Saturday September 13, 2003

Day Five – Going to Louisa

We both got up around 6:30 and had cream cheese on tortillas for breakfast. Usually we bring some great bagels, but tortillas were quite versatile and took up less room. We were on the water by 8 am. Wind was still in our face. The portage out of Glacier is 23 rods and not bad. We had a small creek to paddle towards Turn Lake and then a 25 rod trail. The creek was walk able so we didn’t have to take the trail. We were told the trail from Turn to No Name lake was rocky and bad when wet. Large boulders dot the shoreline on either end but the trail was okay and goes along a pretty stream. Next was an 8 rod portage into Edge and then a 16 rod into Rod Lake. This portage is also pretty and goes right along a stream. We were back in McEwen creek which winds a bit here. A short 8 rod portage and we were in Dumas Lake. Many people warned us that the portage from Dumas to Fauquier Lake was tricky. We found that you definitely have to watch your footing around all the small boulders. It is 72 rods and it goes along a stream. Near the stream there are a couple narrow rock ledges where you have to be careful especially if you are portaging a canoe or wide pack. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as we anticipated!

Just when we thought the wind was easing up, Fauquier’s wind was blowing hard in our face! It is quite a pretty lake but we were sure glad to get back to the narrows and on our way to tiny Star Lake. The portage into Star is marked as 52 rods but as we found out, is at least 20 rods more. The extra 20 rods goes through a floating bog. Watch your footing here, it is easy to get off balance as it is like walking on top of a sloppy waterbed. One nice feature of the bog is that it contains a number of Pitcher plants, which we got some photos of. Star has no campsites. A short 25 rod up and over and then you are in Arp Lake. The next portage which led to Lou