Sunday, September 23, 2012

Up until this point the Under Armour top & long johns I slept in had kept me sufficiently warm. But, for the first overnight this trip I had to cinch my Marmot sawtooth sleeping bag all the way up. (I later heard it had dropped to the mid twenties.)

We were hoping to get an earlier start today to make up some ground. Still, we lingered a bit in camp giving the air ample opportunity to warm up. As, finally, the sun was out in full force.

This truly was a special campsite. Red pines dominated the skies and allowed easy passage through this elevated site with an awesome kitchen & fire grate area. There were trails running everywhere, making the latrine a little tough to find. Some nice cliffs rose up just south across the channel & right in camp were several humongous boulders. (we later learned there are palm pictographs on the large boulder)

Just as I was rolling the tent & finishing packing up, someone called out to us from the lake. It was Ben! nctry from BWCA.com. (for those of you keeping score at home, nctry is an abbreviation for north country NOT nice try.) He was on day 35 of his epic 40 day journey across the BWCAW & had mentioned before the start of his trip that he would be passing through the area about the same time as us. Needless to say it was a very special treat to actually run into a familiar, friendly face this far out in the wilderness. I guess the late start yesterday wasn't totally a bad thing?

Naturally Aurora & Ben's dog Bernice hit it off right away. We offered Ben some fresh coffee, a real chair to sit on & listened while he told us of his many adventures so far on his trip. He even had a weather radio along and we listened to the, very encouraging, latest updates.

How time flies when you're having fun! It didn't seem like it at the time, but we killed nearly 3 hours chatting & enjoying each others company. Aurora was even able to sneak in a nap! Looks like another 1:00 departure for us. Oh well, it was worth it. Besides, it was a beautiful day for paddling. As we pushed off, we turned the keys to this "mansion on the hill" over to Ben & told him to lock up when he leaves.[paragraph break]

On to the Finger Creek portage we paddled. This one had a few narrow twists & turns before straightening & leveling out to follow along the creek (or, what was left of it.) to a marshy landing on the other end.

A short paddle after reloading we encountered a small beaver dam. Even though there were some spots that looked to be too shallow, we were able to paddle unobstructed the rest of the way to Pocket lake.

My Voyageur map shows a 18 rod portage at the south end of Pocket lake into Pocket creek. Just as Ben had advised us, even in this low water we were able to just paddle through with minimal maneuvering.

A natural rocky out cropping indicates the confluence of Ge-be-on-e-quet creek. Once again we encounter a small beaver dam shortly after entering. And, just like Finger creek we are able to paddle the rest of the distance without obstruction. Although, at this point in the year the shallow creek is choked with vegetation, making paddling a most arduous affair.

A muddy landing greeted us at our next portage. Perhaps it was due to the extra exertion required to paddle the creek? But, I thought the portage up to Ge-be- on-e-quet was the toughest we encountered on our trip. It was short (35 rods) but, was nearly all up a steep, rocky hill. As had been the case all along our route so far, where we passed by running water, we were cheated out of getting to see the waterfall that ran alongside the trail. We could hear the water running but, would've needed to throw a bag of flour down to see just exactly where. At least Aurora enjoyed the lake side landing.

Wanting to get a campsite a little earlier today we decided to camp on Ge-be-on- e-quet tonight & try to make up the difference by making it to Agnes tomorrow. There is a campsite at the entrance to the south bay closest to our first portage tomorrow. But, if we were gonna spend a night on Ge-be-on-e-quet? I figured we might as well grab the recliner site.

The rock recliners are kind of the BWCAW version of Easter Island. Who built them & why? :) The actual campsite itself isn't too bad either. The landing is a bit tight & rocky but, you'll be hard pressed to find a nicer kitchen and fire grate area. Though compact, it has very convenient flat stones for keeping things organized as well as very good log seating that is actually at the right height. The biggest drawback is the tent pads. Ours was noticeably slanted towards the lake. This was remedied by placing currently unused items such as the tarp, rain gear etc. under the downhill side of our air mattresses to level them out. Worked like a charm.

Vickie later admitted that of all the sites we stayed at along this route, this was her favorite. High praise indeed, when you consider the caliber of the sites we'd had the privilege of calling home. But, added that she probably would've had a different opinion if we had a larger group.

As evening fell, for the first time, there was actually some color in the sky. We both agreed it had been a good decision to stop early and be able to enjoy the campsite. Cooked up the last of our fresh bacon tonight for supper, chopping & mixing it with some foil pouch chicken and creamy garlic & alfredo noodles. Was a mighty tasty supper, if I do say so myself.

A perplexing development surfaced tonight. Vickie had been sending an OK signal every night from the SPOT. For some reason, tonight it didn't go through. We tried changing batteries but, to no avial. We were certainly OK. But, didn't know how they would take not hearing from us back home.

Finger Lake, Pocket Lake, Ge-be-on-e-quet Lake