First Solo
by Merganser
I get up at 4:15, showered up, load my gear in the car and check out at 5:00AM. I head over to Britton's for breakfast and am waiting at Piragis before the 6:00AM for the rental office to open so I could pick up the Merlin II that I had arranged for this trip. We take care of the paperwork and load it up and I am off down the Echo Trail.
I arrive at the Mudro parking lot around 7:30. The first thing I need to do is change out the seat drops in the Merlin with a short set I had made that would raise the to the rails and allow me to kneel (my preferred paddling posture, especially in a solo). Then I need to rig the canoe with painters, lash in the spare paddle, figuring out just how all my gear would fit.
I also have to figure out what my portage routine will be. In addition to my main pack I have a day pack and my thwart bag. I also have my Cliff chair, a kneeling pad and my paddle and life jacket to contend with. Typically on tandem trips I can just lash the Chair to my pack and don't have the pad to contend with (I have glued in pads in my tandem canoes). However, the canoe was to narrow for me to keep the chair attached. That meant I had to strap the pad and chair to to pack at each portage and remove them after but those were really the only extra steps outside my normal route. My thwart bag clips on D rings on the front of my shoulder straps and I have carabiners on my life fest that clip it to my pack. I carry the day pack with the canoe on my first crossing and follow with the main pack, and its attachments and the paddle. Both loads are perhaps 60lbs.
I make the 30 rod portage to the narrows. The water is high enough that I am able to put in at the nice sandy beach at the end of the trail. At 8:27 I finally made the first stroke of my solo career. At 8:29 I paused to put on some bug dope, then resumed my journey.
My planned course for the day was to take me through Mudro and Sandpit, at least as far as Tin Can Mike.
The paddle up the Mudro narrows was peaceful. I really started to get a sense of the solitude I would experience on this trip. I soaked it all in. The windy coarse gave me a chance to use some of the freestyle strokes I have been practicing. I am pleased that the water is high enough that I can weave through the rocks at the opening into Mudro Lake rather than portage around them like we did last fall.
Heading across Mudro I realize that I am not making very good time with my C stroke. Reluctantly I change to a NAT style (sit-N-switch). While less graceful this nearly doubles my speed. I would stick with this paddling style for most of my open water paddling on this trip, throwing in freestyle moves close to landings or anywhere else delicate maneuvers were needed.
I get across Mudro to the landing to Sandpit in short order. This portage to Sandpit has a reputation of being a challenge on the Sandpit side. Yes there is a bit of a descent and yes its rocky but its a short stretch and I really didn't find it to be all that bad.
The trip across Sandpit is also pretty quick and I head over the portage to Tin Can Mike. This porage seems shorter than it is marked, maybe becuase its pretty easy, but the boardwalk at the end is as impressive as advertised, and yes, it does have a passing lane.
Its only about 10:30 when I shove off on Tin Can Mike and I've pretty much made up my mind I don't want to stop yet. I reason I'll continue on to Horse and take a camp on the south end. The paddle across Tin Can Mike is nice. From a distance the two campsites on the west side are not impressive but the one on the point to the east shows promise. No matter, I am committed to forging ahead.
When I get across to Horse its approaching noon. The first campsite is visible from the portage, not much wood around it. Not sure I'd be real interested in a tent, let alone a hammock. The second site looks better but is occupied.
So now my choice is head up the west shore of Horse to check another site, which does look open from the distance, or continue on to Fourtown. I chose to continue on.
The portage out of Horse is certainly a pretty one. Classic BWCAW stuff. Lots of ups and downs and rocks and roots and pine needles every where (I love that). The landing on the other side is really the first on of the day that wasn't just a gem. A buch of big rocks and dropped off sort of quickly. A real wet footer. By this time its almost 1:00PM, its hot (90) my gatorade is running low and I'm getting hungry. I'm ready to make camp.
Off across the small bay I go towards the marked ten rod portage around some rapids that separate this bay from the next. The landing isn't great but I deal with it. By this time I am getting tired of unloading/loading the canoe though.
Across the next little bay to a surprise, an unmarked 10 rod portage. This wasn't really all that bad but I was in no mood for surprises of this sort at the time.
I cross this bay, which is actually part of Fourtown according to my map, and land at the first campsite on Fourtown, which happens to be unoccupied, at 1:47. BTW there is a streach of rapids and a couple drops here to which are accompanied by another unmarked portage.
Aside from a lack of formidable trees in the fire area for tarp rigging this is really a nice site. It is on a little point and there is a huge clearing surrounded by a narrow band of forest. Lots of flat area for tents and some nice big trees for hanging hammocks.
I set up my camp tarp well enough to cover my gear and then rigged my hammock with a second tarp over it. This would be the first trip for my hammock, which I made myself. I was pretty exited about using it.
I had some lunch and pretty much tried to just stay out of the sun for a while. I really didn't get around the side of the camp to see the drops exiting Fourtown until around 4:00. As soon as I did I got my trunks on an proceeded to play in them. I found a number of cool spots to hang out in the current. Kind of a natural cool water whirlpool. So refreshing. I played for an hour or so and took some self portraits.
After my swim I pumped some water, had dinner and collected some firewood. No cutting/splitting on this site. Around 8:00 I started up a small fire, enjoyed a bourbon and a couple cigars and wrote in my journal. I only kept the fire going for about an hour, turning in a little after 9:00.
It was kind of hot and I had a hard time getting to sleep until it cooled down somewhat. But I sure slept good once I did. There were not swarms of mosquitoes but those that were there were certainly hungry.
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