Day 2 of 5
Sunday, June 17, 2007 We wake in the bunkhouse early, at 4:00. We microwave, and eat our breakfast brought in Ely the day before. While my trip partner takes a shower I do the first portage of the day, and move the packs to the waiting SRQ17. The morning is very calm. It feels like it may be a good paddling day. I take some pictures of the great sunrise. However my lack of using he cameras night function just males it a waste of photos. That's OK I have 150 pictures to take. We pack the canoe up and are on the water by 5:45. We are paddling down the channel of lake one. We come across a bald eagle perched in a tree. I snap 3 photo's, however only 2 came out. Then very quickly we come across a loon. I tried to get 2 or 3 pictures, however only got 1. We navigate lake one without even the slightest tid bit of being lost. Here is a real test, the first portage for me with my inured shoulder. However we double trip both of the portages with little problem. Once on lake two we begin to see other groups coming off the numbered lakes. We talk to some of them. As we talk to one the clouds begin to roll in. We joke yhea it's just waiting for you guys to leave. On lake three we run into our first navigation issues. It begins to lightly rain on and off. It takes well over a half hour longer than it should have to find the portage to horseshoe lake. We had originally intended month earlier to stay on Horseshoe lake. There were two groups already on the lake with a third sandy beach site open. We approach the portage to Brewis lake after no problems beelining across horseshoe. I comment as we pull up in the drizzle, how this looks like your nice typical bwca portage. We land, and are attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. The portage has a few windfalls over it. However much worse was that in all of the extra rain recently the portage was severely flooded in some places. You could walk around the flooded areas on this portage without much trouble. By the end of the portage we have no issue with shoving off fast. As we paddle across brewis we know that we will be walking more than paddling soon. The rain begins to pick up as we paddle across Brewis. The wind is also starting to pick up. When we get to this portage we hope for fewer skeeters, and less flooding. The 60 rod portage is just as bad, if not worse than the last. This time in some of the flooded areas, you have to step deep into the mud. Again the same we have no issue with leaving this portage. As we paddle across Harbor the wind begins to pick up even more. By now the rain is pouring. We pull up the the portage to North Wilder it is worse than ever. We also begin to hear thunder in the distance. The skeeters are waiting for us at this portage too. We now decide to paddle in the stiff wind, back to the campsite we had just passed, and set up the tent, put the tarp over the gear, and take cover. When we get to the site we must speed everything up. We realize a problem, there is no good area to put a tent. There is only one tent pad, and we must use it. The issue is that it is surrounded by potential widow makers in this high wind. Not only that, but it is right in a puddling area for water, and below a cliff. I tarp over the gear, while Phil begins to set up the tent. Once I am done I begin to help him. By now it is raining cats and dogs, and the thunder is growing louder. We both quickly take off our shoes, and dive in the tent. I begin to shiver in the tent. The tent is leaking badly, with the bad area to have to set up. We are stuck in the tent, with the day pack. We eat out of the day pack. The floor is soaking, covered in puddles of water, the ground cloth was too covered with water when we set the tent up. I'm too cold to fall asleep. I just huddle up in my poncho, which protects me from the water on the floor, and hold out. We set the tent up at 11:00. The first break in the rain is around 1. Phil goes out to inspect. He knows quickly that it is just a break in the system, and it will begin to rain as hard as ever very soon. The rain does return. The next two hours we are huddled up again. At 2:45 however we decide to go out again, in another break in the rain. Although it still looks like it could rain at any time we defiantly don't want to spend a night in this site. We take about 45 minutes to repack everything. It actually clears up a bit as we approach the portage to North Wilder. This one is still the worst yet It has many windfalls, and even more bogs. This one just like the others has a good dash of mountain goat thrown into it. When we get to North Wilder the better of the two sites is occupied. It looks like we might be going to South Wilder. However it is getting late by the time we finish the portage. We simply decide to take the other site on he lake. The group is not in it's site when we enter the lake. We go up to the other site. The portage gave us quite the wildlife sighting, my partner got 4 ticks, in a very small patch of his leg. The site like many of the portages in the area are side load only. We unload all of the gear quickly in case it clouds up, and rains again. Than my partner take my leatherman pliers, and does a brave and daring open heart like surgery, to remove his ticks, he makes sure to kill them. We collect some wood quickly, and start a fire for dinner. The other group is friendly, when they come back. We set up the tent to dry it out, and prop it up. The problem is that the wind keeps trying to blow it off, so we tie it down, to keep it from blowing off any more. We get a nice fire going for dinner. We have a good fathers day dinner of steak, and peas. We dry everything out quickly. As soon as we get all of the camp chores done for the night we hit the hay quickly. Today was a string of good choices, and we are lucky to be where we are right now.
Day 6 of 5
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 After a solid night of sleep, we woke around 6:30am and started packing up camp. Bianca, Brock and Amanda enjoyed some gas station cinnamon rolls, while Sean and I ate Clif Bars and had a couple Celsius energy drinks. We cleaned up camp, brought our gear to the entry point and Sean and Brock went and parked the cars. After loading Brock and Amanda and gear into the Minnesota II and the 3 of us into our Minnesota III, we pushed off from the launch around 7:30am for our journey north to Malberg. [paragraph break]
The morning was very calm and not quite as cold as we were anticipating. We reached the beaver dam into square and after getting everyone out, we were able to float the canoes and gear over the top. Rounding the corner into Square, Brock and Amanda got their first view of the burn area from the Pagami Creek 2011 Fire. Sean and I commented on how much growth there has been since our first trip through the area in 2018. We were able to avoid the portage out of Square by heading left through the river. The current and turns in the river always keep us on our toes, but we were very impressed with how well Brock and Amanda navigated and kept up with us. Shortly after we arrived on the river, we reached the first beaver dam. We again unloaded people, but could float the canoes and gear right over the top. A few more paddle strokes and we reached the last beaver dam before Kawaschong. This one requires a bit more gear manipulation for us, and we fully unloaded our canoes, carried them over and hopped back in. [paragraph break]
The paddle through Kawaschong was uneventful and we arrived easily at the first full portage into Townline. We all unloaded our gear, Sean took off with the Minnesota II and I stayed back to help get everyone else started. Brock really wanted to single portage, but his pack didn’t quite work with the canoe, so we settled on him taking his pack half way while I took Sean’s pack halfway. Amanda and Sean would come back for those packs after they completed their first jaunt across. I helped Bianca get her pack on, gave her the map and paddles and she was off. Amanda grabbed her pack and paddles and took off and then Brock and I headed to the halfway point with packs. We found a mid-way-ish point and dropped the packs before returning for the Minnesota III and my pack. Brock took off, I did a quick gear check for anything left behind and headed across the portage. At the end, Sean couldn’t find his water bottle, so he went back again to do another check at the beginning. No luck, we’d have to make do with just my water bottle for the trip. We loaded back up, crossed Townline in a hot minute and unloaded again. The portage out of Townline was repaired last summer and the new wood decking makes it so much easier to load and unload. We did the 1.5 portage technique again with Bianca single portaging and arrived at Polly on the other side around 11am. The view of Polly from that portage is easily one of my favorites I’ve encountered. We all had some snacks quick before loading the canoes back up and heading into Polly.[paragraph break]
The paddle through Polly was quick and we commented on how empty the lake seemed. We had yet to see anyone. After a little navigation mishap, we found the portage out of Polly and started our jaunt on the Kawishiwi River. The first two portages went by very quickly. We all just carried what we could as they’re so short. The final portage into Koma was a bit longer, so we again employed the 1.5 portage technique for Sean, Brock, Amanda and me. Koma was a quick paddle to the portage to Malberg. We completed that final portage quickly with everyone carrying what they could. Bianca really enjoyed the big rock at the end of the portage, and we finally saw another canoe with someone fishing by the rapids. We took another look at the map to figure out what campsite we were headed for, loaded up the canoes and took off. By this point it was in the mid-60’s, and none of us had been prepared for the warmth. We were all pretty warm and getting a little sunburned. We arrived at site 1051, our desired site around 1pm, took a quick survey and decided to unload and get settled in. [paragraph break]
Amanda and I set up our tents and sleeping pads, bags and clothing sacks while Sean went to hunt for a spot to hang a tarp. Once tents were set up, I got started on the task of making delicious freeze dried lunches while Amanda, Brock and Sean finalized the tarp set-up. We had purchased a new tarp from REI a couple days before the trip and didn’t have much experience with it. Between the 3 of them, they got it figured out and set up nice and high back in the cedar woods, ideal for the rain we expected at some point during the trip. Wednesday afternoon we spent time around camp. Brock and Bianca went fishing, Amanda was working on a friendship bracelet and Sean was scouting firewood. At some point, Sean and I went hunting for a bear tree and were able to track one down kind of on the shoreline away from camp. With the new food storage requirements, we decided to purchase Ursacks, despite always hanging our pack anyway. We just wanted to be dually covered. We found a decent tree, got the ropes set for easy hanging near dark and then continued to search for firewood. Sean was processing firewood, and I got a good fire going so we could start in on our potatoes for dinner. Brock caught a northern pike from shore, so we fileted it up to eat with our potatoes. After dinner, we cleaned up, hung out around the fire and passed around the Jameson until it was nearing dark. We all got our teeth brushed, toiletry bags into the Ursacks and Sean and I went to hang those on our previously set ropes. They went up easy and we returned to camp. Bianca went to bed first, around 9pm. I joined her not too much later than that and Brock, Sean and Amanda hung out around the fire for a bit longer talking. 
Day 8 of 5
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 I wake up at 5 for fishing. It's dead still, for the first time in days. Then about 10 seconds after Phil exits tent, I'm ready to follow but than, I hear the pitter patter of more rain. He jumps in the tent very quickly. Soon the wind grows stiff, and the rain is pouring again. This time I get to fall back asleep. I wake up around 9. The rain has stopped, however the sky is still as nasty looking as ever. We make this mornings breakfast fast. It's simply cache lake pancakes, with blueberries. We also have freeze dried syrup, which is very good. After breakfast we focus on gathering some firewood again. Not too long into the process the wind shifts again, and with it comes more heavy rain. We leap into the tent, to escape once again, by now this is getting miserable. If I was a newbie on this trip, I would never come back again, at this point. Thankfully I have a good book to keep me occupied so that I don't loose my sanity. Once again the rain clears up after about 3 or 4 hours. We decide when we go out, to do some shore fishing, and top off the firewood pile. We shore fish for a few hours both of us being uneventful, in getting a single bite. We cook dinner quickly with the still nasty sky's looming. Tonight is beef stew, green beans, and potatoes. While we make dinner the winds shift again, we fear the worst, that more bad weather will blow in. However we end up seeing clear, and sunny skies, and the wind dies off. Finally we believe the front has past. We eat well that night. Then we can finally fish from the canoe for the first time of the trip, with the calm weather. We troll to a spot in the north western end of the lake. My partners rod bends, however he adamantly believes it is the current, he will not be persuaded. When we reach a shallow zone he reels in. And to his surprise but not mine he has a nice Walleye on his line. We go to where I had wanted to go before. I check out the old portage to lake four. Turns out you can still see the trail, however I do not follow it because the skeeters are waiting. We fish for a while, before heading in near sundown. I say one last cast, and cast into the area I was aiming for all afternoon from shore. Than bam, and dive. I expect a long battle with a northern. It even dives as I get it towards the canoe. However it turns out to be an 18 inch walleye. We let him go, and paddle the short distance to our site. That night we turn out a monstrous bon fire. However in the clear sky's we don't do some rain protection chores. We go into the tent for the night, ready for more fishing the next morning.
Day 4 of 5
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 We wake up to the thoughts, that hopefully today is the morning that we can finally get out fishing. However you guessed it it is only rain and wind again. We simply go back to sleep again. At 9:00 we wake up again. By now the rain has stopped, and it's looking like finaly the bad weather is done with! We fish once again for the most part without luck. Than I get a bit. I think - oh it's just another Waleye acting like a northern. However this time it's a real northern. However it's a juvenile one. Maybe 14 inches being liberal. Than phil the man with the pliers tells me he left them at camp after last nights waleye. He is uneventful, at getting the lure out with out pliers, so we drag him back to camp. By now it's almost 11, and we are ready to eat. By the time we get the hook out he's belly up. We think we'll have to give him to the Gulls, since hes way to small to eat. However while we get ready to put him out as food for the gulls he manages to swim away. A lucky brake for us because while it's still bright out the winds are picking up. We make our breakfast for the morning, of scrambled eggs, and toast. We decide to figure out where the portage to the Wilder creek is, and to finally day hike the Pow Wow trail. As we paddle to the Wilder creek portage the winds are insane. This lake has good sized white caps on it. After we find the portage the paddle back towards the other portage into the lake, where we can hook up with the pow wow threatens another capsize. We make it to the portage, and stash our gear in the bushes, just in case anyone else comes along. We hike towards south wilder first. We are now very glad we didn't go this way, with all of our gear. While we never seem to make it past the wilder creek, and view south wilder we do on the way back, explore the portage trail spur. We bushwhack hard just to gain a few rods. We decide that it's just WAY too overgrown in the summer. Now we hike back north. We eat lunch, at the hiking site on North Wilder. If the camera was working it would have been a great panorama shot. We clean up, and head north some more. We hike a little ways past the tip of the lake before turning around. When we get down by the portage we see another group on the lake. We go and paddle back to our site. This group seems crazy. At first they look as if they are going up the wilder creek towards Hudson. Not smart at this time of day. Than they fish around a bit, before going into the other site on the lake. We have dinner done, by the time they look like they will be making camp. Tonight's beef stroganoff, and corn was a decent last meal in the bwca. Than by the time we clean up camp and have the food bag up, they leave the lake the way they came. Tonight we have another bonfire, to end the trip off.
Day 7 of 5
Thursday, June 21, 2007 Finally a day we wake up, and it's not raining, or windy. We quickly begin making breakfast, and taking down the site. This morning we have oatmeal, and bread. It takes a long time, but we have broken camp by 9:00. We quickly paddle up towards the wilder creek, since it seems it could begin to rain at any time. This portage is a no fool around one since we are greeted by clouds of mosquitoes. The creek is very nice. It is quiet, slow moving and winding. It seems we are farther from civilization than anywhere else in the bwca. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the end of the creek at Hudson lake. There is quickly the shock of seeing people again. We take the Hudson portages quickly. One of them Phil single portages, while I quadruple, not fair! At the final one before lake four had we been weaker paddlers we would have been sucked down the rapids, that maybe If you had a kayak you could have run. The other group at the portage was nice, and talkative, and also helped us from going down the rapids. On four it begins to drizzle. It's still not even noon. The way we take into lake three wasn't the normal one however we got there. We enter lake two around 1. We actually for the most part have the portages to ourselves. At the end of the second one right not more than 100 feet away are two bald eagles, perched on rocks. This is the one moment of the trip that I REALLY wish I had a camera!!!! We paddle up lake one at a snails pace, for us anyway were still ahead of everyone else. It's nice to be ahead of the traffic coming off Lake Insula that day. I will finish day five in the epilogue.
Day 9 of 5
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Sean and I woke up around 5am because the wind whipping through camp was intense. We managed to avoid thunderstorms the night before, but the skies on Saturday didn’t look promising. We decided to roll out of bed around 5:30 for bathroom breaks and to get a glimpse of the water to see how bad the wind was. Surprisingly, the waves didn’t look horrible, so we decided to start the packing process. Unfortunately, it started raining, so we had the fun task of packing up in the rain. We had most of our gear laid out under a tarp, so we were able to stay dry over there, but all of the tents were wet. I hate packing up wet tents, it’s just not enjoyable. We all had Clif Bars and some Mio Energy while packing and decided to head out while the wind was still at a tolerable paddling level. [paragraph break] We left our campsite on Polly around 7:45 and as we rounded peninsula toward the first portage of the day, we were hit with very dark skies. We managed to get our gear unloaded and Brock and Sean took off with canoes and then the rain and thunder started. It didn’t seem too severe, so Bianca, Amanda and I gathered packs and headed on our way. Portaging in a thunderstorm was a fun experience, but it passed by us quickly and the rain stopped about a half hour after it started. We paddled through Townline before hitting our last long portage of the day. The men took the canoes across, and Amanda and I took Sean and Brock’s packs to the halfway point, while Bianca took off with her pack. I forgot how uphill the portage from Townline to Kawaschong is and doing the beginning twice was exhausting. I was already moving pretty slow when I arrived at Kawaschong to very windy conditions. [paragraph break]The waves on Kawaschong didn’t look too intimidating, but we knew we’d be paddling hard to make headway in the wind. We’re guessing it was about 20mph winds. We mustered up the courage, loaded the canoes and started paddling hard. Unlike other windy trips, I was never scared of the waves, but the paddling was definitely exhausting. The first portion of the river into square didn’t provide any paddling relief as we were fighting wind and current. We reached the first beaver dam, unloaded our gear, carried it up the small, rocky hillside, reloaded and started out again. The second beaver dam allowed us to unload people and pull over, but with the wind it was a big challenge to point the canoe straight and get moving again. Sean, Bianca and I managed okay, but Brock and Amanda couldn’t quite get their canoe straight and they shot across the river broadside to the dam. Amanda eventually connected her paddle with a stump and was able to straighten them out. After the fact, she said a few times that she was sure that was the spot they were going to tip the canoe. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and the next portion of the river was a little more sheltered from the wind. The current was still strong, but we were able to take the paddling a little bit easier and rest our arms. [paragraph break] The paddle through the remainder of the river and Square Lake was uneventful. We were able to just stand on the dam between Square and Kawishiwi and float the canoe over. Sean and I were amazed at the growth in lily pads on the river between Wednesday and Saturday. On Wednesday, most of the lily pads were under the water, but Saturday they had started to approach the top and were visible all around us. The difference between spring and summer through the river is amazing. I enjoy seeing it both seasons, it’s surprising how quickly plants emerge in spring. We reached Kawishiwi Lake a little after 10am and started the paddle toward the launch. Thankfully, the wind had receded a bit, so our paddling could be a bit more relaxed. We were all pretty tired by this point, and travel was slow, but we reached the launch without too much trouble around 10:45am. The launch was busy with 2 other groups packing out, so we moved our gear off to the side and waited for an opening to bring the cars down. Brock and Amanda were headed to a wedding Saturday afternoon, so after grabbing what they needed from the wet packs, they headed toward the cities. Sean, Bianca and I got the remaining gear into the truck, tied the canoes to the roof rack, and changed into clean clothes for the journey home. We ended up pulling off into Sugarloaf Cove to get one of our foam blocks reset under the canoe and hoped that was the last of the mishaps. Lunch was McDonalds in Two Harbors which we ate in the car. The wind on 35W was insane, and we ended up losing a foam block just before Pine City. At that point, we decided to get off 35W and take the back roads and slower roads to home, just hoping to prevent any more wind issues with the canoes. We arrived at my parents house around 4:30 to pick up our little guy who was very excited to see us. He can’t wait to join us in August when we head in again, this time through Sawbill. We had a good time on this trip and enjoyed the opportunity to bring in some BWCA newbies. Until next time.
