Friday, July 24, 2009

For our last night of the trip we were treated to violent thunderstorms on and off all night long. They dont bother me but packing up wet gear in the morning crossed my mind repeatedly as I was laying awake in the middle of the night.

The morning ritual of going fishing proceeded as usual. Dad and I paddled across the lake catching fish here and there. We were fishing around a point when I heard something loud and asked my dad if he heard it. We sat quietly and then realized a loud splashing was going on just on the other side of the point. We quietly paddled and saw a momma moose and her calf splashing along the shore. Hurriedly, we went back to camp to pick up the women knowing they would want to see. However, by the time we returned the moose were gone. Fishing isn't the only reason to wake up early in the BW!

Thankfully the sun came out around breakfast time and we spread all of our gear around the campsite to dry it out. By the time we packed, it was pretty dry.

We leave around 11:00 am because we are in no real hurry. With the wind at our backs it should be an easy paddle to the pick-up spot. We actually temporarily debate staying for one more night because none of us want to leave. Most people are ready for a hot shower, hot food, and a nice bed after an extended trip but personally I could take or leave all that stuff to spend more time in the BW.

The last portage back to Seagull is quite a burned up trail but it's pretty in it's own way.

Mother Nature treats us to one more brief storm as we cross Seagull Lake and we pull into an empty site and break to ride out the storm and eat lunch. It passes quickly and we continue on our way and reach our take out point early in the afternoon. A quick call to the outfitter and we are picked up soon afterwards, headed back for a shower and a nice dinner.

We ate dinner at the Gunflint Lodge and the walleye and wild rice quesadillas were very tasty. On the was back to our bunkhouse, we saw a black bear by the roadside. It was the first one we have ever seen in Minnesota.

All in all, it was an outstanding trip even if it did rain way too much. A few things we learned this year include:

Don't try repackaging refried beans!!!!

Gulp leeches work well when drop-shotting or jigging!

Preparing our own meals saved us a lot of money in the long run.

And finally, Mother Nature is great even if she throws you curve balls every now and then. Love nature, enjoy the scenery, and spend it with the ones you love!

I can't wait until the next trip, hope you enjoyed this report.