Voyageurs backcountry lake

[backwoods doc]

With some health issues making a trip to the Isle Royale backcountry inadvisable, my adult daughter and I turned our sights on Voyageurs National Park this summer, and were not disappointed.

Our goal was to get to an isolated spot, away from the big lakes and their boat traffic. We reserved the only site on Agnes Lake, off the Cruiser Lake Trail, for three nights in late July.

It was very accessible; paved road all the way to the lovely Ash River Visitor Center, then a 20-minute water taxi ride to the trail head ($45 per person each way, contact Phil Hart at 218-240-1092). From there it was just a 0.4 mile hike through buggy woods, then a short scramble down a rocky slope to the site.

Agnes Lakes is a small, beautiful lake with enough breeze to keep the bugs away. There's a large tent pad (big enough for our 2 tents), a fire ring, a bear pole (what a marvelous invention!), an actual outhouse, and a canoe with paddles (rental additional).

When not soaking in the views or swimming in the lake (yes, there are leeches), we were out in the canoe. On the far side of the lake was a river that wound through a marsh, passed three beaver lodges, and eventually ended abruptly on the top side of a long beaver dam. It was one of those special places that had my daughter wondering out loud if "anyone had ever been here before."

A beaver swam by once a day. There were eagles, loons, Canada jays, a ruffed grouse, a black-backed woodpecker and variety of little brown birds still awaiting definitive identification. My daughter heard wolves howling one night (while I slept). Telltale jack-hammering in the distance alerted us that there was a pileated woodpecker in the neighborhood. There was a bit of beaver tail slapping at night too -- not sure what that was all about. A martin came loping into camp one morning, seemed surprised to see me 8 feet away, then turned tail. The largest snapping turtle I've ever seen surfaced to take a closer look at us. There was old bear scat at the site, and wolf (or maybe coyote?) scat about 100 feet away.

About three times a day we could hear the faint sounds of a distant boat motor for about 30 seconds. A couple of jets also flew far overhead each day.

All in all, we were pleased to have a wilderness lake to ourselves that was easily accessible, yet felt so remote.

[Bobcat1]

I have camped at Ek Lake, and Agnes Lake as well as many sites on Namakon and Kabatogama Lakes. Those interior sites tend to be very quiet! Sounds like you and your daughter had a good trip. I have switched between IsRo, the BWCAW, and Voyageurs for my main vacation backcountry over the past 35 years. Voyageurs had an edge when it was free, but once they implemented reservations required at $25/night, I could cover the ferry cost for the trip to IsRo and still come out ahead for a weeklong vacation.

[torpified]

That sounds amazing! Do you reckon it was the SAME beaver who swam by once a day, or do you think they were working in shifts? (The night I spent at Feldtmann Lake, I had a similar question about the moose.)

[backwoods doc]

We inadvertently left our facial recognition equipment back in the vehicle, so hard to say.