The trip of a lifetime!
by WaterBadger
“Getting into A Rhythm”
The night before we decided that with the wind blowing as it was, we wanted to get an earlier start than the previous day. We deemed Zach as our alarm clock as he woke up earlier than the rest of us and he got us going. We had breakfast of Oatmeal, dried fruit and coffee (coffee being the most important of course). After everything was cleaned up and camp was packed away, we were back on the water at about 10am. Parings were Eric and Tony, Tony in the bow. Zach and Nate, Nate in the bow. The plan for the day was to paddle to Ester and find a campsite there and rest up for a longer stretch the next day.
The skies were partly cloudy with the wind out of the west and blowing steady. This was our first encounter with the wind on big water. The wind was blowing from the west right down the length of Knife lake churning the lake into a wavy playground. There were a couple of white caps but nothing to worrisome. We paddled into the waves until we were protected by an island, made an about face and rode the waves into an arm of Knife heading north and protected from the wind. Nate and Zac decided that they were going to troll for lake trout today as we were in a prime location to do so. This is where Zach conquered leg two of the BWCA grand slam, although not with a lake trout. Zach hooked into a decent sized northern pike. Although the pike was not boated due to the net being too small, we considered it a catch. The portage to Hanson from Knife was a little more difficult to find but our trusty navigator got us where we needed to be on time with no delays or backtracking. It really is amazing how you can navigate in the BWCA with just a map, we didn’t even use a compass! Although I would recommend bring a compass for sure.
The portage from Knife to Hanson was to be our longest portage of the trip and only portage for the day. Being 120 rods, we were eager to get a move on. This was hands down one of the most beautiful places on earth I have ever seen. About 30 seconds into the portage you are walking along a bubbling stream and serenaded by running water, few sounds in nature are more calming and relaxing. About half way you come to this waterfall next to some absolutely enormous Cedar trees. The place was small and intimate and perfect. The waterfall was framed in by some downed trees and the water was white, a stark contrast to the surrounding foliage and made the waterfall stand out. The trail is relatively flat until you reach the waterfall and then you take a right turn and climb towards the top of the waterfall before the trail flattens out again. A little way further you start a short decline with the trailing running past a beaver damn and the pond that was created. Although we did not see any beavers it was not from lack of trying. As you continue on the trail it winds its way up again through some stands of pine studded with groupings of purple and white flowers and onto a sharp decline to the landing on Hanson lake. This was my favorite portage.
Once on Hanson, it was pretty much a straight shot to Ester lake. Hanson is a little longer north to south so we hugged the western shore and stayed out of the wind for the most part. Zach and Nate trolled the whole way with no luck. In thinking over our trolling strategy, we were probably paddling to fast. Guestimating the distance traveled and the amount of time traveling, we were probably traveling at a crisp average of 5 miles per hour. This is way too fast as far as trolling is concerned which would answer why we caught no fish in this manner. I looked into it after we got back to civilization and one-person paddling is more than enough to get the speed needed for trolling. Any future trips when trolling, one person paddling and one fishing. It took us about an hour or so to go the length of Hanson and reach the portage. The word portage is a little misleading here as there is a channel you can float through to reach Ester. No leaving the canoe necessary. Tony and I waited on the other side of the channel while we waited for Zach and Nate to catch up as they were zigzagging all over the place while trolling. They probably paddled more than a mile farther than Tony and myself. Once Zach and Nate caught up, we noticed that the clouds were starting to build so we should find a campsite sooner rather than later. There is a larger island on Ester with two campsites on it. We tethered the canoes at a spot on the shore and sent Nate in to do some recon. We were starting to wonder what became of Nate when he came back and directed us to a landing spot for the campsite that was to be ours for the night which happened to be another campsite Andy circled on our map.
Site # 2009 is on the north west side of the island and it was awesome! It was roomy, spacious, with views for days. The site actually has 2 landings although we did not know this when we got there. It was only after we got everything unloaded and we started planning where to set everything up that we found the other landing which was right around the point a little farther down the shore. Although, tread with caution, the rocks at this second landing were very slippery. There were two levels to this campsite, a lower level and an upper level. On the upper level there is a large opening in the trees looking to the northwest towards the shore of Ester which has some high cliffs showing the rock face. The cliffs are probably several hundred feet high and were impressive to look at. The USFS fire grate is in an opening on the upper level and you can sit and look out this “window” at the rock face of these cliffs and relax. There are plenty of places to set up a tent and numerous trees for a hammock. The latrine is about 40 yards off the back of the campsite up the hill. From this vantage point, you can gaze down on the campsite. This site is 5 stars and hands down the best campsite of our trip.
Again, we set up the tarp and then our shelters shortly thereafter. Gathered and prepared some firewood and just started to relax when the first rumbles of thunder were heard. The storm was impressive rolling in from the northwest over the aforementioned rockface cliffs. During this time, we fried up yesterday’s lunch of turkey wieners with buns and fruit and sat under the tarp waiting for things to clear. Fortunately, the storm had more bark than bite and the after about 45 minutes of rain it rolled away and we were treated to the most vibrant and impressive rainbow I have ever seen. There was a double rainbow at one point. Obviously with a rainbow you need the sun and we were in for a BWCA sunset that would rival any I had ever seen anywhere. The setting, a little chop on the water, the clouds, the color, everything was beautiful. Words cannot begin to describe it. Dinner was chicken and dumplings with peas. This meal took a little while to prepare so in the down time some fishing was done. There were several smallmouths caught on leeches and slip bobbers but nothing else. Once dinner was consumed and cleaned up, we started up a fire and tried to wait out the stars. This was our first BWCA night that was clear and we were hoping for a view of the heavens in all their glory. Unfortunately, this did not happen. I am not sure if we didn’t stay up long enough or if we were too close to the summer solstice but the stars did not come out to shine. We went to bed about 11pm.
Distance traveled: 5 miles (0.38 miles portage) ~South Arm Knife Lake, Hanson Lake, Ester Lake
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