Saturday, July 30, 2011 Our first full day and we have light winds for our trip to Argo. The four mile paddle down McAree was nice with the high cliffs to the west offering a beautiful view. Rebecca Falls is always a pleasure to see. This split waterfall has such an interesting sidestep pattern. Rebecca is one of two falls dumping out of Iron Lake with the other being Bottle Rapids. Most of the water volume is carried by Rebecca but the international border goes through Bottle. I assume this is due to the ease of travel for the fur trade since Bottle requires a single portage from Iron to Lac La Croix, while the Rebecca route would mean two additional portages at McAree Rapids and Brewers Rapids. Lac La Croix is also a lake with two exits... one being the Namakan and the other the Loon River. Again, the Namakan carries the vast majority of the water but with some dangerous rapids and waterfalls to manage. I have not been down the Loon River but assume it was a safer route for the fur trade.

There was a group of 3 canoes admiring the falls as we approached. One of the canoes was in the tail wash of the falls oblivious to the danger of the hydraulic back current. I told my daughter at the bow to watch how the fast water at the bottom of the falls will pull that lead boat in quickly and possibly swamp them at the base of the falls. They caught themselves just before water topped the gunnels, avoiding a tragedy since neither were wearing life jackets. They did warn the other two canoes to stay clear of the tailrace. I have fished below these falls before and know there is a fairly deep hole below them. With the volume of water coming off the falls, the hydraulic would more than likely keep them under if they went in.

Our portage at Rebecca Falls puts us on Iron Lake and the international border route. As expected, we ran into a fair amount of traffic on the lake and at the Curtain Falls Portage. One advantage of Quetico travel is generally fewer people but, as many of you know, the border route is popular with both parks.

The Curtain Falls Portage is on the US side so ,at the top of the falls, we headed across Crooked Lake to the Siobhan River and Roland Lakes Chain. There are two ways to get to Argo from Crooked. We felt the river route would be a bit more interesting compared to the single 160 rod portage which dumps you in at the south end of Argo. One cool thing about the river route is the portage between Middle Roland and Roland Lakes. Here, the river has a series of falls which form wonderful pools for a relaxing dip after a hard day of paddling. As you approach Argo, the Siobhan seems to get clearer. The last 1/4 mile is especially nice. We dumped into Argo and canoed across to the large campsite adjacent to the portage to Darky.

The campsite has an upper area and lower area which was nice for our two tent party. Adjacent to the lower site is a beautiful sand beach. For those who have been to Argo, you already know what a special lake this is with a scenic shoreline and water clarity that is awesome. After a long day of paddling, we enjoyed a nice dinner and swim.