Friday, September 24, 2010

This day started much the same as the previous. The last forecast we'd seen said the clouds & rain would lift this afternoon. We hoped so. With that in mind we determined to strike out from camp today come hell or high water. We deceided to head for Little Trout. Reasoning that it would be easier to visit the lakes to the north at a later date if necessary. Also it would be the only real trout fishing opportunity we'd have on this time as I'd heard, from several sources, that Winchell was pretty much a dead sea. I guess meeting mooseplums would have to wait? What became the beginning of a trend. We ate leftovers for breakfast. Bacon & the potatoes from dinner. Still very tasty.

Made quick work of the portage to Vista. Though all those rocks were beginning to get on my nerves. Found out after the fact that there are 2 landings on the Misquah side of the next portage. It was near impossible for both of us to get in at the closer of the 2. Very narrow. I had to paddle out into the bay & turn around then come back in to pick up Vickie. Unless you have an aluminum or heavy duty canoe? I'd recommend using the landing further down the trail.
The next portage was the fabled Misquah - Little Trout Bataan death march. It started out innocently enough taking awhile before the real "fun" begins. I'm not trying to downplay the hills. As they were substantial. In my opinion the worst part(s) were the boardwalks. Also the substatial amount of protruding roots in this section. This was largely due to the fact that it was raining & they were wet. But also they are so narrow & not entirely flat so as to cause one to easily slip & slide. After nearly falling and/or ripping a hamstring a couple times. I decide it would be much safer just to trudge through the muck that these boardwalks ran over. Mercifully the last decent was upon us. Definitely an, "O! The joy!" moment. But the celebration can't begin too early as there are some treacherous rocky areas to avoid along the descent down to the lake.
We pulled off at the campsite nearest the portage trail to catch our breath and grab a snack. Unfortunately the sky hadn't opened up yet but it looked like it wanted to. I told Vickie that there are also supposed to be rainbow trout in this lake as well as lake trout. She says she'd really like to catch a rainbow & would REALLY like to see a rainbow today. LOL
We start east then head south trolling the whole way. The west side of the big point on the south end of the lake is where we hit paydirt. Not gonna say we hammered 'em. And Vickie never got her rainbow. Fish or the kind in the sky. But we were happy with just lake trout as it added to the satisfaction of having labored to get here making it seem all the more worthwhile.
The lake trout we kept drew the attention of the resident bald eagle. Trailing behind in plain view on a stringer, Ol' baldy made a couple of uncomfortably close dives towards the Pearl while we were paddling about the lake. Enough so that we were paying more attention to where he was perched than to fishing.
We pulled off at the island site for lunch. From shore it looked like this would be an awesome site. But in reality I'd only give it 2 maaaaybe 3 stars. Still it's the best site on the lake. And like most island sites there are trails running in every direction for exploration. Hot bowls of Bear Creeks gumbo really hit the spot.
Intermittant rain continued all throughout the remainder of the day. At least the wind hadn't picked up. We finished our lunch. Paddled back out for some more fishing. Checking out the last site along the way. Easily the worst site on the lake. Fishing slowed after lunch so soon we endeavored to return to Horseshoe.
Knowing what to expect the portage itself didn't seem quite so bad this time. The major annoyance I had was due to the rain. While carrying the Black Pearl across the trail, inevitably there were a multitude of overhanging branches. The leafs on said branches, having collected moisture from the rain, rubbed against the canoe thus releasing their watery burden which ran down to the gunales where my hands were. Though I was wearing gloves, quickly they became saturated and the water then began trickling down my forearm. Thankfully it made it no further than my elbows which were creased carrying the canoe. This was where the one new item of gear purchased prior to this trip really showed it worth. We'd purhased Under Armour garments for both above & below the equator. Spendy items to be sure. But I'm here to testify that they are the real deal. Even when dampened a bit (forearm) they wick the moisture away & kept me warm. I felt it was money well spent.
Greeting us at the Misquah end was the ol' north wind. And he was howlin' pretty good. We lingered a bit eating some Clif bars hoping the wind would subside a little. Not sure what prompted us to push off, but that's just what we did. I've paddled in worse wind & waves. But it was still a struggle. Not many opportunities to catch your breath. About 2/3 of the way to the Vista portage we paddled by a couple of guys headed south. They inquired about the campsite on Misquah, then told us the weather tomorrow was supposed to be much nicer. I sure hope so!
At first it looked like things calmed down some on Vista. We barely got out of the little back bay when we were hit will the north winds full fury. I surmised the southern most site would be taken. (having seen the 2 guys on Misquah) But we needed a safe harbor & that right quick! Occupied or not. Besides we wouldn't stay topside for very long in these waves. We struggled to make it frequently paddling with all we had just to hold our position. Finally we pulled up & were able to park the Black Pearl. To my surprise the site was not occupied. I haven't had the privilege of being able to hunker down during a wind/rain storm at a unoccupied 5 star site before.
We waited out the wind for nearly an hour. Finally it seemed it was dying down. We made a break for it. It was still tough paddling, but we were making steady progress towards the small islands. I noticed the people at thje next site up the lake intently watching our struggle from the safe haven of terra firma. Keeping close to the western shore we paddled a ways into the first arm before trying to cut across to the north. Just as we got headed towards the Horseshoe portage a sudden violent gust of wind caught the Black Pearl & abruptly swung us around to the east. It all happened so fast we didn't have time to react. Humbled, & not wanting to fight the wind, I quickly resolved to ride this gale out to the eastern shore. There, though still windy, we were finally able to proceed northwards and return to camp.
Horseshoe Lake, Vista Lake, Misquah Lake, Little Trout Lake