Lake Agnes – Oyster River – Oyster Lake – Rocky Lake – Green Lake – Ge-be-on-e- quet Lake Paddled 8 miles – Portaged 490 rods (double portaged at all portages)

This non-morning person who is camping with two morning people was once again up at 4:45 am and preparing for the day. It looks like we may see rain today but the waters are calm. We packed up, grabbed our breakfast bars and headed for our first portage of the day; 160 rods to Oyster River at 6:00 am. We have given in to the fact that we have to double portage.

This portage offered a little of everything; two large trees to go over, two small streams to cross, a little mud, and a bog at the end requiring teamwork to get to the water. This was my last trip with the canoe as Tauna took over after this as the canoe and I were just not getting along this year.

The paddle on Oyster River was pretty and peaceful. But no moose again today. Only a few rods before the 60 rod portage there is a very well constructed beaver dam that requires a lift over (or you may have two canoes by the time you make it to the other site at this time of year).

The rapids at the portage landing come right next to the very rocky landing. The portage itself is nice once you get out of the water.

Oyster Lake is pretty, yet very deceiving. Even with three of us, we still did some extra wandering to get to the narrows (maybe it has something to do with the time of day???) The narrows itself is very pretty. Not sure if we are just tired today or what but even finding the 65 rod portage was a challenge.

The portage went smooth and we were greeted by Rocky Lake. Definitely a lake worth visiting. We grabbed a snack and went in search of the pictographs. They were very easy to find. From the portage they are on the rock cliff directly in front of you. There is a rock island peninsula just after them. We continued our journey along Rocky and enjoyed the view.

The 85 rod portage to Green Lake had a little terrain but the trail was good. I stayed with the canoe and gear while Tauna and Carolyn went back for the rest of our gear. While sitting in the water cooling off, I noticed a craw fish big enough for dinner! I left him there though. At this portage we also met up with a crew we had seen the day before. They were a family of four who were also enjoying the abundance of mosquitoes on their trip.

We loaded up and had a paddling lunch on Green Lake to get away from the mosquitoes. Our final portage of the day was a 120 rod into Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake. We had been a little concerned about this portage based on forum posts but discovered our concern was for nothing. The trail started out nice and gradually went up hill, then flattened out and finally went back down to a nice landing area. I’m not sure where I saw the post about the 20 rod step drop but is does not exist if anyone else has seen it.

We quickly loaded the canoe to escape the bugs and began scouting for our site. The ones I had hoped for were already taken (of course the “chair” site was taken) so we checked out the next site to the north on the west side of the lake and called it home for two nights. We reached camp about 2 pm and took just about the last site on the lake. After setting up camp we decided we needed to swim if there was any way to handle the smell in that tent tonight! Polar Bear Plunge here we come! Brrrr that water was cold!

Today we had sun, periodic sprinkles, way more mosquitoes than we wanted, and the new addition of deer flies. That goodness for bug nets, gloves and good bug spray! By late afternoon our sunshine had turned to rain and we retreated to the tent for a while.

This site had a ton to offer. Great places for several hammocks, tons of room to explore, great rock slabs for laying around and oh my, animal remains! We found lots of bones on this trip. And of course… mosquitoes. There is a lower marshy area to the south side of this site which does not show on the map but I’m sure contributes to the bug factor. I would not let is keep you away from this site though!

Campsite #118 - campsite review has been posted.

We had thunderstorms last night. My day to sleep in and I’m up at 5 am thanks to the call of nature! No rain at the moment but still a lot of thunder and lightning to our south. Nice sunrise and even more beautiful double rainbow with a single rainbow reflection into the calm waters. What a way to wake up! We enjoyed the view, killed a few thousand mosquitoes, and Tauna and I retreated to the tent to read while Carolyn braved the bugs.

After a few more hours of on/off thunder and rain, the morning cleared and breakfast preparations began. Pancakes with dehydrated blueberries and homemade syrup with hot beverages was just what we needed. With dishes done and laundry up to dry, the hammocks were calling our names. Our site has great hammock trees for all of us to be right by the water. We all bathed in more bug spray, grabbed our water bottles and books and settled in….for about an hour before the rain moved back in.

We played on/off sprinkle threats all day as the weather made circles around us. Fortunately nothing drenching so we were still able to enjoy our day outside by the water. The mosquitoes were terrible and we were covered in red bloody welts, even with the “good” spray. Also adding to the list of unwanted wildlife today was wood ticks and a few black flies. This site appears to have a lot of animal activity as we found several bones and animal furs around the site. But no problems during our stay.

We decided to do our dinner for lunch given the weather so pizza it was with raspberry crumble for dessert. Yummmmmyyy!

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading, killing mosquitoes and trying to forecast the next rain shower. By 6 pm we finally had to retreat to the tent to escape the bugs for a while and plan out our day tomorrow.

Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake – Ge-be-on-e-quet Creek – Pocket Creek – Lac La Croix – Tiger Bay/LLC Paddled 10 miles – Portaged 60 rods

It was a long night last night as we dealt with the endless mosquitoes. We talked about alternate route plans as this was wearing on my canoe buddies greatly. We made some tentative decisions and aimed to get up at about 4:30 am to get on the water early but hearing the rain when we woke up, we all rolled over and did not move until about 5:00. We were still on the water by 6 am, in the rain, with some minor head winds. Our first portage was just around the bend.

We landed at the 35 rod portage and were immediately covered in mosquitoes again. The beginning of the trail was so narrow that we had to 2-person the canoe until the trail widened to allow portaging it properly. The rest of the portage was wet and rocky but not a bad trail.

Once on Ge-be Creek we grabbed our breakfast bars and began to paddle. Definite benefit to a 3-person canoe here; we can eat and paddle and still be moving forward! The creek was quiet except for two ducks and a zillion mosquitoes. Just before the end of Ge-be Creek is a beaver dam that required a lift over before continuing to Pocket Creek.

Pocket Creek was another quiet paddle to the 25 rod final portage of the day. This portage is rocky but flat with not the best landing on the LLC side. At 7:30 am we were on LLC! Now to test our navigation skills.

We are a great team! The wind is minor and constantly changing directions. We made a snack break party way to Fish Stake Narrows and continued onward. (We found out when we returned that one of the sites we used as a navigation point turned out to be our outfitter who was guiding a trip at the same time!). We began to see boats almost immediately but fortunately they were in the distance.

On our way to the pictographs, the girls spotted a “gray object” on a rock – photo op! It was a Canadian marker just before the pictographs. Neither of them had ever seen one.

This lake is so pretty! The cliffs where the pictographs are located is very easy to find and is just amazing. We spent quite a bit of time admiring not only the pictographs but also the rock itself. I will only post a few pictures of the pictographs here so I don’t spoil it for anyone but this should definitely be on your trip list if you have not been here. WOW! As a side note… this is the only way I will probably ever see a moose in the BW!

Since it was still early in the day we decided to continue paddling instead of stopping at our planned site. Next we passed Warrior Hill. I don’t think I would want to run up that “hill”. We found a site at Tiger Bay at 11:30 am for lunch and decided this would be home for the night. We ended up on the island just northwest of Tiger Bay with the campsite on the southern tip of the island.

Campsite #173 - I have posted a site review.

Tiger Bay/LLC – Boulder Bay – Lake Agnes Paddled 4 miles – Portaged 89 rods

Even though we were awake, the girls were nice and let me stay in bed until 7 am. Then up and packing we went just after a morning rain shower. We were on the water at 8 am. Calm waters and quietness were this stretch of paddling. The loons and birds are moving about (and of course the mosquitoes). Our first portage notes showed a difficult, rocky terrain for the 65 rod. We overshot the portage by one little bad and paddled a nice little bad before getting back on track.

The portage had a little rocky climb to start but was not bad as bad as the reviews had made it sounds. The landing had a partially fallen tree but not too bad. We loaded up and paddled out far enough to escape most of the mosquitoes then enjoyed a morning snack and did a map check. This little pond is pretty clean for being so small.

Our next 24 rod portage brought us directly across the downward end of the rapids so we were able to enjoy the view as we paddled out from the portage. This portage had a pretty good landing with a fairly steep and rocky uphill climb but then a nice trail to a nice landing. The water was flowing pretty fast here.

Back in the canoe and just a few minutes later a small set of rapids to paddle appeared (no portage needed). We paddled up stream and continued on to Lake Agnes. Our goal is the site I had originally wanted on our way in. The wind that had been at our back now is coming at us from the side and picked up in intensity. Still no rain though the clouds do threaten it today.

Around the point and YES, the site is open! 10:30 am as we pull in to check it out. We have our home for the night. We work as a team to set up camp and make oatmeal with dried fruit and hot coffee/chocolate for brunch. Exactly what our tummies needed! With dishes done and no rain yet, we each find our place in nature to relax and reflect on why we are here.

By 5 pm we had sprinkles again. I headed to the tent to read and let my bug bites which had turned into two inch wide rashes around my calves dry out. Our first aid kit has seen a lot of action on this trip but fortunately only from bug bites, leeches, bumps and bruises; nothing serious. We have noted a few things to add for next year.

By 7 pm we were all forced into the tent and decided to prepare for our final route and then spent the evening playing cards mosquito-fee (after killing the ones who wanted to reside in the tent with us). The poor tent has a lot of DNA on it from this trip. Just as we all snuggled down for the night we heard a noise outside…. I, being closest to the zipper and designated critter watcher, unzipped the tent to peak outside. And that “bear” that was sneaking around our site… well, it was a nice little hare hopping around looking for an evening snack. It continued on its way and all was quiet. Back to bed for my first good night’s sleep on this trip – my mind is finally on vacation.

Campsite #1816 - I have posted a campsite review

After a somewhat wet wake-up at Temperance and a last view of the magnificent, grey undulating surf, we headed up to Grand Marais to pick up our permits, restock on coffee at the JavaMoose in town and climb up the Gunflint taking the turn-off for Devil’s Track lake.

Turning right on 27, we left the pavement and coasted through some very green, verdant woodlands scanning for moose (hah hah) and enjoying the scenery of a very grey, overcast, misty day that left the woods mostly deserted. We made the trail head by 11:30 or so, packed up and headed up the trail about an hour later.

This was our shake-out trip to get used to heavier packs, get our kids hiking legs back in shape, and test out gear for a couple of canoe trips-with-portaging coming up in a couple of weeks in BWCA and Quetico. It’s a nice hike over very gently rolling landscape with the occasional bog bridge, well-maintained, spanning the swampy parts. It took us about 25 to 40 minutes to make the “half- way” point of the BWCA boundary line and another 30 or 40 minutes to finally arrive at Whale Lake where we camped.

Campsites are really only located in two places. One is a 5 star at the north end of the lake just passed the Brule Lake trail. The first is a 2- or 3-star spot at best only because it is located a good distance (300 yards?) off of the trail in a bit of grassy, wet clearing. It has a fire pit but looks like it’s only large enough to accommodate 1 dome tent for 2 or 3 people. We left that one and headed for the north end of the lake where we bivied with our two 1-person tents snugged tightly into a site near the lake on a rocky ledge. This was fine for us because it was sheltered enough and our neighbors at the 5-star site nearby graciously hosted us at their campfire when we needed it! Thankful for that bit of Minnesota hospitality, we headed up to Eagle Mountain which is only about a 15 to 20 minute easy climb from the north end of the lake. Beautiful views of Crow, Eagle, Zoo and Cascade way off in the distance.

Next morning we ate a hardy bacon-biscuit and oatmeal breakfast, broke camp and headed out in what became an on-and-off deluge ?. We hiked it out without the pauses on the way in and made it back to the trail head in a little under an hour and twenty minutes – back to dry clothes and a car. All in all, a great short trip!

We were up at 4 am since Carolyn could not sleep any more. We began our final gear packing, paying more attention to whose stuff went into which pack to minimize sorting back in Ely. By 5:15 am we were on the water making our way to the river with final hopes of seeing that elusive moose. The skies were clear and the sun was on the rise. We could hear the wind in the trees and were happy to be spending our paddling hours on the river. We did our usual grabbing of a bar for breakfast.

As we made our way to the middle of the lake we saw the Super Moon off to our west still visible low in the clear blue sky.

We paddled on to the overlook along the river where Tauna and I headed up the rock face “mountain” very carefully. I was very happy for the sunny, dry day today to be able to take in this view. I went about 2/3 of the way up, plotting my steps very carefully on the sometimes slippery rock before stopping. Getting to the top was not important enough to risk injury. The view from where I stood was beautiful and I felt at peace. I took a few minutes to sit down and just let my eyes take in the view.

Once back at the water we paddled on to our 25 rod portage which we single tripped without problem. We were able to paddle upstream through the “extra” mud portage and avoid playing in the mud today. Around the corner and we were at the 20 rod portage where we once again could make a single trip. Tauna continued to portage that canoe like a master. I took the gear and one personal while Carolyn took the other personal.

It was a sad feeling to paddle the last few strokes to get to the final 160 rod that brought our trip to a close. At the 160 rod we loaded for a single trip and headed out with the three of us hanging close together. We reached the parking lot at 8 am to load up my SUV and head for Ely to enjoy that much coveted shower at Ely Outfitting Company.

This trip was our first for early in the season and showed us many new things. Butterflies of many varieties, wildflowers of amazing beauty, new growth on trees, and a new respect for bug nets. Until our next trip…... Nina Moose Lake, Agnes, Lake, Oyster Lake, Rocky Lake, Green Lake, Ge-be-on-e- quet Lake, Lac La Croix, Agnes, Lake, Nina Moose Lake