Fungus Lake
Between Chickadee Lake and Whittler Lake. Chickadee Lake drains into Fungus Lake which in turn pours into Whittler Lake. The creek connecting these lakes is probably Maniwaki Creek. This primitive management area is named after this lake. Another Fungus Lake can be found in the Hairy Lake Primitive Management Area.
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 Fungus 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 Fungus Lake. This would require a couple of very intense days of bushwhacking as it covers a distance of at least 5 miles.
Bushwhack to Fungus Lake
There are no obvious routes out to these three little lakes (Chickadee Lake, Fungus Lake and Whittler Lake).
Exploring Fungus Lake
Fungus Lake is fairly swampy. Forest comes down to the lakes shore along the west. A peat bog separates Fungus Lake from Whittler Lake to its north. In the past, these two lakes may have formed a larger, single lake. A section of the Powwow Trail once hugged the west shore of Fungus Lake and is shown on old U.S. Topo Maps of the area. This trail continues on up to Whittler Lake. It 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.
|
