Tuesday, September 29, 2009 It's still fairly windy in the morning but the clouds are parting and it looks like the sun is going to shine. An oatmeal breakfast is consumed slowly and camp is broke as the wind lessens and sun strengthens. Our paddle for Frost Lake starts at about 10:30. It turns into a sunny, crisp Fall day and the remaining Northeast breeze quartering from our rear makes the trip across Long Island fairly quick. We see a tandem canoe headed East and another group breaking camp. Leaving the Southwest corner of Long Island Lake, the Long Island River leads us to Gordon Lake and the 140 rod portage to Unload Lake. This is a enjoyable portage with nice scenery, a few grouse, moose tracks and some interesting fungi.
It's a short hop from Unload to Frost and we paddle along the North shore inspecting campsites as we go. All are empty and we settle on the far North site with the big sand beach. The Souris River slides into the sand at 2:00 and we take advantage of the sun shining on the beach to hang all the damp gear and get things dried out and reorganized. The beach is the highlight of this site that sits tucked into the base of a ridge. There is a nice firepit area, decent tent space and a large cedar grove to the East. The beach campsite to the East would make a better summer site but this one seems cozier for late September. After camp is set, Ted and I take a little paddle and troll some spoons along some deep edges in search of Lake Trout. It's an iffy time of year to fish and the erratic weather hasn't helped us out either. Back at camp, we empty the clothesline, and make some spaghetti and bake some cheesebread in the reflector oven. It was a gorgeous autumn afternoon but the night is going to be calm and cold. The weather radio is calling for heavy frost warnings. We sit close to the fire as the moon shines across Frost Lake, the second half of our namesake lakes.