Day 5 September 18, 2020

I set my alarm for 6 AM and leisurely broke camp. I had one more night in the wilderness, but I wanted to be a bit closer to my intended exit point of Missing Link to make for a shorter day tomorrow. My target was Tuscarora, and I wanted to give myself plenty of time as I knew that navigating Little Saganaga might be tricky with all of the islands. I pushed off a little after 8 AM on a windless, beautiful morning and quickly passed two people in one canoe headed the other direction. I was headed toward the south-east side of the lake and the portage trail into Mora. I hadn't planned on the rising sun being directly in my face (a bonus second sun with the reflection off the mirror-like water!), so that made navigation even more difficult. I took my time and just focused on reconciling everything that I was seeing with what was on the map. I was pleased with myself when I was able to predict the four campsites leading up to the portage. That was another really pretty part of the lake. I could hear a group at the campsite nearest the portage, and (more importantly)I could smell their breakfast!

The portage trail into Mora was pretty easy and ran along-side a neat little rapids (which I'm sure are much less-little in the Spring). Mora was beautiful and calm. My plan was to make it to the eastern-most island campsite and get a bearing to the little channel that leads into Tarry. A couple of loons came up close while I did so to check me out and quickly lost interest. I found the channel with ease and had to do my first pull-over of a beaver dam that ran across the channel before the portage into Tarry. I have seen people on this forum talk about pulling over beaver dams, and I must say that it is a perfectly descriptive term. You step out of the canoe onto the beaver dam, you pull your loaded canoe over the beaver dam, and you get back in your canoe and proceed. Again, I know that most people don't need these “lessons,” but I feel like I acquired a new life-skill.

The short portage into Tarry is ridiculously uneventful, and Tarry is a small lake in a burn area. As much as I tire of referring to lakes and trails as being pretty and beautiful, I must continue to use these words. Tarry was beautiful. In its own way. I had a little trouble spotting the portage trail into Crooked as there is a large downed tree with its canopy in the lake. The portage trail was behind the canopy. The landing wasn't great, and the entire area was a “boulder-filled, ankle-turning nightmare” according to the sanitized version of my notes. The trail was only 50 rods, but it was one of my least favorite of the trip. I passed a single-portaging soloist on my second trip, and I took my time at the Crooked put-in to figure out my strategy for going around the islands to get to the portage trail to Owl.

I ended up going due north from the portage trail to the west side of the island directly adjacent to the put-in. I might have been able to go south and east of the island, but this way looked easier from the ground. Once I rounded the corner of the largest island in the lake, I could see two canoes with two people each fishing. I made it to the portage in to Owl easily and tried not to disturb the fishermen. As I approached the portage trail, I could see another group unloading. I let them finish and start on their way before landing and unloading. This was another boulder-filled portage trail. I caught up to the guys in front of me who each had an end of their loaded canoe with about 20 rods to go. It turned out that they were just going into Owl to fish, so they didn't have all of their camping gear. When a got back closer to the Crooked side of the trail, I could hear what sounded like some kind of motor. I think it must have been wind or water in some kind of cave or something. Interesting. I stood and listened for a while.

Owl was easy to navigate, and I could see a red canoe at the landing of the portage to Tuscarora. More boulders, and this trail has a decent initial incline, but it was pretty easy trail overall. I passed two guys (owners of the red canoe) who seemed to have a lot of stuff. I was kind of dragging at this point, and I hadn't had enough water (note to self: make a point of drinking more water than you think you need when traveling).

I decided to have a quick lunch near the landing into Tuscarora after my second trip. As I ate, I pondered looking for a camp site near the portage trail to Missing Link (where I would be headed the next day) as the lake was calm and it was still before 1 PM. But I could see that the western-most site near this portage trail was empty, and (as I mentioned) I was kind of dragging. I wasn't thrilled with the thought of paddling across that big lake only having to paddle back if the sites were full. I stop at that western campsite (#516) and found it to be more than adequate for what I needed. It was actually a great site that could accommodate many people. The kitchen area was a bit dusty, and there's a decent little climb to get to the kitchen and tent pads, but the views were amazing.

I rigged my tarp just enough to let it dry out in the sun, but the weather forecast kept me from putting it up for shelter. I sat at camp, hydrated, and made some notes after heading out in the canoe one more time to get some water to filter. The campsite faces east, and as-such it gets shady early. I'm sure that's great in the summer when it's hot, but I found myself getting cold and had to bundle up. I even broke out the rain suit (for the first time on the trip) to warm myself. I could see that haze and some clouds were coming in, so I wasn't going to set up for any stargazing tonight – and I was bushed. I got a couple of golden hour shots from my site and retired to my tent early. I set my alarm for 5 AM so that I could easily be on the water by 7 AM the next day.

As I sat and pondered that day, I became aware of how connected I felt to every living thing on the planet – maybe the universe. It struck me as funny that this feeling of deep connectedness came to me while being totally alone. It's something that I think needs to be experienced in order to understand, but it was a very real feeling.

Lakes traveled: Little Saganaga, Mora, Tarry, Crooked, Owl, and Tuscarora 5 portages, 213 rods (x3 = 2 miles), 6.6 miles of paddling

Up early to break camp and get moving.

The beautiful mist on the lake burned off pretty quickly with the rising sun.

Departing campsite #819 on Little Saganaga on a picture-perfect morning.

One of many islands in Little Saganaga. This one is near the south eastern portion of the lake.

The “rapids” between Little Saganaga and Mora.

Loons on Mora.

Approaching the beaver dam in the channel that leads to the Tarry portage from Mora Lake.

Paddlers on Owl from the Tuscarora portage.

View looking a little south of east from the western campsite on Tuscarora.

My final night in the wilderness was another beaut!