Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Ep 14-14 loop with Weeny PMA exploration
by Deeznuts

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 08/11/2023
Entry & Exit Point: Little Indian Sioux River (north) (EP 14)
Number of Days: 7
Group Size: 3
Day 3 of 7
Sunday, August 13, 2023

The day started for me at 5am, as I am a very early riser. After an hour of fishing from the campsite with no luck, I started boiling water for our breakfasts. The boys crawled out of their hammocks around 730am, and we took time breaking camp. As we sat around the map looking at the day I had planned, the boys stated that they would love to see the stone chairs again. I explained to them that instead of our short 3 mile day up to Gun Lake I had planned, it would be a grueling 10 mile trek to reach the chairs, and we would have to retrace some of our path to go back to Finger Lake the following night. The boys were still just as enthusiastic so we broke camp by 1030 and made our way toward the portage into Eugene. Be noticed that the group from the previous night opted to camp at the portage. At least they didn’t have a fire going. We quickly made our way singling through Eugene, Little Beartrack, and Beartrack. The Beartracks were some of the prettiest lakes, in my opinion. Crystal clear water, and seemed to be abundant in fish, though info collected from DCNR stated there was only pan fish in there. We didn’t see anything sizeable but with the amount of rock bass and sunnies we saw, I can't imagine there aren't some monster pike or bass lurking around. The trek into Thumb was rough. I was so fatigued already from our 14 mile journey on day 1 that I opted to double portage. Donnie and Drew both managed to single portage it. While pulling into the landing at the campsite on Thumb, I accidentally swamped Drew in the back of the canoe. I was trying to be helpful and pull him closer to a rock. I didn’t realize just how steep it was nor how heavy the back of the canoe would be without me to balance the load. After a little bit of swearing and a lot of apologizing, Drew and I made peace over a snack of some vodka-soaked Swedish fish. It was the morale booster we all needed and we were back on the water by 130.     We navigated the short, flat, rocky portage between Thumb and Finger with ease. Making our way up Finger Lake, we witnessed quite the show of four nude sunbathers, two males and two females. A few moments of awkward paddling followed by a lot of laughter after we were out of ear shot. We made our way into the wrong bay, to the old creek bed leading down to Pocket Lake. I volunteered to explore the dry bed to see if maybe debris was blocking the path. I made my way back to the boys after not having any luck and told them that it had to be further down, at the end of the lake. Finally we found a very shallow spot to pass through to Pocket creek and had no need to portage after all. It was hairy, and I would suggest taking it very easy if you do attempt to pass through. Navigating Pocket creek was challenging, as the beavers had a lot of debris piled up and the lilies were pretty thick in places.   We proceeded through the portage into Pocket Lake, where I had officially ran out of juice. Drew offered to double portage, and I carried just my pack over. I was exhausted already and we still had a few portages and many miles to go. We agreed to take another break behind the second island on Pocket and fish for dinner. While heading that direction we encountered our SECOND group of naked sunbathers of the day. They appeared to be a woman and a man enjoying a cool dip. We tried to give them their privacy and quickly paddled to our fishing spot.   I threw everything but the kitchen sink at the shores trying to snag a smallie or walleye and only managed a few small bass. Drew and Donnie had some better luck with the bass but it didn’t really seem to be "on", so by 430 we were making our way toward one of the steepest portages I've ever encountered. It’s a short 13r portage but from the direction we were traveling it was brutal. Just straight up and down.    We entered Ge-Be creek, trying to maintain a sunny disposition. This part of the river was so weed choked. Our arms were dead by the time we reached the portage into Lake Ge-Be-con-quet, where the infamous stone chairs were. We finally made camp around 530. It was a long and stressful day. The fatigue and hunger hit us all and we got into our first spat of the trip. The boys were complaining how far we travelled and I reminded them of the original plan. They're the ones that wanted to see the chairs! After food and beverages, we got over our tiff and decided to retire early.