Monday, June 06, 2011:
Sturgeon Lake to Camel Lake, via Heron Bay, Fred, Cutty Creek, Nan, & Creek. (About 7.5 miles) 5 portages of 460m., 8 rods, 8 rods, 4 rods, 4 rods. (Note: all portages are on the LEFT heading upstream. Portages shown in rods are from my marked up old Fisher map.)

It rained during the night (I think from around 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.) and we didn’t get up until 7:30. After hot coffee/tea and some quick Rice Krispies breakfast bars, we packed up everything wet and were on the water at 9:20. By that time all was clear and calm as we paddled east. I was surprised by how fast we made it to where we could see up Sturgeon Narrows to the north and therefore where we turned south towards Heron Bay. From this point on, everything would be new territory for us both.
It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky and getting pretty warm when we entered Heron Bay and headed south towards the “white rock” that sits off the opening to Fred Lake. I told Joe it looked man-made, like maybe a construction site potty, from a distance. Once into Fred, I mistakenly had us turn sharply to the right (south) before I realized that I was looking at Allan Creek on the map instead of Cutty Creek. We corrected our course and were soon landing on the beach where the first portage begins at the campsite and the creek flows into Fred. An eagle greeted us by soaring around above the creek outflow!
We had lunch (summer sausage/cheese/crackers) at the beach, located the portage trail, and took some photos before heading on. Moose had apparently been walking up and down the beach recently. The portage started out easy with a narrow but well-defined trail for a couple hundred yards but then it was boulder fields, downed trees and clutchy/grabby shrubbery after that. This trail would be perfect for a skinny person who was only four feet tall, maybe. (Note: This was more often than not the case on all portages going up Cutty Creek.)
We decided to take the 460m. portage from the campsite because we did not intend to fish the creek mouth. In doing so, we may have avoided a beaver dam because at one point on the portage we saw a sizable looking pond that seemed unnatural. After the return trip and our second carry we could finally paddle Cutty Creek, which I had looked forward to for months! All too quickly (I thought) we had the 8-rod portage where the so-called “false portage” is located. At first we didn’t even see it but then Joe noticed a faint trail heading up to our far left and that there were rocks and crossed logs lying across it for a “warning.”
Today’s stretch of Cutty Creek was wide and mostly deep except at the put-ins/takeouts and a couple of places where we had to get out for beaver work. We saw emerging plants and a few lily pads blooming. We jumped up many ducks -- mostly Mergansers -- and saw beaver, otter or some other animal “trails” all along the way. Nearing Nan Lake there were two more short portages and a ridiculously short paddle. We saw NO discernible human footprints or other signs on portages.
When we arrived at Nan Lake -- a pretty lake that seemed totally isolated from the world – I told Joe I’d bet you’d see moose and/or hear wolf if you could camp on Nan. We paddled up more creek then took the portage into Camel. Here we knew there were at least two “decent” campsites and expected that one or both would be vacant based on having not seen anyone since day one. Sure enough, both were open and we took the highly rated southern site at around 3:30 p.m. making for a tough but rewarding six-hour day of paddling/portaging.
This site had good canoe access, a small but serviceable fireplace, lots of pines and soft duff, and you could easily put up 4-5 tents in various spots, although some were only so-so. There were ample tarp opportunities, so unlike last night we set up the tarp right away. We soon were harassed by the flies and fewer but nuisance mosquitoes. We got the tent up next and then while I messed about at the fireplace, Joe fished off the west end of camp. I soon heard Joe holler and went to look. He’d caught a nice walleye. (And then another.)
About 4:30 a solo paddler with a dog came within earshot from the east and asked if the other campsite was open. We said it was and he paddled towards it as we remarked how late it was getting and how we’d seen no one else for over two days. We decided to have Joe’s walleyes and some fry bread for supper, so we paddled to a nearby rocky “island” (about the size of six canoes) and filleted them and sank their remains. We were very careful, using soap and spare plastic bags, to not bring anything other than the fillets back to camp. Then we had a delicious fish fry and followed it up with a skillet of Cache Lake fry bread washed down with fruit-flavored lake water.
The day had gotten cloudier and breezier all afternoon and by evening it was still breezy. With no NOAA reception on the radio, I had watched my watch barometer fall all day to 28.91, then level out and rise a little to 28.95. We both had “baths” and as the day wound down, we talked about what we’d seen and guessed about tomorrow’s weather and how far we’d get. While we were sitting on the log at the fire pit about 24” apart, a hummingbird came in from behind and hovered between us, head high! I actually never saw or heard it and at first thought Joe was pulling my leg, but he convinced me otherwise.
We sat very quietly for a while hoping for a return but there was none. After sundown, Joe made a small fire for bug repelling and ambiance; we had cigars and our daily ration of “honey” and stayed up long enough to see the first stars become visible. Then we straightened up, brushed teeth, stored gear under the tarp and hit the tent. Today was all new territory for us and the most interesting day of the trip so far!