Poplar to Ham, via Winchell, Long Island, and Frost
by Jazzywine
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
08/17/2015
Entry Point:
Lizz and Swamp Lakes (EP 47)
Exit Point:
Cross Bay Lake (EP 50)
Number of Days:
9
Group Size:
6
Discuss Trip:
View Discussion Thread (7 messages)
Day 4 of 9
Thursday, August 20, 2015
When we woke the temperature had plummeted, the wind was not giving up, and we were still in a cloud. The awful trifecta - cold, wind, and wet. Again we got a late start, this time waiting for it to warm up. While we waited, we ate breakfast and turned on the weather radio which informed us that the temperature that morning was in the mid 40’s – not what we expected in August – and that there would be another day of rain before things would clear up that evening.
We set out and immediately had a very steep up and down portage from Omega to Kiskadinna (the contour lines had not prepared us), paddled, then our longest portage with almost as much topography from Kiskadinna to Musket. Finally we made it onto Long Island where we could see the cloud cover begin to break up in the distance.
This larger lake brought brief wind squalls with sheets of rain interspersed by calm periods and even beams of sunlight. It was a dramatic and beautiful paddle! We passed a number of occupied sites but eventually found a beautiful southeast-facing one on a peninsula near the Long Island River. As we finished setting up camp, it began to mist again. However, our initial horror melted away when the setting sun lit up an extraordinary double rainbow! From our campsite we could see nearly 180 degrees! Not only was this rainbow enormous, but it was so bright that we could actually see the colors in front of the trees on the far bank! I have never seen the end of a rainbow before – it was something right out of a Skittles or Lucky Charms commercial!
Omega Lake, Kiskadinna Lake, Muskeg Lake, Long Island Lake
When we woke the temperature had plummeted, the wind was not giving up, and we were still in a cloud. The awful trifecta - cold, wind, and wet. Again we got a late start, this time waiting for it to warm up. While we waited, we ate breakfast and turned on the weather radio which informed us that the temperature that morning was in the mid 40’s – not what we expected in August – and that there would be another day of rain before things would clear up that evening.
We set out and immediately had a very steep up and down portage from Omega to Kiskadinna (the contour lines had not prepared us), paddled, then our longest portage with almost as much topography from Kiskadinna to Musket. Finally we made it onto Long Island where we could see the cloud cover begin to break up in the distance.
This larger lake brought brief wind squalls with sheets of rain interspersed by calm periods and even beams of sunlight. It was a dramatic and beautiful paddle! We passed a number of occupied sites but eventually found a beautiful southeast-facing one on a peninsula near the Long Island River. As we finished setting up camp, it began to mist again. However, our initial horror melted away when the setting sun lit up an extraordinary double rainbow! From our campsite we could see nearly 180 degrees! Not only was this rainbow enormous, but it was so bright that we could actually see the colors in front of the trees on the far bank! I have never seen the end of a rainbow before – it was something right out of a Skittles or Lucky Charms commercial!
Omega Lake, Kiskadinna Lake, Muskeg Lake, Long Island Lake
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