Monday, June 24, 2013

We were up to the call of a loon around 6:00, but just laid around in the tent as we could hear the mosquitos buzzing. It felt like it could be a hot day, as it was very still out and the sun was shining. After a breakfast of (Mountain House) eggs and bacon wrapped in Tortilla Shells, we loaded the canoe with our one remaining fishing rod, light tackle, snack food (trail mix and dehydrated banana chips) water bottles and filtration system, and we head out towards last nights portage going into Lower George Lake. The goal today is about 4.5 miles South, Cherokee Lake. Once we navigate the waters on Lower George, we make our way across a very nice, short portage (28 rods) into Karl Lake. A quick paddle across the upper portion of Karl finds us on the portage into Beautiful Long Island Lake. The takout on Karl isn't too bad, but the portage starts out going up a pretty steep incline and then levels out after a few rods. The rest of the portage is great as you wind through some large growth forest to suddenly find yourself on a very nice sand beach on the Northeast side of Long Island Lake. We hadn't noticed much wind before this as the other lakes were fairly sheltered, but now we have a pretty good wind coming out of the West. We pointed the bow to the Southwest and stayed pretty close in to the shore to avoid the wind. Just before we got to the entrance to the Long Island River, we decided to pull over at Camp site 566 and take a breather. The site is just North of the river entryway, has an excellent sand beach and a super view looking East down Long Island, but is very overgrown. The grass was over knee high and doesn't appear to see much use. You could probably fit one tent in there, and would have a lot of canoe traffic in front of you all day. After resting for an hour or so (eating snacks and replenishing water bottles) we continued to head South down the Long Island River. There was a small beaver dam that we just did a quick pullover on and then another 5 rod short portage a couple of hundred yards ahead. After another quick paddle (1/2 mile) we hit another 28 yard portage that skirts some quick water and thick brush. The portage itself sees abit of use and is well worn, but muddy. Once on Gordon Lake, the wind shifted from the West and was now coming out of the South directly into our faces. Paddling was a bit tough, but we plugged on. We stopped to check out various campsites on Gordon for future reference and eventually made it to the portage going into Cherokee. The portage is only a hop, skip and a jump in length. We decided to pull the conoe up onto shore and just make the walk to Cherokee. On the Cherokee side of things, the wind was really blowing and the whitecaps were being driven right up the Northern bay. We took off our footgear and stood in the water and proclaimed victory at making Isaac's goal. Now we only had to return to Rib Lake. We retraced our route going North. With the wind at our backs, I could handle the canoe on my own and it allowed Isaac to cast at will. Once back on Long Island, we pointed the bow to the East and made it to island campsite just before the narrows going into Karl Lake. I had seen this campsite in a YouTube Video and wanted to check it out. It is a pretty cool site and I would definately camp there in the future if I every stay on Long Island. After a layover of an hour or so we pointed the canoe to the Northeast and Karl Lake. Once on Karl, we slipped past the big island and turned Northwest heading back to our campsite on Rib. We arrived back to camp about 4:00 and were pretty tired. I had a slight headache, so we decided to rest and take a nap until it was time to eat supper. We had a nice breeze blowing through camp and the tent was sheltered from the sun and we quickly fell asleep. Around 7:00 I awoke and went to get the bear bag down from the tree to begin supper prep. Isaac was still crashed out. As I was lowering the bag, I heard a huge snort and a blow. The wind was still lightly blowing and I wasn't sure where it came from. Thinking the worst, I immediately ducked down behind a large tree, and was looking around for the bear who I thought was about to eat me. Again I heard the noise but couldn't place it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a quick movement to my right on the lake. There was a huge Bull Moose standing neck deep in the water about 80 yards out in front of our camp. The wind was still coming from the South and we were to the East of him. I snuck back up to the tent and woke Isaac up from his nap. For the next 90 minutes, we watched this massive beast feed right in front of us. He finally drifted off to the North and came ashore about 30 yards from our tent and disappeared into the swamp below. I believe it was because we were not upwind from him and that we were sleeping that he thought he was alone on the lake and we were blessed with this great show. Isaac built the fire and I got our MSR stove going to boil water for tonight's supper (Mountain House Chicken Breasts and Mashed Potatos). If you haven't tried this one, I would recommend you try it out. After cleaning up and getting things ready for the night, we sat around the fire and discussed the events of the day. We stayed up pretty late and finally turned in before midnight. We probably saw a dozen people today. Mainly on Long Island Lake and Gordon Lake. After we got out of the BWCA, we found out that it was about 90 degrees today. The headache was probably from not drinking enough water. (Note to self..... keep pushing fluids!!!)

Rib Lake, Lower George Lake, Karl Lake, Long Island Lake, Gordon Lake, Cherokee Lake

Lakes Traveled:   Rib Lake, Lower George Lake, Karl Lake, Long Island Lake, Gordon Lake, Cherokee Lake,