During my preparations for my 2001 trip my son, who for various reasons had been unable to go with us since 1997, said he'd like to take a trip sometime for just the two of us. No father can turn down or even delay a request like that, so 2002 was reserved for a father-son trip.
Keeping an eye on our military schedule (Robert and I both serve in the same National Guard unit) and his school schedule, we settled on a 10-day trip with a July 23 entry date. For a variety of reasons I decided to try a different outfitter at this time. I obtained an Agnes entry permit and planed to do Basswood, Burke, Sunday, Meadows, Agnes, East, Agnes, Silence, then down the S-chain to North Bay and back out through Burke.
About a week before departure, as food and gear was being packed, I decided to forget about trying to hang food packs again this year. I called Joe Baltich at Red Rock Store and ordered one of his "Superpack" food packs. This pack system uses two 30-liter plastic barrels and a custom nylon pack to carry them in. Arrangements were made to stop by his store and pick it up on our way to the outfitter.
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Up early, loaded the truck, and headed north. An uneventful day's drive through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, to Madison, WI, where we had no trouble locating the motel, but due to road construction had lots of trouble finding a way to actually get into their parking lot!
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We got up extra early, and continued north before sunrise. Made the obligatory stop at the Gander Mountain on the north side of Duluth, then on up to Ely. Made a stop at Hardees for lunch, then a few more last minute items at Canadian Waters. Headed out the Fernberg Road, stopped at Northwind Lodge/Redrock Store to pick up our new food pack. Joe and I had "met" a few years ago on the CanoeCountry.com list server but this was the first time we had actually seen and spoken to each other. He gave me the "nickel tour" of his place, then Robert and I headed on to Canadian Border Outfitters on Moose Lake.
By this time Robert was starting to talk about what we could do to cut time out of our return trip and get back home a day earlier than planned. I finally agreed that we could be off the water in time to make the drive back to Madison the same day, getting us back a day earlier. After checking in with the outfitter and getting settled in to our bunk room, we drove back to Ely to do the gift shopping we normally would do at the end of the trip. While there I called the hotel in Madison to change our reservation for the return trip.
When we returned to our bunk room we finished repacking our food into the barrel pack. After scratching a few "nice to have" extra items, we were able to get all of the food into one of the barrels, and all of the kitchen gear into the other. This gave us a single food/gear pack. Based on the weighing I had made at home, I estimated that this pack came in around 85 lbs. More than I would have wanted to carry, but my 21-year old son is strong and was eager to prove it. So our load consisted of one #3 pack with personal gear (dry clothes, sleeping bags, and tent) weighing about 38 pounds, the food/gear pack weighing about 85 pounds, a day pack weighing about 15 pounds, and a Wenonah Minnesota-II canoe.
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A good pancake breakfast at the outfitter was more than I could eat. We loaded up and took the tow up to Prairie Portage. While standing in line at the ranger station, we met a fellow from Virginia who was doing a solo up to Kashapiwi. Seems that now when you meet someone on the canoe trail, the first question is "where are you from?" and the second is "are you familiar with the CanoeCountry dot com bulletin board?" He was a regular reader of the board, but seldom posted to it. He knew me from the board, but of course since he was mostly a 'lurker' I didn't know him.
After clearing the ranger station we finally hit the water. This was the first time that Robert and I had actually paddled together since our first trip in 1995. My technique is much better and I have a new paddle that is much better fitted to me. Our strokes were well matched and we made good, easy time.
On my previous trips I have had a real problem with dehydration and over exertion on the first day, so when we got to Meadows Lake we stopped for the day. I'd always thought of Meadows as a 'pass-through' lake, so I was surprised to find the island campsite already taken. We grabbed the site on the western shore.
We got the fly and tent up, then I strung a hammock and tried to take a nap. First, voices from the other campsite kept me awake, and then a pair of ravens having an argument in the trees above us. Supper was Adirondack stew. Neither Robert nor I had much appetite, and about half the stew went into the 'yummy' bag. If this keeps up, our food pack will actually get heavier with every meal we cook! We had purchased 7-day conservation fishing licenses that began on Wednesday, so we can't kill time fishing. We took a short evening paddle. Weather had been perfect -- temps around 70 and clear to partly cloudy skies.
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Breakfast this morning was oatmeal. I didn't feel like fixing anything fancier. We left Meadows about 9:00 and portaged to Agnes. Stopped to see Louisa Falls then went in search of the portage to East. Had a bit of trouble locating it, but finally spotted it and were at our campsite on East by about 1:00. This is not a large lake, but it was larger than I remembered from our trip in 1995.
After getting the rain fly up we pumped some more water. We were pretty well beat, but didn't have much appetite. We slugged down some Gatorade and a piece of Hudson Bay bread. This stuff is packed with energy and it seems I can always eat that regardless of my appetite. Secured the camp, then both of us lay down for a nap.
Robert was taking an antibiotic for his acne, and it makes him very sensitive to the sun and wind. We thought that some strong sunscreen (SPF 45) would take care of him, but he was still pretty well burned. He'd been wearing tank-top shirts, and his back and shoulders were blistered. In addition, I'd gotten the sense that his early enthusiasm for the trip had waned. Given the sunburn problem, I didn't think another week of this would be a wise thing for him, so I brought up the idea of cutting the trip short. He wanted to save my feelings, but said he wouldn't be opposed. My guess is that inside he was saying, "YESSS!" We discussed various options for making a quick exit and decided that the best would be to simply backtrack, in spite of having to face the Meadows portages again.
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This day was overcast and threatening rain. We fought a headwind back across East and down Agnes. We used the points for shelter from the wind until we reached the portage back to Meadows. After completing the first portage, we just pushed out from shore, then laid back on our packs and drifted about half an hour before hitting the next portage.
While making our first carry from Meadows to Sunday we ran into a Boy Scout crew heading the other way. You could tell by the amount of 'trash' they were carrying in their hands ('trash' is my term for anything that has to be carried in your hands on a portage) that they were pretty inexperienced. But then, the typical Scout crew up there is on their first trip of this type. I stopped to help one of the boys get his pack back up on his shoulders, then told him it would carry a lot easier if he would use the hip belt. He decided he knew better. A little further down the trail, I asked one of the boys where they were from and he said "Knoxville, Tennessee." I replied that I was from Murfreesboro, and he looked puzzled and said "is that in Tennessee?" I thought "well, DUH!"
On my return trip back to Meadows to get the second load I caught up with the boy that I had helped with his pack. He was again stopped and struggling to get it back up on his shoulders. Again, I stopped to help him with it, and this time suggested a bit more forcefully that he use the hip belt.
On arriving back at Meadows we were met by another Scout crew coming up behind us. As usual, I asked where they were from, and their reply was "Murfreesboro, Tennessee." I had worked as an Assistant Scoutmaster with two different troops in Murfreesboro, and had been active on a lot of district activities. Turns out I knew all three of the adults in this crew -- once we got passed the beards and scruffy clothes! Small world! We had a nice visit, while completing our carry, and then Robert and I pressed on.
We stopped for lunch at Singing Brook portage, then moved on to claim the campsite next to the portage on the beach at Bayley Bay. There was still a lot of daylight left. We probably could have paddled all the way back to the outfitter before dark but decided to stop here instead. Visited with a few other crews that came across the portage. One group of three guys was finishing a trip that started at Lac La Croix. They also knew me from the CanoeCountry bulletin board and on the first part of their trip had been accompanied by one of the other well-known members of the board who goes by the name of "Toothfairy."
About 10:00 that night, well after dark and about the time I was finally able to get to sleep, another crew came stumbling down the portage. "Hey, it looks like someone is camping here!" "Yeah, looks like it -- oh, look, they have bear barrels" "Yep, sure looks like someone is camping here" Finally got their tent pitched (about 10 feet from ours) and got settled down for the night.
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Got up, had some Hudson Bay bread for breakfast, packed up and headed out. Made the carry at Prairie Portage, then waited for the towboats to begin arriving. We weren't scheduled to be picked up that day and there was no guarantee that our outfitter would be bringing anyone up on any given day. However, I knew that some of the outfitters had reciprocal agreements for picking up returning parties and if that failed, surely we could get a tow operator to take a message back to our outfitter. At the very worst, we could paddle back, but neither of us has ever liked paddling Moose Lake.
After waiting about an hour the first tow boat arrived, but they were just dropping off a party, then heading on over the truck portage to Basswood. About ten minutes later a tow from our outfitter arrived, so we got a ride back with no problem at all. An hour later we were unloaded, had downed a cold beer and were finishing hot showers.
After settling up the bill, we headed down Highway 1 to the north shore, listening to WELY, "Radio Free Ely." An interesting station and I was sorry we lost their signal as early as we did.
While eating lunch at the Taco Bell gas station in Superior, Wisconsin, I called the hotel in Madison and again changed our reservation, then called home to let my wife know we were headed back. The trip back was uneventful and we arrived back home on Saturday evening.
This trip did not provide a lot of post-trip lessons to be filed away. Perhaps the most crucial 'lesson' would be that sometimes you simply have to be prepared to admit that this isn't the time. If I had insisted in pressing on just for the sake of completing the trip as planned, there is no question that Robert would have developed some serious problems with the sun.
I do like the food barrels. The pack was a bit expensive. Future trips, which will most likely have 6-man crews will require some more thinking on food packing. With about 50 pounds of food per barrel, a single pack will go 100 pounds, which is more than I want anyone to carry. In addition, a crew of six for ten days will require about 3 barrels of food. All of this presents new problems in planning and logistics.
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