Monday, July 06, 2009

Sunny upper 70’s with gentle gusts out of the west.

Sunrise 5:09, Sunset 9:01

Total Miles Traveled: 12.2

Lakes Traveled: Cross River, Ham, Cross Bay, Rib, Lower George, Karl, Long Island Lake and River, Gordon Lake, and Cherokee

I have learned from my previous trips and brought 2nd sleeping bag for the night in the bunkhouse. Bill failed to remember the past and I knew he would regret it. Sure enough I woke at 7:30 to see Bill trying to keep warm with T-Shirts he pulled out of his bag. Of course I had to grab a picture so he will never forget!

We head down to the outfitting building and load up in Mike’s big cargo Van, while Mike loads the canoe onto the trailer and straps it down. And we are off to EP 50 (Cross Bay Lake) It’s a 35 minute drive and Mike keeps us entertained the whole way. He is a wealth of knowledge as we discuss the Ham Lake Fire as we cross through the burned out area. We pull up to the EP and I walk to the back of the van when I notice Mike has a weird look on his face. He is holding the strap for the canoe in his hand when I then notice the canoe isn’t there. Mike is in total disbelief as he knows he tied it down (I saw him do it too) so we pile back into the van backtrack down the Gunflint Mike is absolutely beside himself as this is a 3k canoe. We travel for about 5 minutes and find the canoe lying in the ditch on the opposite side of the road from our initial travel. You could clearly see it bounced across the road and landed in the ditch. We are all in disbelief as not one of us heard it come off. We inspect the canoe it has a nice gouge in the side and Mike asks us if we still want it to which I said of course, I mean what more could we do to it. As we strap it down, Mike discovers one of the cams on the straps had failed and that’s how we lost the canoe. We begin our trip back up to the EP and Mike is so apologetic, but we are not concerned or upset in the least. Bill, Brian, and I are laughing and all agree that we all have a good story to tell and that if this is the only thing to happen wrong in our trip, it’s going to be a good trip.

We load up the canoe and I like how the Duluth Pack fits in the canoe. Mike grabs a quick picture of us I grab my usual back seat and we are off. We head down the Cross River into our 2 first portages a 50r and 40r. I single portage and I have to tell you using that Duluth pack vs. the internal frame while portaging the canoe is absolutely wonderful. I begin to wonder if I will ever use an internal frame again.

We head down through Ham and are surprised at how little the damage is compared to the area along the Gunflint. This is due to the fact that it started on Ham on the East Side and grew as it traveled east pushed by the westward winds. We come across a father and son from Green Bay, they would prove to be the only others we would see all day.

We cross through the actual EP50 on Cross Bay Lake and then portage into Rib Lake and stop for lunch. One of my resolutions this year is to limit the amount of MH (Mountain House freeze dried food). So I grab my cup of instant noodles (Roman Noodles and Shrimp) and chow down. Bill and Brian split a MH Chili Mac.

We head down through Lower George and Karl Lakes. The wind is more or less at our back, the trip is smooth.

As we hit Long Island Lake I let Brian get some time in the rear seat and I coach him through the J-Stroke. He is a lot better than our first trip in ’03. I have to tell you it sucks being a regular rear seater and then having to sit in the middle of a 3 man. But I put out my fishing line and troll a bit as we move down the lake. Didn’t catch a thing. We continue on down through Gordon and into Cherokee Lake and begin to look for a site. We find a site on the 2nd island due south of the portage camp site #891. I love island sites and this one didn’t disappoint. Nice shade as well as large boulders on the shore to dry out our equipment. The first thing I do is dig out a pair of dry socks. Nothing beats that feeling. We set up camp as I get the fire going.

It’s my night for dinner; I am for the first time trying Rib eye steaks with corn on the cob. I marinated the steaks in Italian dressing 3 days before I left and froze them. They thawed nicely through the course of the day. The only problem was they were too tender at this point. The USFS grill at this campsite gaps were wide and they started to break apart and slip through. I had to finish cooking them in the frying pan. Still meal was wonderful. Looking back the marinade did make for a mess. I will have to try a dry rub next time.

We sit around the fire till about 11:30, there is a full moon so the stars are not as bright. One of the things I learned last year is to bring a book. This year I brought a Tom Clancy novel, The Teeth of the Tiger. I read for about an hour with my headlamp and then turn in.