Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

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by hobbydog

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 06/15/2015
Entry Point: Other
Exit Point: Other  
Number of Days: 14
Group Size: 1
Day 14 of 14
Sunday, June 28, 2015

Finish in a flash and a boom....


15 miles 6 portages, 400 meters

When I wake up the air is more humid. It has been warm but the air was always very dry. Today feels and looks like rain. I pack up and get going and after the first portage into McGregor Lake it starts to rain. Light at first, then hard. There is thunder off in the distance. I decide to paddle in the rain as long as the thunder is off in the distance. At times it pours hard but the rain is over by the time I cross McGregor Lake. The falls out of McGregor are impressive and I take some time to enjoy view. Soon I am on Elbow Lake and another thunder popper is headed my way. I stop at a campsite, prop my canoe up on a fallen log and find a comfy spot underneath. I have my last cliff bar and wait it out but it never happened, it just went around me, dodge that one. It is about 6 miles paddle across Elbow Lake and down the Bird River to the next portage. As I am almost there I get caught in the rain again. This time a flash and a boom close by but there is no place to hide. I paddle as hard as I can to the portage where I wait it out. I meet an older gentleman there who is going in on a 6 week solo. We talk for awhile as we wait out the rain. A short paddle and one more portage, then a couple more miles to the landing on Tulabi Lake. I get caught in a very hard downpour as I cross Tulabi Lake. There is a thundershower coming right at me. Again, no place to hide. I get my double blade paddle going as fast as I can and sprint the last quarter mile to shore. Within yards of the shore there is a flash-bang just to my right along the shoreline. That was way to close but I make it to shore and find shelter under an awning for the park map display.

I had arranged for Jackson Outfitters to pick me up at the access in the afternoon the day after I checked in on my SPOT from Snowshoe Lake. And sure enough they were there waiting. Tyler helped load up my gear while I changed into some dry clothes. It was a 45 minute ride back to Lac Du Bonnet. I quickly got loaded up and stopped by the Glen Howard restaurant for a burger and a beer. Then the 4 hour drive back to my cabin. A Woodland Caribou trip to remember.

Falls out of McGregor Lake

Another Bird River Moose