Sunday May 4th.

Joe and I woke up and we had a quick breakfast of oatmeal, strong coffee and energy bars before finishing clearing the portage. Our goal for today was to make it to the campsite on the island in the south part of the lake.

After clearing the last part of the portage we packed up and headed down to Stuart Lake and started heading for the island. As we got out of the bay in front of the falls it became clear that getting to the island was going to be harder than we thought. Ice was shore to shore and opaque white in most places to the island. There was a building wind from the south which we thought might help during the day so we decided to do some exploring on Stuart in the little bit of open water and try for the campsite later hoping conditions improved.

We knew the husband and wife team we had met yesterday had accessed Nibin and beyond so we went over to land at that portage and walk it for fun and adventure. I had walked the Stuart to Nibin portage last October on the 4 solos trip so I knew it was a challenge but passable without packs and canoe. With canoes and packs it would be much more work. Little did we know as we walked the portage that this adventure would pay off for us in the next couple of days.

The portage to Nibin is about 200 rods of deadfall, hard to follow trail and narrow spots. It is easy to lose the trail. After a little bit I put my gloves on to avoid getting them any more scraped up from the brush. We found our way to the other side and commented that we were glad to have gotten over to see Nibin, but just as glad we did not bring our gear and canoes across that portage. We stopped to admire the lake, catch our breath and head back to Stuart for lunch.

One thing you need to be aware of on ice covered lakes where ice is moving is not to get caught somewhere as the ice sheet moves with the wind. Passages and openings can close in a short time leaving you stuck where you are. When we got back to the Stuart end of the portage we were surprised how much the ice had moved which had taken the once large opening to the portage and made it a fairly small one. We were still able to get out on the lake again, but we needed to watch the ice. We felt we had time for lunch and sat down on the granite slab and watched the ice move hoping it would move enough to make access to the island possible. There was no way to access the other campsites on Stuart with the ice moving north.

After lunch we were determined to get to the island. From the Nibin portage it appeared the ice had pulled away from shore a little and might allow us access as the island is not that far from shore and has a shallow channel between it and the main shoreline that we thought might be open. Off we went dodging ice sheets that had broken off knowing any mistake could possibly put us into the dangerous water. As we got closer to the ice sheet between us and the island our task became clear. The final few hundred yards or so would require some ice clearing to get to the island.

The process was one of looking as far forward as possible and trying to determine the best, easiest way over to any open water that would get us to the island. It definitely was not a straight line. We stayed near the south shore of the lake primarily as the ice was starting to pull away due to the wind. Every so often a crack would open ahead of us that we thought we could push our way through. By using our paddles, the heavy nippers and even putting one foot on the ice as we simultaneously lifted the bow and slid across the ice which would submerge under us as we were on it we made our way. We hacked at the ice with paddles and nippers. We backed up and rammed at the ice. We slid across the ice. We did everything we could think of and at one point almost retreated to the portage to camp-but Joe and I really wanted steak for dinner so we were determined.

It took us a couple of hours of really hard work where we made progress in inches not miles. I am sure our travel speed was measured in feet per hour not miles per hour. About 5:00 we finally made it through the ice to the last stretch of open water in front of the island. We made it!! We were finally on an official campsite and hoped no one else was coming into Stuart as there were no other sites accessible. We used the Sat phone to call our wives as well as Lynn at VNO to give them a report. Before we left John at VNO had bet us we would make this campsite on day 1. He lost the bet so Joe and I would each receive a VNO thermal mug upon our return. Thanks John and Lynn. We sure wish we would have lost that bet.

That evening the comforts of an actual campsite were appreciated. The steak Joe had brought in from Zup’s was fabulous. We relaxed around a campsite and had an actual latrine for our bathroom visits. I should mention here that Joe and I had plenty of food already purchased for the bigger groups. Much of it fresh as we knew the cool weather would allow fresh food to stay fresh longer. With the sudden drop off of people due to the ice conditions we needed to eat alot of this fresh food. Oh well. We were going to have steak two nights, polish another and venison another-we ate like kings!! Good thing too as we were going to need all the calories.

We discussed the route knowing that access to Fox Lake was not possible currently. We also knew we had some time as we really had not planning on exiting Stuart until Tuesday and it was only Sunday. If nothing else tomorrow could be another layover day. We will just wait and see what tomorrow brings.

After dinner the wind died, the fog started roiling in and it started to snow. That is just the way an early May trip should be.