Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Across the Gunflint- Poplar Lake to Cross River
by Davkumi

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 06/07/2008
Entry Point: Lizz and Swamp Lakes (EP 47)
Exit Point: Cross Bay Lake (EP 50)  
Number of Days: 5
Group Size: 4
Day 2 of 5
We awoke to a clear sky and calm winds. We began our more difficult stage of the trip, the height of land between Gaskin and Long Island lakes that is the Laurentian Divide. No more easy, flat portages!

Gaskin Lake is lovely, and we paddled slowly across it trolling and enjoying the sunlight and the bright blues and greens of water, trees and sky. At the western end, we came to a challenging 80 rod portage - mucky, rocky and slippery - not fun.  Henson is a long, narrow lake with boreal forest and swampy areas where we watched for moose. A light breeze sprang up from the east, pushing us gently along. It did not grow into a strong wind and rain, but it did become cloudy, and foretelling of things to come.

We stopped at a little grassy campsite for energy bars and apples. The wrappers we packed dutifully away, but threw our apple cores breezily into a swamp, where humans are unlikely to go, but the two blue jays who were following us might find them. About 1 p.m. we arrived at the west end of Henson, where another mucky, rocky portage led to Omega Lake.

But, before we began the portage came a moment of sudden intensity. While waiting for Shon and Spencer,, David cast toward a stream entering Henson, near the portage. A big pike grabbed the line on the first cast...and then fell off. A second cast caught a snag. The third cast caught the pike again, and as Shon and Spencer arrived we were intent on getting the pike into our landing net. he was big - perhaps 25 inches. We got him in....and he bounced right out...and we scooped him up again, in a tangle of line and net.

The two canoes met together. Spencer, who had gloves, took our net and the fish into his boat and bent to take out the hook. Immediately his own trolling line snagged, pulling the canoe back, and the pike thrashed wildly, knocking Shon's fishing rod over the side . It sank into the black water and disappeared. No ! We unsnagged the pike, and the trolling line, and then trolled back and forth for the fishing rod. Nothing came up but weeds,

"We're going to dive for it ! "cried Shon...but it was murky, reedy water, 6 feet deep, and cloudy with rising wind and cold...we gave it up for the time.....and decided to release the pike too after taking its picture.

We trekked across another muddy portage into Omega. The wind was with us as we paddled across and up the lake to this high, rocky camp. It has a great view, up and down the lake, and is the farthest lake from the entry points, and so had the feel of real wilderness. We saw only one other canoe the entire day.

That evening the east wind lived up to its reputation. The rain began in earnest around sundown, and we quickly retired to our tents.  David had earlier looked upon the tent pad we pitched on with some scepticism, seeing that it was somewhat depressed in the ground. However, being optimistic about the weather as he always is, he decided to put the tent there anyway, and besides, there were not too many choices for two tents at the site. Soon the rain came down heavily, and the floor of the tent began to rise like an inflating mattress! Only this was water underneath us, about two inches!  I know water beds have fallen out of favor, but we had ours on Omega Lake!  But thanks to the excellent Eureka tent supplied by Hungry Jack, we stayed dry inside all night, fitfully sleeping with the knowledge that the slightest hole in the tent floor would immediately flood all our gear with two inches of water!