Hanson Lake, Ester Lake, Ottertrack Lake, Swamp Lake, Big Sag

It was still raining when we awoke. The wind had returned with a vengeance and was blowing straight into our faces; the direction that we had to travel. Our goal was just to make it to Swamp Lake (a place that we constantly see moose) and stay the night but as we headed out we realized that it was not going to be an easy day. The waves on Hanson and Ester Lakes were brutal; nothing too terribly bad (about the same as our crossing of Gabi earlier in the trip) but none too fun all the same.

As the day progressed we started to meet up with other paddlers. People, like us, who were too dumb to wait and just wanted to continue to travel to a new destination. On Ottertrack lake we saw the most canoes we had seen during the entire trip (up until this point we had only met two groups at portages and saw three other canoes on the water), with four boats traveling South West and two going in our direction; North East.

We hit Monument Portage, humped our gear over the very wet and slippery rocks, helped the guys who were right behind us at the portage (who relayed info about a possible problem bear on/near Robbins Island on the South end of Knife Lake) and plopped into Swamp Lake. As we paddled we noticed that every site was taken by smart people waiting out the storm. We also passed a group of eight going in the other direction. Thinking that we were going to have to paddle Big Sag we asked how the waves were; they laughed and said “Good Luck!”.

The waves and wind were not bad at all on Swamp Lake. It was when we neared the narrow area that leads onto Big Sag that we saw the kind of hell we were in for. The waves were rolling! Not one or two- footers, but two to three-footers (with a four-footer popping up now and then). We decided that we made it this far, if we just keep to the shore, keep our heads about ourselves, and paddle “slow but steady” (paying attention to the waves) we could make it to Rocky Point (American Point) in relative safety.

To say that we (Matt and I) were a bit nervous is an understatement. The canoe, now dubbed the Wenonah Warrior (“Escape” my ass; that boat takes a beating and keep on tracking straight) tracked brilliantly across the waves. We were rocking and rolling up two and three-foot waves with only the rare wave cresting the side of the canoe. I was in the Coast Guard (small boat rescue station) and I started to remember my training and by keeping the bow at a 45 to the waves we ended up performing great. There were three other boats trying to make the journey and all of them had to take stops on the shore and we ended up overtaking them. From the narrows to just south of Rocky Point it took us almost two hours; a distance of less than three miles.

We made it almost to the bay just south Rocky Point (where there is a bunch of campsites) when we decided to take a break. There is a sheltered beach just south of the bay and we noticed two canoes on it, so that is were we aimed. Once we hit the beach we discovered that the guys in those two canoes had dumped two hours earlier and were drying their gear by a fire they built under a tree. Seeing how cold they were (and when we found out the other guys in their group - with the cooking gear - rounded the point without them) we decided to cook them up some food (we had more than enough noodles left to share) and coffee. We sat on the beach talking when the canoes we had over taken paddled up. As we were all sitting there the Canadian Forest Ranger motored up and spoke with all of us, asking what our intentions were.

The guys who dumped were going to try for the Seagull Outfitters Tow-In/Drop-Off point on Hook Island. Matt, Gopher and I were intending to paddle all the way back to Seagull Outfitters (since we did not pre-plan for a tow-in) and the two boats that came up last were paddling for the same location as well. We asked the Forest Ranger to call Seagull to hide our car keys somewhere outside so we could get it (it was 1530 at this time and we did not see ourselves getting back before 2000) and we headed back onto the water.

Just as we rounded Rocky Point the Canadian Forest Ranger motored up in her Lund again and told us that it was too rough to be out and that we, the guys who dumped and the other two boats were to take a ride with the Seagull Outfitters boats back to EP #55 (all of our destinations). Seeing how big the waves were none of us refused. On the ride back we noticed that the waves in the bigger part of the lake (the wind was blowing from the North West) were approaching four to five footers (with a six plus scattered around) we knew that none of us would have made it. All of the campsites that we could see were full, the waves were approaching hellish size, and more rain was coming in. While I think we would have attempted it, I am glad for the tow. We would have been screwed. Our gear was wet and sleeping in a soaked tent with damp sleeping bags is not fun; though we have done it before.

Once off of Big Sag, Seagull Outfitters hooked us up with showers and hot coffee. It was about 1800 by the time we got off of the water and showered up. We packed up our gear, loaded up the canoe and headed back to Grand Marais for some Puff Taco’s at Hugie’s Taco House (which are fantastic). We made it back to Duluth by 2130 or so. Exhausted, windblown and sad to be back we ended up going to bed.

And so concludes the BWCA 2010 trip for my group and me. Saturday night we went out drinking (as is our ritual) and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Beer at Sir Benny's, martini's at Red Star, food at Fitgers and bar hopping all inbetween.

I am already gearing up in planning next years trip. I just have to figure out where I want to visit next!

I wish I had some pics from this day but because of the wind and rain and waves I decided not to take the chance with taking my camera out of its dry bag. The attached pic is from the Thursday, the day before. We should have guessed, judging by the clouds that day, that our paddle out was going to suck.