PROLOGUE:

The entire week prior to our trip we had a wonderful time staying at a cabin near Ely with our six-year-old granddaughter, thanks to the generosity of some amazing friends. We enjoyed many beautiful days during that week, and memorable experiences: time at the International Wolf Center, an overnight campout at a Forest Service campsite on East Twin Lake, a very chilly swim (just Spartan2 and Anna) in East Twin Lake,

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an afternoon at the Dorothy Molter Museum, the open-air concert of Pat Surface and the Boundary Water Boys (Anna now has quite a crush on Pat), a visit to Moose Track Adventures to play with the children there, and a lot of great relaxing time, too.

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Then our daughter picked up her daughter, the cabin was suddenly very quiet, and we packed up our gear for the canoe trip. This was to be six days in the BWCA, a treat for us after last summer when Spartan1 was hooked up to a machine every night for nine hours for his peritoneal dialysis. It has been a tumultuous year, with a kidney transplant in January, participation in a six-month research study for a new anti-rejection medication, and quite a few bumps along the road. We felt very thankful to be loading our car with camping gear once again and we went to bed early, anticipating the next day. I slept surprisingly well.

DAY TWO:

We were awake at six to the sounds of loon calls and laughs. Such a beautiful way to start the day! The sun was already up in a clear sky, and there was a breeze, so there was no mist on the lake. The temperature in the tent was 49 degrees.

I was pleased to have slept well, and to realize that I am going to like my new Big Agnes sleeping bag. It has an integrated pad, which means that when I roll over in the night (which I tend to do often, unlike Neil, who is a quiet sleeper) I don’t have to worry about rolling off the pad. A huge improvement!

Breakfast was hearty: Scrambled fresh eggs and bacon, hash browns, Tang, hot chocolate, and coffee. Over breakfast we had quite a conversation about the wisdom (or not) of going down to Wonder Lake. I really wanted to do it for a variety of reasons, primarily the chance for solitude and to see more wildlife, but in the end we decided that my lower back pain just made a 200 rod portage too much of a risk for me, and that it probably wasn’t really a wise move for either of us on this particular trip. Neil scoffs at my concerns for him, since he is feeling very well, but he hadn’t done any real physical conditioning for this trip, and I did think starting out with a 200-rod carry might be a bit much for him, too.

At any rate, we decided to head up to the north end of Kelso Lake and try a day trip on the Kelso River. We broke camp around 9:30 and prepared for another short day of paddling. As we were doing so, three canoes floated by. This was the largest group of canoes we were to see for four days.

Soon we were on the water. We stopped for a drink and snack break at the first campsite after crossing the lake and I took a few photos there. It is a lovely site in a grove of massive cedars, another very large and overused one. It has a huge square of logs around the fire grate. We were dismayed to find that the previous campers had left significant garbage thrown under one of the trees. After photographing the evidence (several pieces of very nicely breaded and fried fish fillets and an entire bagel, among other crumbs) I picked it all up and we packed it with us for six days in our trash bag. Did a bit of grumbling about that, I did! :-(

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The wind was picking up significantly as we started out again, but it soon died down and we had a wonderful paddle up beautiful Alton Lake in calm, crystal-clear water. We followed the western shoreline and I had fun photographing two different loons and a group of common mergansers. We saw two other loons also, and no other canoes.

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The portage to Kelso Lake is 13 rods long, short and easy. There isn’t a very good put-in, as it is rocky everywhere, but of course that is to be expected.

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We put in to Kelso at noon, and enjoyed a pleasant paddle up the lake in bright blue water. True to the pattern for this trip, we saw no wildlife, and no other canoes, either. There was no one at any of the campsites.

We took the northernmost campsite, which is very secluded. It has two obviously manufactured tent pads, made with logs and planks. This is something I don’t ever remember seeing, at least not as obviously man-made as these were. The site was aflutter with orange comma butterflies, and all during our three-day stay I had fun seeing them, stalking them with the camera, and trying to be careful not to step on them. The fire grate is behind a big boulder that is stained with soot from the campfires people have built OUTSIDE the grate area (why?), and the biffy trail is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen—a lovely trail up the hill in a most picturesque section of woods, with the “throne” out in the open for a panoramic view! And a still life with a beautiful brown mushroom to enjoy as you sit, should you want to sit and contemplate.

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One very pleasant surprise was that we found ripe blueberries on the biffy trail. We had expected it to be too late for the berries, so we set ourselves picking enough for blueberry pancakes for tomorrow’s breakfast.

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We saw no people this afternoon. I spent the afternoon photographing, mainly some macro work, and chasing the butterflies. It was 70 degrees, breezy, and with a clear sky.

The butterflies are camouflaged well when they are closed. They blend right in with the dry leaves, pine needles, and twigs on the ground, and it is almost impossible to see them:

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Then they begin walking along:

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And suddenly they are basking in the sun:

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I know it is a lot more interesting to see photos of big bull moose-- but this year we didn't have a single furry creature, large or small, to photograph on the entire trip! Frustrating, but nevertheless, true. So I had to satisfy myself with God's small creatures.

We had our supper cooked on the stove this evening, Mountain House beef, potatoes and onions, Mountain House green peas, and some dried apricots for dessert. And, of course, coffee and hot chocolate. Neil remarked that the water in this lake is more tannic (has a dark, yellowish-brown color); I remarked that I missed the loons. He thinks it is because the lake is shallower and there may be a different kind of fish. For whatever reason, we never saw or heard loons on Kelso during our stay.

We hurried to get our tasks done by the early sunset hour of around 7:30 PM. Short days! We are accustomed to tripping in June and we really noticed the difference.