Mugwump PMA -- A Fine & Pleasant Misery
by Rob Johnson
When the wind had not died down by noon we ate a quick lunch of humus and decided to finish the day fishing Mueller from the canoe. Before we left we added water to the Ziplocs containing our veggies for the night. We started on the far east side of the lake near the falls. HC had brought a mesh bag from his Thanksgiving turkey that we filled with rocks and used as a drift anchor. He was using the traditional red/white Daredevil and I was using a deep diving Rapala. We also had a 3rd pole in the water with some crawlers on a slip bobber.
We had gotten just west of the falls, but not far enough to reach the section of shallows, when we started catching tiny perch on the bobber rig. Aha! I switched over to a perch colored Rapala and in a couple of casts had our first pike of the day.
We let the wind work us to the west end of the lake. The little bay in the northwest corner was the most productive. We ended up catching a couple of pike each and keeping 2 for dinner. Along the way we also saw our beaver friends again. There were 2 or 3 (we couldn’t be sure) of them swimming near the north shore.
No trophy fish but we had dinner and it felt good just to be out on the water. When we got to shore we immediately set out to clean the fish. As mentioned above, HC is the fillet expert. All I could add was skinning the fillets once he got them off the fish. HC had discovered the night before that bent shaft paddles over a log made a really nice fish cleaning station. Two northerns yielded a whole lot of fish. In fact, we had so much fish that we skipped the instant red potatoes so that we could eat more of the fish.
We had a campfire that night but kept it smaller due to the wind. Once again our star gazing was stymied by clouds. The day ended with our typical nightcap.
DAY 7 -- FRIDAY -- GETTING A JUMP ON THE TREK OUT
Our original plan, had we stayed in the PMA had been to wait until Saturday then make a big push out. Based on what we had experienced so far we opted to head closer to our take-out point a day early. We were still planning on leaving via the 450 rod portage from Tuscarora Lake and we figured it would be much easier if we tackled that while we were fresh. So our goal for Friday was to make it all the way to Tuscarora Lake. At the very least, we wanted to make it to Crooked Lake.
We woke up to another windy morning. So windy, that as we ate our breakfast we toyed with the idea of staying put. But then things started to quiet down so we decided to break camp. By the time we pushed off with the canoe fully loaded there was no wind at all. In fact, as we paddled across Gabi we were able to stop right in the middle on perfectly flat water. What a difference from our last experience with Gabi.
Our revised route for departure, now that we weren’t coming from Van Lake, was: Mueller - Agamok - Gabi - Peter - French - Fern - Gillis - Crooked - Owl - Tuscarora. We thought about going through Virgin, West Fern and Powell because we had already seen all of Peter but decided to pass those up in the name of less time and less wear and tear on our feet. We did add Fern even though we could have gone exclusively through Gillis. Our plan meant we would only have Missing Link and Round for our final day.
One of the things that we hadn’t really noticed on our first trip through Peter that we picked up on this time was that the WORST campsite in all of the Bdub now resides on that lake. I so wish we had taken a picture but we didn’t. The middle campsite on the north shore of Peter consists of a fire grate on top of a rock…nothing else. When we say nothing…we really mean NOTHING. Because of the burn there isn’t a single tree within a mile of the campsite. Heck there aren’t even some burned out skeletons of trees that you could hang a tarp from. Even on the busiest day of the year in the Bdub I can’t imagine anyone choosing that site.
We were glad to have the flat water for paddling but it really got hot that day. The air was so humid and so still that rocks in the shade actually had condensation on them. Our hats repeatedly got dunked into the water in an effort to stay cool.
The heat got to me the worst on the portage from Peter into French = 150 rods without a single spot of shade. I know it is hard to believe that there wasn’t some shade around but the burn had completely wiped out all trees and the tallest new foliage was only shoulder high. To make matters worse, Big Bastard was not cooperating. Now that we were getting in and out of the canoe, the duffle and the food pack had to be unlashed each time they were stowed and lashed again each time we portaged. For some reason I just couldn’t get them lashed together well and had a heck of a time getting them to my shoulders. By the time we reached the other end I knew I was risking overheating. I sat down in the water and waited to cool down before we reloaded the canoe. I will take the length of the Tuscarora portage over the heat of the Peter portage any day.
The portage into Crooked is nice. The ruins of the old cabin and the stream nearby make for some good scenery. More than anything I was just glad to be back in the shade again. I was actually feeling a bit invigorated. HC on the other hand was really starting to feel “the agony of de-feet” again. We had a little trouble finding the portage out of Owl. I don’t think it is a particularly hard portage to find, we just didn’t look in the correct spot on the lake at first.
We were happy when we got to Tuscarora. The breeze was starting to pick up again as we headed out onto what is actually a pretty big lake. The campsite next to the Owl portage looked nice and it was open but we had heard that the island campsite was really nice so we decided to push on. Unfortunately, the island campsite was taken. There is another campsite just east of the island on the north shore of the lake but we wanted something on a point or an island in the hopes that the breeze would keep the bugs at bay. The next site heading east shows up on the map as being on a point but it is a small site carved into the forest with no chance of a breeze so we pushed on some more to the campsite on the point near the start of the Missing Link portage.
It is an incredible campsite and it was open. Low sloping rocks make for easy canoe landings. There is even a second set of rocks just to the north of the site that function as kind of a “beach annex” for the site. The low sloping rocks stop at just the right depth to make them perfect for swimming. Up on the site the rocky point has a 100 different great places to sit and enjoy the scenery including some spots that feel just great on a weary back. The wind was whipping pretty good across the rocky point which also has the fire pit so you could sit there without being bothered by bugs. There are at least four different tent pads to chose from. There is one out on the rocky point but it is in the wind. Just off of the point you go 10 paces into the trees and you find another tent pad. It is amazing how close this pad is to the windy point but you can barely even tell the wind is blowing there. That spot is wide enough that you could easily fit two tents. The final tent pad is on the trail to the latrine. The advantage that the last pad has is that it is grassy instead of dirt and it is on higher ground so storm water isn’t a problem. We opted for the dirt tent pad just inside the trees. We set up our tarp in the second tent pad in that area. We also ended up hauling our canoe in there because it got so windy out on the point.
There are trails everywhere leading away from the rocky point that would be really fun for kids to explore. We discovered the reason for all those trails is finding firewood. It stands to reason a site that nice (it is the nicest site I have stayed on anywhere let alone in the BWCAW) would get used a lot so firewood was a little hard to come by. Being close to one of the longest portages in the Bdub also helps to explain its popularity. Luckily, someone had left some logs already cut for us so all we needed to do was put that hatchet to use splitting them and then find a little kindling.
Given how still and hot the day had started we had really hoped this would be our starry night. But on the way to Tuscarora we saw the thunderheads building. We even saw a disc shaped lenticular cloud that you usually don’t see anywhere but in the mountains. Given how hot and humid it had been and how windy it was getting we knew we were primed for a doozy of a storm.
We had hoped to get some trout fishing in but it was getting late and the wind was really picking up. We had just finished our dinner of cheese tortellini with a spicy red sauce and chicken when the lightening started. It looked like it might stay to the south and east of us but we made preparations anyway. All the gear was stored in the protected area around the tent pad. Rather than hang a tarp in the trees we lashed the two tarps together on the ground like a big gear burrito. That done, the storm still looked to be holding off to the south so we decided to go ahead with the campfire. We grabbed only the things we needed for the fire = the last of our vodka, our marshmallows, the last of our newspaper for fire starter, and some flavor mixes for our water.
HC got the fire going and once it was lit the wind acted like a bellows and kept it burning brightly. We were just getting ready to prepare our cocktails for our final night in the Bdub when the rain started to fall. We stashed the few things we had taken out, downed our ration of Advil, and headed to the sleeping bags.
DAY 8 -- SATURDAY -- THE SAD END
We awoke to find the storm had passed but the wind was still very strong. Tuscarora Lake had white caps crashing into our shore. If we had not stayed on this particular campsite I’m not sure that we would have braved those waters to get here. It also meant that our plan of getting some early morning fishing in before we broke camp would not happen.
Given how close we were to our exit point we were in no hurry that morning. We had a nice breakfast of blueberry pancakes (the blueberries were in the mix not ripe on the bushes). There were some young chipmunk siblings who were very persistent about helping us with breakfast. Despite repeated shooing they kept coming back. Finally, when we sat down to enjoy our meal they saw their chance to grab a little snack. HC got a great photo of one of them in our frying pan nibbling on a pancake morsel.
The dishes were simply rinsed instead of washed because we knew they would soon be in a dishwasher back home. Camp was folded up and stuffed into sacks one last time. Given how hard the trip had been I wondered if I would be happy or sad when this moment came. The answer was sad.
The big waves hitting the canoe landing had us looking for an alternative place to launch the canoe. Our paddling would start with a small stretch of rough water until we were able to duck into the lee of the island just a little off shore. The further we went north along our own shore line the shorter that distance of rough water got and the smaller the waves crashing on shore got. The beach annex that I mentioned earlier was OK but the rocks at the very north end of there were even better so that is where we launched from even though we had to stand in deeper water to do it.
Very quickly we were at the start of the portage that, depending on which map you look at is 400 rods +/- 50 rods or so. (BWCA.com) There are many threads that discuss this portage and the consensus seemed to be that it was long but really not that bad. It was described as rolling up and down a little but nothing too tough. It was also stated that it was more difficult going our direction = Tuscarora into Missing Link, than it was the other way. Given what we had done on the Kek trail and the not-so-bad descriptions I had read, I was thinking this would be a piece of cake. So you can imagine my surprise when the trail almost immediately inclined sharply up through a rock garden. OK, by Kek trail standards this was easy but by normal Bdub portage standards this thing had rocks, muck, inclines, and oh yeah…more than a mile length. I know there are some rougher terrains to climb through on some portages but this one certainly didn’t strike me as easy.
We found the portage into Round and made short work of it. Heck, 138 rods was short now by our standards. We stopped at the sign along the portage to take our pictures as we left the BWCAW. When we got to the end of the portage we could see Tuscarora Lodge on the other end of Round Lake. We went to climb into the canoe and realized that I had left the seat cushion on the other end of the portage. Neither HC nor I was doing real well with remembering things on the trail that day. I went back to get it and 20 minutes later we were on our way.
During the last bit of portaging we discussed how interesting it was to be completely cut off from communication with the outside world. For all we knew China had invaded and the State of Minnesota decided to shut down (we were half right). We would very soon realize the downside of not being in communication.
We finally started our trek across the last lake of our adventure. Round Lake doesn’t seem that big but there were definitely white caps to contend with. Luckily the wind was at our backs but even when we were both paddling hard on the same side of the canoe we struggled to keep the bow downwind. HC hates to lose momentum by ruddering but as we started to get parallel to the waves I pointed out just how embarrassing it would be to capsize on Round Lake. He agreed and brought us about. Our adventure was coming to an end as we finally pulled up to the landing at Tuscarora Lodge.
With rollers crashing onto shore we unloaded the packs and hauled the canoe up to a grassy area. Our plan was to unpack, grab a nice long shower, maybe hit the outpost, then head back for a leisurely drive into Grand Marais for dinner. All that changed when one of the Tuscarora staff delivered a message. HC’s mom had called and he needed to call back immediately. The message was 4 days old.
We quickly changed our pace. Gear was just thrown into the vehicle = it could be sorted later. We still took showers but there would be no dwelling in the warm water today.
When we went to the office to close out our tab the news got worse. The complete message was that there had been a death in the family. Then we found out that the storm the previous night had knocked out all phone lines along the Gunflint Trail. Cell phones would not work until you were almost in the Grand Marais city limits. Sue tried to get a satellite phone to work but it wasn’t cooperating. She explained that it some times took twenty minutes to lock onto a satellite and by then we could be well on our way down the Gunflint.
The 50 mile trek from Tuscarora Lodge to Grand Marais always seems to take longer than you think it should but that day it slowed to a crawl. We checked for phone service every couple of miles but Sue was right = we didn’t get service until the saw mill just outside of town.
HC tried several people before he finally got his sister. It had been his grandmother who died and the funeral had been that day. His wife and kids had made the trip but he had missed it. Even now I feel bad about that, but there really wasn’t anything that anyone could have done differently. With the funeral already over there was no longer a reason to rush so we went looking for a place for dinner.
We found a place called Birch Terrace. Once the overly loud band quit playing we had a nice meal on the patio. HC was able to connect with some more of his family.
We didn’t get back on the road until late. Heading south we saw where all of the state parks were closed and talked about how awful it would have been to be kicked out half way through your Fourth of July vacation just because some politicians couldn’t do their job. We were worried about the mudded out piece of construction work and the impact that the shutdown would have but it turned out they had actually gotten the road paved prior to the shutdown = a real feather in their cap given how bad the road had looked 1 week earlier. At midnight we tried stopping in the small town of Spooner, Wisconsin but for some odd reason every hotel was booked. We pushed on through to Eau Claire and stopped for the night at the Antler Motel.
The next morning we got up and had coffee and doughnuts. We got out the Bailey’s and used it for creamer just like we had all trip long. Back in Black River Falls we got to my truck, divvyed up the gear, and I was home before noon.
SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE STILL WITH ME OR SKIPPED AHEAD TO THE ENDING
-Most trips have us talking about the next trip before we are even half way finished with the trip we are on. That didn’t happen this time. This was a hard trip. It met all of those drives for adventure we had and then some. We will be back but we aren’t in a hurry to do any planning just yet. -Trips over 4 nights need to include a satellite phone for reasons that are obvious to us now. -If we ever want to tackle a PMA again WE NEED TO GET LIGHTER. We had roughly 110 pounds of gear and food in addition to the canoe. I now read threads where backpackers shoot for 25 pounds each = half of our weight. I think that should be the target and you should hold to it. -Our next PMA will not be in the Blowdown. -We won’t tackle a PMA for a while. The young’uns will be along for our next few trips so they will be easier…after this trip…we are OK with that. -Long portages no longer seem long compared to the Kek trail. Any trail made for carrying a canoe is better than not having a canoe trail at all -(BWCA.com) I remember reading in a thread how one of the long time veterans enjoyed the portages as much as the lakes. For that reason he liked to double portage when soloing just so he could admire the scenery. At the time I thought he was crazy. Now I get it and I agree. There is a lot to see in the Bdub and it isn’t always visible from a canoe. I would not have realized that if we hadn’t tackled the trip we did. For that I am glad…but I don’t want to do it again anytime soon.
Thanks for reading along, Rob
Donate - BWCA.com