AHSUB LAKE CAMPSITES: Campsite 1 (#1207): Campsite behind the island on north shore Campsite 2 (#1206): Elevated campsite just west of Disappointment Lake portage (may be accessible to hikers of the Old Pines Trail - not verified)
Campsite 3: On south shore 0.25 miles east of the Disappointment Lake portage (for hikers of the Old Pines Trails - not Verified)
This deep and clear lake is a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources designated trout lake. You must have a trout stamp on your fishing license to legally fish in this lake. It is stocked with brook trout on a regular basis. Some of these brook trout can be over 20 inches long and fishing can be good. Brook trout are not really trout. They are related to the lake trout which is also not a trout. Both of these fish are in the char family. A hybrid of a lake trout and brook trout is a splake. The lake was once stocked with rainbow trout in the past, but they are no longer present.
Ahsub Lakes shoreline has suffered quite a bit of damage from the recent July 2016 windstorm. There is a lot of blowdown in the area.
The name "Ahsub" possibly is from the Ojibwe name for "net" or "small net".
To the southeast of Ahsub Lake is Disappointment Mountain. This "mountain" or high hill dominates the view to the southeast. The campsite behind the island provides the best view. The other campsite over by the Disappointment Lake portage is high above the lake and also offers nice views of the mountain and the lake. This campsite may also be accessible to hikers of the Old Pines Trail (this part of the trail is also called the Snowbank Lake Spur Trail), but didn't verify this. It is shown as an accessible campsite on the Kekekabic Trail website. There may be another campsite for hikers of the Old Pines Trail, which intersects the portage between Ahsub Lake and Disappointment Lake. This campsite (if it exists) is along the south shore of Ahsub Lake, about a quarter-mile east of the Disappointment Lake portage. There was no sign of the Old Pines Trail in 2015 where it crosses the portage, but it is easily visible in 2021.
The portages in and out of Ahsub Lake are both easy. The portage to Jitterbug Lake can get nasty if the beaver dam holding back the stream from Ahsub Lake to Jitterbug Lake gets washed out or breached. This causes Ahsub Lake to lose a lot of water and results in a muddy start to that end of the portage. This condition is fairly rare though. Ahsub Lake does not seem to have any tributaries and is probably strongly fed by springs and runoff from the elevated land around it.
References:
Beymer, Robert, Boundary Waters Canoe Area – Volume 1 – Western Region (Berkeley: Wilderness Press, 2006), 175, 196.
Click on the photos below to see the full resolution image - Use your browsers back button to close photo and return to this page.
PADDLING FROM THE DISAPPOINTMENT LAKE PORTAGE TO BWCA CAMPSITE 1206
View from the portage landing.
From the portage, just follow the shoreline to the west around the point to the campsite. Visit the Campsite -or- Explore Another Route ***********************************************END OF ROUTE***********************************************
PADDLING FROM BWCA CAMPSITE 1206 TO BWCA CAMPSITE 1207
Ahsub Lake from BWCA Campsite 1206. Looking to the northeast. The lakes small island is visible to the right of center (hard to see against the shoreline behind it, as it blends in well).
A short paddle to the northeast and behind the lakes small island.
PADDLING FROM BWCA CAMPSITE 1207 TO THE DISAPPOINTMENT LAKE PORTAGE
View of the island (left side of view) from BWCA Campsite 1207. From here, paddle to the left, around that island, on the way to the Disappointment Lake portage.
Round the east end of the island and paddle to the southwest to the Disappointment Lake portage.
PADDLING FROM THE DISAPPOINTMENT LAKE PORTAGE TO BWCA CAMPSITE 1207
Looking across Ahsub Lake to the north from the Disappointment Lake portage. The lake has clear water. Ahsub Lakes single island is visible just left of center (it blends well with the slightly more distant shoreline behind it). BWCA Campsite 1207 is found behind that island.
Beginning at the portage landing to Disappointment Lake, paddle northeast across Ahsub Lake and behind the small island to find the campsite.
A quiet view of Ahsub Lake and Disappointment Mountain as you would see it from the campsite behind the island.
Looking toward Disappointment Mountain from the campsite near Ahsub Lake's island. View is to the southeast.
Taking in a full view of all of Ahsub Lake toward the east/southeast with Disappointment Mountain in the center of the view.
This is a short underwater view of Ahsub Lake. You can even briefly see a small fish (probably a brook trout) near the bottom. Visit the Campsite -or- Explore Another Route ***********************************************END OF ROUTE***********************************************
PADDLING FROM BWCA CAMPSITE 1207 TO THE JITTERBUG LAKE PORTAGE
From the campsite behind the island on Ahsub Lake, paddle down the lake to the Jitterbug Lake portage. Disappointment Mountain is in front of you for most of the way and rises about 350 feet above the surface elevation of Ahsub Lake. The last part of the paddle is through a narrow channel. The narrow channel ends at a beaver dam. From here, the water of Ahsub Lake flows down to Jitterbug Lake. The beaver dam is just to the left of the portage to Jitterbug Lake.
When you arrive at the Jitterbug Lake portage landing, you look back at the small channel you just traveled through. This leads back to the main part of Ahsub Lake. Portage to Jitterbug Lake -or- Explore Another Route ***********************************************END OF ROUTE***********************************************
