Friday, August 07, 2009
Our objective is to make it to Lower Basswood Falls today. We portage into Deer Lake and fish a walleye reef on the east side o f the lake. The rod bends deep and after a lengthy battle I am surprised to bring up a Lake Trout with scoliosis. I thought for sure I had a whopper walleye.

What a strange trip. Usually by August fish are in pretty predictable areas and patterns but I was catching walleyes shallow and suspended over deep water. Lake trout were sometimes in the usual spots but then some related to structure like it was spring. I guess this cold weather pattern in Northern MN all summer really messed with the fish.
From Cecil to no name lake on the way to Robinson we end up taking an abandoned portage trail. The trail takes you through a bog then basically ends. We bushwhack our way through to No name but along the way I get separated from Sara. I thought she was ahead of me the whole time but she is no where to be found as I drop the canoe into the water. I am now a little panicked. I tie the canoe up and throw my pack in and follow the faint trail back yelling for Sara—no answer. A million thoughts go through my mind—none of them good. As I get back to the bog I hear her answer back. Thank goodness. Apparantly Sara realized she was not heading in the right direction and was working on getting lost so she returned to the bog her last known reference point. She was a little panicked so she stayed put waiting for the panic to lessen or for me to find her. We finished the portage together. When we got back I checked the portage data base and found out there is a much easier well used portage a little more west of the one we tried.
Stop for lunch on Robinson. No one camped here either. If you don’t count the guys we shared a tow with we only saw three canoes in one whole week of traveling Quetico. I have never seen the place so empty during the peak season.
As we go through Moose Bay we check out the Pictos and move on to Lower Basswood Falls. Let the circus begin….every campsite on the BWCAW side is taken by large groups and there are 2 groups looking for camps. We want to get a quick start the next day to our exit at Mudro so we take the Quetico campsite right on the falls. The only draw back to this is that it is also the portage that everyone uses to cross Lower Basswood Falls, but by 5-6 PM no more groups come by and we have the place to ourselves. After a campfire we sleep well to the roar of the falls.