Thursday, July 28, 2011 Woke early today – out of the tent before 7. Dave cooked up blueberry pancakes with instant coffee. We’ve decided that we need to get a coffee maker. I’m willing to carry the extra weight in the kitchen pack to enjoy real brewed coffee in the BW. The weather forecast was excellent (we brought a pocket-sized weather radio): clear skies and temps around 80 degrees. Fair weather cumulus clouds dotted the sky, moving east with the light wind.

After cleaning up breakfast, we packed the rods, some baits, our trail lunch (granola bars, gorp and summer sausage) and headed toward the 35 rod portage at the east end of Cummings. Destination: Coxey Pond. Along the way, we spotted an eagle’s nest on the south shore. A juvenile eagle was calling from the nest while another bird (presumably an adult) perched on a branch next to the nest.

The 35 rod portage was reasonable with a swampy/rocky put in on the Korb River side. The river was full of vegetation – spatterdock, water lilies and a football shaped leaf with a small red flower called watershield. We also spotted the flowers of pitcher plants on the boggy sides of the river. There’s something about paddling the river that makes us go silent. I’m always expecting a moose to be just around the bend. We could see the broken path through the vegetation, but it was thick. We refer to this type of paddling as being in a “salad shooter”.

As we worked our way to the northeast, we noticed the landing for the 45 rod portage into Silaca Lake. The river seemed to be navigable up ahead, so we forged on. SEEMED is the word to take note of. Just around the bend we ran into a beaver dam. Princess Audrey stayed in the canoe while we pulled over. We didn’t go far and then it was a downed log requiring a pull-over. I stepped out onto the log and started to pull, but lost my footing and one leg slipped into the river. I sunk into the muck up to my butt cheek. Thankfully I ended up in a sitting position with one leg still on the log and I didn’t lose my shoe pulling my leg out.

The bog seemed to invade the river and close in on the channel. It made paddling very difficult. Just as we could see the opening to Silaca Lake, a boulder garden appeared before us – a final obstacle. Dave navigated the canoe through the boulders while Audrey and I took the high road. Let me just say, that 45 rod portage was there for a reason. Hindsight is 20/20 and at least that little excursion gave us something to write about.

Back in the canoe, we were able to appreciate the beauty of Silaca Lake. The only campsite was occupied – it’s easy to see why. It was around this time that I got that sinking feeling in my gut. I realized that in our haste to start our day trip, we forgot to hang our food pack! Worst case scenario, we return to a ripped up mess and have to pack up and head out early. No sense worrying about it now. Audrey threw out a line and trolled the lake, but no luck.

The 45 rod portage into Coxey Pond started out muddy and swampy. Dave scouted out the portage to give us the report as Audrey was apprehensive and mom did not want to carry her. The report was that the worst of the trail was right there in the first 5 rods. He also talked with a young couple sitting at the end of the portage, presumably the people camping on Silaca. Audrey and I put on our big girl pants and started the trek over the rocks and mud. Someone had cut an alternate path to the left, up an abrupt hill, to avoid a large puddle on the trail. Dave somehow managed to get the canoe up and down the hill through the brush. Once we got to Coxey, we realized it was definitely worth the trip.

Dave and I were surprised by these two lakes – both are a mix of large rocks, hills and some lowland areas. We ate lunch at the portage and enjoyed the breeze. The couple Dave had met was paddling the eastern section of the lake and was completely out of sight. After lunch we drift fished the western part of Coxey. The wind had picked up quite a bit from earlier. Dave caught a 12” smallie using Gulp Alive. Audrey and I got skunked. After fishing, we paddled the eastern section, checking out some large boulders that looked like someone had stacked them on shore. Who and how, we can only guess. The stronger wind made the paddle back to the portage a bit tougher. We stopped at the only campsite on Coxey (basically it’s next to the portage) to check out the facilities. This would be a great spot to return to and camp someday!

We had our gear assignments down to a science now. We each grabbed what we needed to carry and made our way toward Silaca. This time, Dave decided to forego the path up and down the hill and just trudge through the giant puddle. He said that was definitely the way to go and the water was only up to his mid-calf. This trip was also his first using a tump that he rigged up. That weight on his head really helped him since it took the weight off his shoulders and he felt more in control of the canoe while portaging. The 45 rod portage from Silaca to the Korb River was definitely the way to go.

On the river, we noticed an interesting plant that seemed to thrive on the edge of the bog and especially on the exposed tops of submerged logs. It’s red with spiky stems holding small yellow flowers. If you know what it is, please post a message. If the technology cooperates, there will be a photo of this plant here somewhere!

We retraced our path back to Cummings and paddled harder now against the west wind. We arrived back at camp to find our food pack in one piece. Whew! A swim in the lake cooled us down. Audrey and I played in the sand. She and I constructed critter houses by burying our feet in the sand and then shimmying our feet out, leaving caves behind. She used found materials to decorate them and rocks to shore up the water side.

An early dinner was in order so we could spend more of our evening time fishing and relaxing. Dave cooked up turkey casserole with mashed taters, pan-fried summer sausage and fryin’ pan bread. We topped it off with coffee/hot cocoa. After letting that settle, we devoured a Mountain House raspberry crumble (probably the easiest and best tasting dessert we’ve ever had in the BW).

Tonight, after cleaning camp and fishing, we were a little late getting into the tent. Somehow we managed to brush all the skeeters off before getting in the tent. Our headlamp game of Moose Farkel ended with Audrey spanking her parents. She had some hot little hands rolling the dice. Just as we settling into our sleeping bags and turned out the light, something came out of the brush behind our tent. It didn’t really have any vocalizations, but it seemed to be lumbering around and circled our tent. Dave said it sounded like it was dragging our pack through the camp. It quickly moved off in the direction of the lake and was gone. We grabbed the lamp and checked the campsite. Nothing was disturbed. Whatever it was, it wasn’t interested in our food or anything else. It wasn’t really a land animal because it seemed to struggle to get around. It was dragging something (a tail). The fact that it disappeared so quickly led us to reason that it had to be a water animal of some type. Otter? Beaver? I quote Dave: “Never a dull moment in the BWCA.” The next morning, Audrey drew a picture of me looking out the door of the tent.