BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
May 19 2024
Entry Point 14 - Little Indian Sioux River North
Little Indian Sioux River (north) entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by La Croix Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 32 miles. Access is a 40-rod portage heading North from the Echo Trail.
Number of Permits per Day: 6
Elevation: 1364 feet
Latitude: 48.1466
Longitude: -92.2103
Number of Permits per Day: 6
Elevation: 1364 feet
Latitude: 48.1466
Longitude: -92.2103
The Gary Harden Trip: Where a boy Harden's into a man!
by Aldy1
Trip Report
Entry Date:
August 03, 2009
Entry Point:
Moose/Portage River (north)
Number of Days:
8
Group Size:
5
Trip Introduction:
This trip began it's planning stage almost 3 years ago. Gary Harden and I were involved with a father's seminar at our church and Gary mentioned doing a trip like this. I had been in Quetico and central Manitoba before while in Boy Scouts and Gary had visited Quetico prior to becoming a father. He had also taken his family to the Boundary Waters a year earlier for a sample of what he loved doing. Gary and I had asked Ed and his son if they wanted to join us. Long story short, Gary got laid off and couldn't make the trip so Ed Fedrizzi and I picked it up from there to see it through. Gary remained very supportive and now we look forward to doing it again with him and his son present. Thank's Gary for getting this trip going and thank you Ed for deciding to go and making it happen.
Day 1 of 8
Friday, July 31st, 2009 We drove from Kansas City to Banning State Park near Sandstone Minnesota. A total 525 miles plus a detour. Minnesota Department of Transportation brought I-35 to a halt around 5 P.M. (idiots!) I wondered why the radio talk show hosts were bad mouthing them while we were driving through Minneapolis/St. Paul. After sitting on the road for almost an hour, Joe suggested a detour at the next exit. That worked out real well. After reaching our campsite, we fried steaks and potatoes on Ed’s Coleman stove. We then started a campfire with illegal wood from Ed’s truck and roasted some fresh ears of corn from Susan’s Cousin. They were really good. The rain began around 9:30 along with the wind just as we were turning in. It rained off and on all night, along with wind in the tree tops. Everyone stayed mostly dry thanks to the rain fly on our tents. 
Day 2 of 8
Saturday, August 1st, 2009 Checked out the Kettle River inside the park and found no kayaker’s. Cloudy and cool drive the remainder of the way to Buyck. Strong NW wind as well. We arrived and checked in with the outfitter by 4 in the afternoon. He got us situated in the bunkhouse and later (7 ish) he talked with us about our route and we asked some specific questions about canoes and gear.
Day 1 of 8
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 After eating a quick breakfast of bagels with PB & J with coffee and juice, the outfitter suggested we take a day trip close by on the Vermillion River just downstream from the falls and the chute portage. What a bonus. It gave everyone a chance to knock the rust off of their paddling and portage skills as well as catch some (10) nice smallmouth bass. During the process we paddled about two miles down and two miles back. We were able to hook up the canoe trailer to Ed’s truck which made this really nice. Way to go Ed! Later, we met with the outfitter again and he gave us our sleeping bags and packs so we could get them loaded up before heading out in the morning. He showed us how to use the bear ropes and pulley system. He gave us tips on the gear and so forth. He showed us on the maps, where the better campsites were, and the better fishing spots along the lakes that we would be going through. This all proved to be excellent information. 
Day 3 of 8
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 We enjoyed toasted bagels again with juice and coffee. Our outfitter’s assistant, Annie, at Lacroix Outfitter, got us to EP 16 in fine fashion by 8 a.m. While driving down the Echo Trail roadway we saw two young (black) wolves with two adult grey wolves just before getting to the parking area. Once we were unloaded we tried to make it the full 177 rods to the water entry in one trip but quickly found out that we would need to double our portages. Found an error on the map apparently because the posting on the trail head says the portage is 177 rod and the map says it’s 160. Water level was good enough to get us to the first short portage. We started to encounter other paddlers coming back to EP 16 at the second portage along the Nina Moose River. Along the way we had to push over several beaver dams. We could usually paddle right over them. We took a break on the far shore of Nina Moose Lake around 11 a.m. We encountered more paddlers coming back Nina Moose Lake. I had to ask one group where they had camped the night before. He told me Tiger Bay. After finishing the 70 and 96 rod portages it was time for lunch. Our outfitter had played a joke on us on our first lunch. All the meals were packed in a large clear plastic bag that included everything for that meal. This bag was very small, clearly not enough for 5 men to eat. Ed was standing there looking it over before he turned the bag over. Inside was a note explaining the joke at the suggestion of Gary Harden. (Thanks Gary!) There was another bag further down in the food pack. During the 96 rod portage we encountered two groups of women. A group of three ladies headed the same direction were eating lunch at the exit of the second portage with us. A previous group of maybe 9 younger ladies were coming against us on the portage trail. They didn’t look to be older than about 14 or 15 with one being about 20. It was a sight seeing them carrying the heavy packs and canoes. We entered Agnes Lake about 2 p.m. and took a compass heading of 40 to make it to the other end. Ed and Joe presented the question of staying here on Agnes since we still had about 5 miles to make it where we wanted to stay on Lac Lacroix. We had a light tail wind for the two miles across Agnes and only two short portages to our destination. I was able to talk them into continuing somehow. Agnes is a beautiful lake with plenty of campsites. It is also fairly shallow according to the map, only 25 feet. A person could portage over to Oyster Lake to the West if they wanted a really deep lake. The map says it reaches 130 feet at its deepest point, maybe next time. Anyway, back to this trip report. The last portage of 65 Rod was either all up or all down. The terrain was anything but flat and smooth. Paddling through Boulder Bay was scenic and we were looking forward to our campsite at this point. We rounded the point into, none other than, Tiger Bay about 4 p.m. and found the campsite the outfitter had suggested was occupied. We moved a little further South to the campsite in, again, Tiger Bay, that the group leaving must have used because it was empty. It checked out to be very clean. I would give this campsite a very good rating, a great place to base camp. After setting up camp and cooking steaks for dinner, a storm blew in and out from the West. It maybe lasted 10 minutes at the most. After the storm there were some loons really tearing up the water across the bay. One was clearly chasing the other. Man, they were moving out across the water for an extended period of time. I’m thinking that these birds never get tired with their powerful legs. We watched as an Eagle flew over and they went into an alarm state and put on a different kind of show of “decoy by pretending to be injured and distract the Eagle” game so as to not expose the young one to the eagle’s wrath. It must have worked because the Eagle kept on going. The wind switched from the West to the North West after the rain and it gusted all night. I’m sure it got down in the upper 30’s because I had to get up and put on a fleece jacket and get back inside the sleeping bag in the middle of the night. It was quite cool for August 3rd to say the least. 
Day 5 of 8
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 After campfire coffee and hot chocolate with scrambled eggs and a double meat (bacon and sausage) breakfast, we were full. (Oops!) We couldn't eat all the bacon so we left it there by the fire grate. We decided to head down to a fishing spot suggested by the outfitter near the park ranger’s cabin on Lac La Croix. It proved to be an excellent spot to catch some walleye and pike. Joe even let a nice pike go and we lost a couple walleye ourselves during the netting process. It happens! (It’s interesting to note that Jacob caught all his fish on the same lure. He tried other lures but they didn't catch him anything.) We then headed back through a pretty strong headwind to base camp late in the afternoon. We had enough fish for dinner for the five of us so we went about filleting the fish on a rock near the shore about 100’ from camp. A lake gull appeared from nowhere as soon as I laid the fish out to fillet. I had asked the outfitter what we should do with the fish remains and he said to just cut it up some and the gulls would take care of the rest. He was right! Not only did the gulls show up, two immature eagles came in for the feast along with some ravens. It was amazing seeing what those gulls can swallow. It was neat listening to the young eagle’s cry out. The eagles only flew down on the remains when we left the site. The Raven’s were just annoying. I think the turtle’s came and got the heads because they stayed there the longest. At dinner time, everyone enjoyed the fish and the rehydrated vegetables’. We skipped making the chocolate pudding mainly because we were full and didn’t want to clean up the pan again. Call us lazy. The wind blew from the NW all day and finally quieted down as evening came. 
Day 7 of 8
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 We enjoyed toasted bagels again with juice and coffee. Our outfitter’s assistant, Annie, at Lacroix Outfitter, got us to EP 16 in fine fashion by 8 a.m. While driving down the Echo Trail roadway we saw two young (black) wolves with two adult grey wolves just before getting to the parking area. Once we were unloaded we tried to make it the full 177 rods to the water entry in one trip but quickly found out that we would need to double our portages. Found an error on the map apparently because the posting on the trail head says the portage is 177 rod and the map says it’s 160. Water level was good enough to get us to the first short portage. We started to encounter other paddlers coming back to EP 16 at the second portage along the Nina Moose River. Along the way we had to push over several beaver dams. We could usually paddle right over them. We took a break on the far shore of Nina Moose Lake around 11 a.m. We encountered more paddlers coming back Nina Moose Lake. I had to ask one group where they had camped the night before. He told me Tiger Bay. After finishing the 70 and 96 rod portages it was time for lunch. Our outfitter had played a joke on us on our first lunch. All the meals were packed in a large clear plastic bag that included everything for that meal. This bag was very small, clearly not enough for 5 men to eat. Ed was standing there looking it over before he turned the bag over. Inside was a note explaining the joke at the suggestion of Gary Harden. (Thanks Gary!) There was another bag further down in the food pack. During the 96 rod portage we encountered two groups of women. A group of three ladies headed the same direction were eating lunch at the exit of the second portage with us. A previous group of maybe 9 younger ladies were coming against us on the portage trail. They didn’t look to be older than about 14 or 15 with one being about 20. It was a sight seeing them carrying the heavy packs and canoes. We entered Agnes Lake about 2 p.m. and took a compass heading of 40 to make it to the other end. Ed and Joe presented the question of staying here on Agnes since we still had about 5 miles to make it where we wanted to stay on Lac Lacroix. We had a light tail wind for the two miles across Agnes and only two short portages to our destination. I was able to talk them into continuing somehow. Agnes is a beautiful lake with plenty of campsites. It is also fairly shallow according to the map, only 25 feet. A person could portage over to Oyster Lake to the West if they wanted a really deep lake. The map says it reaches 130 feet at its deepest point, maybe next time. Anyway, back to this trip report. The last portage of 65 Rod was either all up or all down. The terrain was anything but flat and smooth. Paddling through Boulder Bay was scenic and we were looking forward to our campsite at this point. We rounded the point into, none other than, Tiger Bay about 4 p.m. and found the campsite the outfitter had suggested was occupied. We moved a little further South to the campsite in, again, Tiger Bay, that the group leaving must have used because it was empty. It checked out to be very clean. I would give this campsite a very good rating, a great place to base camp. After setting up camp and cooking steaks for dinner, a storm blew in and out from the West. It maybe lasted 10 minutes at the most. After the storm there were some loons really tearing up the water across the bay. One was clearly chasing the other. Man, they were moving out across the water for an extended period of time. I’m thinking that these birds never get tired with their powerful legs. We watched as an Eagle flew over and they went into an alarm state and put on a different kind of show of “decoy by pretending to be injured and distract the Eagle” game so as to not expose the young one to the eagle’s wrath. It must have worked because the Eagle kept on going. The wind switched from the West to the North West after the rain and it gusted all night. I’m sure it got down in the upper 30’s because I had to get up and put on a fleece jacket and get back inside the sleeping bag in the middle of the night. It was quite cool for August 3rd to say the least.
Day 10 of 8
Thursday, August 6th, 2009 We got up early to eat a quick breakfast and to break camp for our paddle back to Agnes Lake. A half way point between us and our take out at Entry Point 16 as we encountered other groups (2) at the first portage. About 5 canoes in all with three canoes coming from our same outfitter that turned out to be a church group that put in and was taken out the say day as us. These folks had a dog and as the canoe was unloaded, it was fitted with a dog sized pack that it had no trouble carrying. We presumed it to be its own food. What a novel concept. After the second portage we came into Agnes. We spotted an open camp site there as we entered the lake but pursued other sites closer to where we wanted to fish. No Luck! We went all the way down the south side of the lake and found no open site. We then continued part of the way back the north side before coming to a stop on shore trying to decide, should we go up the north side further or continue on into Nina Moose Lake and hope for an opening there? Since this lake (Agnes) is better than two miles long, some (2) waited there while we went back up the north side and finally found an open site. Unloaded some gear and one long faced passenger (Jason) to hold our spot so we could let the rest of our crew know. This site was rather small but had a nice cooking area with two small tent sites. Agnes was really populated with people compared to LaCroix and Tiger Bay. Ed made chicken and dumplings for dinner. By far the best dehydrated dinner we had on the trip in my humble opinion. We went as far as to have desert as well. Apple Crisp I think it was. It was good too! Hats off to the chef for the whole trip since he did all of the cooking. One of the campers down the lake had a loon calling device that sounded more like a wolf than a loon. I did hear a real loon respond to it once. During the night I heard them go from one end of the lake to the other. Whatever! It got really cool again (upper 30’s) and I found myself up again in the middle of the night to put on my fleece. Ed and Joe got up at some point in the night and heard something walking towards our campsite. They never did see what it was but said there were sticks breaking underneath its feet as it approached. It left without incident although Ed had his pepper spray ready.
Day 12 of 8
Friday, August 7th, 2009 We got another early start with coffee and hot chocolate as usual, ate breakfast and broke camp for our last day’s paddle. We ran into two Park Rangers at one of the last portages. One wanted to know if we had seen any of their counterparts. We must have missed them at Agnes since that is where he said they would have been. We were an hour early (2 pm) for our pick up so we all just relaxed and snoozed during the wait. Our outfitter arrived and loaded up our gear and pulled out a cooler with soda and beer for the drive back to the bunkhouse. It was a welcoming sight and really tasted good during the drive.
Many thanks to the outfitter Ron and Annie at LaCroix and the members of this crew (Ed and Joe Fedrizzi, Jacob and Jason Stanley) of this trip for working hard at making it a success, but more importantly to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving us this opportunity to go and for being with us in spirit before, during and after.
Sincerely and with pleasure, JB Stanley
discuss this trip report (10 comments) - last post on October 25, 2009