Day Five (Sunday) A long day out.

This was exit day. Our plan was to paddle from Abinodji, through Haven, Boot and Snowbank Lakes to EP 27. There were only a couple of small portages separating each lake. While we didn't have watches, I thought we'd be at the parking lot around noon. 

Things were going very well on this breezy day as we made our way through the little lakes of Abinodji, Haven and Boot. The portage form Boot to Snowbank crosses the Snowbank Lake walking trail that goes all the way around this 4200- acre lake. For comparison, the next largest lake we were on was Disappoointment at 800 acres. Our campsite was on little 33 acre Abinodji Lake. The portage took us to the Northeast corner of Snowbank in a little bay protected from the wind. Entry Point 27 is on the South/Southwest corner of Snowbank. The plan would have been a 4 -5 mile 1-2 hour paddle straight across the water. Our guess is that we started on Snowbank around 9:00. As we came out of the little bay we were met by the strong wind from the Southwest, right into our faces. The white caps were 2 feet high and growing as we made our way towards open water. We began to paddle as hard as we could to make 100 yards of progress with the waves growing to the 3-foot plus range. I couldn't see what was happening up front, but Chris shouted back that we were taking on water with the larger swells as the canoe came over the top of one tall wave and down into the trough of the next oncoming wave. 

Cold October water, no spray cover. These were not good conditions for paddling 4-5 miles. In nice conditions it would not be a problem to cross in 1-2 hours. We carefully worked our way sideways to a small point and got to shore.  It was time to think. We knew that the winds had been strong for 3 days, but had been unaffected by them on our little lakes. How long would the wind last? We could camp and wait it out, but our wives were expecting a phone call by 2:00 pm, suppertime at the latest. Option A: Paddle across the white-capped water into the wind. Option B: Wait it out for a day, two days until the winds were reasonable? While our wives worried. We chose Option C: Go back to the portage that intersected the Snowbank Lake Walking trail. From our map it looked like the trail went from the Northeast corner of Snowbank all the way down to the portages at the Southeast corner where there are portages between Snowbank and Parent as well as Snowbank and Disappointment. A guess of 2-3 miles as the crow flies. We are not crows. We hoped to find calmer waters at the Southern end of Snowbank.

Thinking it better to move than to be sitting we headed out. Off we went down the trail. Again we noted that trails are not very much like portages. These were pretty well maintained, but the elevation changes are much sharper and more frequent than the short portages we had used this trip. The trail is also less visible and "groomed". We expected to be portaging our gear for a good 3-4 miles. We could not carry everything all at once for the entire length of the lake, but both of us taking two trips was not really required either. We developed a leapfrog method that divided the work into three loads for the two of us. Essentially it was a two steps forward and one step back method. Chris standardized the length of our carries by counting steps that essentially had us carry a load 80 rods (1/4 Mile), drop it off and then go back 40 rods for a load that had been dropped by the other person. 

In this manner we were able to keep in frequent contact with each other. While we passed each other and or met at drop spots a lot, it was mostly a walk alone in the woods. If one of us had wandered off the trail, we would have known that very quickly. The wind that made Snowbank impassable had little affect on us as we walked the trail through the woods. On the trail it was a sunny warm day in the woods. Even though we put a good bit of effort into the walk, the only thing that made the journey unpleasant was the knowledge that the call to our wives was going to be late. We expected it to be earlier than waiting out the wind, but later than expected.

When we stopped for lunch we double-checked the map and our plan. Given the closer examination, we noted that the trail we were on was going to pass fairly close to Disappointment Lake. If we could get access to the lake we would be able to cut a third of our walking out and paddle from Disappointment to Parent and then portage to Snowbank. Because we'd be on the protected part of the lake from the wind, this sounded like a good option. 

Off we went after lunch, hoping we'd be able to see Disappointment Lake and thus cut down on the length of our carry. It turned out that the access point was quite easy. There was a campsite at the top of a tall steep hill that we were able to use to get down to Disappointment Lake. Once we had navigated the steep bank, we were back on familiar ground, water.

From Disappointment to the portage was a relatively quick paddle. As we approached the portage we saw our first group of the trip just starting to move across the portage. We took our time paddling up to the portage to give them time to get across. When we got to the other side of the portage we were surprised to see them just standing there looking at the Parent Lake. Surprised that is, until we took a look at the Lake. There were 1-2 foot swells coming straight at the rocky landing. The conditions were better than what we had seen on Snowbank, but a challenge nonetheless. 

Determined to get across, Chris and I made preparations to launch while we struck up a conversation. They were in the BWCA for the first time and were rightly unnerved by the conditions on the lake. They were not planning on exiting until the next day, so they had time to find a good spot to wait out the wind. Chris and I prepared for our onslaught by donning our cold weather stuff, we had been in shirt sleeves up to this point from all of the portaging. We pulled on our hats, neoprene gloves, rain jackets with hoods pulled down etc. We knew that at a minimum with the wind and waves, some cold-water spray and splash were in our future. After tieing the packs to the canoe (in case we capsized) we moved the canoe down the shore to a less precarious launch point. The waves coming straight at us made it a bit difficult to get started. Off we went paddling like madmen working our way through each wave gaining inches with each stroke. This is the kind of paddling that I'd call fun in the middle of the summer, when water temps don't make a swim a health concern. Chris and I have been paddling canoes together since Boy Scouts in junior high. Our experience together paid off during this challenge. We kept out of any situations that would have threatened to capsize us. With anyone less experienced, I'd have decided to wait out the wind some more.

When we reached a spot protected by an arm of land, about half way to our portage, we looked back at the group we had meet on the portage. We could see them carrying their stuff along the rocky edge of the lake to a campsite about 100 rods from the portage. A wise choice on their part, if you ask me.  As we finished our paddle to the portage leading to Snowbank, the wind seemed to slacken a bit. Still stiff, the waves seemed to be about half of what they had been when we launched. It was almost relaxing. However, our trip was not over yet.

We portaged to big Snowbank Lake and again we were greeted by good-sized waves. The waves were not as big when we made our first attempt to cross, but still a challenge. There is an island between the portage on Snowbank and the entry point. Traveling from east to west, a nearly straight line can be drawn from the portage across the northern tip of the island to the entry point. This would be the "shortest route" to the entry point and the way that we went from the entry point to the portage when we started our trip. The other option is to paddle the long way around the southern end of the island and then to the entry point. The northern route looked like it would keep us exposed to the larger body of water and the larger waves that were moving from West to East into our faces. So again, we took the long (safer) way around the southern end of the island. This route was not without effort. It was a juggling act between keeping the bow pointed into the waves and trying to angle our way to the south and the protection of the distant island. 

Once in the safety of the wind-blocking island our trials were basically over. It was a relatively quiet paddle around the island to the entry point with only one more paddling push through the wind when we came around the island again. It was 3:30 when we checked the clock in the truck. In terms if time, we felt we had done well with our alternate route. Tired, but pleased with the effort.

We packed the truck and changed our cloths. We didn't have cell phone coverage yet, so the phone calls home had to wait until 4:00 when the little bars began to appear on our phones as we drove towards Ely. Given that the wind was still very strong on Snowbank Lake when we finally got off the water. I'm glad that we made the decision that we did. It was more work, but it was also a nice walk through woods that we wouldn’t typically see. Making these in flight adjustments and being flexible enough to adapt to circumstances is an enjoyable part traveling through the BWCAW. It would have been a lot of fun to head out again riding the waves. Oh well, maybe next time the wind will be at our backs.