By this time, the microburst of wind that had flipped them was gone. The wind hand completely died down and was a non issue. While Wayne_E and Caleb_E rested in the bottom of the canoe, GadgetMan and I went to gather their paddles, and what other gear we could find. Unfortunately, that would not be too much. They both lost their rain gear. They also lost a fishing knife, a fishing rod, and some loose items in the bottom of the canoe. It could have been a lot worse.

Back in camp, we got a roaring fire going, the other guys were already there, and we talked about what had just happened. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

No one wanted to go back out so we sat around under the tarp and talked about the trip.

For dinner, I made smothered chicken.

Day 9: Saturday, May 28th, 2010 Going Home

As with all my trips, I could easily stay another week, but I was ready to leave. On base camp type trips, we setup a ton of gear, and have a ton of gear to take down. The more you can dismantle and pack up the night before, the easier it is to leave it the morning. As usual, I didn’t break down anything the night before.

I was up bright and early, probably around 5:00am, and got the two pots of coffee going quickly. I also made sure all the dishes and pans were in one area, and were all accounted for. As with most mornings, everyone was responsible for their own breakfast. This morning was no different. I did have everyone make sure they cleaned whatever they used, and put it back where they got it. This way everything in that part of camp was accounted for.

Breakdown took about an hour or so. And we were on the water by 7:30am.

It took us about 2 hours to paddle to Washington Island for our pickup.

Since we were about 3 hours early, we decided to have a little fishing tourney. No on really knows who won that particular event, but it was not the two seasoned paddlers.

Our tow arrived on time and we headed back to CBO, where a nice cold beer and a warm shower are always welcomed. It took us a little longer getting stuff packed back on the trailer and hitting the road, but that was also expected.

Around 6:00pm we left CBO, and headed into Ely for dinner at the Chocolate Moose, and some shopping around the local shops. After a few hours of shopping, we were on the road by 8:00pm. A few hours down the road, we stopped in Superior to get a couple 6 packs of Moose Drool beer….One for me, and one for a friend back in Louisville.

This is where I usually say the drive home was long and uneventful. Well this time, the drive home was very long and event filled.

At around 2:00am, we blew a tire near Madison Wisconsin. Upon further inspection, it was determined by the engineers in our crew that the blown tire was the least of our worries. After removing the tire, we found that not only had we blown the tire, but we also broke a leaf spring. The spring was completely broke in half and there was no way this trailer was going anywhere without a replacement.

We jacked up the trailer, removed the wheel and the broken leaf spring and headed into Madison. Nothing was open so we had to wait nearly 8 hours until some shops would start to open. Understand it was Sunday, Memorial Day weekend. The chances of finding anyone open were slim to none.

We found many stores open but none that had a replacement spring, or the parts to fix it. On a suggestion from a guy at Harbor Freight, we headed to Farm Fleet. At Farm Fleet we found a leaf spring, but didn’t think it would work. We also found the parts we though could be used to fix the trailer, but we still were not 100% sure that would work. Also, we found a store in Milwaukee that made the trailer and had the springs that should work on the trailer. The guy I talked to in Milwaukee was 90% sure he had the right parts. 90% and 150 miles round trip didn’t sound like a good choice.

At Farm Fleet a friend of a friend in another department knew a guy whose uncle built trailers. To make a long story short….we found that guy, got his phone number, made some arrangements, and went to his shop to get the spring fixed. His place in Verona, WI is named Double D Services.

At his shop he took a single leaf spring and used it to bolt together our broken leaf spring. Not the greatest fix, but something that should work. This is also the fix we had thought about doing while we were at Farm Fleet, but we had no tools to even try to pull that off.

We paid the man……..$50 bucks, and were back on our way to fix the trailer, which was on the highway 30 miles down the road.

At the trailer, we put the broken leaf spring and tire back on the trailer. At this time, the leaf on the other side broke. Not completely, but it broke enough to make us think twice about driving 600 miles on it. We made a quick call back to Double D, and it was suggested that we limp the trailer back to his shop, where he would meet us again and fix the other leaf spring.

We drove the trailer back to his shop.

Once we arrived at Double D Services, he decided to replace both leaf springs with new springs. That was a better solution than trying to fix two broken springs, and risking another breakdown.

All told, we spent about 250 bucks on the trailer. By 8:00pm EST, we were back on the road, and headed to Louisville.

Final Thoughts:

This was yet another GREAT trip.

Everyone got along good, there were no blowups, and pretty much everyone helped out around camp.

Camp life is so much better when the camp chores are shared. Everyone enjoys the food, everyone enjoys the fire, and everyone enjoys having water at camp all the time.

All of those things take planning and effort to pull off. When one person is doing it all, it makes for a painful camp life.

On this trip, even though 4 guys were rookies and really had not been on this type of trip before, all the camp chores were shared across the group.

Things I learned this trip:

• These guys are GREAT to be around and will be invited again. • Base Camp water filters are GREAT. • Mountain House veggies and eggs are GREAT • Fry the bacon in a little oil. • Frozen Steaks and Veggies will keep for 3 days in a cooler in the shade • Go with the flow. SHIT happens. Broken rods, broken trailers, and flat tires…….whatever. • I’m no longer a Robo-fisherman. I’m a Camper. And I’m fine with that. • You can never have too much food.