Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Loon Lake
by cowde012

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 06/18/2013
Entry & Exit Point: Little Indian Sioux River (north) (EP 14)
Number of Days: 3
Group Size: 1
Trip Introduction:
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This was my first solo trip with my ten month old pup-a beagle/lab mix named Ranger.

For the most part he's pretty well behaved in a canoe though he does get restless when we're out fishing all day. He also has a nasty tendency to lay on one side of the canoe when he decides to settle in. All in all it was an easy paddle in-only a few deer I had to keep the hound from swimming after.

Fishing was the order of business day two-they weren't exactly lining up to get in the boat however so I took a nap out of the bugs in my hammock before portaging into Heritage Lake. It was a sweaty/slippery/buggy affair getting to Heritage Creek but the final few steps were well worth its feeling the breeze coming off the water and seeing a bunch of Ladyslippers at the end of the portage.

A couple of hours spent paddling around catching logs and smallies brought me back to Loon Lake just as a nasty looking storm front was crawling across the boarder. Being on the opposite side of the lake from my camp I just settled in for the rain and started catching Eyes in about 8 feet of water-a nice meal for that evening. Orange twister tails worked even better than the leeches I had carried in.

After the rain passed-well most of it-I was able to tangle into some more bass and even snag a picture of a painted turtle soaking in some rays.

The Souris River 17' that I was paddling from Cliff Wold's Outfitting handled great the whole trip-even with the pup going from side to side like a drunken sailor (he only fell out once)-in the wind or when calm. I have made this trip before and using this canoe defiantly cut down on travel time. Paddling out took about 5 hours into the wind the whole way and dodging scout troop after scout troop-lots of 8 and 9 person flotillas out there on Thursday when I returned (unfortunately a couple of them clearly traveling together).

Even so it was a great short trip with the hound. He was quite the hit on the water and at the portages... if only he would take the canoe next time...