Saturday, May 26, 2012

Our tow was scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Everyone was up & ready to go with plenty of time to spare. We had stopped at Subway before heading out of town last night. So, everyone had a ready made cold sandwich for breakfast.

Soon enough it was time to load up. After returning to the dock from having parked the vehichle, I recognized some familiar faces. Ho Ho, David, & Banksiana were getting set to head off on their own adventure. I introduced myself & chatted very briefly, as our tow was ready to go. Always nice to meet fellow bwca.com'ers

I would surmise it had been about a dozen years since I had last headed up the Moose chain. So, essentially I was seeing new territory like everyone else. It seemed that in no time at all we were at "Indian Portage" & unloading our gear.

It was a cool, crisp, overcast morning. But, so far no rain and, more importantly, no wind. Vickie, Aurora, & Myself were in The Black Pearl. While Ross & Megan paired up in one of the silver bullets, while Hannah & Morgan claimed the other. This is a very short, easy portage. Water (on the other side) can be seen from the landing. There are 2 seperate landings on the Birch lake side. There was a couple of guys just coming out of the longer (more user friendly)trail, so we used the shorter trail which has a steeper landing. Soon we were all out on the water heading east.

Fortunately the wind wasn't a troubling menance today. Still, we wound up waiting a bit for Hannah & Morgan to get their "sea legs." Later this situation was alleviated somewhat by having them swap paddling positions & putting Hannah in the drivers seat.

As we paddled on - the rapids running in the stream between Birch & Polaris lake could be heard to the north. Vickie commented that she was surprised by the amount of traffic out on the lake. (NOTE: We have usually entered from east side EP's.) Still, we were never crowded at the portages. Even though there was a group in front & behind us the whole way to Knife.

The paddle across Birch (which figured to be our potential biggest challenge of this day) had went well. We pulled up to "Portage la Carpe" just as the 2 gentlemen in front of us were coming back for their second load. I was well aware of the historical significance of this & the following portages. The early Indians, Voyageurs, and, of course, Dorothy Molter had all traversed these paths countless times. Naturally they were all about as well worn & open as you could hope a portage trail through canoe country to be. The only discernible nuisance was the proclivity of protruding exposed rocks. This first portage seemed to be the worst in that regard.

Nothing too serious.....but, the wind had intensified as we paddled across Carp. Making the traverse across a bit more challenging. We made quick work of the folowing "Petit Rocher des Couteaux portages." As stated before, very easy portages. But, their frequency tests your patience. All of the portages along this stretch were around rapids. Which were beautifully enhanced by the vast amount of water rushing through them due to the recent heavy rains. Of course the trade off for being allowed to behold such a spectacle as a wilderness, high volume, hydraulic display was that the portage trails themselves were often mini-versions of the rapids and pools that we were portaging around.

Paddling through this narrow intimate section I let my mind wander. I laughed to myself & thought, if there were a quiet observer along the shores, that we must be creating quite the scene. As we paddled along, Vickie would be singing various nursery rhymes & songs to keep Aurora entertained. I thought about it a little deeper. Actually this was perfect! How many times the Voyageurs must have been robustly belting out one of their "chansons" as they quickly passed through. We were just upholding that great tradition!

Big Knife portage was our last portage of the day. As well as being the longest, it was also the only one that was located on the Canadien side. (That also made it noteworthy in that this would be Auroras first visit to a foreign country.) Auroras' temperment all along the way had been very good. (about what we would've expected from her if we had spent a normal day at home) The lone exception was after each portage. She would throw a fuss when we'd be putting her PFD back on. (had to remove it so she would fit in the carrier to get across each portage) Obviously it was a necessarily evil task. But, she calmed right down once we got backin the canoe. Never the less, like the rest of us, she was licking her chops about getting this last portage behind us & getting to camp.

Lingered a short while after this portage.

Things didn't look too bad out on Knife lake. Very manageable paddling conditions. It looked like it wanted to most of the time. But, so far, no rain today. In fact, the sky even lightened up a bit.

We were hoping to get one of the campsites in the bay just south of the Isle of Pines. Immediately there was some concern. As quite a few canoes were out & about in the general area. We could see that both sites on the east side of the bay were already occupied. The 2 gentlemen who arrived just ahead of us had claimed the SW most site. There were 2 sites near the portage to Portage lake. The first on the north side of the entrance to an even smaller bay was very undesirable. Since choices were very limited, and we really didn't feel like paddling/portaging much further, we laid claim to the site just south of there.

At first flash it appeared to be an OK site. An adequate landing climbs up to a small firegrate area. There was an expansive area for multiple tents just behind the kitchen area. Yet, still well sheltered by the numerous birch & spruce trees clustered in the area. The problem soon became readily apparent. With bedrock just under the surface the sparse topsoil had become completely saturated from the recent heavy rains. In fact, there was standing water virtually everywhere that there wasn't a rock surface. The water simply had no place to go. Considering the fact that we would have to travel or portage a reasonably substantial distance to find something better, & that there were people behind us also looking for a site. We determined to make the best of the situation.

After our "floating" camp was setup, Megan grew restless and decided to try her hand at soloing while Ross & I gathered up some firewood.

She seemed to handle herself quite well.

While supper was cooking, Ross decided to try some fishing. As usual, the ribeyes are just the ticket to quiet growling stomachs.

After supper it was time for some R&R. Aurora is set in her Pea Pod. Meanwhile, the hammocks are claimed quickly. Little did anyone realize at the time. But, this would be one of the rare opportunities that we were afforded the luxury to comfortably use these items during our stay here.

Night fell before our luck ran out and rain began to fall. The forecast for our trip wasn't very encouraging. So, we were thankful for having been able to paddle & get setup in camp before the rain gods latest offering. Vickie made a Nutella, marshmellow snack wrapped in a tortilla. Then lightly browned & melted together over the fire. This helped to divert attention off the weather, if only for a short while.

Moose Lake, Newfound Lake, Sucker Lake, Birch Lake, Carp Lake, Melon Lake, Seed Lake