Sunday, May 30, 2010 Kashahpiwi Lake north base camp to south Kashahpiwi campsite

Intermittent strong gusts of wind throughout the night, hazy sunshine, 70's this morning.

When do we get up? Our alarm clock, BA, starts the coffee at 5:30 AM unless it's raining, and somehow always manages to make just enough noise to rule out any risk of drifting back to sleep. SB chefing again —Natural High peasant omelet, pre-cooked bacon and Cache Lake cinnamon raisin bread which makes four generous servings.

At the landing there is a small bird that flits away into the bushes before we can get a good look at it. It has a tunnel-like nest on the ground in a patch of carpet juniper and in the nest are five brown eggs speckled with blue and green. Anchors away at 8:30, trolling most of the length of the lake into a stiff headwind. The water I scoop up in my Sierra cup is crystal clear—the pollen that's been so thick in the water is finally starting to dissipate due to the wind and rain we have had. Smoke in the air again, and the sound of planes and helicopters in the distance.

The south end of Kashahpiwi contains many beautiful bays, reefs and islands and the walleyes are active down here also. J&B have double hook-ups twice right in front of the campsite we choose. Once again we seem to have the whole lake to ourselves. It's warm and back in the cedars where we pitch our tents the mosquitoes are ferocious. The wind starts to build , then it starts to rain, so we head for the tents to escape the mosquitoes and take a nap. Boredom soon sets in so we get up, don rain gear and headnets and set up a rainfly in preparation for a walleye fry. Out of “Shore Lunch” fish breading, we improvise with a package of Cache Lake sweet potato corn bread mix and put together some fish tacos with chopped avocado, lemon juice and lime/chipotle salsa.

The mosquitoes were overbearing and the walleyes beckoned, so late in the afternoon we hit the water, wind and rain notwithstanding, but it was a struggle and we were unfamiliar with the area and spent too much time getting hung up on hidden reefs and fighting the wind and rain to make it very enjoyable.

In the evening we spent some time cleaning out and rearranging the fire pit and enjoyed an excellent campfire with beaver driftwood we had split and transported from our last campsite. The day ended on a high note with Myers rum&Tang cocktails and a cigar (for mosquito prevention only). The sky cleared, the stars came out in force, a brilliant shooting star arced across the sky and lightning bugs were appearing when we went to bed around 11:00.