Thursday, September 23, 2021
Day 6 – ‘Two Big Portages’ – The plan for this day was to make it to Lynx Lake so our final day out would not be too long. We faced two portages that were basically a mile each. We started 1 ½ portaging on day two but decided to go back to single portaging for this trip. We had lightened our food/whiskey bag considerably so the Food Pack + Canoe wasn’t as bad. We also figured that it would be faster to just put the canoe down and take a couple-minute break rather than walk an extra mile.
We made pretty good time that day. The only thing that slowed us down was the shoe changes. I like to portage with my boots for ankle support and comfort but I hate it when they’re wet. So we would often take a moment to change shoes at each end of a portage. Yeah, it adds time to your trip, but I think it’s worth it. The surprise of the day was on Ruby Lake. I kept noticing what looked like Jelly Fish as we paddled across this very small lake. I slowed down to take a look and I couldn’t believe that they were actually jelly fish! I had never heard of such a thing. Super Cool!
We met a young couple heading in the opposite direction as we put in on Lynx Lake. By that point in our trip, we were a well-oiled machine with put-ins and take-outs. We were off and paddling before they could get their gear organized. I remember thinking “that’s how you do it, young pups”.
Lynx Lake is beautiful! I would definitely consider a base camp trip here especially if I could get the site we ended up in. We checked out the site straight east of the portage on the opposite shore. I would only stay there if I were part mountain goat! The hike up to the fire grate was ridiculous. Next, we paddled to the site to the south, back in a small bay. It was a decent site but we were considering pushing a bit closer to our entry point and camping on little shell or shell, so we kept going. Next, we stopped at the site closest to the portage to Little Shell. We were sold!
This site is fantastic! A slight climb to the kitchen area with amazing views of the lake and sunset. Plenty of options to hang a hammock and multiple tent sites. It has a 10-foot cliff pretty close to the fire grate so I might be nervous if I had small kids along. You can also hike to the top of the hill for some great views of the lake. Nice trees for hanging the food pack too. Definitely worth another stay if I’m ever in the area again.
We did a quick camp set up and then headed out to fill our gravity filter and do some fishing. The wind was perfect for some drifting fishing. We could paddle just off-shore from the portage and the wind brought us northeast. We made 4 or 5 passes with no luck! I’m not a super accomplished fisherman but I thought we were making all the right moves. In hindsight, we should have cast off the cliff from our site with some slip bobbers. Oh well, no fish on our last night. The sunset was perfect that night.
That night around the fire I kept hearing a noise over my shoulder. It sounded like something rustling around down by our canoe. I would turn my headlight on and look in that direction and it would stop. Then, a minute later it came back. Eventually, I caught movement when I looked over… only it was a lot closer to us than the canoe. It was a couple of mice rummaging through our food pack!! Sneaky little guys probably were living in the logs around the fire. They managed to get into one ziplock bag of food but I can’t remember what it was. We took our last bites of late-night snacks and hung the pack right away.
~Lakes Visited: Hustler Lake, Ruby Lake, Lynx Lake