Thursday, July 16, 2020 After spending the night in a very nice Rockwood bunkhouse we brought our gear down to the landing and prepared to set out on our adventure. Mike from Rockwood was awesome to work with! We also opted for a solo Canoe for our odd number (in retrospect might not have been the best decision) so off we went in our 4 canoes. Each of the tandems were a father/son and the solo was the one dad whose two boys backed out of the trip. He had never been to the BWCA so decided on going anyway. 

The travel from Rockwell down through Lizz and across Caribou was uneventful. We let the boys navigate with some assistance and they for the most part did fairly well. Or first excitement was just as we were about to the Caribou to Horseshoe portage. Dark clouds quickly were moving in and we heard our first thunder. We picked up the pace and made it to the portage just as the rain started. It wasn’t anything too bad, and our timing was such that by the time we had made it to the Horseshoe side the rain and the lightning were moving away from us. Great opportunity to teach about the lightning/thunder counting trick. On horseshoe we were hoping to get one of the campsites in the southern part of the lake but they were all full. The one campsite on the way down the arm towards the Gaskin Lake portage was open so we pulled into that. 

By now it was early afternoon and we discussed staying there or moving onto Gaskin. The decision was made to set up camp where we were. Thankfully we had everything all set just before an afternoon rain set it. I think just about everyone had a nice little nap waiting for it to pass. That evening we were able to catch a couple of Walleyes and a decent Northern, enough for everyone to have a little fish dinner! Complete with instant mashed potatoes. ~Poplar Lake, Lizz Lake, Caribou Lake, Horseshoe Lake

Lakes Traveled:   Poplar Lake, Lizz Lake, Caribou Lake, Horseshoe Lake,