Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

2012 BWCA trip (Brant Lake entry)
by Lightfoot

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 09/22/2012
Entry & Exit Point: Brant Lake (EP 52)
Number of Days: 7
Group Size: 4
Day 2 of 7
Sunday, September 23, 2012

Day 2: Rest day – Gillis Lake (low=38 high=48)

Since we had a spectacular view to the east from our tent, I woke up hoping for a nice sunrise. Unfortunately, it was still overcast with just a few small breaks in the clouds. Not enough to let the sun or any color through, so it was a silvery morning. We had our standard first breakfast of omelets in a bag. After clean-up, we spent the rest of the morning reading and relaxing. By mid morning, the clouds did show signs of breaking up.

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John reading on a cool morning


By lunchtime, the clouds had mostly cleared out. The wind was blowing at about 15 mph so we decided against any day-trip; none of us had that much energy anyhow. After lunch, Craig & John took their relaxing a little more serious. Even with the cooler temps, out of the wind and with the sunshine, it felt very nice. We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing.

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Serious relaxing


Since it was a lazy rest day, we didn’t need a big supper so we opted for the stroganoff. We had supper and finished cleanup by about 6:30. Some clouds moved through but didn’t entirely block out the sun. We poured our Barons and waited for what we hoped would be a nice sunset. We weren’t disappointed. One of the nicest sunsets we’ve had in a few years. The eastern horizon had a purple glow and the high clouds caught some good color.

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The sunset begins


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Looking southeast with a glow along the horizon


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A purple glow along the ENE horizon


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High clouds catch some color


As the sun got lower, the color to the west continued to intensify.

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Chris & John enjoy the colors


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Colors deepen as the sun continues to set


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Chris & John continue their watch


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The last of the color


We watched as the stars came out and then turned in shortly after 8:00. I read for about an hour and then lights-out. The wind picked up overnight and I began to wonder if it was blowing in some rain. I got up once during the night, about 4:15. I saw a very starry sky that relived my thoughts of rain.