Day Five: Layover Day

Our early canoe trips didn't include layover days. Of course, our early trips didn't include folding camp stools, little tiny stoves, tripods for the camera, or a host of other things. This layover day felt very welcome; we slept in until 7 AM, and then arose to a beautiful misty morning. It was 44 degrees in the tent and 39 outside, perfectly calm, with mist on the lake and fish jumping. The fire felt good and the coffee tasted wonderful! I hadn't had any pain in the night, and that gave what turned out to be a false sense of security. I photographed, alternately warming the batteries next to my body, and we had a hearty breakfast of corn fritters (freeze-dried corn in a biscuit batter) with Minnesota maple syrup, scrambled fresh eggs, hot chocolate, coffee, and Tang.

At 8:30 Neil remarked, "A picture-postcard morning!" By 9:00 the mist was nearly gone. At 9:20 the wind began to blow out of the east. We were "baking" a spice/cinnamon streusel cake in a frying pan on a slow fire, and drinking the second (third?) cup of coffee. The sky overhead was clear and blue, but the wind was blowing in some white cumulus clouds.

It was very quiet; just the distant drone of an airplane (more about this later) and the rush of the gusty wind. Nobody seemed to be traveling on the "highway" this morning. The cake turned out perfect--only those who have eaten my campfire cakes, usually burned on the bottom, can really appreciate this. I puttered around doing dishes, getting and filtering water, washing out Spartan1's tan shirt and some socks and bandanas. He was reading in the tent. At 11:30 we heard the first thump of a canoe on the portage, one solo canoeist in a Kevlar canoe headed off in the direction we had originally intended to go. We wondered if he were one of the Quiet Journey solos, but we didn't actually see him to ask.

It is a pretty campsite. There is a quiet little bay off to the side, a view to the west of some small islands and an area that is probably swampy in high water. The fire site is convenient, the biffy trail very easy, with a place that turned out to be perfect for shampooing and washing items with water from a bucket. We were able to find birch bark and appropriate wood for the fire.

I wrote my post cards and even considered starting a paperback book, but never really got into that. And of course, always photographing! The harsh light of sunny days isn't good for nature photography, but I kept trying anyway. Neil was out of the tent at noon suggesting a "toast" to the nice day, which I prepared. Then I looked into his eyes and I suggested a blood sugar test: 47!! So we sat down and ate the excellent cinnamon streusel cake while he finished the breakfast Tang.

Lunch was AlpineAire tuna salad. This is something I bought on a whim a few years ago. It ended up being quite tasty on crackers, and accompanied with some dried fruit it made a good layover day meal, along with some hot coffee.

I played with photographing a gull off on a fishing expedition, and found myself wondering how long those worms would live if we didn't find a "taker" for them. Spartan1 was sleeping in the tent, snorting and gasping (how I wish we could take the C-PAP machine on canoe trips!) and I sat outside in the cool shade working on post cards and just relaxing.

He started the fire up again about 5:15 and we had our supper shortly after 6 PM. MH Pasta Primavera with extra macaroni tasted pretty good. For our dessert we had a rehydrated package of Trader Joe's freeze-dried strawberries topped with the drippings of maple syrup from the Ziplock bag that held the syrup and margarine bottles. (Evidently the syrup was put away when the lid wasn't on tight. A sticky mess! Glad for the Ziplock bag or the food box would have required a total cleanup!)

The plane kept coming over, almost like some sort of patrol. We were getting curious. (More about that later.)

After supper it was still 60 degrees and the wind was dying down. We were hoping for a great sunset in this photogenic place (I think I said that last night) but again it was quite ordinary. There were just a few reflections off to the south,and soon the stars started showing in the clear sky. We watched the fire and roasted a few marshmallows, before retiring to the tent about 8:30.

I was up again in the night with bladder spasms and head pain. That was a disappointment. Well, maybe more than a disappointment. It was getting scary.