Day 4

I woke with the sun, almost expecting a spectacular show with my eastern view, except on this morning thin clouds obscured the sunrise. I lit the fire and had a few cups of coffee as I ate breakfast and broke camp. Hot granola with dehydrated milk, bananas, and cranberries makes a good start for the day. I could still hear the highway with the morning stillness, and was curious to investigate as I traveled that direction today. I was not at all rushed, but still had a fairly early start as I headed to the southern tip of Friday bay. It became apparent that the highway noise was actually a small creek cascading down to the lake. Not the papoose creek, but the other one just to the Northwest. I thought it silly that the only thing in my memory I could place the sound with was a highway: I need to spend more time in the woods.

Today was a day of portaging, and I was ready for them: Friday bay> Papoose>Chippewa>Nikki>Wagosh>Gun>Fairy>Boot>Fourtown. A goal of this trip had been to attempt a single portage. I ended up single portaging everything- and loved it. A few extra moments at the landings spent carefully securing/packing gear paid off in only walking across once. Here again, the Magic canoe excelled. All of 16 feet and 30 lbs! Lifting it was a breeze: even with 10 more lbs of lines, paddles, fishing rod/holder, seat/maps, and pfd all secured inside. With the yoke on my shoulders the seat rested right on the top of my backpack, and the front of the seat was right at the back of my head. It sat there in a very stable manner and by moving my head backwards/forwards I could control the pitch of the boat for walking uphill/downhill...without using my hands. Most portages were thus hands-free and my arms/shoulders got to rest at my sides while my legs took all the work. I was well practiced at this by the third day at the 328rd (mile long) portage from Wagosh to Gun lake, and for fun I decided to time it: 19min 51sec boat up to boat down! Flying. Easy. I actually looked forward to portaging. The single portage made for excellent travel times during the day and I covered more ground easier than I thought. The secret was in the careful planning and packing of gear. Things like camera/fishing gear/water/raingear/sweater all had to be accessible while paddling, but all secured either in the pack or on the boat for portage. Everything had a place, and by the end of the trip I developed a very efficient portage routine: standing in the shallows next to my boat at the landings- every movement had a purpose.

Part of my strategy was to try and minimize the water weight while portaging, so I tried to drink before portaging and have emptier water bottles to carry. I had a trusty miniworks pump to make water in camp, but it remained packed for travel. I had planned to dip for water in the middle of lakes and use treatment tablets while paddling: I figured this would provide cold water fast, with minimal effort. It worked fine...most of the time. After the mile-long portage to Gun lake I was parched and almost out of water. I dipped at two different places in Gun, but neither provided terribly clear water. I was determined to not get dehydrated like yesterday. “Oh-well” I thought the second time, and I tossed in the tablets with a little bit of translucent floaty gunk still swirling around. After waiting the appropriate time I tasted it and it was terrible. Even with a bunch of Mio flavor in there it wasn’t good and I ended up digging out the pump at the next portage. Next time i think a sawyer squeeze or mini or something along those lines would be better for travel water.

I paddled up into maybe the biggest wind of the trip here- a strong southwest breeze channeled down the barrel of Gun. By the time I got to Boot lake there was a good chop and some whitecaps. I powered into a three-stroke-switch rhythm with the carbon canoe paddle and did pretty well. There were a lot of people out on Gun/Fairy/Boot lakes and many campsites i passed were occupied. My plan for the day was to look for something on Fourtown.

On the portage from Boot to Fourtown I again noticed some ripe rose hips off the side of the trail. I dropped the boat and my gear at the end and went back to check it out. Jackpot! There were at least a dozen individual rosebushes. No flowers this time of year, but the ripe red hips were unmistakeable. I picked many. (oh, and there are a lot of thorns too) Two groups portaged past me while I was picking and probably thought I was a bit crazy. One guy I startled pretty good while I was deep in the bushes. I came away with most of a gallon size ziploc bag full of rose hips. In contrast to yesterday’s solitude, Fourtown lake was a relative zoo. I was amazed at the number of people for mid-September. Lunch was eaten while paddling: Vacuum packed beef sticks and cheddar. And a cliff bar. I was able to enjoy the wind I had been fighting all morning as it now pushed me east with speed. Most campsites were occupied. I looked at a few, but settled on the one to the far East: by the unmarked portage to Horse.

I made camp around 1:00 and even though I had paddled quite a ways I had a lot of time to kill. I had actually traveled much faster that I thought I would on this trip. The site is pretty neat, on a little riffle of water spilling down out of fourtown lake. The kitchen is real close to the portage around it, though, so there are occasionally people walking through camp. Back in the trees there is a large clearing under/around an enormous cedar tree. It really is a cool camp, but with the sand and roots would be a terrible and likely wet place to put a tent. No problem for a hammocker. There is one solid tent pad a bit further back. The thunder box was one of the newer square ones with a lid, and I could tell i was close to the entry as there was an empty glass 175 of cheap vodka down in there.

The sun was back out and I decided to do some cleaning. I rinsed my most heavily-worn (read: stinky) clothes and socks in the creek and then took a dip myself. While hanging things to dry I found a little baby leech in the leg of my pants, and then made an extended game of carefully checking everything (including me) that had been in the creek. I fished a bit from shore and caught bass all around the camp. I thought about how to spend the rest of my trip. I don’t want to say I was bored, but I definitely had extra time I wasn’t sure what to do with as I wasn’t traveling any further. I gathered, cut, and stacked a bunch of firewood, but never made a fire. I left it as a gift to the next party. Dinner was Unstuffed peppers and beef, which is one of the heartier dehydrated meals I’ve ever made. I ate with a wonderful view, and sat to meditate and reflect for quite a while. I journaled a bit, and went to bed at dark. Still a bit windy, and I had the ‘doors’ of my tarp pulled in pretty close.