Mom's first trip: LIS North out EP16
by Badgerboy
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
06/30/2009
Entry Point:
Little Indian Sioux River (north) (EP 14)
Exit Point:
Moose/Portage River (north) (EP 16)
Number of Days:
6
Group Size:
4
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (4 messages)
Day 6 of 6
Sunday, July 05, 2009 We had a long way to go today to get out to EP 16 by 2pm (I hate being late for a pickup), about 9 miles as the crow flies by my calculation. Maureen and I were up at 4:30am and roused the boys a short while later. While I packed the tents and such, Maureen made the last of the coffee and oatmeal. We were paddling away at 5:30 am to a beautiful sunrise.
Everyone seemed in good spirits despite the early start. The paddle to the portage connecting us to the Oyster river should be short but Raleigh and Maureen went right past the portage without recognizing it. Keegan and I caught up with them and called them back to the portage which Keegan had spotted pretty easily at about 6am. Despite this small delay we were right on the schedule I had laid out, so far so good.
The portage was nice, well maintained and we were in short order paddling the Oyster River. The river was beautiful this early in the morning and the cool temperatures made it a resplendent paddle. We reached our first decision point more quickly than expected. Mark at Jordan’s and I had discussed whether or not we could bypass the portage to Agnes and sneak down through the marsh and connect up with the Moose River. Mark suggested it was passable although it may be a bit challenging and I was just not sure it was a wise adventure on Maureen’s first trip especially on Day 6.
We had a quick chat and vote, and everyone decided to take on the challenge. It turned out to be a great decision. We had 4 dam pullovers between the Agnes portage and the Moose River and almost felt lost a couple of times but the scenery was incredible. With a little luck we never ended up in a dead end and about 45 minutes later found ourselves on the Moose River. Everyone was pretty excited that we conquered what we considered a pretty good challenge particularly when we knew it saved us a 190 rod portage and at least 90 minutes.
We continued on across Nina Moose which had some small white caps and a flotilla of paddlers heading north, the first real masses of people we saw on the trip. We made a quick stop at “Top of the World Rock” for the great view back up to Nina Moose and took quite a few pictures. This was a rather fortuitous side track. A young couple had been following us across Nina Moose on towards EP16 as they had misplaced their map and needed some help finding their way. I told them about the great views as we pulled aside but they decided to continue on to get home. Turns out about 3 minutes later (about 100 yds down stream) they surprised a young bull moose on the side of the river which rushed them and supposedly got within 50 feet of their canoe while he stood in the middle of the river. Eventually he retreated but not before scaring the heck out of this young couple. They were still pretty shaken when we caught them at the next portage. I “apologized” to Maureen for denying her the opportunity to have an up-close and personal with a moose as that surely would have been Maureen and Raleigh that would have had that experience had we not stopped for some pictures!!
The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. We actually reached EP 16 parking lot about 1:30p. Andrew showed up right on time at 2p and we headed in for a shower at Jordan’s. After many thanks to Mark and his family we grabbed a couple burgers at DQ in Ely and hit the road for Apple Valley arriving home about 9p after a brief stop at Toby’s in Hinkley for some cinnamon rolls for Grandma (her favorite).
The trip was fabulous and an utter success from my perspective in that Maureen said she would like to go back again. Thanks to the many ladies on BWCA.com for their suggestions that helped me make the trip enjoyable for Maureen. We loved working with Mark, Sonya, and Andrew at Jordan’s outfitters. They do a great job and we will surely look at working with them again in the near future. Hopefully next year we can convince my daughter to join us although that will mean either a solo or a MN III but that’s a good problem to have. We really liked the route and were really surprised at the lack of people we saw particularly in light of the fact it was July 4th weekend. We really saw very few people until we hit Nina Moose. Despite the rain and coolness on the first couple of days the weather was great and the lack of bugs was astonishing. I can only recall applying bug dope 2 days.
Everyone seemed in good spirits despite the early start. The paddle to the portage connecting us to the Oyster river should be short but Raleigh and Maureen went right past the portage without recognizing it. Keegan and I caught up with them and called them back to the portage which Keegan had spotted pretty easily at about 6am. Despite this small delay we were right on the schedule I had laid out, so far so good.
The portage was nice, well maintained and we were in short order paddling the Oyster River. The river was beautiful this early in the morning and the cool temperatures made it a resplendent paddle. We reached our first decision point more quickly than expected. Mark at Jordan’s and I had discussed whether or not we could bypass the portage to Agnes and sneak down through the marsh and connect up with the Moose River. Mark suggested it was passable although it may be a bit challenging and I was just not sure it was a wise adventure on Maureen’s first trip especially on Day 6.
We had a quick chat and vote, and everyone decided to take on the challenge. It turned out to be a great decision. We had 4 dam pullovers between the Agnes portage and the Moose River and almost felt lost a couple of times but the scenery was incredible. With a little luck we never ended up in a dead end and about 45 minutes later found ourselves on the Moose River. Everyone was pretty excited that we conquered what we considered a pretty good challenge particularly when we knew it saved us a 190 rod portage and at least 90 minutes.
We continued on across Nina Moose which had some small white caps and a flotilla of paddlers heading north, the first real masses of people we saw on the trip. We made a quick stop at “Top of the World Rock” for the great view back up to Nina Moose and took quite a few pictures. This was a rather fortuitous side track. A young couple had been following us across Nina Moose on towards EP16 as they had misplaced their map and needed some help finding their way. I told them about the great views as we pulled aside but they decided to continue on to get home. Turns out about 3 minutes later (about 100 yds down stream) they surprised a young bull moose on the side of the river which rushed them and supposedly got within 50 feet of their canoe while he stood in the middle of the river. Eventually he retreated but not before scaring the heck out of this young couple. They were still pretty shaken when we caught them at the next portage. I “apologized” to Maureen for denying her the opportunity to have an up-close and personal with a moose as that surely would have been Maureen and Raleigh that would have had that experience had we not stopped for some pictures!!
The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. We actually reached EP 16 parking lot about 1:30p. Andrew showed up right on time at 2p and we headed in for a shower at Jordan’s. After many thanks to Mark and his family we grabbed a couple burgers at DQ in Ely and hit the road for Apple Valley arriving home about 9p after a brief stop at Toby’s in Hinkley for some cinnamon rolls for Grandma (her favorite).
The trip was fabulous and an utter success from my perspective in that Maureen said she would like to go back again. Thanks to the many ladies on BWCA.com for their suggestions that helped me make the trip enjoyable for Maureen. We loved working with Mark, Sonya, and Andrew at Jordan’s outfitters. They do a great job and we will surely look at working with them again in the near future. Hopefully next year we can convince my daughter to join us although that will mean either a solo or a MN III but that’s a good problem to have. We really liked the route and were really surprised at the lack of people we saw particularly in light of the fact it was July 4th weekend. We really saw very few people until we hit Nina Moose. Despite the rain and coolness on the first couple of days the weather was great and the lack of bugs was astonishing. I can only recall applying bug dope 2 days.
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