Solo Trip to Raven Lake (Mugwump PMA 8) 2018
by Ausable
"Thomas and Jordan Lakes Revisited"
Monday, June 25:
Sagus had provided a really peaceful and solitary experience. I decided to return to Snowbank the same way I came in rather than trying to loop through Kekekabic, Vera, etc. I’d scaled back my plans so that I could focus on relaxing, fishing, and photography. Besides, I wanted to see Thomas and Ima again. I went around the island to see if the loon was in the same place as Sunday. It was there. I wanted a picture, but the east wind was strong, making boat control very difficult. It was too much to handle the boat and camera and not stress the loon. Seeing it on its nest is a good memory, however. I traveled to the west side of Thomas, fighting the east wind all the way. I couldn’t shift enough weight to the stern without putting the camera back there. Putting the camera in the stern would eliminate the possibility of pictures taken on the way.
I took a picture of a glacial erratic on Sagus in a somewhat wind-sheltered place. I thought that my sister-in-law would like to see it. She studied geology in college and has an enduring interest in the subject. I also took pictures of flowers on the Fraser end of the Sagus-Fraser portage and then of beaver-chewed tree stumps in the Thomas-Fraser narrows.
The campsite south of the Thomas-Hatchet portage was free, so I took it. I saw more 9-person groups traveling on Fraser and Thomas today: 1 on Fraser and maybe 3 on Thomas after my arrival. I cleaned clothes, set up the tarp, made dinner, washed myself, and tried fishing from shore (no luck). It was still pretty windy. A turtle cruised back and forth south of camp. I was able to take pictures of 2 loons about 100 feet away. The campsite is very open and grassy with a number of wildflowers. I found 1 tick on my pants and killed it. The tent sites are rocky. I found a grassy spot near the campfire area for my 1-man tent. The latrine trail is overgrown, as was the trail on Sagus. I was in the tent and writing by my Luci light by 9 PM.
Tuesday, June 26:
I spent the day on Thomas. In the morning I took pictures of five different types of flowers I found in the wooded and open areas and of a beautiful large Hexagenia limbata (Michigan Caddis) mayfly. A beaver swam past and I got a picture of the local turtle sunning itself on a log. Two Forest Service people, a young man and woman, stopped by to check the site for maintenance issues. We had a nice 10-minute chat and exchanged weather forecast information.
I fished two shallow bays near me without luck. It was challenging and frustrating because the wind was blowing me around while I was trying to cast. Being alone, it was difficult to free snagged lures. I finally decided to just troll deep out to the constriction in the lake and back. I put on a 2.75 inch diving Rapala Jointed Shad Rap in Red Crawdad with a snap swivel and headed east. Two young guys in solo canoes passed me going east. They were traveling extremely light. At the constriction I stopped and reeled in the line only to discover a northern pike had taken the lure. It was about 25 inches long and its mouth was about 3 inches wide. I was excited to have caught my first pike and I was ¾ of the way to a Grand Slam. I trolled all the way back but caught nothing.
I grabbed some 2 hours of hammock time in the shade while the heat and humidity were high. I’d been reading Matthew’s gospel at night and during hammock time. Many more 9-person groups passed through Thomas today, maybe 4 or 5. Thomas was beginning to feel like a highway compared to a few days ago. A light rain started around 6 after dinner. I got into the tent around 6:40 while it was still raining to do more reading and writing. I heard some squawking and looked outside to see a crow swooping up and down; then I saw it chase an eagle away from the end of the bay; a second crow joined in the chase.
After the rain stopped around 8 PM, I tried fishing jerk baits from shore. I had no luck, of course. Why do I keep doing that which produces zero results? The turtle was cruising the shore again. It stopped and gave me several looks. Was it hoping for a handout?
Wednesday, June 27:
I traveled from Thomas to Jordan Lake today, setting myself up for a last night on Disappointment Lake. I was followed into the Hatchet River by a 9-person Boy Scout group. They might have been the group on the campsite north of me on Thomas. While paddling between the rapids, a merganser swam ahead of me and then turned back alongside, passing within 10 feet. Unlike most mergansers, it did not take to flight when we got close to each other. That was kind of cool. The scouts caught up to me at the portage into Ima, just as I was picking up my second load. We had a brief conversation; they were a very polite bunch of guys. They were from Texas. They were impressed that I was traveling alone and had been out 8 days so far. One of the adult leaders asked me how old I was, guessing in the mid-50s. When I told them I was 67, they were even more impressed. Maybe the tone was more one of hope. The leader encouraged his boys that they could keep doing adventurous things like going to the BWCA all their lives. That was encouraging to me, too.
Ima Lake is pretty; I like it and Thomas. There were campers on several sites today. I took the middle campsite on Jordan and was thankful for it, seeing that the other 2 sites were occupied. I still prefer the northern campsite because of its sandy beach. This site has a lot of blowdown to its south. Fortunately, the trail to the latrine is not affected by the blowdown, but the trail is not obvious at first. There are several trails going into the brush from various parts of the site. I placed two logs to form an X at the beginning of one rather nasty trail going to the east (not everyone has found the latrine). The trail to the south will provide campers with all the firewood they could possibly want for many years.
I tried fishing Jordan both deep and shallow in many spots without any luck. Fishing from shore after dinner proved fruitless, too. Jordan has been a disappointment as far as fishing goes. At least I got to see another beaver just down the shore from me while I was fishing this evening. I spent some time this afternoon in the narrows between Jordan and Ima photographing the cliffs and the water lilies and then I tried fishing around the rapids coming out of Ima. Although I heard thunder around 6 PM, the storm did not hit Jordan. I was able to get a nice picture of the clouds over Ima just before sunset.
At 9:30, while I was in the tent, a heard a grouse drumming nearby. Then I heard a large bird flying low and near me about 4 times. I presumed that it was a grouse. Loons were sounding off, of course.
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