You may recall I considered portaging over to Crooked Lake to get closer to my vehicle for the take-out on Monday. My vehicle was now on Clark Lake and yesterdays wind battle and whipped me pretty good. I decided against staying on Crooked overnight. We broke camp, paddled the short distance up to the landing and parted ways. I drove to my cabin a few hours off and mowed the lawn and tended to some maintenance issues.

Learnin: I resolved to find a better way to store food overnight, etc. I also resolved to learn to better trim a canoe for wind, and also play with canting in the winds, etc. I also made a mental note to practice intentional swamps with a trusted buddy. I'd learned the techniques in a pool years ago, but open water during a blow would be a good experience.

Next time I am going to portage and hit more of the lakes in Sylvania. No, the area isn't as big as BWCA, but it is a stunning wilderness with virgin timber and wildlife galore. The fishing is pretty good too! This was a good experience for a solo trip and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. The lakes weren't overly crowded and the boats on Crooked were respectful. The area is also “big,” but not so big that the inexperienced canoer couldn't get some help if needed. I really desire to go back and perhaps explore some of the interior on a day trip. The trails are wide and the woods are splendid. I'd definitely suggest the area to someone wanting to break their significant other into overnight paddling or bringing the kids for a few nights of fun.

Here is a link to a video I didn't work to hard on with a few short clips. Including my sliders! Just a quick note that flickr.com isn't too friendly with video compression (or I messed it up): Short video [url][/url]