Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

EP 62 and Johnson Falls
by BigTim

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 06/07/2016
Entry & Exit Point: Clearwater Lake (EP 62)
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 2
Day 2 of 4
Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Awoke to full fog as we speculated how cold it was. Hot coffee was awesome on such a morning. Sunlight broke the fog early as we needed every degree to help warm up our hands and feet. Planned our day trip to Johnson Falls. The falls were flowing strongly - so no swimming. However, the portages were much better than our first one. We spent a couple of hours taking photos and exploring. Johnson Falls is definitely worth the trip. Afterward, we tried a couple of more fishing expeditions for those elusive walleyes. Still shocked from the rainy and cold weather - but Leslie caught another northern. After looking at those teeth - back in the water it went. We had a nice fire and watched the sun set. Prepared ourselves for another cold night - as we layered most of our clothes and hit our sleeping bags. We could tell tomorrow was going to be much warmer and hoped those walleyes would be more active. For some strange reason, we saw a few people bivouac on various portages and shorelines. EP 62's quota is 3 daily - so we speculated more people came from the east to add the camping pressure. We were happy to have our campsite as turtles, red squirrels, loons, and eagles provided plenty of entertainment.