Friday, June 17, 2005

Hurlburt Lake - Trant Lake - Noname Lake - Noname Lake - Noname Lake - Noname Lake - Noname Lake - Silence Lake - Agnes Lake - Silence Lake

This morning we got a late start. The crew finally crawled out of the tent around 10:30am. The sun was now in full force and I feel we would have cooked if we stayed in the tents any longer, they were sweltering inside. Waking up to such a heat puts a bad start on the morning. We couldn't move much due to the heat so breakfast and breaking camp took a lot longer than usual. I wanted to plop into the lake to cool off but wasn't motivated enough to do so. 
As we paddled down the rest of Hurlburt Lake I managed to catch a smallmouth but I believe that was the only fish caught. The portage to Trant was the first real portage since the bushwhacking adventure. The trail seemed so easy in comparison to bushwhacking and the pace was much faster. Perhaps I shouldn't go so far as to say it was easy because it was still full of all kinds of interesting terrain. I recall walking along the trail through some mud and rocks to find an almost bottomless hole that managed to suck me into. From above I would suspect that people would assume someone left a canoe on the portage and not realize that I was trapped underneath. I managed to get the canoe off my back while keeping the pack out of the mud but the rest of me wasn't so lucky. It was a nice stinky black mud that I was eagerly waiting to wash off on my arrival to Trant Lake.
We were not on Trant Lake very long but it was a nice looking lake that would probably make for a nice spot to camp. We headed east and hit the portage into the first noname lake. Once onto the lake we finally saw some other people waiting for the portage, three guys a girl and a dog. They were day tripping from Silence Lake. We did a little fishing while we waited for the rest of the gang to arrive and caught a few smallmouth and a couple pike. Once everyone was caught up we hit the portage into the next noname lake. Again we fished for a while waiting for the others but it took them a while. The portage had a couple wrong turns on it that seemed to lead the others astray. Just as I started to worry and head back to the portage I could see the next canoe coming through the woods. We began fishing again but couldn't seem to catch anything till I saw a fish rise next to shore and casted right on top of it. A wake immediately headed in the direction of my lure and soon the fish was on. This was a largemouth bass lake. I switched lures to a large jointed floating rapala and my luck improved. We stayed on this lake for a little while peppering the shore with lures and then hit the portage to the next lake. 
We again started fishing and immediately started to pick up smallmouth. It was decided then that this was probably our last chance to use the fixins for fish tacos (Tortilla wraps, instant refried beans, instant rice, taco seasoning for the fish, and a little hot sauce) and smallmouth was a good choice for them. It wasn't long before we had plenty of fish for lunch so we stopped on a point and did lunch. Two tacos were about all any of us could eat but man are they good. We rested for a while and let some of the food digest before getting into the canoes again. While we rested we saw the other crew pass through the lake on their way back to Silence Lake. As we sat there we watched a seagull pick apart the remains on some of the fish we cleaned, that we had previously set on a rock out on the lake. The bird was pretty close to us but not bothered by our presence. Soon, the bird did spook and took off with an alarm call. An eagle was circling overhead also waiting for a free meal. As we headed away from the point it wasn't long before the eagle was perched in a tree over the fish waiting for us to finally leave. We didn't stop for much fishing on the next two noname lakes and made short work of the portages to Silence Lake. 
On Silence Lake we started fishing again but no fish were picked up. We did, however, start to see groups of people and campsites occupied. We headed directly to the portage to Agnes Lake for a trip up to see another pictograph site. When we reached the portage to Agnes we decide to try and paddle the stream instead of taking the portage. The stream was navigable with a few spots where avoiding rocks in the current was difficult but we managed.
On Agnes Lake we headed out of the bay into the main body of the lake. It was here that we saw a beaver climb out of the water and onto shore and into the brush. We paddled the canoe about 20 feet off shore and could just make out the beaver ambling around in the brush. He didn't seem to notice us so we waited for a better view. Once the beaver found the branch he was looking for he came out of the brush and walked along a rock ledge and back into the water. Seeing a beaver out of water, you really get to see that they are really of the rodent family and look very much like rats. He didn't seem to mind us at first but then got irritated by us and did a couple tail slaps on the water. We decided we had annoyed him enough and began heading north to the indicated pictograph site. Once over deep water we all dropped lines in hopes of the lakers that Agnes is known for. No lake trout were caught but as we pulled the canoes up to the first set of cliffs to look for the pictographs Greg reeled in a walleye. The first set of pictographs were easily spotted. They are a set of white caribou that are actually petroglyphs picked into the rock. The next set was only a few yards north. It is two rabbit pictographs in the typical reddish ink. 
At this point the party debated how we wanted to spend our next day heading back out of the park, paddle down Agnes or down through the S-chain of lakes. The decision was made to take the S-chain back. It was also here where we got a good example of how well sound travels over water. Across the lake to the east were two or three canoes traveling south. If we tried hard enough we could almost tell what they were saying. Even though the sound was distorted a bit they definitely seemed loud.
We headed back through the stream to Silence lake and started heading south. Again we saw people all over the place. This usually forces us to want to keep going, but we had enough fatigue going on that once we passed a nice site on a southern point on the west shore, with flat space and lots of grass that almost looked manicured, we decided to stop. Ah, the last night at camp. We did a little fishing from camp with no luck. We lazed around and made a fire, laughed about the recent adventures, and of course, wished this was not our last night (At least I did). After dinner we tried to stay up pretty late but I don't think it was all that late before everyone retired for the night.