Saturday, May 28, 2011 Before entering Mudro Lake, there is a nice small meandering creek, which was perfect for me to get accustomed to my rented Q16 Solo canoe. This canoe was exactly what I wanted in a canoe for my first trip to the BW. Yeah it was a beast in the wind, not incredibly efficient, but was very stable and fast enough. Leaving Mudro, I entered Sandpit, then Tin Can Mike, on my way to the Horse River. While on the Horse River, a thunderstorm passed over. This was interesting because I had to get off of the water in the middle of the Horse. Luckily, the storm passed after about thirty minutes. I have to admit, sitting in the woods with a thunderstorm directly overhead is definitely unnerving. After gathering my gear, I set out to find an open campsite. I found an open campsite on Horse Lake, just across from Lower Basswood Falls. On a side note, I would definitely recommend this campsite for a great vantage point for watching the sun come up in the morning. After setting up camp, taking some photos of a rainbow, and eating, I started to fish. My goal for this trip was to take a route that would enable me to get a good sample of the BW, and to catch a walleye, smallmouth, and a northern (the BW hat trick). Well, after fishing for 15 or so minutes I caught a small Northern. This was my first Northern. I fished for a little longer before hitting the hay. So far, the Boundary Waters is everything I hope it would be: boundless beauty, awesome fishing, and a paddler’s paradise.
Day 1 Summary: Mudro-Sandpit-Tin Can Mike-Horse River-Horse Lake I put in around 9:00 a.m. and was at camp around 5:00. There were a few points along the Horse River where I had to portage around some rock gardens that were exposed, due to low water. If I were in my own canoe I would have paddled through the rocks, but I wanted to baby the Kevlar canoe.