Day 6 - We paddled past the narrows that lead to Cirrus Lake and began to look for a campsite on Eden Island. We found one right away that Lynn went to check out. It was very high, set on a granite ledge just off a long winding trail and would have taken a lot of work to get our gear there, so we passed it up.

We found one near Eden Island, very nice but with one drawback, it was exposed to the wind. The next day it was very windy and the lake had a good chop to it. We fished off shore and got a few bass and pike. Afterwards we went back to finish reading our books and then got everything ready for an early departure the next day.

For breakfast our last morning we had Harvest bars & Kool-Aid. The wind wasn’t too bad but we could see rain moving in. We paddled to a big point off Eden Island and took a small break. From this point we headed west into a narrows. There were a lot of beautiful red maples found here. We also saw a bunch of mergansers and an osprey. This was a perfect area to take pictures.

Just as we started the next 24 rod portage it began to rain on us. After the portage we followed the south shore down a little. A mile after a big point there is a nice sandy bay and that is where the Canadian Ranger Station on Beaverhouse is located. This station is closed after September 6th. We reached the shore around 9:30 a.m. and it began to rain harder. We spotted two other people who had just pulled up to the station. We all took cover in an old cabin that had sort of an enclosed porch on it. The couple, Patty & Paul Payne, was also waiting for a floatplane to pick them up. Their flight was supposed to be at 9:30 and ours was to be at 1:30 p.m. With the low cloud ceiling, neither appointment looked like it was going to happen.

Paul & I took a canoe out on the lake to try for a better satellite connection. They called Jay Hamburg, owner of Campbell’s Cabins of La Croix & Quetico Air Services. Jay said he couldn’t promise anything but there was a slight possibility of a small air opening for around 2:00 p.m. While waiting to hear a floatplane arrive, we sat on the porch and chatted with the Paynes. Then Lynn took out our Coleman Max Expedition stove and made a nice hot soup, combining our wild rice soup mix with Patty’s cream of broccoli. After lunch the rain has subsided quite a bit so we decided to explore a bit. We checked out the other cabin, seeing if we could sleep there overnight since we didn’t really think we’d get picked up that day. But then at 1:45 we were startled by the sound of a large plane overhead. We couldn’t see it until it hit the water.

Jay had sent an Otter plane (one of the largest floatplanes) and his most experienced pilot, Rob, who was 65 years old. Patty knew Rob from previous flights and said, “I like my pilots with gray hair!”

We loaded the plane but were only able to put one canoe on it. Our canoe was left behind and Jay would have it picked up the next day. We flew so low that we were able to clearly see the colorful trees we soared over.

Rob had to make a quick turn to avoid a fog bank and was only able to take us as far as Crane Lake, not all the way to Ely. I had called our shop and had a driver bring a van up to Crane Lake. After landing at Crane and checking in at the U.S. Customs, we went over to Scott’s and bought a couple beverages & some snacks. Soon our van pulled up and we took the drive back to Ely. The drive on the Echo Trail was a maze of reds, oranges and vibrant yellows and was a gorgeous way to end our trip.

We had a great trip with six out of seven days having great weather. We saw & heard lots of wildlife, viewed lots of pictographs and experienced wilderness fires, luckily without being threatened by them. A great trip indeed!