Thursday, August 13, 2009

I get up around 5:30 again and pack up camp. This goes a little quicker than yesterday. I toss a couple snacks in my thwart bag and shove off at 7:00. Its clear and calm as I paddle up the "barrel" of gun.

My original plan had been to camp on Moosecamp today but I'm still concerned about getting wind bound so I will be making my way to Fourtown.

The portage into Bullet has rocky but decent landing on the Gun side. The Bullet side is also rock but a bit more of a wet footer. The trail has a remote feel to it and the stream between Gun and Bullet floods part of it.

I cross Bullet and scull up to the landing on the portage to Moosecamp. There is a small bobber floating at the landing and I snag it. Near the Moosecamp landing there is a small but steep rockface. While crossing it with the canoe and my daypack, I loose my footing and land on my backside. I'm fine but when I try to get up the canoe isn't coming along the way it should. I make another attempt but that doesn't go any better. I finally realize the problem, the portage yoke is broken. I grab the gunnels, get up and carry the canoe the rest of the portage.

I stuff the short end of the broken yoke in my day pack and load the canoe up. Fortunately there will be no more portages today. The Moosecamp landing is pretty mucky but there are some rocks to work with and it's OK if you can stay on them. I manage pretty well and paddle away from the portage. Its 8:25.

The Moosecamp river is thick with lily pads and thick grass over most of its surface which really kill your guide. There is one log jam and a huge beaver dam that require unloading the canoe. At the beaver dam I step into muck up to my knees. Good thing my shoes are on tight. Of the remaining 5 beaver dams one has enough water flowing over it that I can just push myself across. The other four require only lift overs. It takes me around two hours to traverse the Moosecamp River.

As I coast out int to Fourtown I am greeted by a stiff breeze from the south and one foot waves. I make my way across to the southern part of the lake. The canoe is plenty stable heading into the waves. I don't hug the shoreline crossing the bay north of the big island. A decision that I question a couple times when the wind picked up. I make it across to the point east of the island. I pass two occupied campsites on this point. There are supposed to be three but I recall looking for one last year there and not finding it.

I head across the southeast bay to check out the three southern most campsites. I can see the one on the inside of the piont is occupied but the one back in the bay looks like it may be open. I head that way but as I get closer I see a tent is setup there.

At this point I have been kneeling in my canoe for over three hours. My boots are on pretty tight (remember the mud) and my knees and especially my ankles are just killing me. I pull over on a ledge south of the campsite and drag myself out of the canoe.

I loosen by boots just sit there on the rock for five minutes with my legs stretched out. I get up and start pacing around. My knees and ankles just ache. After about 10 minutes of walking I'm pretty loosened up. I have a cliff bar and some gatorade before boarding the canoe again.

I head around the point to check out the campsite nearest the entry point. This one is also occupied. I decide to head over and look for the "lost site". My only other options are to back North (not what I want) or to keep going out of Fourtown and hope I can snag a site on Mudro or head back up to Sandpit etc.

I cross the bay and start up the shoreline where the "lost site" is marked. A few spots look like they have promise but nothing. Finally I happen on a site, its not the "lost site", this has another mark on my GPS. Who cares, its a very nice looking site and its open. This will be home for the next two nights. Its 12:25.

This site has a nice fire area with lots of flat "kitchen" rocks around the fire grate. There are logs angling off on each side and more flat rocks at the inside ends of each with a space between them. Very nice.

I'm able to rig the camp tarp right at the edge of the fire grate and stretch back over the middle of the seating area. The ground slopes up behind the fire area so there is lots of space under the tarp. A lone jackpine behind the tarp provides a branch to throw a cord over to pull up the center of the tarp.

I rig my hammock between a couple nice white pines, pretty close to shore. A nice breeze is blowing in so I raise the front edge of the hammock tarp to take advanate of it and give me a view.

I'm whipped. I have some lunch and again just tinker around camp trying to stay in the shade, which is pretty easy at this site. There are nice trails along the shore line. I grab my axe and saw and head down the trail. I follow it past where the "lost site" could possibly be. If there ever was a site its been gone a long time. I find a nice chunk of downed aspen in the woods and saw a few feet off of it to drag back to camp.

I head out in the cnoe and pump some water. Back at camp I make dinner. After cleaning up I cut and split my wood.

Around 8:00 I start a fire an write in my journal. I hear a noise and look up to see a doe just at the edge of camp. When she turns away I try to move toward my camera. I just about get it when she starts walking, calmly, across the back of my camp. As soon as the tarp is between us I pull out the camera. About that same time she must have winded me because I heard her woosh off into the woods.

I enjoy a bourbon and a couple cigars by the fire. I stay up a little later than I have been writing in my journal by headlamp.

Portage from Gun to Bullet.
Rock where I broke the yoke.
One big dam!
Moosecamp field ... er, um ... river.