Today (Saturday) was my Dad's 70th Bday so we had a small celebration and headed to Britons for breakfast 5:30a. Keegan had a breakfast plate almost as big as he was!! A quick stop to see TGO and pick up some leeches and minnows and we were off. We had a good time meeting Jim the "Crankbait King" and he gave us some good fishing advice for the boys. We hooked up with Josh at MTA and hit EP 33 by about 7:15a. We had a bit of perplexing start in that there were 3 groups entering at 33 this morning yet there were only supposed to be 2 permits granted. One group was a bit sheepish when I asked about their permit and they told some story about a screw up at the USFS. This same group also failed to show much etiquette and more or less took over the launch area despite arriving last amongst the 3 groups. We worked the portage to Gabbro and changed into our wetfoot gear. I would be paddling with Keegan and my Dad with Raleigh.

We paddled our way out of Lil Gabbro and into Gabbro heading for Bald Eagle. Our target was the first campsite in B.E. (1719) so off we went throughly enjoying the beauty and quiet. To our disappointment we reached the campsite only to find our "friends", the extra party from EP 33, occupying the site. We check around the bend into B.E. and ended up heading back into Gabbro and taking the first campsite (1717) and settling in. This is a really nice campsite which could easily support 3-4 tents. Other than seeing lots of paddlers going by we really enjoyed the site. The boys hit the back bay looking at the rapids and did some fishing. Dad and I made camp and I set to work cooking some fresh walleye and northern the boys caught for dinner. All and all a great first Day despite some sporadic rain.    

Raleigh took off after dinner to the back bay to take a shot with some minnows in the weeds. Just about the time I was going to get him with the flashlight he came around the bend with a huge smile and 2 nice Crappie. He had found alot of crappie action but only kept the 2 big ones as he was worried about keeping the fish cold till morning. We spent a while star gazing and then hit the sack.     

I woke up in the bunk house of Hungry Jack Outfitters with my gear still in need of sorting, and knowing that before I could proceed to the entry point I would unfortunately have to drive back down to Grand Marais so I could take care of some personal business online. I had foolishly left home without getting it done, thinking I’d just take care of it that evening at the bunk house. I should have known better; that the Internet had not reached that far up the trail. Oh well. I could have gone on, but the unfinished stuff would have nagged me the whole trip, so I bit the bullet end backtracked down to GM to the Java Moose for some coffee and wifi. A short thirty minutes and a long latte later my iPad was off and I was driving up the trail, again.

A mere two hours after I had started my car, I was back where I started the morning which was frustrating. In addition to running behind, the sunny sky I’d seen in GM had grown cloudy and then started to drizzle as I finally turned onto Tuscarora Road. Clearly I should have done the final sort of gear in GM instead of waiting to get to the entry point. I pulled in and parked, and flipped open my hatch to allow me to get the last gear items and food sorted. I found the drizzle wasn’t that bad...compared to the mosquitoes, that is. As I sort and swat, young couple pull in and start unloading. They are going on a quick weekend trip, and though I was almost ready I pulled my gear aside to let them more easily load up and get going. They head off, and I follow maybe 10 minutes later.

In just a few minutes I’m at the first portage and a bit surprised to see they still have another trip to make. There is also an extra backpack sitting at the portage - not mine and not theirs. There is clearly a mouse hole in it, and we both scratched out head about what to do - move it forward, take back to the entry, of just leave it. I go ahead and open up the pack for a clue. There’s snacks, a little cook gear, and a few things that look like day trip stuff, so I hoist it up into a small tree where it can be seen and hopefully at least delay the mice.

At the next portage I again caught up with the young couple. This portage had more room, so I landed and started the first of my two trips across. This was the last time in 10 days that I would share a portage with anyone.

On Ham Lake the young couple zigged around and I paddled straight across the lake and portaged alone over to Cross Bay Lake as light rain started falling again. It was a really beautiful area, and I paddled south past the first site on the right hoping the second would look more interesting. On my left I heard some rustling, and saw a moose cow and calf on a small hillside feeding on alder leaves. They didn’t wait as I fumbled to extract my camera, but seeing them was uplifting as these were the first moose I had seen in a very long time.

It was probably only 1 or 2 in the afternoon when I stopped at the next campsite on the left, a really beautiful site with a big boulder face, protected fire spot, several good tent spots, and a bit of open area for my dog to investigate. The drizzle had stopped but the mosquitoes had not, so as quickly as I could i got my tarp up near the fire grate, then quickly tied under it the bug net that I had just got done sewing a few days before. It was my first trip with a bug net, and in hind sight I think I would have gone home on day two or three without it. I can suffer through some bites and swatting, but can’t tolerate seeing my dog miserable. The bug net was a glorious sanctuary from the bugs.

A little breeze came up and broke off the rain and most of the mosquitoes for a while, so with camp set we explored the large rock face to the south of the site, and even took a few casts. Stepping down from some rocks toward the water I nearly stepped on a turtle who was laying her eggs. I quickly moved back up and away to leave her alone. An hour later I stopped back over to peak at the spot, and was very impressed at how nicely she had camouflaged her next. Saw one group of canoes paddle past and portage on to the next lake.

I got my GoPro out and started shooting a bit of video, but here on the first day I start getting “disk almost full” messages. How can this be? I had just deleted all the files on this card, or at least I thought I had. I sadly figured I’d likely have to limit my video if I wanted to get some throughout the trip. Between this, and the mosquitoes and rain keeping my DSLR tucked away, I would end up with limited video and photographic documentation of my trip. Still, I’ll post what I have.

Evening weather was looking nicer, but with the bugs coming back out I was happy to sit in my bug net and boil water on my stove for a boil in bag dinner. Lacking fire, I relied on a cup of wine to provide some atmosphere.

We went back through the same two portages only to find B.E. was also whitecaps. At the portage getting us into Gull we met this group of friends:

Once back in B.E. Keegan and I hugged the shore and got pushed by the wind backward a couple of times but we finally made it into Gabbro still pretty dry and stronger for the experience. Our intent was to grab a campsite in the B.E./ Gabbro rapids area but all were taken. We ended up paddling all the way to the other end of Gabbro and finding campsite 2135 open. We were tired and it was dinner time so were we about ready to take whatever we found. Wow, what a campsite! On a island with a beautiful view, a fire pit on a cliff looking out over Gabbro and tent pads cushioned by lots of pine needles!! Heaven sent!

Once again Raleigh took off to the opposite side of the island to fish the rock cliffs for walleye. He had good luck and caught several fish. We set up camp and ate a late dinner. While we finished up dessert the boys got to see there first Northern lights display. While it was a bit dim it was impressive nonetheless.     

We wanted to try and run the rapids and skip the 120 rod portage. After a look at the rapids we realized the portage was the way to go. The first run looks like fun and very navigable but the next set 50 yards or so downstream would have been to tough for us.   

We hit the portage and quickly made our way to the Kawishiwi. This portage was in great shape and easy to travel. The trip down the Kawishiwi was delightful. We ate lunch along the way and enjoyed the scenery. 

The portage into Clear was short but a little muddy. Keegan continued to impress me by hauling more than his weight. 

We arrived in Clear Lake to the sounds of a Scout troop on the first campsite, sounded like they were having lots of fun! We finally found a campsite (1689) open and settled in with rain showers on the way. We quickly set up camp so we would have some cover and then cooked our final dinner which again included some fish. After dinner the skies cleared and we set out to fish the lake. We ended up taking several walleye and the boys got into a big bunch of panfish and smallmouth which kept them busy for an hour or so. We noticed a lot of crayfish and minnows in the lake. The boys decided they wanted to forego fishing the the next morning on Clear Lake and head back early in hopes of catching their other grandfather at our exit point before he went out for the day so they could fish with him. Grandpa Dick grew up in southern Minnesota and the boys absolutely love to fish with him. The mosquitoes were pretty brutal for some reason on Clear so we called it a night. 

The portage heading toward Farm was excellent. Well traveled and very dry for the most part. We waved goodbye to our last portage, we hoped, and took a nice paddle down he river. We ran both rapids heading in that direction not needing to portage.  The rest of the paddle was very leisurely, this part of the river has little or no noticeable current and we enjoyed the scenery.

Summary:

The fishing was great but next time we need to spend more time in this arena. We saw at least one bald eagle every day and the list of other wildlife includes: beaver, whitetail, snakes, herons, turtles, ducks, and otters.

I know we can trim the food pack a bit and still eat like kings. We did pretty well not over packing on clothes. I think next time we will leave the lantern behind and just rely on flashlights. Good sandals and warm socks are a must and I might rethink taking boots for the portages and just do them in our wetfoot gear.

What an excellent adventure. My Dad was really excited to have gone back and truly enjoyed the trip. He convinced me that it is more about attitude than age in that at 70 years he more than carried his weight on the trip. In fact he found that he would rather portage the canoes than the Duluth packs so after the 2nd day he carried the canoes on 95% of the portages and left the packs to boys and I. The boys are already talking about next year. Raleigh called one his best friend back home the day we got out and started recruiting him for next year. I was truly amazed and impressed at my boys ability to carry there weight and help out when necessary. When I asked Keegan to "dig in" when we were in the whitecaps he gave me all he had and we made it. I suspect they both learned a lot about themselves during this trip. I can't wait to get up there next year. I think these picks say it all.