BWCA towboat service 2017

Will you be entering the Boundary Waters at Moose Lake chain, Snowbank Lake or Burntside Lake (Crab Lake portage)?  Consider using towboat service to get you and your group into the BWCA quicker and avoid possible windy conditions that each of these lakes experience.  Service can be reserved for 1-way or round trip. Cost: $32.00/person 1-way, minimum 2 people, if renting canoes or outfitted by us. Or $37.00/person 1 way, minimum 2 people if no rental or outfitting.

Spirit of the Wilderness is specifically permitted by the USFS to provide towboat service on each of these lakes. We own and operates our own towboats, which means we are on-time for departure and return pick up to meet your schedule. Our towboats are 18 ft long, with 25 hp E-tec engines. Our trained operators/staff are courteous and knowledgeable of the routes and drop-off locations.

We load canoes and gear at our Ely store and trailer to the appropriate entry point where we launch our towboats. Ground travel time to entry points from our Ely store is usually 30 minutes or less.

Water travel time

• Moose lake chain: Time on the water to Prairie Portage, Birch Lake, or Splash lake is another 30 minutes or so. Tow service will save you 3-4 hours of paddling 1-way.
• Snowbank lake: Water travel time to Boot Lake portage is about 25 minutes. Saves you 3 hours of paddling
• Burntside Lake to Crab Portage: Water travel time is 25 minutes, saving you up to 2 hours paddling 1-way

Guest reaction:
Two seasons ago, we provided towboat service for 8 gentlemen, 4 canoes, and all their gear for a 5-day/4-night adventure. We loaded gear into the towboats with 2 canoes strapped onto racks of each towboat at our Ely store. Everyone got into our vans and we trailered out to and launched at the Moose Lake boat access. Water travel was tough as we were bucking 15-20 mph headwinds the entire trip through Moose, Newfound to the Splash Lake portage.

Other groups we passed paddling the Moose Lake chain that day were really struggling to make any distance with the headwinds and 2 foot roller waves. All groups we passed looked tired and frustrated. I wondered if they would make their chosen destination that first day or have to make early camp and wait until the winds died down in the evening.

As we were coming into the drop-off location at the Splash Lake portage, one of the fellas commented to his buddy saying; "I'll never complain about towboats again! We would never have made it to Splash lake and onto Ensign lake today." Their adventure was off to a good start and they had ample time to make their first campsite with daylight to spare for fishing and exploring the area.

Call today and make your reservation for towboat service by Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters, Ely MN. 218-365-3149 or email us at info@elycanoetrips.com

Foss Lake Prescribed Burn, May 14, 2017

Date Issued:
May 13, 2017. Anticipated ignition as early as May 14, 2017. The date of ignition for this fire is dependent on many factors including fuel and soil moisture, wind direction, current weather, predicted weather, and resources.  

Prescribed Fire Information:
218-208-3969 or snfwestzonepio@gmail.com. For more prescribed fire information, check the Superior National Forest website: Prescribed Fire Information 

Location:
In northeastern Minnesota, in St. Louis County on the LaCroix Ranger District of the Superior National Forest approximately 10 miles west of Ely, MN and north of the Wolf Lake Road, between Foss Lake and the BWCAW. T63N R14W S35. (Map attached.) 

Description:
The purpose of this 78-acre unit is for both fuels reduction and oak/blueberry habitat improvement. The area is a combination of open rock outcroppings and forested drainages where fuels treatment can both help reduce surface and ladder fuels and reduce vegetation that competes with oak trees and blueberry plants. Reducing the hazardous fuels component in this unit is part of a larger fuels treatment effort in the Burntside Lake area. This unit will create another area in addition to recent Burntside Lake prescribed fire units where available fuels in the forest are reduced and therefore lower the intensity of future wildfires when they occur.

Resources: 
Holding crews and ignition crews of firefighters using hand tools will be working directly on the prescribed fire unit.  Due to the remote location of this unit, crews will be using ATVs and hiking to gain access for holding and ignition operations.

Closures:
There will be no closures needed during this prescribed fire. Depending on wind direction, some residents and visitors may experience smoke, potentially on Burntside and Wolf Lakes, or Crab, Buck, Cummings, Slim Lakes in the BWCAW.



Superior National Forest           US Forest Service 

Foss Fire update May 20, 2016

Date Issued: May 20, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. Incident Commander Type III: Timo Rova
Fire Information:


Fire Start Date: May 19, 2016 Size: Approximately 440 acres Containment: 10 percent

Location: This fire is located 10 miles west of Ely, MN, in St. Louis County, one mile west of the southwestern edge of Burntside Lake, north of Foss Lake, and south of Crab Lake.
The fire is burning north within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Description:
Crews made good progress today, directly attacking the fire on its north, east, and west sides. Aircraft dropped fire retardant along the east side of the fire and water on the west side.

Background: The Foss Lake Fire began on May 19 as a prescribed fire to reduce surface and ladder fuels, to enhance wildlife habitat, and to encourage jack pine regeneration. Shortly after ignition, an unpredicted change in weather conditions brought higher winds, warmer temperatures, and lower relative humidity.

A spot fire north of the control line escaped containment and the wind-driven fire spread to the north.

Aircraft that were on standby responded quickly and, with the work of ground crews, were able to slow the fire’s eastward spread with water and retardant drops, protecting the west and north sides of Burntside Lake.

The fire spread north to Crab Lake in the BWCAW. There was no fire growth to the south.

Message:
There is no threat to the towns of Ely, Winton, Tower, or Soudan. No structures are threatened. Good fuel-reduction work completed over the last two years on Burntside Lake increases firefighters’ ability to manage the eastern edge.

Resources:
80 personnel and 8 aircraft. MNICS Type II Team under Incident Commander Brian Pisarek arrived today and will take command of the fire Saturday morning. The Lake Vermilion Fire Brigade and the Morse/Fall Lake Fire Department both have fire boats on Burntside Lake are conducting structure-protection assessments.

Weather: Saturday’s weather will be very similar to Friday’s. The temperature will be around 75 degrees. Relative humidity will be 20–27 percent. South winds will be variable up to 7 mph. The earliest chance of rain over the fire area is Monday.

Closures: Currently, just one BWCAW entry point is closed: entry point #4 Crab Lake. All other entry points remain open. The closure area includes the following BWCAW portages and lakes, including campsites:

• Crab Lake BWCAW entry point and portage from Burntside Lake to Crab Lake
• Crab, Boulder, Phantom, Battle, Sprite, Meat, Clark, Glimmer, Hassle, Saca, Little Crab, Korb, Maxine, Barefoot, Little Jig, Silaca, Coxey Pond, Lunetta, Schlamn, Soroll, Glenmore, Western, Blick, Chad, Dugout, and Pine Lakes and associated portage trails
• Cummings Lake portage from Cummings Lake to Korb Lake and Cummings Lake to Korb River Update Foss Lake Fire
• Pine Creek East of Trout Lake
• Pine Lake portage from Trout Lake to Pine Lake

Closure signs will be used at normal points of access to delineate the closure area. The closure area map is located at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4740/#

Bears are active right now - Sept 17, 2015

Report from the USFS, Kawishiwi Ranger Station, Ely MN

Bears are really active right now—reports from the old Service Center on Central Avenue in Ely, to the Passi Road on Burntside, to the large island in the South Arm of Knife Lake and even Lakes One and Two.

Now is the time to put bird feeders away, stash any trash in secure buildings, and be extra mindful when camping in the BWCAW. Please remember, coolers are NOT bear resistant containers. Once a bear gets hold of food it will return many times to the same site looking for more food. Save a bear and be stingy with your left overs.

·        The report received from the large island in the South Arm of Knife included tents torn. This is likely a mother bear and cubs who have been pretty active in this area.

·        No specific details on the bear in Lake Two area. It may have damaged a tent.

·        A bear on Lake One got a group’s entire food bag. No information on which site.

Hang your food bag or use a bear resistant food barrel

·        The bear in the Service Center was easily scared away.   The bear on the Passi Road destroyed some bird feeders. 

Prescribe burn update from the USFS - September 26, 2014

September 26, 2014

Yesterday, a test fire showed conditions to be too moist for good consumption of hazardous fuels to ignite the Coo Lake North unit. Cloud cover that was predicted to break up by mid-afternoon did not disperse.

A meteorologist from NOAA joined the crew yesterday evening. Spot weather predictions indicated good burning conditions for today, September 26, 2014. The Bear Island Island Unit was chosen because of predicted wind direction, temperatures, and expected weather over the next few days. 

Hazardous fuels have been cleared from around two eagles nests and two campsites. These four areas of concern are ‘plumbed’ with sprinkler hoses. Ignition crews will be following burn patterns designed to protect pine stands on the interior of the island while consuming hazardous fuels on the edges. 

• Coo Lake North, T63N, R13W, S20, is 19 acres, is on a peninsula on the western edge of Burntside Lake.
• Bear Island Island Unit, T61N, R13W, S10, 121 acres, is the large island in the center of Bear Island Lake.
• Kangas Burn Unit, T61N, R12W, S14, 99 acres, is south of the Blueberry Lake Road (St. Louis County Road 120) at the end of U5192AA south of Little Lake.
• Pine Ridge Unit, T65N, R16W, S1, 90 acres, is north of the Echo Trail and west of Jeanette Lake.

Please leave fire fighters space to do their work. Be mindful of aircraft. They may need to scoop water from the lake. Please don’t park fire engines in—they may need to respond to other fires or re-position to support the prescribed burn.

All Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Entry Points and Superior National Forest Trails are expected to remain open. People may see and smell smoke. As always, the safety of fire fighters, residents, and visitors is the first priority in using fire to reduce hazardous fuels. There will be increased traffic on roads and the lake due to fire operations. Aerial resources may be used for safety, communications, additional control, and monitoring.  

For maps and more information: http://www.fs.usda.gov/superior or call 218-365-7600. (Not all of the units shown on the maps are scheduled to be burned at this time.) 

Spiny Waterfleas confirmed in Shagawa Lake, Ely MN

Spiny waterfleas, an invasive species, have been confirmed in Shagawa lake as reported by the Ely Echo newspaper September 14.

Here are a few notable points made in the article;

Samples were confirmed by the MN DNR. Spiny Waterflea is a small planktonic crustacean that competes with small fish for food of microscopic animal plankton. The waterflea is not eaten by small fish.

Rich Rezanka, DNR aquatic invasive species specialist said "It is critical for anglers to remove spiny waterfleas from all equipment because their eggs can live out of water for more than 12 hours and be transported to other waters." When populations are high, anglers can experience frustration with masses of spiny waterfleas clogging fishing and downrigging lines and other equipment

Burntside lake, upstream from Shagawa, was designated infested in 2010. Shagawa and Fall Lakes will now be added to the list of infested waters. There is the likelihood of infestation spread.

Due to the discovery of spiny waterfleas bait harvest for any purpose is prohibited in Shagawa and Fall lakes.

Be sure to remove all aquatic plants, zebra mussels, and other prohibited invasive species, drain water from all water equipment including bait containers, drain bilges and livewells by removing the drain plug before leaving the boat landing.

Kawishiwi Ranger District update - June 25, 2013

      More campsites have been opened on Three, Horseshoe, Harbor, and the Wilders. This should be the last group of campsite openings for the Kawishiwi District.  116 campsites were affected by the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire on the Kawishiwi and the Tofte Districts.  To date 18 sites remain closed in the Kawishiwi Ranger District.  These sites will remain closed for a rest period of 4-10 years.  

      

     The maps will be updated on the Superior National Forest web page;

      http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superior/home/?cid=stelprdb5341928#maps

·          

      Bear activity

      The USFS has received a few more bear reports:

o    S. Arm of Knife L (probably the same bear making its rounds). No aggressive action but quite persistent.

o   Basswood: especially around Washington Island. Also no aggressive action but very persistent.

Remember to keep your campsite clean, do not bring any food or toiletries into your tent, hang your food pack (12 feet up and at least 3 feet away from trunk of tree) away from your tent and main area of your campsite or use a bear resistant food container.

Entering & exiting the BWCA:

·         You are required to enter the BWCA on a specific date at a specific entry point as listed on your permit. Once you exit the wilderness your trip is done and you will need a new permit to re-enter. The USFS is hearing reports of people who camp on Disappointment or Lake One and other close-in lakes who are treating their sites like campgrounds—going into town or nearby resorts to shop or buy ice cream then paddling back out to their campsite. There are campgrounds and dispersed sites (Tofte, Snowbank, Triangle, Ojibway, Burntside, Bass L., etc.) if you are looking for that sort of experience. 

May 15, 2013 USFS Ice Out Report

One More Ice Out Report.  Let's hope these end soon and we don't have to worry about ice until winter.

 

A strong crosswind grounded the fire patrol this afternoon. New information from observers:

• Disappointment is open.

• Parent Lake (near Snowbank) is iced. Snowbank is still iced in.

• Rice and August Lake are open.

• Vermilion Lake was iced in yesterday.

• Big Lake was reported open yesterday, but southerly winds pushed the ice pack to the northern half today.

• The North Arm of Burntside is still frozen. The East Arm is full of dark ice.

This information is from Monday’s flight:

• Moose Lake: southwestern third is open; northeastern two thirds frozen but dark ice.

• S. Kawishiwi R. and Gabbro Lake are mostly open.

• Turtle is open.

• There is ice in the middle of Bald Eagle.

• Clearwater and Pietro are frozen (thin ice) but Gull is open.

• Quadga and Bog are open.

• Isabella and Perent still have a lot of ice in the middle.

• Polly and Phoebe are open.

• Alton and Sawbill are still frozen.

• Generally the smaller lakes in the south east are open or mostly open. Larger lakes are still frozen.

• Alice is frozen.

• Insula south of The Rock is open, the northern portion is frozen.

• Lake 3 is mostly open.

• Knife Lake including the South Arm is mostly ice.

• Saganaga is still frozen.

FS Pilot report—this information is from a flight late Sunday afternoon.

• Jackfish- 40% open

• Open: Pipestone, Stuart, Agnes, Nina Moose, Ramshead, Upper and Lower Pauness

• Frozen: Oyster

• Bald Eagle- 60% open

• Gabbro- 75% open

• Open: Gull, Turtle, Lakes 1 and 2

• Clearwater- frozen, but open around the edges.

Today’s safety message: Bears are awake and hungry. Keep a clean camp.

Winds are drying fine fuels quickly. Be careful with fire.

Give yourself a fighting chance. Wear your PFD.

May 8, 2013 Ice Out report from US Forest Service

                 Superior National Forest Ice Update

                                                                        May 8, 2013

                                                                       

Current Ice Conditions:

From FS pilots: They flew a west patrol yesterday from Jackfish west and south to Birch and Vermilion Lakes.

•       Everything was still frozen. Many lakes were still frozen right to the shoreline. 
•       Fall Lake had the most open water around the edges but was still 80% ice covered. 
•     Birch, Vermilion, Burntside, western Basswood including Pipestone and Jackfish Bays, S. Farm, and White Iron were frozen. 
•       There was a little open water near the bridge on the northern end of White Iron and a little open water on the southeast end.

Reports from others:

•         Rivers are running hard but the lakes are not open. 
•          Some people are venturing out over the ice (very dangerous!) only to find themselves confronting more ice. 
•          A few smaller lakes are very black and may open with rain or wind. 
•          Sawbill Lake had 23 inches of ice on it yesterday.

Sorry to spread such cold, hard news.