Thursday, October 10, 2013

I don’t think there are too many sites that are better situated for viewing a sunrise?

As we were eating breakfast, the serene silence was broken by our resident beaver swimming by. Indeed he had cut a tree last night, but, it was quite small & a safe enough distance from camp.

This site, (like all others I’ve ever stayed at on Clearwater), boasted a large, industrious population of red squirrels, which were also noisily going about the business of making their winter preparations.

Today, we would head for Johnson Falls. Clearwater was picture perfect as we’d set off. White horses were still galloping as we approached the portage to Caribou Lake.

This is a tough, longer portage that has a little of everything. Still, I believe the guide books over estimate the difficulty of this one. Upon arrival on Caribou, a canoe was immediately spotted fishing just to the west - near the narrows of Caribou. This was the first canoe we had seen since the Duncan lake end of Stairway portage. As we paddled east towards Little Caribou lake, it became obvious that they were camping at the now infamous “One Match (from bwca.com) birthday bear site.”

We proceeded on to the Little Caribou portage. At the start of the portage there was still a residual warning sign from that late summer ‘excitement’. Fortunately we didn’t have any problems coming, or going, across this very easy portage.

Next was the portage into Pine Lake. This is, by far, the easiest actual portage in/out of Pine Lake. A babbling brook rushing by, under a small bridge, adds a special touch of ambiance. There is a hill to traverse, but nothing like the near mountainous trails elsewhere around the lake.

This was the first time Vickie had traveled back to Pine since our fateful trip (see my trip report, “Prisoners on Pine”) back in May of ’11, when she was 8 months pregnant with Aurora. This time a mirrored lake greeted us and it was a very short paddle across the rice beds to the Johnson Falls landing, still we hoped this would serve to exorcise those demons.

It’s about a fifteen minute hike back to the falls. For the most part it’s a pretty good trail but, there are a number of spots that have slippery roots and/or rocks. Vickie now marveled (as I did back then) as to how she was able to hike this trail while pregnant.

Once at the falls, we checked out the lower drop first, before hiking up further to check out the upper one too. I’ve now had the good fortune of having been able to view these falls in each of the last 3 paddling seasons & I never tire of absorbing this phenomenal atmosphere. One of my all-time favorite places for sure.

Afterwards, back on Little Caribou, we were feeling a little adventurous. From the portage landing we could see a distinct opening in the NE corner of the lake, so we paddled over to investigate. As we neared shore - an unmistakable dull silver/gray capped several of the shallow shoreline rocks. Once on shore, sawed limbs & trees provided further evidence that people frequented this area. Open as it was, it almost appeared as if this was once a campsite. (Though, looking at old maps of the area after the trip indicated that this was not the case.) We then endeavored to climb the cliffs just east of our present location. Barely after we got underway, Vickie came across an absolutely astonishing piece of birch bark. It was the top notch paper quality stuff & was large enough that she could’ve used it as a blanket. We stashed it back in the Black Pearl before continuing on.

The climb up was basically a bush whack, but we both thoroughly enjoyed getting off the beaten path for a short while. Once up top, we were afforded a bird’s eye western view down Little Caribou & the narrows campsite.

After catching our breath, we worked our way back down - then paddled over to the campsite to have lunch.

This site is perched up on a lofty rock knob that was blanketed in pine duff. It’s a very nice site that clearly gets a lot of use. It had some nice sitting rocks that were of immediate advantage. After a brief respite, I strolled down to the shore to grab some water, while Vickie dug the stove & the chicken wild rice soup out of the pack.

After a relaxing lunch, we started making our way back to Clearwater.

Once back on Caribou, we ran across the 2 fellows camped there & exchanged quick hellos in passing. Later, after paddling across the large southern bay on Clearwater, our search for firewood began in earnest.

We traced the southern shoreline, and had already found a few suitable trees. As we progressed west towards camp, I noticed a cedar log on shore that had clearly already been sawed. It appeared to be an excellent piece, and we couldn’t believe our good fortune. Then it multiplied! As I climbed out to claim the prize, I happened to notice another larger log, a short distance away, which sat on top of a thinly camouflaged pile of sawed & split firewood. Believe it or not, this treasure trove held 3 full arm loads of sawed & split wood! Since there isn’t a designated campsite anywhere near this spot, I could only surmise that someone had winter camped here at one time. The Black Pearls’ cargo holds were now full, so we paddled back to camp with a sweet sense of satisfaction & a canoe full of firewood.

Back in camp we enjoyed the spoils of our almost unbelievable finds. We stayed up, huddled around the cozy fire, eventually finishing off the last of our ardent spirits, in what would be our latest night of the trip. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but I must admit, perhaps the reasoning for this was the subconscious impulse of not wanting this day to end.

Clearwater Lake, Caribou Lake, Little Caribou Lake, Pine Lake