Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness - 2011
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Our semi-annual canoe trip in 2011 returned us to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Although the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness encompasses one million square miles, our 2009 trip put us into a "familiar" path with a noticeable amount of traffic. As a result, for 2011 we attempted a more unusual route.
We were outfitted with three kevlar canoes by Voyageur North Outfitters, and departed from Entry Point #30. We traveled through Lakes One, Two, Three, and Four, and portaged into Hudson Lake, and then Lake Insula. We camped off Lake Insula the first night.
The second day we traveled north through Lake Insula, portaging into Kiana Lake, and then into the larger Thomas Lake. We camped the second night off Thomas Lake. The third day we swept northwest, requiring travel through boggy country, and long portages to get us into Ima Lake, and then Jordan Lake. Now we had a series of small lakes to get through with portages between. Jordan Lake, Cattyman Lake, Adventure Lake, and Jitterbug Lake were all traveled through to get us to Disappointment Lake. Shortly after entering Disappointment Lake, we camped for our last night. The next morning we started out for our pickup. We had the choice of two shorter portages, or one longer portage to get us to the very large Snowbank Lake. Because I had some gear issues with a drybag strap, I opted for the single portage. Once on Snowbank, it was massive! Large swells on a very large lake. The six of us were really on our game. We stayed focused, and arrived at our pickup point, Entry Point #27 without incident.
Once we showered and cleaned up at Voyageur North, we had a great dinner in Ely, and headed back home to Chicago.