The group before the trip [paragraph break] In our group maybe half had canoed before and only two of us had been to the BWCA, so there was a pretty steep learning curve to steering. After launching at Sawbill and messing around for a while, we made it to our first portage to Smoke lake and it was quick. We made a big mistake here though--we thought it would be easier to tie the sleeping bags onto the canoe seats than to carry them, but that threw the weight distribution in the canoes way off and made them super hard to carry. It got better once we pulled the sleeping bags out, but the rope holding them in stayed attached the whole week as a reminder.

The first portage [paragraph break] Just as we got out on Smoke there was a tiny shower and cracks of thunder. Here I was super worried--were we going to have to pull up onto the shore? Was our trip going to end before it started? Luckily the meat of the storm never came near us and a couple minutes later it was beaming sunny again.

Smoke Lake! [paragraph break] One more portage to Burnt Lake and we stopped for Naan, Humus, and dried tomato lunch. I led the charge on the 206 rod portage to through rocks and mud to Kelly with the canoe and tried to tough it out, but I had to trade off with my canoe partner halfway. When we finally got to the end everyone was just wrecked. We sat there at the end for ages. The extra long Kelly lake (part of the Temperance river!) was a MUCH needed reprieve. People took their shoes off for a long paddle north and as we passed campsite 824 on the peninsula we saw not one but TWO moose! No antlers unfortunately but still majestic.

Moose! [paragraph break] Still reeling from the 206 rod portage from Burnt, the group decided to line the 71 rods to Jack. Except for a couple high flow spots this is pretty shallow and an easy task. Waist deep at the worst but MUCH more fun than the portage. We paddled up Jack to Weird and attempted to line that portage too. The first rapid was easy to cross but the second demanded a portage. Luckily the portage was close by.

Slow but very fun [paragraph break] At the top of Weird there are some clearly bad rapids and we had to take the two portages back to back to South Temperance. The 225 portage was by far the most grueling of the trip (and we ended on a 480 portage!) and my partner and I swapped twice -- me starting and finishing -- and the rocky portage on the far end in the late hours of the day was just about the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. The mosquitoes were relentless but sitting there by the glass water it was hard to tell. As soon as we launched there were two loons sitting out there with us.

South Temperance Lake in the waning hours of the day [paragraph break] One more quick portage to Brule and we were nearly at campsite 957 on the island at the west end of the lake. It was pretty late by then--7 or 8pm--and maybe 10 minutes before we landed at the site the sky opened up and dumped rain on us for half an hour. It stopped not long after we got into camp, but everyone was soaked and shivering. Having a dry jacket in my bag here was a lifesaver (my rain-resistant one was sopping wet). We put up the tents and made a fire but it was grueling work. All the wood was completely wet and I had to whittle it down to dry cores. Our lighter bag ripped and got wet so the only working firestarter we had that night was a flint and steel. Even so, we managed to cook three steaks that night, and damn if that wasn’t the best steak I’ve ever had. The night was cold, but keeping the sleeping bag and fleece in a garbage bag worked surprisingly well and I slept dry, but unfortunately I ripped the bag opening it. I decided to pack the fleece in my bag from then on. It was a tough night after a tough day.

Whittling logs for steak dinner[paragraph break] ~Sawbill Lake, Smoke Lake, Burnt Lake, Kelly Lake, Jack Lake, Weird Lake, South Temperance Lake, Brule Lake

After waking up at 7am we broke out the (super light!) camp stove again to cook up pancakes and bacon, leaving us with only one cooler bag left full! After making the quick portages back to south temperance and up to north temperance and we were well on our way. Canoeing is now constantly filled with people pointing out “poop islands”--places that would provide scenic views if someone needed to pull off for an emergency poo. The walkie talkies we brought come super in handy here as we lose line of sight around the big bend on the lake. Another camping constitution amendment is proposed: “Never leave a camper behind.”

Pancakes![paragraph break]

After taking the 102 rod portage to Sitka (which I’ve been informed is roughly the length of a 400m track) we spent a minute canoeing around looking for the portage to Cherokee. When we found it, some folks were already there part way through a double portage, so we elected to double portage too and take the canoes last so we wouldn’t get in their way. This proved a great move as the 165 rods seemed to be straight up and straight down a series of 3 foot boulders, complete with a view of a lake--NOT CHEROKEE--in the middle (this became an ongoing joke about the Nth “false lake”). When we were finally all the way portaged, we took a quick break for peanut butter and jelly tortillas and then got moving again quick to make room at the tiny, steep, rocky landing for another group of guys coming in off Cherokee. The guys asked “so we hear this one’s a doozy?” and we had to break the bad news to them. [paragraph break] Cherokee was real windy. But by this point we were all pros at steering. A quick portage to Gordon later and we met a nice couple and their parents. The guy asked us where we’re headed, to which we cheerfully replied “Frost lake!” He had no idea where it was (one lake over). The girl complimented our (now three days worn) clothes before saying to the guy “I’m sick and tired of being in the woods!” Ope! [paragraph break] It took us a while paddling around the north end of Gordon to find the Unload portage. When we did find it, it was hidden behind a fallen tree, with a path just wide enough for the two person canoes. The three person required a bit of finagling. [paragraph break] On the other side at unload we had a mini freak out expecting to see Frost before consulting the map. The trip to Frost from Unload was straight through a bog (the portage wasn’t on our map?). At a bit of a shallow spot, we hopped out to drag the canoes a couple feet before hopping back in. Things were looking good! It was sunny, barely 3pm, and we were almost to camp for the night. Then one of the guys (who had been walking barefoot through the bog) says “My toe feels a little strange.” Three days of walking later we’d find out at a Duluth orthopedic urgent care that his toe was broken.

Apparently this is what a broken toe looks like[paragraph break]

We waved to one other group camped on the east side of the lake before taking the westernmost camp site (#878), where we cooked chicken tacos, baked beans for dinner and made ritz cracker s'mores with the leftover marshmallows and chocolate. All things considered, still a pretty good night, and a damn beautiful view over the lake, complete with a deep orange full moon.

The full moon over Frost Lake[paragraph break]

~Brule Lake, South Temperance Lake, North Temperance Lake, Sitka Lake, Cherokee Lake, Gordon Lake, Unload Lake, Frost Lake

Hudson Bay Bread on Chase Lake[paragraph break]

One more insanely steep portage (with bear claw marks and bear poop!) took us to Pencil Lake which had gorgeous waterlilies all over it. As we made it to the far side, I hopped out to take a look at the rapids. It was only 54 rods long, I could see halfway down, and it looked easy enough to cross, so we started through it. Big mistake. Halfway through the rapids got deep and narrow, and were filled with boulders. Too deep to walk the bed, too narrow to drop the canoes back in. Our broken toe man, who was walking the portage instead, called out to us to let us know the portage went maybe feet away from where it got bad in the middle, so we were able to take back half of the portage without having to backtrack all the way to the start of the rapids. On the plus side, another guy found a lost cloth map soaked in mud in the river which he was excited to “pack out.”

It seemed easy enough…[paragraph break]

Already frustrated by the wasted time, we pulled up to the first 10 rod portage just down the river to find a beaver dam with a three foot or so drop. The “portage” was little more than some rocks covered in grass. Frustrated, we dropped the canoes back in the water and walked the riverbed, carrying the canoes through the shallow spots. This was easily the toughest part of the trip mentally and it spawned a new camping constitution amendment: “no silly voices in serious situations.” One sorely needed emergency poo in the woods later and everything seemed a little easier. From that point on it was honestly just comical.

No silly voices in serious situations[paragraph break]

Those couple miles took hours as we wound through switchback turns on the gorgeous frost river, taking us over probably 25 beaver dams. The river was deep but it turns out beaver construction is up to snuff--we’d paddle up, hop out onto the dam, pull the canoe over, and just get right back in. We made a sport of calling out “Bobr” each time we saw a dam. This section of the river also generously donated three leeches to my feet. Gross suckers make you bleed a ton, but surprisingly don’t hurt that much.

Beaver engineering at its finest[paragraph break]

By the time we got to Afton on the far west end of the river the sun was getting low and we were all tired (and yet there were still two more beaver dams on the creek feeding into the lake), but we pushed on toward Fente and Hub so we wouldn’t have to do both the 280 rod portage between the two and the 480 rod portage to Kelso the next day. The 17 rods to Afton proved insanely treacherous, going straight up and straight down a cliff face--sheer rock steepness putting Cherokee’s portage to shame. That one needed three people to move each of the canoes safely down the far side. Fente’s opening bay hid an inches shallow slab of rock we had to pull over wedged between steep cliffs that proved very hard to climb over--with slick rocks and deep water on the far side.

MORE BEAVER DAMS[paragraph break]

Our luck wasn’t all gone though--the 280 rod portage to Hub ended up being one of the easiest ones of the trip. After an initial steep climb where I crawled under a fallen tree with the canoe still on my shoulders, it was almost entirely flat and I carried the canoe the whole way without stopping. My partner and I sang “Union Dixie” and “Rocky Top” to pass the time. A quick paddle across Hub and we managed to set up camp (site #851) and get a fire going before dark. Dinner was egg noodles with powdered mushroom sauce and gravy and brownie cupcakes for dessert. By now most of our food packs had been spent and consolidated--enough to make the next day seem doable. I stayed up late that night drying my sleeping bag by the fire and got some beautiful recordings of a loon calling across the lake.

Hub sweet hub [paragraph break] ~Frost Lake, Octopus Lake, Chase Lake, Pencil Lake, Afton Lake, Fente Lake, Hub Lake

480 rods deep [paragraph break] After a quick paddle down the Kelso river (and angrily pulling over a couple more beaver dams) we made it to the campsite on the peninsula at the north end of Kelso (#872) no later than 3pm. Here, at the last campsite on the last night, we discovered the tentpoles were different lengths (despite having the same number of links). Ah well, next time! We made a fire to cook all the dinner food we had left--instant potatoes, gravy, wild rice soup, wild rice, and the last of the brownies--and sat around it talking deep into the night. I know I needed that. It was a good night. A happy night. And we were a stone’s throw from home.

Mashed potatoes and cream of chicken wild rice soup for dinner[paragraph break] ~Hub Lake, Mesaba Lake, Hug Lake, Duck Lake, Zenith Lake, Lujenida Lake, Kelso Lake

A beautiful lady slipper [paragraph break] After packing up for the last time, we headed south down the Kelso river toward Sawbill and passed a gaggle of kids and their parents in aluminum canoes. I shudder to think about carrying those for 480 rods. We walked the easy 13 rods to Sawbill and canoed the last two miles home, in by noon. We returned the canoes, gathered our stuff, and took one last group photo, one week more weathered.

One week older[paragraph break] ~Kelso Lake, Sawbill Lake