Day 5 - Glacier Lake to Wet Lake (Thursday, August 7) [full index]

9 miles, 3 portages

I deliberately got another late start today. At first I considered taking a layover day to relax and fish, but ultimately I decided to save it for later in the trip. For one thing, I wasn't particularly fond of this campsite, and the pleasant sunny day really seemed better suited for paddling anyway.

Most of my morning was spent cleaning up and drying out from the previous day. Sometime during the morning I heard the bang of a canoe hitting the ground back at the portage landing from Turn Lake. I waited until a second canoe appeared and then watched as both moved across the north tip of Glacier Lake to the next portage. It then occurred to me that I hadn't seen anyone else since my first day over at Louisa Falls.

It wasn't until after noon that I finally left the Glacier campsite and made the short paddle over to the portage out to McEwen Creek. The portage was another short, tricky one, but it rewarded me with lots of delicious blueberries along the way. After another short paddle I came to the next little portage that I was able to walk the canoe through, and before long I was gliding down another beautiful stretch of McEwen Creek. This stretch was similar to the one I had paddled the previous morning, only this one added impressive cliffs rising up on both sides.

After a thoroughly enjoyable paddle down McEwen Creek, I eventually spilled out onto big McEwen Lake. Afternoon headwinds had gradually increased and were now kicking up a few rollers on the lake. By now though, I had really started to get comfortable with my new solo canoe. Despite the hard work required to propel it, I was feeling surprisingly stable out there bouncing around in the middle of this large body of water. I had the whole lake to myself, and I was having fun.

Well, at least I thought I had the lake to myself until I noticed a large bald eagle traveling along with me, soaring from tree to tree. It followed for a while until I neared the north end of the lake. There I began to see the landscape change as I entered an area that had burned from wildfires years ago (likely from the fires of 1995). Here the tree line disappeared and was replaced by an even layer of new growth intermixed with sparsely scattered remnants of bare, still standing tree trunks that stuck out of the landscape like old gray toothpicks. There was a kind of beauty in the contrast between the fullness of the mature forest and the sudden starkness of these burned areas.

My little wilderness moment was soon interrupted, however, when a small prop plane that had entered the sky from the east proceeded to fly directly overhead. I then passed an inuksuk that had been built on a small campsite not far from my next portage into Wet Lake. Finally, when I was about halfway over on my first trip across the Wet Lake portage, I heard voices. On the other side was a family of four, a mother, father and two sons, who had set up camp there. I think they were as surprised to see me as I was to see them. It's very easy to get absorbed in the solitude of a trip like this, and encounters with other people can sometimes feel a little awkward.

But after days of quiet and solitude, it was nice to finally talk with someone, and these were some of the nicest people. While discussing our respective trips, it became evident that this was the same group I had seen earlier in the morning crossing Glacier Lake. They had not seen me then, which explained why they were so surprised to see me coming up from behind them now. They had stayed on Rod Lake the night before and had also weathered yesterday's storms. Now they were finally drying everything out, and the father apologized for their camp looking like a "yard sale".

As we compared notes, the topic of the elusive portage out of Star Lake came up, and we all had a good laugh describing our misadventures trying to locate it. Apparently, they went so far as to return back to the previous lake because they had concluded that they must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and had landed on the wrong lake. I felt a bit of relief knowing I wasn't the only one baffled by that portage. We briefly exchanged cameras to get some photos of ourselves, and then I began loading up for the paddle across Wet Lake.

The campsite I had hoped to get was on the other side of the lake at its far east end. It was an ideal jumping off spot for exploring the Falls Chain which was my primary goal for the next day or two. When previously talking with the family, the father had grabbed his binoculars to scope out the site, and it initially looked occupied. But as I was shoving off, he looked again and it now appeared to be open. Not knowing what I'd ultimately find, I started across the lake and soon discovered, much to my relief, that the site was indeed available.

I quickly moved in to the westward facing site, now basking in the warm evening sun, and decided it would be a perfect place to stay for the next few nights. I had been moving every day so far, and it was finally time to take a layover day to soak in the beauty of the picturesque Falls Chain area. I took a quick paddle over to check out the channel connecting Wet Lake with the Falls Chain and determined that the short portage there would not be necessary. The trickle of water running out appeared to be just wide and deep enough to get a canoe through.

I returned to camp, and enjoyed a perfect evening. At sunset I noticed a couple of people appearing briefly over by the channel, but soon they were gone. I wondered if they had come to see whether this site was occupied, but it was also possible they were just there to catch the sunset. Either way, it suggested to me that the popularity of the Falls Chain would probably mean that I'd be encountering a few more people over the next couple of days.

Videos (click on an image below to play)

Click here for the fully formatted report