken down benches, hopefully we don’t have to camp here. The other site on the lake is much nicer, with a rocky peninsula, the largest benches I have ever seen, decent tent pads, and lots of wood in the site; it seems as if maybe 1 or 2 groups had been here before us this year. 
We make camp and get all the needed chores done, the wind has picked up, and we don’t think tomorrow morning will work out for fishing. Besides it might be hard to wake up as one of the only items badly damaged when the pack slid into the water was the alarm clock used to wake up for fishing. Dinner is steak, peas, and potatoes, it goes off without a hitch, and we button down expecting a storm to hit overnight. 
At about 11 we decide to try our planned day hike to Pose Lake. We start at the eastern end of the lake looking for any landing with access to the trail however after finding no easy entries to the trail we settle on a rock ledge we had noticed fishing that morning that was directly across from our campsite. This part of the trail is very rough, we struggle over the terrain and when it takes us 20 min just to cover the half mile to the end of South Wilder we realize that the 5 mile round trip to Pose will simply take too long, and we head back to camp. Today is another very hot day, and I finally take my long sleeve shirt off, which would later lead to a nice sunburn. For the rest of the afternoon we fish and explore the lake more. I try to climb to the top of a large rock by the portage which I had seen on the way in, the rock got the better of me and I only made it about halfway up. We also look at the small creek into Pioneer lake, and decide not to try a bushwhack. When we come back to camp we discover another turtle, this time a large snapper. Just like yesterday the wind has calmed and after we eat tonight’s dinner of Beef stew, and corn we head back out fishing determined to catch something. After several more hours of disappointment we head back to camp at about 9:30 and start tonight’s fire. We watch the skittish painted turtle, and the large snapper both dig holes in the dirt while it gets dark out. Once it is dark we can clearly see a nasty storm off to the East and while there is not a cloud in the sky where we are there is near constant lightning off to the east. Throughout the night we watch this storm move from south to north in the eastern sky. At about 12:30 we start to see flashes to the south, and at 1 we call it a night, and head into the tent, there will be no fishing at 4:00 tomorrow. 
Note to the reader: one of my jobs in camp is to keep a record of the daily happenings. This report is essentially a reproduction of my handwritten daily journals. I (Jenni) apologize for being long-winded.
We spent the night before our trip at Fall Lake campground. We had a nice lakeside site and a hot shower before entering the wilderness. As we get older, we are changing our hardcore ways. We would typically get up early, have a simple breakfast and get on the water a.s.a.p. This year we took our time breaking camp, then stopped in Ely for lattes, muffins and scones. Gone are the days of simple rations eaten hastily while packing our gear. We've gone all soft! I admit I really enjoyed this kind of start.
We were fortunate that there wasn't much wind to hinder our paddle from the south landing on Burntside. We packed our bags at the landing (another first for us) and started paddling at 9:15 a.m. 
Burntside Lake is gorgeous. We had a nice four mile paddle to the portage into Crab. I love all of the islands on Burntside; it seems like most people have made an effort to blend their cottages into the scenery. I must admit I'm jealous of those who have a place on the lake. Ah well...we're blessed in a lot of other ways!
Arriving at the portage, we saw two motor boats belonging to the conservation corps. We decided to piggy back the long portage. Dave had the Alumacraft Quetico Lite, I had all of the food, sleeping pads and misc. gear in a 40+ pound pack. We left "big blue" (clothes, sleeping bags and toiletries) and the fishing rods at the portage. Audrey (my mini-me) had her own small pack with clothes, books/games and her "Lamby". The portage trail was in good condition and well worn, but the loaded down pack was digging into my collar bones something fierce and I was not lovin' it. Dave left the canoe just past the swamp, which a passing group said was about half-way. The portage crew was repairing the trail by putting chipped rocks into some rough spots and covering them with dirt. I offered to trade spots with the supervisor, but he didn't want any part of hauling my pack. I just kept moving and glancing up for signs of water at the end of the portage. Somewhere after the swamp, I experienced a strange "Blair Witch Project" kind of scare. I could hear something crashing through the brush to my left and behind me. Loaded down by my huge pack, I couldn't quite pivot and see the full view behind me. I kept glancing over my left shoulder into the brush, but I could see nothing. Whatever was coming was coming right at me full speed, but I had no idea what it was! Just as this thing was upon me I let out a pitiful half-hearted girly scream (well, I am female!), yet I didn't know what the heck I was screaming about. Aside from that, no one was anywhere around to hear it and I knew that, so the scream kind of died part way. I winced expecting a moose or bear to slam me into the brush. Just as I prepared for the worst, a female grouse flew out of the underbrush, nearly taking my legs out from under me. No wonder I couldn't see anything! I was looking 4 or 5 feet off the ground. This grouse was not too pleased with me...she made some noises at me and I got the heck out of there! I dropped my pack at the end of the portage and felt like I was floating without all of that weight. I quickly walked back to meet Dave and collect "big blue" and the fishing gear/paddles/etc. Not only did I run into mama grouse, but this time her brood was on the trail, too. They all made noises at me and scrambled off in every direction. No wonder she was crabby - she was protecting her young.
Audrey, our princess, did a commendable job crossing the long portage without any sniveling. We were all overheated, so we drank some water and put on our "chill-its" - a scarf with absorbent beads that cools the neck when it's been soaked in water. That provided instant relief.
From our paddle through Crab Lake, we only spotted one campsite taken. The 20 rod portage into Little Crab Lake was a breeze and the one site there was empty from what we could tell. The Korb River gave Audrey her first chance to see pitcher plants up close. The 1 rod portage shown on our Fisher map was avoided. The 70 rod portage into Cummings also seemed fairly easy when compared to the entry portage! As we paddled the southwest section of Cummings Lake, we saw a deer wading in the water. It watched us briefly and trotted into the woods.
We thought we might camp on the first island site, but the second site from the portage trail (on the peninsula) had a shallow sand swimming beach. We stopped and checked it out. I was ready to set-up camp, but Dave wanted to see the island. We paddled over and checked it out. The fire pit area was more open. The landing was a sloped rock - more of the traditional BW campsite. It certainly would do, but I lobbied for the sand beach and the softer tent pad nestled in the pines. I explained the simple principle to Dave that if mom's happy, everyone's happy. He saw the light! Back we went to the sand beach.
We started setting up camp at 3:10 p.m. - a five hour travel day. Dave offered to set up the tent while Audrey and I swam. The brown-stained water was like bath water! Dave later joined us and snorkeled around our camp area. After tidying camp, Dave prepared a dinner of Cache Lake's chili and fryin' pan bread. Audrey had to bow out of the chili due to it being fairly spicy...she had beef jerky instead. Dessert was banana cream pie. We stuffed ourselves! Dave cooks, so I do the dishes. While I cleaned up, the anglers fished the narrow area at the tip of the peninsula. Audrey had a smallmouth on, but lost it. Dave caught a small smallie. The chorus of mosquitoes drove us into the tent - it was 9:30 p.m.
Storms came in around midnight – a soaking rain that lasted all night and into the morning. Dave reported hearing thunder while Audrey and I slept. Sometime after sun-up, we ladies had to make a mad dash to the toilet. We all caught a few more winks before the rain ended around 10:30.
Dave started cooking breakfast immediately while the ladies groomed and primped. It’s truly a vacation when all I have to do to get ready in the morning is wash my face, put my hair into a ponytail and throw on a hat! We drank some instant coffee while Audrey sipped her kiddy coffee (hot cocoa). Our meal this morning consisted of Cache Lake’s Western Omelet and hash browns. No, we don’t work for Cache Lake! We just like their stuff. Dave and Audrey chased that down with some cup o’ soup while I started on the dishes.
The anglers went back to their prime spot on the peninsula to fish from shore. I joined them after chores were done. Dave caught another small smallie on a Rapala crank bait. I caught a monster bluegill (approx. 9 inches) on a pink Rapala. Dave had used the pink Rapala on a recent Canadian fishing trip and apparently it was a hot bait. The wind out of the west made for prime drift fishing, so Audrey and Dave took the canoe out and fished the narrows. Audrey caught two "monster" smallies (13-14"). Dave caught 5 smallies, the longest being approx. 12 inches. 
Three loons were also fishing the same area. They approached the canoe and gave Audrey a close up look at their markings. She commented on how BIG they are. Audrey also started imitating their calls. She made a drawing in the camp journal showing her view: the tip of the canoe, fishing rod hanging over the side, and loons in the water. 
Meanwhile, back at camp, I had started reading “The Shack.” I could not stop reading it. Too bad I didn’t have a box of tissues with me, because I cried off and on through the entire book. I didn't want to use toilet paper because God forbid we run out of that! When Dave and Audrey returned to camp, Audrey told me I looked like Rudolph because my nose was so bright red! However, I did finish the entire book and therefore did not have to extend the crying jag into another day of reading.
Due to our late breakfast, we just snacked on jerky and gorp for lunch. Dave and Audrey made rafts out of bark and twigs and raced them along the beach. A canoe with 3 people went by around 4 p.m. – the first people we had seen all day. The sun finally came out after a cloudy day that seemed to threaten rain. It really was a lazy day at camp – the kind of relaxation that we come to the BW for. Before we knew it, it was 7 p.m. and time for dinner. This meal was Turkey and wild rice with a dessert of freeze-dried ice cream and hot cocoa.
As we prepared for bedtime, determined to beat the mosquitoes, Dave spotted a jumping mouse on a downed branch. We checked the little critter out and watched it scamper around, but he didn’t want to jump for us. We also heard a pretty bird calling, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Dave thought it might belong to the robin family or be a warbler of some kind. Once again, the hum of the woods ushered us into the tent quickly. We used a headlamp to light things up enough to play Moose Farkel. Dave kicked our butts with some insane high point rolls. Tomorrow we day trip!