Thursday, August 08, 2013

Day 4 – Davis Lake – North Cone Lake – South Cone Lake – Brule Lake – S. Temperance Lake

With the west wind at our backs, we set off for the 165 rod portage into North Cone. We had the tough portages of the previous day fresh on our minds, so this portage didn’t seem difficult; the steepest part was a downhill for us. Dave was able to avoid the shorter portages today by walking the canoe through the rapids. The last set of rapids wasn’t safe for walking, so the 30 rod portage into Cone Bay couldn’t be avoided.

Cone Bay looked like a nice spot to camp in – 3 of the 4 sites were taken. We were paddling into that west wind on Brule. Our legs took the brunt of the work on the previous day, so now it was time for the arms and shoulders to do more of the work today. We found a nice island site on the northwest end for lunch. It was so nice we considered staying there, but decided to continue on and cross the 10 rod portage into S. Temperance. The east end of the lake was a bit swampy. The available campsite there was decent, but a bit closed in. We decided to gamble and go for a site further down the lake. The northern and southern sites were taken and looked like they would be really nice. The final option was the northwestern most site. If that was taken, we’d be paddling back to the first site we passed up. Fortunately, it was open!

This site has a great view of the lake and the islands. It has sunny spots and shady spots, a great sitting area around the fire and a place to hang a hammock. We can barely see the other people camping across the lake at the southern site. There isn’t too much activity; we didn’t run into anyone on the portages today. It finally feels like we’ve gotten away from the crowds.

Dave cooked up some pancakes for lunch before we set off to drift fish the center of the lake. We discovered that a small island is inhabited by hornets while trying to retrieve a snagged lure. We made it out with the lure and no bites. Audrey taught us several camp songs: “This is a repeat after me song!” That one was easy to remember.

Since we didn’t catch any fish, we had to rely on our freeze-dried meals for supper. The wind died down and the lake was completely calm. As the sun went down, the east side of the lake was lit up. Who would have thought we would finally get that feeling of solitude only six miles from our exit point at Baker Lake?