Boundary Waters Canoe Area-Northern Tier Scout Camp

Boundary Waters Canoe Area–Northern Tier Scout Camp

My boys and I recently completed a five-day trip through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area as part of the Northern Tier Boy Scout Camp. It was a fabulous trip but not without its challenges. The area is beautiful but portage trails are harder than they seem. Carting a 45 lb canoe or a 60 lb gear pack on your shoulders for 1/3 mile up steep, rocky terrain is definitely a hard task. Paddling a canoe for 8-12 miles a day is also a physically demanding job. But the scenery was worth the difficulty.

Our trip started with a stop at Kawishiwi Falls just outside of Ely, MN on our way to the Northern Tier Scout camp. The falls is an easy 1/2 mile hike and a surprisingly pretty waterfall. Then it was on to the scout camp. After a discussion with our interpreter, we elected to try for American Point as our end goal, a point 30 miles from base. We picked up our gear, grabbed dinner, and hit the cabins for a well-needed night’s sleep.

We headed out on the water the next morning at 9:15. Luck of the draw had us at the boat barn at 8:30, too late to get an early start on the day. Our destination was Robbin’s Island, an island located in Knife Lake, about 13 miles from base camp. We made surprisingly good time and arrived at camp by 5:00. Thank goodness! The muscles between my shoulder blades were starting to burn a five-alarm fire. We saw several loons and a couple of turtles along the way. Clouds had started to roll in mid day and partially obscured the sunset by that evening. We woke up to overcast skies the next morning at our 4:30 am wakeup call. We hit the water by 6:00 and stopped early on at Thunder Point. A short, steep hike brought us to commanding view of Knife Lake. I would have loved to have seen this view on a clear day!

Next, we took a detour through a series of small lakes to the south known collectively as the scenics. Our first lake was Amoeber Lake, an amoeba-shaped lake. The water was still here and produced some of the finest reflections of the trip. Next, we portaged into other scenic lakes before ending up at Cherry Lake for lunch. This required us going over the aptly named portage, the “Stairway to Heaven.” It is a grueling 110 rod portage that required a steep ascent from Topaz Lake and descent into Cherry. What we didn’t know is that we would have to come back this portage the following day. What was supposed to be a half hour stop at Cherry for lunch turned into 3.5 hours due to a series of small thunderstorms rolling through. We learned that the best laid plans would have to be changed sometimes. It became clear that we would not reach our destination of American Point but instead would have to alter our plans and create a shorter trip.

We settled on camping at nearby Ester Lake. Ester is a beautiful lake with a tree-lined shoreline characteristic of so many of the lakes in the Boundary Waters. From here, we paddled up to Monument Portage, where shortly up the portage trail a steel obelisk marks the boundary with Canada. We then retraced our route back through the scenics this time entering through Gijikiki Lake, its large island providing the perfect stopping point for lunch.

We now had 6 difficult portages ahead of us as we made our way to our camping spot in the South Arm of Knife Lake. The worst portage was between Gijikiki and Rivalry Lake. A large bog guards the entrance to Rivalry Lake (as well as a snapping turtle). Unfortunately, more than one member of our team fell into hip-deep muck trying to enter Rivalry Lake. Not a fun thing to encounter with a 17 foot boat on your shoulders. We then paddled through Lake of the Clouds, Lunar Lake, Cherry, and Hanson before hitting our final portage over to the South Arm. This one was one of the prettiest as it contained a beautiful creek and small waterfall along the way. But after this series of portages, we made it to our destination in the South Arm and camped near Eddy Falls.

After a night of well-deserved rest, we hit the water at 9:00 the next morning. Our first stop was to see Eddy Falls. This was the highlight of the trip. This large waterfall features a wide waterfall with moss-covered trees and rocks. It is a sight to behold. And sit in. Several of our members turn the opportunity to cool off on a hot day to sit in the cold water. We then hit the water for another long day of paddling. I would catch our only fish on the trip, a smallmouth bass on the South Arm. This day featured another highlight of the trip–the steep but beautiful portage from Vera to Ensign Lake. I dubbed this portage the Top of the Trees as it features a commanding view of Ensign Lake after a steep ascent up a rock face from Vera. We finally reached our campsite in Ensign Lake at 7:30. I might have enjoyed the open views on Ensign were it not for my bout with motion sickness. I found out the hard way, even a canoe can cause sea sickness.

This left a relatively easy paddle back through Knife Lake and the Moose Lake chain to base camp. Our portages totaled only 40 rods which was a welcome relief after the past two days. We even had a bald eagle fly over our boats on our turn to camp. We also got to see the downside of this area, the constant stream of water taxis hauling crews back from the junction of Splash and Newfound Lakes. This is one of the few spots motor boats are allowed in the BWCA and the steady stream of taxis seemed totally out of place in this pristine wilderness.

All in all this was great adventure and well worth the effort.