Whittler Lake
Whittler Lake was scorched along the north shoreline by the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire. The waters from this lake drain through Maniwaki Creek with the next stop along this drainage being Andek Lake at least two miles downstream. Fungus Lake and Chickadee Lake drain into Whittler Lake.
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 Whittler Lake
Cannot recommend any approach to this lake since it is so remote. I think an interesting journey would be to start at Maniwaki Lake and follow Maniwaki Creek all the way to Chickadee Lake. This would require some very intense of bushwhacking as it covers a distance of at least 5 miles.
Bushwhack to Whittler Lake
There are no obvious routes out to these three little lakes (Chickadee Lake, Fungus Lake and Whittler Lake).
Exploring Whittler Lake
Whittler Lake is fairly swampy like Fungus Lake. The north shore has extensive fire damage. Maniwaki Creek flows out of the northern most point of the lake. A section of the Powwow Trail once hugged the west shore of Whittler Lake and is shown on old U.S. Topo Maps of the area. This trail also ran along the west shore of Fungus Lake. The trail also passed just south of Tomahawk Lake and Albino Lake. North of Whittler Lake, this portion of the Powwow Trail ran up to Nuthatch Lake and along its north shoreline and finally further west to Powwow Lake itself.
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