Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Day 6 – Spring Lake to Sunrise Falls 6.8 km travelled Portages: 6: 105m, 30m, 40m, 51m, 191m, 70m Camp site Night Six – Sunrise Falls - 50* 20’ 9.0”N 89* 33’ 29.8”W

I got up very early today to a crystal clear blue sky. It was just plain cold. I put on my Pendelton over my long johns and was still a bit chilly. I started the water to boil while the other guys were still in the sack. They all got up once the water was ready for tea and coffee. All the guys were talking about that moon last night. It was so bright and clear!

We have several portages today. We will paddle up the Lookout River from Spring Lake toward Sunrise Falls. We were camped right at the beginning of Spring Lake. The water was so low that barely any water was flowing from Spring Lake down into Smoothrock. Where the rapids should have been was just a rock wash with just a very shallow creek. You can see the rocks poking over the surface in the photo.

So when we were ready to launch, we had to figure a way to get around the long muddy stretch which used to be the entry way from the portage. We were able to get the boats loaded at a spot where the rocks are about 4 feet high, but it let us get into water and not mud. We paddled through some pretty shallow, rocky stuff before we were out into the lake itself. From there it was a string of short portages around the various rapids of the Lookout River until we come to Walleye Kitchen. We completed the first 4 portages by 11 or so and we stopped to play at the last falls. It was a warm, sunny day and we just couldn’t resist.

Oh, yeah…the Flying Moose is loose!

We then head toward the Walleye Kitchen. We decided that if it is open will camp there.

Burt had told us that we should expect to meet another party of six coming in from Wabakimi Lake and exiting at Schultz’s trail with us. We passed the other group at the Walleye Kitchen. They were camped there and were catching a lot of fish. They politely cleared the way for us and showed us where the portage went. We hauled our stuff through the site and on over to the other side. This is one of the roughest portages we saw on this trip. It is rocky, narrow, and treacherous. We had lunch at the west end of the portage and eyed a campsite just over the water from the portage. We decided to head for Sunrise Falls and camp there. The map indicates that fishing is good there and it isn’t very far. We didn’t want to spend too much time on the water today as we needed to dry out all the stuff that got wet in yesterday’s rain. We reached the Falls in an hour or so.

Below is a shot of Sunrise Falls. The little pool at the bottom left of the photo is where Pat caught a walleye and a lake trout. Yes, a lake trout!

We took everything out; all our clothes, tents, hammocks, sleeping bags, ropes, gear, packs, tarps…everything. We spread it all in the sun and then Sweeps and I went for a swim. The wind was blowing gently and the sun was shining bright. We were all dried out and refreshed in just a few hours.

The campsite is nice and grassy. It hasn’t seen much use recently and the grass is over two feet tall. The fire pit has only some very old residue, but we can tell this fire pit has been here for many years.

Sargeant Major, SIR, YES, SIR! caught a walleye (about 20” and around 2.5lbs) in the pool just beneath Sunrise Falls. He also caught a trout, but as Dave was trying to string it, that old boy gave it one last effort and jumped back into the water. No problem, we still had that walleye. OH YEAH! Fish for dinner tonight! We decide to use the pan fried bread mix to batter up the fish and Dave and I start to set up the kitchen. We have cocktails ready. Pat comes back into camp looking dejected. Pat had finished fishing and as he was admiring the fish on the chain, it flopped and struggled. Somehow it unhooked the spring link and got itself up off the chain and, you guessed it, got away! Lost both fish. Mac N Cheese for dinner.

Also, we had a few raspberries that were still ripe and growing in a little patch just behind the campsite. Tasty! I could not find a safe place to hang my hammock, so I bunked with Dave in his tent. DL has a nice single wall free-standing tent. It’s plenty roomy for two with large vestibules on each side. But I had gotten used to the comfort of the hammock and when I lie down, the pine cones under me are real pain.

We had another bright moon, but it was not so cold. I was up around midnight and watched the moon rise over the water. What a sight!