Saturday, February 04, 2012

Yet another glorious day in the works. John cooks us a scrambled egg, sausage, & onion breakfast in the dutch oven.

Our original plan was to camp up on Gogebic lake for a couple of days. Overloaded as we were, that wasn't a realistic goal. But, we still wanted to get up there and see what it was all about and try some fishing. So we loaded up one sled with some fishing gear, food for lunch & snacking, first aid kit, my CCS tarp as an emergency shelter, as well as some extra clothes, hats, mittens etc.

It was another bright sunshiny day as we embarked. Following our track back across West Pike made for very easy travel.

Once we hit the woods and the portage trail we made an interesting discovery. We were not alone! There were fresh wolf prints over the top of our sled tracks made less than 24 hours before. The trail out of West Pike has a prolonged gradual climb until it intersects with the Border Route Trail. Yesterday Chad had started down, breaking trail until he turned back at the bridge over the small creek running through there. From here on we would have to break trail for ourselves. For the first time this trip I would use my snowshoes.

I thought we might have some trouble locating just where the trail ran? But, quickly realized that there were already some wolf & bobcat tracks leading the way. Back home Shawn runs a trap line and was quick to point out the various tracks we encountered along the way. They included fisher, pine marten, bobcat, wolf, deer, as well as rabbit & squirrel. Really interesting seeing those as well as other interesting winter phenomena along the way up to Gogebic lake.

Even though it was only midday and barely a cloud in the sky? There were spots along the way that were so sheltered by the large tree canopy that it seemed as if it were already evening. As we proceeded up the trail everyone conceded that we had made the right choice by not trying to bring all 4 of our loaded sleds up here yesterday. As it was, John & Mark worked the sled up the hill while Shawn & I broke trail.

We passed by what appeared to be an intersection in the trail. There seemed to be a trail heading back towards West Pike. Decided to investigate this further upon our return.

It was definitely a workout getting up there. But, I don't believe anyone was overly exhausted? As we emerged from the snow laden forest, our eyes beheld the sublime spectacle of Gogebic lake in pristine condition with a perfectly smooth, unblemished skin of snow covering her watery underbelly. Immediately the question was posed, "I wonder how many people have gotten to see this lake in the winter?"

It really had a mountainous feel to it & reminded me of Gadwall lake Vickie & I had visited last spring. It was at this moment that (at least) I had the inevitable eternal struggle. Leave this pristine wintery scene untouched and untrodden, or ......We cut a swath across the lake looking for a suitable opening for our impromptu temporary base camp.

We headed west down the lake and found a spot with a nice sitting log right along the shoreline. Figured it was good a place as any to punch a few holes. We started near shore and worked our way out augering a half dozen holes or so. We hung out for about 3 hours. There's only one word needed to describe the fishing. Slow. But, at least by the end of the day, both Mark & I could claim to have each caught our first brook trout through the ice. Helped make the day all the more rewarding and I, for one, savored every moment on Gogebic.

It goes without saying that I wish we coulda spent more time up here. But it was getting late and we wanted to get to West Pike, as no one wanted to have to walk back through the woods in the dark.

It didn't take long to throw things back together on the tobaggon. We quickly made it back to the intersection and John went ahead to scout it out. He returned saying it headed straight for West Pike. A shortcut! I had heard a little about this but, it was not shown on any map I'd seen. The one caveat of this shortcut was that it was almost straight downhill. John & I broke trail. Even though my snowshoes had crampons, it was still more like downhill skiing than snowshoeing. Mark & Shawn did a masterful job of easing the tobaggon down the hill without it getting away on them.

Needless to say, we saved a gob of time using this route. But, I couldn't imagine using it going the other way. At least not with a loaded tobaggon.

The decision was made to just cut straight across the bay, versus us walking all the way around the shoreline back to our established trail.

The snow was a little deeper here. But, was still very manageable. As we approached the middle of the lake slush appeared and began to get deeper. Wound up being nothing too serious. Maybe 3-4 inches worth??? And it tapered off as we closed in on the north shore. 

We gathered some birch firewood on the way back to camp. Mark reasoned that the coals from the birch would last longer than those from the cedar & pine we had back in camp. Which would make cooking his dessert in the dutch oven easier.

Once back in camp I realized I no longer had the water bottle I had brought along to Gogebic. I walked back to where we gathered the firewood but returned empty handed. I must've set it down on the trail back from Gogebic? I had an extra bottle in camp so it wasn't really that big of a deal. We'd be heading out tomorrow back towards Clearwater and I figured I could get an early start and check that trail tomorrow.

Shawn had a close call while using my hatchet. While trying to split up some firewood it got away on him. He wasn't used to the light Gerber handle & we nearly had a full blown emergency. Fortunately he wasn't injured at all.

As already stated, fishing today wasn't fast 'n' furious. Never the less Mark & I celebrated our success of each having caught our first salvelinus fontinalis (brook trout) through the ice.

John set about preparing a delicious venison, onion, & bacon supper. Shortly there after Mark made his famous dessert. Once again, it wound up being a little runny. But, as usual, it tasted great. And there was even some left over to top our oatmeal in the morning.

I probably should've changed my socks as soon as we got back to camp? As the sun went down and I was becoming less active sitting around camp, for the first time, my feet were getting a little cold. Not because snow or water had gotten into my boots. Working as we did to get up to Gogebic in the very mild (for winter) temperatures caused me to sweat. While I just took off my hat or opened up my shirt to cool the rest of my body, I had neglected monitoring my feet. They were perfectly fine as long as I was active. But, once becoming sedintary back in camp they cooled considerably. Lesson learned.

West Pike Lake, Gogebic Lake