Saturday, August 28, 2010 Clearwater Lake, Caribou Lake

Up early (7 ish) for some blueberry flapjacks. We also introduced the kids to lending a hand on camp chores by showing them how to wash dishes. We made it a team effort and threw in a little fun. They want to help out, so there was minimal complaints. After breakfast, it was back to the hammock for some play time. The guys straightened up camp, I made some sandwiches and packed our lunch and we got ready for the days adventure to Johnson Falls.

The kids were excited and so was i to get back to this beautiful area. We paddled down to the short portage between Caribou and Little Caribou. Reloaded the canoes and paddled across a very weird lime green like lake. The cool campsite that I remember was occupied and we were glad we didn't push for that site. One, because the one we had was perfect and two, I didn't like the cliff like structure of the site. It was just begging for a kid accident.

We left the canoes at the portage into Pike and began our hike over the portage. We fought our way through a weak trail over to the Johnson Falls trail. We ran into a group coming down from the falls, which was nice because there is always a bit of doubt that you are on the right trail in the BWCA and they were a good test that the trail was right. A 20 minute or so hike finally brought us to the first set of falls. What a treat. I have had the good fortune of seeing Basswood Falls, the Stairway falls between Rose and Duncan, Louisa Falls and Johnson falls again. All are different and I have different reasons for liking each.

We spent the next couple hours swimming and exploring. We also had lunch at the falls and ran into multiple groups, which is to be expected at such a cool area. Only one scary moment when Blake slipped on the rocks, landed straight on his back and slid into the water. I happened to be standing close and was able to grab Zoe before she went in as well. Everyone was fine, but Zoe was obviously shaken up and concerned for her dad. We explored the second set of falls and made our way to the top of the first set looking down on the others that stayed back.

Back to camp in the afternoon. Jim decided to push the Lord of the Flies storyline and made a bow and arrow. Beau and Cole made bows of there own. Of course, the dads made wagers on how far Jim could shoot an arrow. I think the Stardust set the over/under at 20 yards. Jim easily passed that up.

Dinner of walleye and potatoes was a huge hit, even with the kids. We should have kept 1 more fish! Dinner turned into a contest as well and will go down as the Primus v. Jet Boil race. One of Brett's new purchases was the new Primus stove and cook set that he got from the ever addicting Steep and Cheep. Garlock was going with the amazing Jet Boil that revolutionized our cooking experience just a couple 3, 4 years earlier. The kids each took sides rooting for a stove. When it became very obvious that the Primus was going to get the water boiling faster, the kid's all changed allegiances and started chanting "Primus, Primus, Primus!" in unison.

Kids spent the evening playing (mainly in the hammock) and roasting marshmallows. Smores are always a huge hit. Kids were definitely tired and so were dads, but we were determined to get some euchre and fire time in this night. Another beautiful night with a slight breeze, temps in the low 60's and star lit sky. An almost full moon made night vision pretty easy. Kids went down easy and were out within 10 minutes. The dads snuck out to sit around the fire, but Jim and Brett had already put it out. Oh well, we didn't need the warmth and just relaxing under the stars was good enough. we all were able to hang about an hour.