Friday, September 23, 2011 West Pike Lake to Clearwater entry (8 miles, 1 portage, 214 rods; low=44 high=52)

Woke up to another gray day but at least it was dry. We again had a short travel day so we were in no hurry. With the cloud cover it was a fairly warm morning and only a very light breeze, we hoped that would last for our paddle across Clearwater Lake. We had breakfast, broke camp, and were on the water shortly before 9:00.

It was a very nice morning for paddling and we made good time. For a 200rd portage, the portage between West Pike and Clearwater isn’t bad. As we reached the Clearwater end on our second trip, we met 2 guys who were heading into West Pike for some fishing. It was at that point that we realized we hadn’t seen anyone the entire time we were on East and West Pike. We had met the 2 fathers with their sons on the portage from John to East Pike and now these guys; that was 3 full days without seeing anyone. Going in we were worried that this area would be crowded because of the fire closing many of the entry points.

Our luck held out as we crossed Clearwater. We had very calm waters for a lake this size. Even though Clearwater allows motors it was a very pleasant crossing. We only saw one motorboat and the lake has several high rock-faced cliffs. The lower portion of the hills was covered with yellow and the tops were mostly green.

I kept wishing for some blue sky to really make the yellow stand out but the clouds wouldn’t allow for that. Even with the cloud cover, the beauty stood-out and made for a very pleasant trip across the lake.

We reached the entry point shortly before noon. We loaded up and headed out to find some showers. After getting cleaned up, we stopped at the Trail Center for lunch. All of us would highly recommend this place and will no doubt return whenever we’re on a trip from the Gunflint Trail. The burgers, walleye sandwich (huge), and malts were excellent; and at a reasonable price.