BWCAW Trip Report

By Nick Pritchard

Route Map

I visited the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for the first time this spring with my father and what an experience it was! The timing was excellent because the bugs were manageable and there were not a lot of people on the water. We chose a less popular route to try and experience as much solitude as we could with our limited time there. Our lollipop shaped route took us from Morgan Lake (#45) through; Jake Lake, Horeshoe Lake, Caribou Lake, Meeds Lake, Swallow Lake, Pillsbery Lake, Henson Lake, Omega Lake, Winchell Lake, and Gaskin Lake. We camped on Caribou Lake, Henson Lake, Winchell Lake, and Horseshoe Lake. Overall we covered about 28 miles, portaged 17 times (1430 rods), and spent 4 nights in the backcountry.


Thursday, May 26th (Day 1)
After a long day of driving, we arrived at East Bearskin Campground around 7pm and quickly set up our tent and sleeping bags. As my father started working on the fire I started working on our delicious dinner of pita pizzas. After we enjoyed our canadian bacon, pepperoni, and mozzarella topped pizzas we fried up some cheesy garlic biscuits, which made for a very filling meal. Working together we quickly completed the dishes and sat down to enjoy the fire. There was not a cloud in the sky making for a chilly but beautiful night to watch the stars. We talked and enjoyed the fire for several hours before crawling into our sleeping bags and quickly falling asleep.

Friday, May 27th (Day 2)

Campsite on Caribou Lake

We awoke around 7 o'clock and enjoyed bacon, blueberry pancakes, and coffee for breakfast around the fire. After cleaning up from breakfast we began to make preparations for our first day on the water. We had not been able to get together before the trip to coordinate equipment, so that was the first thing on our agenda after packing up the sleeping gear and the tent. We went through all of the gear together and decided what could go and what needed to stay behind. We were able to fit everything we needed in two portage packs just as we had planned. Our morning gear packing session put us back quite a bit to getting an early start, but taking the time to get organized paid off throughout the rest of the trip. We left East Bearskin Campground around 11:30 and headed to our put-in at Morgan Lake. Our first (and last) portage was our longest at 310 rods, or just under a mile. We started out the portage hoping to make one trip; I had the food pack and the canoe, while my father had the other pack with the accessories (thwart bags, water bottles, etc.) strapped to it. I soon realized that my body simply could not handle the amount of weight that I was carrying, so we stopped and I set the canoe off to the side and my father left some of the accessories with the boat as well. After lightening the load we both felt much better and completed the portage without incident. Our first day of paddling took us up to Caribou Lake were we stopped at the northwestern most campsite. The majority of the site was perched on a large piece of bedrock while the edges of the site were much lower. Just as the night before my father began to work on the fire while I started working on our dinner of chicken dumpling soup. We used our days ration of cheesy biscuits to make our dumplings which turned out great! After cleaning up from dinner we set up a tarp over the benches because it looked like rain would be welcoming us in the morning. We enjoyed the fire for a short while before retiring to the tent after what had been a long day.

Saturday, May 28th (Day 3)

Taken at  our Henson Lake campsite

As predicted the rain had come in the early morning and showed no sign of letting up. Fortunately for us, there was no lightening or thunder. We enjoyed our dry benches under the tarp as we prepared another delicious breakfast of bacon, blueberry pancakes, and coffee. We broke camp in late morning and had a short paddle to our first portage of the day, which would take us into Meeds Lake. Sometime before lunch the rain decided to take a break. We stopped on a small island on Meeds Lake for a lunch of 'Everything' bagels, cheese, sausage, and Hudson Bay bars. After we began the 90 rod portage into Pillsbery Lake the rain began again, but this time our luck did not hold out and it began to storm. Not wanting to get back on the water decided to hold out and hope that the storm would pass. We tried to locate the campsite that was supposed to be right next to the portage, but we were unable to find it (turns out it is further west than the map indicated). The storm took a break about an hour after it began and so we waited to make sure that we would not get caught on the water when it started back up. After some time the storm was still holding out so we loaded up and did the quick paddle across Pillsbery Lake to the next portage. Soon the rain began again but the storm continued to hold. We  stopped at the first campsite on Henson Lake that is west of the portage. The campsite was very nice, it was located on a hillside but offered plenty of space to set up our tent and it had a beautiful view of the lake. As the sun set over the lake it made for some spectacular photos, like the one above. After getting our gear set for the next day we enjoyed a meal of fried potatoes and onions with cheesy biscuits. It was outstanding! With a full stomach and camp cleaned up we made our way to the tent after what had been a long day.

Sunday, May 29th (Day 4)

Lunch on Winchell Lake

After our routine breakfast of blueberry pancakes and coffee we set off, planning to make it to Gaskin Lake by the end of the day. The paddle across Henson brought us to a short portage into Omega Lake, which brought us into Winchell Lake. By the time we reached Winchell Lake we were both ready for lunch so we stopped at the first campsite after the portage to eat. Once we had enjoyed our lunch of bagels, sausage, and cheese we continued eastward toward Gaskin Lake. Shortly after lunch a westerly wind picked up. The wind began to take its toll and so we decided to stop at the most eastern campsite on Winchell Lake, close to Gaskin but not quite there. Again we had a great site, likely the 'best' one of the trip. It was right on the border of the blow down area but we still had plenty of trees in our site. After ending a little early and getting camp set up quickly we spent the afternoon fishing, napping, and enjoying our time in the peace and quiet that the Boundary Waters has to offer. We cooked up a delicious dinner of spaghetti with sausage and more cheesy biscuits to top it all off. Since we had both napped we stayed up and had a fire. It had been a good day.

Winchell Lake Campsite

Monday, May 30th (Day 5)

Looking east from our campsite

We awoke around 8am to some heavy winds and light rain so stayed in the tent hoping the wind would die out and sunshine would poke through. After an hour of waiting we decided it was time to get out and have a look at the conditions. The lake did not have huge waves, but the easterly wind was strong and we needed to head east. After some deliberation we decided that it would not be wise to venture out on the lake, so we fired up the stove and cooked up some pancakes with our coffee. The wind only continued to build throughout the morning, and so we sat under our tarp waiting for the wind to give. By lunch time the lake was in even worse condition and we were tired of sitting under the tarp, so we crawled back in the tent. We talked about our options and napped on and off. We decided that if the wind kept us bound over night we would get up early and get on the water before the wind picked up again. Luckily, the wind slowed to a manageable level around 4 o'clock and so we quickly broke camp and made it to Horseshoe Lake were we fired up a quick meal and prepared to leave early the next morning. We were supposed to spend the night back at East Bearskin Campground but we got one more night out on the water.

Tuesday, May 31st (Day 6)
This was an early morning, where we found ourselves on the water by 5am. We were hoping to make it to the truck by noon (we still had the mile portage out) so we had a cold breakfast of Hudson Bay bars and GORP. The paddle back through Horseshoe, Vista, Jake, and Morgan Lakes was uneventful, yet it was beautiful paddling into the sunrise. Once we arrived at our last portage we decided that we would try a new portage method to try and be most efficient. I would walk one pack about half way across, then return to get the canoe and I would carry the canoe all the way across. Meanwhile, my father would take the other pack all the way across and then come back for the pack that I had only taken half way. This system means that we each only walk the full length of the portage twice, rather than three times as you do with a traditional portage. Our system worked out great, and made the portage go much faster. We actually got back to the truck on time! After loading up the boat we headed back to Grand Marais where we got some gas and stopped at a nice little diner for some great breakfast and coffee. After eating some delicious omelets we started back towards the Twin Cities to drop off our boat and go our separate ways.

This was one of my first trips when I ate better than oatmeal, cheese, sausage, and tortillas and it showed. There was too much food. When I got back I made detailed notes about exactly what we had planned on for each meal, and what we actually ate. I will refer to these notes on future trips and keep fine tuning until I get the right rations. This was also my first trip that was flatwater exclusively, I typically stay to rivers with maybe some flatwater in between. We had the proper equipment that made the portaging manageable and we also had a route that allowed us some flexibility. I am looking forward to my next BWCAW trip or maybe I will head to a Provincial Park next time.