Thursday, June 28, 2007

On this morning the wind had switched, blowing from the Northeast. It was cold, damp, cloudy and the light rain from the night before did not help. The cold, damp morning had us moving slow, but by the time we were packed a change was occurring. The northeast wind quit, the lake calmed, and the sun was pushing through the clouds. We broke camp about 10:30 AM and by the time we made it to Eddy Falls the sun was warming us. We took some pictures at Eddy Falls and then moved on to Jenny and Annie. We were in no rush just taking our time moving at a relaxing pace enjoying the day.

We floated through Ogishkemuncie by 12:30. We saw many people on this lake, and many campsites were taken. The Cavity Lake Fire burned a section of the northeast end of the lake. The portage into Kingfisher was barren with a little green around the creek. Kingfisher is so burned up that it is creepy. It is unbelievable that anything grows here at all. The only thing left is bare rock. It is unbelievable how rugged the Earth is in this area.

Jasper was really charred and all the campsites were still closed. Life goes on. As I set the canoe in the water a 2” Northern fingerling was at the landing. I wonder how long it will take for the area to fully regenerate to its pre-fire condition. 100, 200, maybe 500 years.

The falls into Alpine was really unique. I took a picture of Jasper Lake at eye level at the base of the falls.

I managed to catch a couple of Smallmouth at the mouth of the stream entering Alpine. I had stayed on Alpine a few years ago with the group from school that introduced me to the BWCA. It is not as I remembered it. I found the campsite we had stayed at but it was taken and very open. Not the way I remembered it. We paddled to the far northern campsite and to our amazement it was still green. It almost looked like the fire crews dropped water on this beautiful site just to save it, or maybe by being on a peninsula kept it from being devastated. We had a very enjoyable day. The weather was perfect. The sun kept us warm while a light cool breeze kept us comfortable. We had rice and salmon for supper and took a little paddle up the bay of the Red Rock portage. I caught a couple more Smallmouth then paddled back for a little swim as the Sun was setting and the Moon was rising. Our tent was pitched on a flat grassy spot not far above the water