Thursday, August 23, 2018

Jazzywine and I woke up at 6:30 and drove in to Ely to buy leeches. Supposedly Arrowhead Outdoors (the bait shop formerly known as Skube's) was the only place in town to have them so that's where we went. Sure enough, they still had leeches, and a few dozen leeches and three Log Cabin Coffees later and we were headed back to the campground. We found DM and BR stirring when we arrived and started up some hot water for oatmeal.
Following a quick breakfast we laid out all of our gear, recombined shared items, and packed two Granite Gear packs and a 30L blue barrel with all of our stuff. On our way out of camp we spoke to the camp host about the possibility of entering from the campground and leaving our cars there. He said we could, but we opted for the short drive to limit our paddling on our first and last days. We drove out of the campground and on our way out noted a satellite dish next to one of the RV's -- "nothing says wilderness like satellite television."
The drive down Spruce Road to Entry Point 32 was dry and dusty. There was a group of campers (I assume) doing a run down the road, and I felt bad as the clouds of dust from our cars enveloped them. We drove by slowly to try to keep the dust down. As we passed, we thought about the possibility of copper-sulfide mining in this area. For those who don't know, Spruce Road lies above a portion of the proposed Twin Metals underground mine. It is one of a few different proposals to mine copper, nickel, platinum, and other metals from sulfide ore bodies. While the mine here would be underground, it was interesting to consider the changes a mine might bring to the area, let alone environmental concerns.
The parking lot for Entry Point 32 was mostly full when we arrived, and we snagged two of the remaining three spots left. Excited to get on the water we quickly unloaded the cars, threw the canoes and gear on our shoulders, and headed in. At 144 rods the portage isn't a major challenge, but given that it was the first of our trip my shoulders were sore with the weight of my 16' Old Town Penobscot by the time we were halfway in. Thankfully, eagerness to get on the water carried me (and the canoe) through. Before long we reached the South Kawishiwi River, and we were greeted by bright sun, a nice breeze, and beautiful scenery. The portage landing (which is at a different location than indicated on my McKenzie map) had a fair bit of trash, so I picked up what I could and we got onto the water.
With the wind at out backs we cruised up the South Kawishiwi River. Within 45 minutes we had reached the small rapid which we pulled our canoes up without too much difficulty. While wading through the rapid I spied a lure among the rocks and "fished" out a fire tiger Rapala (Husky Jerk perhaps). It had a broken hook and some scratches but it seemed salvageable to I tucked it away for later use.
Soon we had reached a narrows in the river in front of Campsite 1131 where we had two options: A) carry out canoe over a rock garden, or B) power up a small rapid to the right. After some deliberation, we chose option B. With the occupants of the campsite watching, Jazzywine and BR paddled hard up the current and nearly made it but lost momentum. Jazzywine had to jump out and push the canoe the rest of the way through the rapid. With a bit of room to build up some speed DM and I powered up through the current, nearly lost momentum, but managed to push all the way through.
We had planned to camp at one of the sites in this area, giving us a relatively centralized location. We paddled a little further upriver to site 1130 which sits on a nice peninsula, and since it was already noon decided to call it good. As we set up camp, we noticed how parched everything looked. The grass was brown and bushes had dry and browning leaves. The reeds to the west of the site changed color about 1.5' above the water's surface. Clearly it had been dry recently and the lake levels were low.
After setting up camp we had lunch and then paddled to the next set of rapids upstream, just northeast of the site. With a rod for everybody and a bucket to leeches we set to work. We got a lot of smallmouth action at the base of the falls. DM caught the biggest of the day, which we estimated at 18". We didn't want to eat smallies though, so they went back into the water and after a few hours we headed back to camp for a fishless dinner.
Despite the lack of fish we had a delicious "Thanksgiving dinner" of instant mashed potatoes, gravy, pre-cooked chicken, and dehydrated veggies. We sat around the fire and relaxed, discussing our plans for the next day. Rain was in the forecast, so we decided we would have a relaxed morning and explore Gabbro Lake. Before long we were tired and headed into the tents.

Daily Summary:

Lakes traveled: None, technically. S. Kawishiwi River
Distance paddled: 4.95 mi
Distance portaged: 0.45 mi (144 rods)
Number of portages: 1