Friday, August 27, 2021
I was awakened at 4 AM by a very loud BOOM and a CRACK! I thought that something had gone wrong at Ermine-1. Later that morning, I found a branch had come down on our site and had broken in two pieces. We were glad that it had not fallen on either of us!
We made a simple breakfast of oatmeal and then broke camp during a lull in the rain. We loaded the canoe and went fishing for 2 ½ hours before moving on to our next campsite, Deer-1 on East Bear Lake, around 1:15 PM. It rained the whole time we fished and traveled. We couldn't get a fish to bite no matter the lure or the location.
The 96 rod portage into East Bear Lake was tough toward the EBL side: boot-sucking mud that had to be avoided by walking on the narrow right hand side of the trail. The put-in was tricky, too. I had to evaluate the entry very carefully to set the boat down while missing the rocks in the water. Loading the boat required turning it 180° to access both ends.
While paddling toward the campsite, I saw what I thought was an otter swimming in East Bear Lake. It was definitely a mammal. It stopped and looked squarely at us, then it dove silently.
Rain, rain, and more rain. Campsite Deer-1, we agreed, is a port in a storm but no more than that. We had a lot of trouble locating it from the landing. It was located at the end of a goat trail up a steep hill. It was small and located far from the lake; also, the rain made it muddy. While looking for the campsite, Jim found Deer-2, and he said that it was no better than Deer-1. We got the tarp up in a hurry, had a late lunch, and quickly set up the tents during a break in the storm. Jim went down to the shore to cast for some pan fish, but he had no success. East Bear Lake is only about 25 feet deep.
Most all of our gear was wet, including the underside of the tarp. I had worn shorts under my rain pants. That was a good strategy to avoid wet pant legs. I also wore SealSkinz socks with liner socks so that my feet stayed dry today.
Red Baneberry fruits: