Today was something of a staging effort, as we would travel across familiar territory to (hopefully) claim a campsite on Crab Lake near the portage to Burntside.

Our lone portage of the day was across the 20 rod Little Crab to Crab portage. Of course this one is virtually a wilderness highway. Still, it was inspiring to watch Aurora insist on doing what she could to help get all our gear across. It was a beautiful morning for a paddle, and good fortune was on our side today; as the campsite nearest the portage was open. Someone had put a fair amount of effort in creating a sizable rock dock as a landing here. As with many of the sites in this area, this one also boasted several nice red pines and the luxurious pine duff carpet that is usually associated with such trees. There’s was a great view, several top notch tent pads & even a nice pile of welcome wood.

Having had a short travel day afforded us the luxury of getting camp moved & re-setup very early. Crab Lake was bordering on mirror like conditions, so we took full advantage of these enviable paddling conditions. Initially, we were just going to stay in our arm of the lake and do some fishing. Fishing proved to be totally unproductive, so we ventured further out onto the lake. Rounding the western point, we paddled to the campsite located back in that arm of the lake.

I’d read that this was the best site on the lake but, I must admit, as we first pulled up I didn’t think it looked like much. My opinion changed dramatically as we began exploring this sprawling site. There were multiple large level tent pads, trails running in all directions & a nice little channel of shallow water with a sandy bottom separating it from the main land. And, as we had been doing all throughout this trip (regardless where we were), we scared up some grouse.

As we paddled back to camp, fishing was still dreadfully slow; but Aurora had already caught enough fish to make that aspect of the trip exceedingly memorable, so we took it with a grain of salt. Instead we took this opportunity to appreciate the ever increasing colors of autumn that were on display.

Once back in camp, we got a nice fire going before it got dark. Light rain showers intermittently interrupted us a few times but, eventually stopped for good. It was a peaceful evening and we sat up listening to the sounds of the forest & enjoying some more of Vickie’s freshly baked muffins. As we had each night of the trip, Aurora got a wilderness themed bedtime story read to her before she retired to the tent.

Daily travels – 1 portage totaling 20 rods.

Lunetta Lake, Little Crab Lake, Crab Lake