22 Lakes in 2 Nights, Snowbank to Knife and back without covering the same ground.
Looking to Learn: I am a rookie on this site and in the wilderness, any advice, critisism or thoughts would be greatly appreciated, you wont hurt my feelings because there is as little ego as possible in any of this for me.
Previous Experience:As far as the BWCA goes, I had only been in on one day trip in a canoe (2023), one day trip ice fishing (2024) and a 2 night tandem trip to Fall Lake with a friend (2024). I wanted a solo trip that i could push myself on in hopes of understanding what I am capable of in that enviroment and to learn how to improve my techniques and gear, all while being smart and safe, i have no interest in making the evening news. I beleive in my abilities and have spent most of my free time on the water thorughout my entire life in Minnesota. Fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding, pack rafting and swimming. I have kayaked Lake Superior with guides and without and fell comfortable around water. I also have been hiking and paddling more and more since I will be 40 in a few months and my change in metabolism demands human powered adventures.
The plan:I wanted to get at least one more canoe trip in before the lakes freeze so I started to track the 10 day weather forecast because I did not want to fight the wind if I could help it. The wind forecast for 11/1, 11/2, and 11/3 stayed pretty consistant so I started to look at entrypoint 27, Snowbank Lake. I picked this location because I am familair with it, I decided it would be nice to finnaly dip a paddle in Knife lake but I didn't want to do a there and back so I looked for a loop. I stayed with this EP becaseu the loop that interested me worked decent with the wind forecast and it would be a 3.5 hour drive to the Ely area instead of a 5 hour drive up the Gunflint trail. I assumed the water was pretty low and I don't have any familiarity with the Sawbill or Kawishiwi Lake area, so I opted not to put in that area either. I decided, using PP, I set a gaol of making camp on Ima or further on night one and Knife or further on night 2.
Pre Trip:Over a few evenings after work I started laying out all of my gear options to see if I was missing anything, that way I could borrow, rent, or buy before the trip. I layed everything out on four 6' folding tables in the garage then started to elimate things I knew i wouldnt need.I also put some d rings on the garage wall so I could setup the hammock and get it as close to dialed in as I could before the trip being I had never spent a night in a hammock before.Soon enough i was down to three then two tables so I started to pack my main portage pack, daypack and canoe. I ended up with just under 90 pounds of total weight without counting my clothing on Day 1. My portage pack was over 50 pounds and my daypack, canoe and accessories made up the rest. I was not thrilled baout it but I felt comfortable with the redunancies I had chosen to pack so I loaded the car and se the alarm for 4:00am on 11/1.
Go Time:11/1,I woke up at 4:00 am in an effort to make it to the Ely Ranger Station when they opened at 8am to verify the burning ban was lifted and to see if there were any trail issues. I then drove to the canoe landing at Snowbank Lake and unloaded the car and loaded up the boat. I was off, headed to the first portage, I tried to single portage and decided it wasn't going to happen so I double portaged most of the rest of the trip. I paddled through Dissapointment, Ashub, Jitterbug, Adventure, Cattyman, Jordan, Hatchet, Ima and onto Thomas where I ended up at campsite 1188 and spent the night. Fished a little before dinner, trolling a number 5 shad rap, had one bite but didnt land it. Slept on and off in 2-3 hour stints in the hammock and waited for the morning rain to letup before setting off again around 9am. On 11/2 I paddled through Fraser, Gerund, Ahmakose, Winsi, Strup, Kekekabic, Pickle, Spoon, Bonnnie, Knife, and Vera where I made camp at site 1236. Slept slightly better but woke up earlier since it wasn't raining. Left camp at 7:20 and headed for the next portage. Paddled Ensign, then Boot, then a little pond and finally across Snowbank and back to the car at 12:30.
Recap: I hadnt talked with a human since the ranger station and hadnt seen anyone since the drive up the Fernberg Trail, which was fine by me. I was a little bummbed that the first humans I did see where an adult, child and their dog in a large motorboat in the non motorized area. If that was a 25hp, I would eat my hat, but people do waht people want and they didn't run me over so I will likley survive. The crosswind on Snowbank was interesting but not terrifying. A couple of those portages were humbling but rewarding in some ways. I had to break ice a few times which made me contemplate my choice in canoe layups but no damage was done.
Stats for reference:
Day one total distance, paddle and double portage: 15.6 miles. 9:30am to 4:30pm
Day two total distance, paddle and double portage: 17.7 miles 8:55am to 5:00pm
Day three total distance, paddle and double portage: 12.2 miles 7:26 am to 12:10pm
Total Trip Length 45.5 miles, of which 31.8 was paddling and 13.6 was portaging.
22 Lakes and 25 portages
Wildlife: 6-8 otters, a half dozen eagles, a few loons, 3+ dozen ducks, 15+ grouse, 1 set of wolf tracks and a moose.
Portage Times, double portaging, total egear weight of 85-90 pounds.
Snowbank to Dissapointment: 35 minutes
Dissapointment to Ashub: 7 minutes
Ashub to Jitterbug: 6 minutes
Jitterbug to Adventure: 9 minutes
Adventure to Cattyman: 2 minutes
Cattyman to Jordan: 17 minutes
Jordan to Ima: 3 minutes
Ima to Thomas: 1 hour and 15 minutes (ice, low water in river and 4 portages)
Fraser to Gerund: 5 minutes
Gerund to Ahmakose: 20 minutes (decent climb)
Ahmakose to Wisini: 28 minutes (climb both ways)
Wisini to Strup: 6 minutes
Strup to Kekekabic: 25 minutes
Kekekabic to Pickle: 25 minutes
Pickle to Spoon: 11 minutes
Spoon to Bonnie: 10 minutes
Bonnie to Knife: 12 minutes
Knife to Vera: 48 minutes
Vera to Ensign: 43 minutes
Ensign to Boot: 1 hour and 12 minutes
Boot to pond: 10 minutes
pond to Snowbank: 14 minutes
