Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Croixboy's First Solo
by croixboy96

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 07/17/2011
Entry Point: Meeds Lake (EP 48)
Exit Point: Lizz and Swamp Lakes (EP 47)  
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 1
Day 3 of 4
7/19/2011 - Day 3 - Relax Day (Horseshoe - Caribou- 2.5 miles)

I would guess it was 6 in the morning when I woke up. It wasn’t too hot yet so I made some coffee and had beef jerky for breakfast, tried some fishing, and took some pictures. I was feeling a little better than the evening before so I got motivated to pack up camp and paddle to a different campsite. I figured I would put myself closer to my exit to make my last day easier, and that turned out to be a really good idea. More on that later.

I paddled my way back to the north end of Horseshoe where I portaged back to Caribou and settled on a site along the north shore of that lake.

I contemplated not even setting up my tent and sleeping in the hammock because it was so comfortable laying in it and relaxing, but I thought the bugs would be too bad. It didn’t even cross my mind that it could rain. When the heat of the afternoon began to warm things up, I just felt like laying in the shade again. A few times, I just sat in the water just off the shore of camp to cool down on more than one occasion. It felt wonderful and I had tons of energy and motivation for about a half-hour after each time before I would get hot and lazy again. I used these opportunities to fish, cook dinner, and set up the tent. I paddled out in front of camp and dropped a line in the water. I caught a small northern. A little too small to eat, so I let it go.

Watched a beautiful sunset this night. Never found a suitable tree to hang the food pack, despite hiking around and looking so I just stashed it near the shoreline. Went to bed and slept really well until I woke up to a brilliant light show in the sky around my tent. This went on for an hour or so and I managed to fall back to sleep before I was awoken by some very close strikes and some very heavy rainfall. It was a full blown thunderstorm, but I had no worries at this point until I woke up once again, it was still raining and blowing as hard as before, and my feet were wet.