In the morning, after a crappy night, we pulled out the map and pondered our direction. Our plan while sitting at camp on Wisini Lake was to cross South Arm Knife Lake and make it to one of our first campsites (from our 2006 trip) on Hanson Lake. The continued rain however changed our minds and, after eating breakfast (in the rain) striking camp (in the rain) and getting underway again (in the rain) we decided that we would paddle a different direction and try to get closer to Seagull Lake, and thus, Seagull Lake Outfitters.

We started early and by mid afternoon we were midway up Ogishkemuncie (Ogish) Lake before the rain (more drizzly mist than anything) finally quit. The wind had, thankfully, died down so our going was smooth. Most of the campsites we passed were empty but we wanted to be done with this weather so we pushed on.

It took us a little bit of time to find the portage from Ogish Lake into Kingfisher Lake. Like the trip in 2007 the Cavity Lake (and more recent Seagull Lake) fire had destroyed any easy means of locating it. The portage is not where you would expect it. Most of them are located at the end of the water in a bay. This portage however is almost on the outside of the small bay and because of the location and where it starts, is not easily identifiable at first.

We slowly made our way across Kingfisher Lake as the clouds slowly made their way across the sky. The misty rain had quit but it was still just as cold and wearing fleece jackets and/or sweatshirts was a requirement to keep warm. Just as we were all getting tired of the cold and misty weather the mist stopped and it started to rain properly again.

With a sigh we continued on into Jasper Lake. The wind was blowing (into our faces again) and the rain continued to drip down annoyingly. We were hoping to take the first site we came to because we were sick of the rain, but they were all full up. Everyone it seemed was trying to stay out of the rain and keep warm by a fire. We were wishing we could do the same.

Thankfully, on the very last site of Jasper Lake (by the portage into Alpine Lake) we were able to stop and set up camp. We were so beat down that, despite using borrowed boats (boats we were specifically told not to beat up) we smacked into the shore without caring about the damage they might take. Tired at paddling in the cold wet weather we just sat by the fire pit eating snacks for a while before we could bring ourselves to setting up camp.

Matt unloaded the boat as Gopher and I set up our respective tents. Once that was done we all, for some unknown reason, decided to set up the tarp shelter. I thought we should set it up one way, Gopher thought we should set it up in another way, and Matt had his own plan. We struggled; to put it mildly.

The site is smack dab in the middle of the burn area, one of the few that the firefighters were not able to save, so there was no where to set up a line to hang the tarps from. We tried various things. We tied the line to a few burned out trees only to have them fall down. We tried tying the line over the fire grate only to have the seats roll on us. We tied the lines to bushes and long grass and everything else; nothing worked.

It finally came down to being so pissed off that the various different ideas that I quit trying to figure out where to string up the main line (which Gopher set up) and just started to throw the tarp over and set some lines to hold it to a large rock. There was no good way to have a tarp shelter. It ended up being more of a tarp “pup tent” than anything. It kept us and our gear dry though and, after some morale lifting snacks and cooked food, we passed the rest of the evening huddled underneath.

Tired, cold and annoyed at the weather, we all tucked in for the night. It was cold enough that I was forced (not something I would do) to wear a t-shirt and socks while sleeping. Our only good fortune was that the rain, for the most part, had quit. In its stead, the misty drizzle had replaced it. A small bit of fortune, but one which I was happy to accept.

Matt and I (sleeping in my tent) received a happy surprise during the night. It must have been about 2am when I was awoken by a strange and haunting sound. It took a moment to wake up and realize what I was hearing. It first I thought it was just loons on the lake but it dawned on me as the spider webs cleared that there were wolves howling on the far shore, not 500 yards from our site.

I quickly woke Matt, not wanting him to miss them. We sat up for a little while listening as they passed. I stuck my head out of the door hoping to see them as they padded along the opposite shore but, due to the cloud cover, it was much to dark to see anything outside of 20 yards away. Once the howls were in the distance Matt and I climbed back into our sleeping bags and fell asleep once again.