(North Hope) Lake
This lake isn't named on most maps, but will be referred to here as North Hope Lake. It is a fair sized lake and has a lot of important connections to other lakes in the Fungus Lake Primitive Management Area. A portage used to parallel Hope Creek along its west bank as it flows out of the north end of North Hope Lake. This portage was 50 rods long and is shown on the 1993 Fisher F-4 map. Whether it is still there or whether it is just easier to try to paddle the creek now is up to future paddlers to find out. Hope Creek flows into the southeast bay of this lake. Another portage used to begin here that led to Hope Lake. This portage followed the south bank of Hope Creek all the way to Hope Lake. Again, this portage of 40 rods was shown on the 1993 Fisher F-4 map. This is a relatively spongy area in which Hope Creek flows, so my guess it is just easier to try paddling the creek between North Hope Lake and Hope Lake. Use good judgment regardless.
Another connection from North Hope Lake is the small creek leading to Gogie Lake. The tiny creek from Gogie Lake flows into the north tip of North Hope Lake, just east of where Hope Creek flows out on the final stretch of its journey to Lake Insula. Traveling up the little creek to Gogie Lake will likely be a small challenge.
This area was scorched by the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire that burned much of the southwestern part of the BWCA and was the largest fire in recorded history at about 100,000 acres (almost 10% of the entire BWCA).
There was a large fire in this area around 1863-1864. This fire is known as the North Kawishiwi River/Alice Lake/Cypress Lake/Saganaga Lake Complex. This burn began south of the current BWCAW's southern boundary near the town of Isabella, Minnesota.
Approach to North Hope Lake (Unnamed Lake)
The entire approach into North Hope Lake is along Hope Creek from Lake Insula.
Bushwhack to North Hope Lake (Unnamed Lake)
The bushwhack into North Hope Lake is through Hope Creek.
Exploring North Hope Lake (Unnamed Lake)
The east side of this lake, where the creeks flow in and out, is very swampy. The rest of the lake is open water. Looking for the old portages leading towards Lake Insula and Hope Lake, both which paraellel Hope Creek, would be something to do. The entire shoreline of this lake was burned during the Pagami Creek Fire in 2011. There appears to be some rocky areas along the north and east shorelines that have an occasional living tree still standing. These areas could be worth a look if you are up against nightfall and need a place to camp.
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