Lift off day!

Greg and Jan would meet Kyle and I at Kyle's house at 3:00am. I had driven up to the cities the night before from Milwaukee. After loading the canoes and the gear we were off and heading north. We crossed the border into Canada at International Falls about 9:00am. We picked up our fishing licenses and a few lures at store in Fort Francis near the bridge to cross Rainy Lake.

The drive turned very scenic at this point and was especially beautiful along the section between Fort Francis and Dryden. We had lunch at a place called Buster BBQ near Eagle River and made it to Red Lake around 2:30pm. Even saw a couple moose and eagles along the road to Red Lake.

We met Claire, the assistant park superintendent for our permits and last minute map information. She marked a few pictographs and gave us a nice map showing where most of the known campsites were.

When then got settled into the Norseman Inn, had dinner down the street at the Howey Bay Motel, and spent the rest of the evening walking down by the lake and chatting in our room. Lots of excitement loomed and it was hard to sleep.

The map below would be our intended route for the trip.

We woke up around 6am, loaded up the truck, stopped at the marina for a life vest for Jan (he forgot his!), and left town by 7am headed down the long and narrow gravel road towards Leano Lake. The drive was very scenic and we saw 2 bears along the road. The local bears seemed to prefer conducting bathroom duty right in the middle of the road! We arrive at the Leano Lake parking lot about 9:30am.

Leano Lake is a short portage from the road, so after gathering up our gear and getting the truck situated for the week, we were on the water and paddling by 10:00am.

We observed several eagles flying above on Leano Lake and saw a bear swim right behind Greg's canoe on Bunny Lake. We had lunch on an unnamed lake and made it to Lunch Lake for the night by 6:00pm. The portages today were fairly short, easy and flat. Most of them were like walking on carpet as the forest flow is covered in moss. Very cool! Our camp for the night was on an island with great views all around. The tent pads were satisfactory and the site had several fire pits. It rained softly on and off all night as we enjoyed dinner and good conversation around a nice fire.

Lakes Traveled: Leano, Bunny, East Lunch, Lunch

7 Portages: 60m, 300m, 15m, 150m, 80m, 70m, 150m

It rained most of the night and into the morning, so we were blessed with the pleasant experience of packing up camp in the rain this morning. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal we on the water headed north towards Mexican Hat Lake. Being rather windy we boogied to the first portage to get off the big water and tackle a series of streams, small ponds and short portages.

This area of the park was quite tranquil and reminded me of a smaller version of the Fall's Chain in the Quetico. The falls in Mexican Hat Lake are spectacular. It is just one massive cascade with multiple levels and channels.

We chose a campsite at the base of the falls on a point. It is one of my most favorite campsites ever! Great fire pit, views, and tent pads. We established camp right after lunch time and spent most of the rest of the day fishing and relaxing. The fishing in the pool below the falls was excellent. Greg and I pulled out dozens of pike and walleye. I had my best luck with Charteuse Twister Tails on an 1/8oz jig and Greg used white tube jigs.

Dinner was walleye filets with Cajun breading. Mmmm! We continued to fish until well after dark from shore catching countless fish until after 11pm. Looming Thunderstorms chased us into our tents for the night. What a good day!

Lakes Traveled: Lunch, Jake, Mexican Hat

8 Portages: 200m, 40m, 120m, 60m, 140m, 40m, 80m, 325m

It rained and stormed hard all night and the rain continued on and off all day long. As the day progressed the temperatures cooled to the 40's, but the fishing below the falls was as hot as the day before. We decided to stay in camp today given what a nice site it was, plus we didn't really feel like having a travel day in the rain.

The weather cleared up a bit in the afternoon allowing Greg and I to explore the lake and troll around for lakers. We didn't have any luck finding lakers, so we returned to camp and had our fill of walleye nirvana all night long. Jan and Kyle spent the afternoon cutting an impressive wood pile. The next guests to this campsite would certainly enjoy the courtesy wood.

As night fell, the rain returned and so we drifted off to sleep.

Today would be a travel day with Hansen Lake as our goal. We left camp on Mexican Hat around 9:00am. It was sure hard to leave such an awesome site, but we must press on. The route included many short paddles and easy portages as we followed a chain of small streams, waterfalls and small lakes.

The last portion of the trek was a chute into Hansen Lake. Kyle made it first, followed by Greg and Jan. I was last and made the run OK but ended up with some water over the bow. Just when I though I made it safely, my canoe ran up against an overhanging tree, got turned and dumped. Very cold! Thankfully, I was able to grab my fishing poles as they began to sink out of sight. The rest of my gear floated / stayed in the canoe. I was finally able to reach the shore further down the rapids and pull the canoe out of the water and get my gear back into the canoe. Good thing for dry bags!

We made it to a rather crappy camp on an island on Hansen Lake. Given my saturated situation and the fact that it was raining, AGAIN! we decided to settle on this camp to dry out and regroup for the night. The rest of the day it misted and remained cold, which made drying out the gear a bit of a challenge. Even my Spot 2 got a bit wet, but after a little warming over the fire it worked fine again. Whew!!

We pretty much just hunkered down the rest of the day under the tarp tending to the campfire and trying to stay warm. This was by far the worst day of the trip, but an adventure worth telling about nonetheless! :)

Lakes Traveled: Mexican Hat, Glenn, Hansen

5 Portages: 40m, 150m, 100m, 60m, 350m

Finally nice weather! We awoke to a sunny, yet cool morning on Hansen Lake. Motivated by the good weather and the desire to cover some miles today, we decided to head for Aegean Lake.

Starting off the today, we had a couple navigation miscues getting off of Hansen Lake. First, we paddled into the wrong bay looking for the first portage and then we decided to attempt paddling a creek to avoid said portage. Jan and Greg decided to head for the portage right away, while Kyle and I were determined to push through an ever narrowing creek. A few hundred meters in the creek vanished into a swampy area with no easy way out, so we had to backtrack. We caught up to Jan and Greg on the next lake and continued onto a 90 meter portage that was difficult to find at first and then a 625 meter portage into Wrist Lake.

By the time we hit Wrist Lake it was lunch time, so we took a brief break at a campsite right at the end of the 625 meter portage.

The portage from Wrist to Streak Lake was short and very wet. Pretty much trudging through knee deep water. Aegean Creek was next. This area is very cool and intimate. At the end of the creek are 2 x 20 meter portage. The first one we paddled through and the 2nd we had to pull through. One of the benefits of all the rain!

The paddle down to the south end of Aegean Lake took some time as a good portion of the way steered us directly into a strong headwind. By dinner time, we arrived at a very nice campsite. We enjoyed a great sunset and glassy calm waters. Overall, it was a very good travel day. No fish though. :(

Lakes Traveled: Hansen, Unnamed, Wrist, Streak, Aegean Creek, Aegean

7 Portages: 500m, 275m, 90m, 625m, 100m, 20m, 20m

Another sunny day for travel. We modified our route plans a bit today and headed east on Aegean Lake and then south to Bird Lake, rather than going south to South Aegean Lake to save paddling distance. The 450m portage to Bird Lake went through a recent burn area and as a result there were plenty of wild flowers in bloom.

Bird Lake was a quick paddle followed by 2 portages along a stream into Paull Lake. Our goal for the day was an island campsite on the far end of Paull Lake that was said to be high up with great views. We made it about halfway across Paull Lake before we stopped for lunch at a seldom used campsite. The fire pit had no evidence of recent use and the rocks around camp showed little wear as they were all covered in moss. Not smooth as seen in heavily used camps.

We continued down Paull Lake in the afternoon until we found the campsite Claire had marked for us. You cannot see the campsite from the water as it is high up and the landing is on the far side of the island. Easy to pass by in you did not know it was there.

Well, the campsite had great views as adverstised and we had a leisurely evening relaxing at camp and enjoying the fantastic sunset. I caught the one and only lake trout of the trip here.

Lakes Traveled: Aegean, Bird, Paull

3 Portages: 450m, 300m, 30m

Today's plan was to get as close to end of the loop as possible, so we could exit the park and hit the road home the next day. An easy paddle down Paull Lake quickly became a challenge as late morning winds from the east set in making the last bit of Paull Lake before the portage out a challenge. Rollers and white knuckled paddling seem to be a could remedy for a sluggish start to the morning.

Finding the 300m portage out of Paull Lake took a while as the trail was hidden pretty well in the forest and you couldn't see the blazes marking the trail until you were on top of them. This would probably be the most difficult portage of the trip as the trail crossed the river it followed about halfway across and you had the wade in knee deep current. Lots of fallen trees, mud, and awkward footings.

Finishing this portage, we quickly got our groove back and pounded through 5 portages making it to Boot Jack Lake for lunch. After lunch we continued east on Boot Jack before making a turn to the north through a narrow chute to rejoin Bunny Lake and completing our loop.

One more portage brought us back to Leano Lake where we found a spacious camp under a nice canopy of trees along the western shore. After setting up camp, the evening was spent enjoying the calm waters, a nice fire and good company.

Lakes Traveled: Paull, Elephant Head, Boot Jack, Bunny, Leano

9 Portages: 300m, 75m, 50m, 25m, 190m, 50m, 120m, 15m, 300m

We awoke today before the rose and quickly broke camp. We hit the water as the sun rose through the white horses racing across the lake. It was a fitting final scene for the end of our Woodland Caribou adventure. We took our time paddling to the final portage while soaking up the memories of an awesome trip.

Lakes Traveled: Leano

1 Portage: 60m