Monday, June 12, 2017

It looks like its shaping up to be another sunny day. After breakfast, Vickie and I are itching to get out of camp for awhile. Brad says he's a little sore and wants to stay in camp. Likewise, Aurora wants to stay behind as well. Graciously, Brad agrees to keep an keep on Aurora while Vickie & I head out for a short daytrip. We settle on a short little loop through Fern & French Lakes.

Heading southwest, we cut across the bay and duck behind the large triangle shaped island. The campsite near the entrance to the narrows is occupied but, we see no signs of life. The water gets quite shallow but, we are still able to paddle through. There is a large erratic here that catches our attention. Paddling past the portage, we pull into the unoccupied campsite just past the landing. It's tucked in its own tiny bay and has it's own little peninsula, which offers good privacy for a site that is so close to a portage. There are several spots to land the canoe but, none are all that great. A unique fire gate area sports its own rock shelf table but, unfortunately it doesn't face the lake. There are a few decent tent pads but, the spacing of the trees seems a bit constricting. Still, in our opinion, it's an above average site.

After our brief explorations we hit the portage into Fern Lake. This portage is straight forward as it is short and pretty level, some overhanging branches and a short (maybe 2 rods) section of flooding due to a beaver dam on the Fern end are the only reason for concern. Fern got walloped by the Cavity Lake fire, and we paddle right past the lone campsite on the lake without seeing any sign of it. Our next portage is located in a little nook on the north end of the lake. Once again the trail is level and even shorter, only a somewhat rocky landing to contend with on the French Lake end.

In keeping with our reunion tour theme, we paddle the short distance over to check out the French Lake campsite we had stayed at a couple of years ago as well. Next we decide to hike the portage into Powell Lake. The landing on the French side is quite difficult and the boulder strewn path climbs up a good portion of the way to Powell Lake. I remember there being a decent overlook just off the trail, (on the Powell end) when I passed through here several years ago right after the fire. But, now it requires more bushwhacking than we're up for so we head back. As we circle around French Lake we come to the portage into Seahorse Lake. From out on the lake we can hear the small waterfall hidden back in the woods. I've crossed this portage a few times, although I must admit I've never taken the time to adequately explore this area. Since, when passing through here, it's always been gloomy and/or raining I've never noticed the sandy bottom of the lake here. No sooner does Vickie start up the little creek when she makes an astonishing discovery. Even though we are very near what I'd consider the epi-center of the Cavity Lake fire, here stands a magnificent unique colossal cedar tree that has somehow survived - apparently unscathed.

In someways it reminds me of the V'd cedar along 'The Enchanted Forest' (Hanson - SAK) portage. We intently explore the length of the cascading water, and then finally bushwhack out to the top of the portage at Seahorse Lake. In many ways Seahorse is an anomaly in this region; when a person considers the dramatic transition from the larger lake trout lakes to the south. Seahorse, and the adjoining Chub River watershed, are tiny low lying shallow (even murky) waters.

Once back in the canoe, we paddle the short distance east to quickly checkout the devastated campsite before continuing eastward towards the Gillis portage. We don't stop but, it's worth noting, that there appears to be a nice sandy beach here on the northern shore of French Lake just west of the high rocky cliffs. The portage into Gillis if fairly non-descript, only some boulders at the landings; but, the depth of water there makes this easy to contend with.

As we round the point, Aurora & Brad are down by the lakeshore waiting for us. Since is was still kind of gloomy out yesterday when we first pulled up, we didn't notice the rock shelf extending out from camp. Vickie now uses this new discovery to entice Aurora out to play in the shallow water. Even though there is no outward indication of it on the shoreline, as they circle around to the backside of the campsite the rock shelf gives way to sugar sand and they have a fabulous time playing there.

Chicken fajitas for supper. Afterwards relaxation & lounging by the lakeshore are in order, as the only intrusion on the peace & quiet being the occasional piercing calls of the resident loons. It's another reasonably late night for me. What with all the life changing events that are (and will be) happening in our lives, I'm deliberately making a conscious effort to try and savor as much of the experiences on this trip as possible. Later, I tell Vickie that it's not that I'm particulary worried or think some disaster awaits us; but, the current circumstances in our lives has given me pause and a renewed appreciation for all the wonder that canoe country offers.