This was my seventh canoe trip to the border country, the second to the BWCAW, the rest being to Quetico. As always, I made a few adjustments in plannng. For this trip, the crew was just my wife and myself.
This trip journal is a slightly edited transcription of the diary I kept during the trip.
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Well, we're finally back! I'm writing this in our outfitter's bunkhouse. We did final packing on Saturday and left home at 5:30 Sunday morning. Sunday night in Madison, WI then up this morning and arrived in Ely at 2:30 pm. About mid-morning I started getting my usual pre-trip jitters. This involves a general feeling of dread, loss of appetite in spite of hunger. Ate a light lunch at our usual place in Superior. The bad feelings - almost like nausea but not quite - have come and gone all afternoon. By supper time the only thing I could stomach was a fruit smoothie, and that seemed to help some.
We got caught short with the grocery stores closing early for Labor Day. Our shuttle doesn't leave until 8:00 so we'll be up at 6:00 for breakfast in town, then hit the grocery when they open at 7:00.
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Started waking up this morning about 5:30. Breakfast at Cranberries and I couldn't eat but a bite of eggs and toast, but we lingered over coffee until the grocery store opened. Made some adjustment to packs then were taken to the put-in at Little Indian Sioux North. Our driver is really interesting. He's really into the history of the Voyageurs and is a true canoe bum. He guides during the heart of the season and works for the outfitter at the ends of the season, and then finds odd jobs.
Got to Lower Pauness Lake about noon and I had had enough. I didn't feel like I had the energy for the portage to Loon so we stopped and made camp then took a nap. We have not heard any loons, white-throated sparrows, or ravens but have been scolded by some squirrels.
Had chicken and rice for dinner followed by Little Debbie brownies for dessert, which is what we planned for dessert every day. No cooking dessert on this trip! The temperature has been pleasant all day - I'd guess around 68 to 70 but gloomy overcast all day. Heard, and then saw a grouse feeding at the edge of our campsite. Earlier I think I got a glimpse of a couple of mink, weasels, or otters. Head them fighting (?) in the bushes and as I approached they darted away. I didn't get a good look but they were a dark, chocolate brown - definitely not squirrels or chipmunks. One gull has flown over but still no loons, etc.
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Yesterday started out fine, clear and warm. We got off around 8:30 and headed for Slim Lake. Had a very difficult bushwhack portage around a rock garden about a mile below Devil's Cascade. It appears that water is about 18 to 24 inches below normal and that is making a huge difference. Had Lunch at a campsite where LIS River opens into Loon Lake, then pushed on. The crew we saw at the put-in was camped on Little Loon. Had a lot of difficulty with the Slim Lake end of the portage. Due to the low water, the landing was out in the muck, making it very difficult to get loaded and away. We took the first campsite on Slim Lake and struggled with getting camp set up, bathing, laundry and dinner. It's hot and we're exhausted.
Ever since arriving at this site we've been hearing airplanes, which I assumed were from the seaplane base on LLC, which isn't that far from us by air. Then we heard one approaching directly and a big yellow plane with Ontario Parks markings came in low over the lake, south to north. Wonder what that was about, since this is a U.S. lake?
Dorothy and I are starting to openly discuss this being our last "traveling" trip and shifting to base camp style of tripping.
It was so hot when we went to bed that we pushed our sleeping bags aside and just lay on our Thermarests in our skivvies. After a while we got back up and stood around on the shore looking at the stars. There were some vague flashes of light to the north. Don't know if it is distant lightening or some northern lights.
Went back to bed and eventually a thunderstorm passed near but didn't hit us. Last night, after dinner I was studying the map, looking at how far we had come and how far we had to go, plus the number of portages and potential low-water problems. Decided we'd stay put until Saturday, eating our way through the food pack, then head back the way we came in, aiming to spend Monday night on Upper Pauness so we can be back at the LIS parking lot hopefully by noon. The plan is to try cell phone or send a message with anyone we can find to have VNO pick us up at LIS instead of Nina Moose. Failing that I'll just hike the 5 miles or so to the Nina Moose put-in to catch our ride and tell him Dorothy and the gear are at L.I.S.
Woke up Thursday to a steady drizzle and heavy overcast. Got up, made breakfast and pitched the rain fly. Sat under it and talked more about the future and canoe tripping. Eventually went back to the tent to dry out, read and write. It continues to rain with occasional thunder.
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It continued to rain pretty steadily all day yesterday and into the night, until sometime after 4:00 this morning. Sometime yesterday afternoon 2 canoes went by heading north. Poor folks woke up to rain, packed and headed out in the rain, and eventually made camp somewhere in the rain.
We got up around 6:00. It had stopped raining but was still heavy overcast. Cooked breakfast, cleaned up, packed up and headed back. Apparently the 24-plus hours of rain had raised the water level a couple of inches - just enough to float us over the muck and back to the rocks at the portage. While making the second carry we were passed by two middle-aged fellows who had come from Little Beartrack. They were travelling light and fast and very efficiently single portaged. We later passed them as they were setting up camp at the south end of East Loon Bay. We continued on to the next campsite on the east shore of Loon, just north of the mouth of L.I.S. By now the sun had broken out and we felt much better about our position. It's a nice site and we will stay until Monday when we plan to move to Upper Pauness for an exit on Tuesday.
Sometime in the late afternoon a young couple passed, heading south. They ere battling a stiff westerly wind, though the lake wasn't particularly rough - no whitecaps. Neither was wearing PFD's. I thought about calling them and offering to share our site for the night but they seemed to be making headway in spite of their difficulty and there are two more sites close by on down the shore. With some difficulty they made it on around the point. I still wish I had called them in.
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When we got up the sky was late gray cloudy overcast. Dorothy had already been up and said it had been blue and clear when she got up, then this had rolled in. Spent the day just puttering around camp - reading, dozing, trying to identify some plants, watching a pair of loons that have taken possession of this part of the lake, an occasional flock of geese headed south.
About mid-day a couple came by from the north and asked "are you lost like we are?" They were looking for Loon River and the route to Crane Lake. We pointed them in the right direction, where they could see boats passing on the motor route.
It began a light drizzle when we started supper and later turned to a light but steady rain. We had earlier decided to go ahead and move to Upper Pauness tomorrow.
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Woke up this morning to cool and overcast but no rain. Got up and cooked breakfast, cleaned, packed, and shoved off. On Wednesday as we were entering Loon Lake from LIS, we were passed by a solo canoeist. The last 2 nights on Loon Lake we noticed him camped on the opposite shore from us. He caught up with us on the portage into Lower Pauness. Turns out he was going in tomorrow and he was using the same outfitter. He agreed to deliver the message about our change of plans. Also found that we knew each other from the CCBB, where he goes by the screen name "Pilgrim".
We took the long way around Lower Pauness to see a different part of it, and thus took the shorter portage into Upper Pauness. As we came around the bend to the first campsite on Upper Pauness (the one we had hoped to get) we found Pilgrim setting up and drying out. He offered to share the site if we couldn't find anything else. The next site was taken and the next was not worth having. We got the last (southernmost) site on the lake. Not very good but usable. I would have preferred one of the first two (west facing) sites, as the day promises a good sunset.
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Yesterday we got up, cooked pancakes, cleaned, packed, and pushed off. We knew the site we had originally wanted on this lake was occupied by Pilgrim and he was going in today, so it would be vacant. The day was mostly partly cloudy but very breezy. I kept having to re-work the rigging on the dining fly as increasingly stronger tie-downs proved not strong enough. The back corners kept pulling loose, including 10-inch plastic tent peg that was driven to the hilt in good solid soil and large log with a basketball-sized stone weighting it down. In the afternoon we watched a couple of t-storms pass to the north of us.
Just as we were bedding down for the night the wind really picked up and it began to rain. The canoe was fully beached and tied down, but given the strength of the wind I felt compelled to go and strengthen the tie-down. While out I saw that the dining fly had blown loose from all connections except those to the ridge line.
While we were warm and dry in the tent, we didn't sleep well with the storm blowing all night.
By dawn the storm was still showing no sign of letting up. After discussion and prayer we began packing inside the tent. We each have a day pack and a stuff sack for our clothes. We got the day packs, clothes, sleeping bags and mattresses packed and ready to go. Then we got out of the tent, packed up the food-kitchen pack and hauled it down to the landing. The kitchen area was really a wreck. Then we took down the tent and packed the portage pack of personal gear. Now everything was down at the landing. The wind was still howling, it was still raining, it was cold, and we were looking at about a quarter mile of open water with a cross wind before getting into the potential shelter and tail wind of the river. I've crossed Bayley Bay when the water was worse (and my paddling skills much worse) but that was in warm weather. After more prayer I made the decision to go, so we loaded up and started paddling for all we were worth.
Made the crossing and turned into the river, where the wind was now at our backs. For a while, Dorothy was able to simply hold her paddle in the air to catch the wind while I paddled. We arrived at the LIS parking lot late morning. We changed into dry socks and shoes then got out the stove and made some soup. Just as we were finishing our first cup our driver pulled in. This was the same driver the dropped us off last week. As I alluded to then, he is a very interesting person. We knew from our earlier conversation that he was a genuine "canoe bum". We had guessed him to be in his late twenties, but it turns out he is forty years old and a veterinarian. He had sold his practice in Atlanta a few years ago and was still trying to decide what to do with himself. In the meantime he was having a good time spending the summers guiding and generally doing whatever odd work he could find in the outdoors.
Got back to Ely, checked in to the Grand Ely Lodge and cleaned up. Did laundry at the Ely Speedwash, did a little shopping and had a walleye dinner at the Ely Steakhouse - our traditional first dinner after getting off the water.
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After breakfast at the lodge, we drove around Shagawa Lake and visited the new Bear Center. They had just opened in their new facility and it was very interesting. Lunch at the Chocolate Moose was topped with the thickest chunk of blueberry pie I've ever seen. Shopping for gifts, then back to the lodge to rest and catch up on email. We had dinner at Sir G's. First time there, though many other canoeists tell us this is their customary "first meal". The pizza was good but the service was very slow. Back to the lodge and we head home tomorrow.
So . . . I'm already starting to plan on going back to Quetico and getting up to see the old pines of McNiece lake.
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