Kawishiwi Lake Solo with LG - 2014
by paddlinjoe
Ultimately this ended up be a long paddling day. I’d decided to take the loop of lakes to the southwest of Thomas lake on my way to Alice lake, instead of the long portage from the east end of Thomas to the North end of Alice. Given the wind I encountered on Alice later, it was a fortuitous choice.
I departed at dawn before the sun had risen above the horizon and had a very peaceful paddle down the length of Thomas and into Kiana lake. Some lakes capture the imagination, and Kiana was such lake for me. On the calm water, the small twisty bays appeared greener than normal and enchanted. When on a solo trip I love to just paddle and portage, and this day was all of that and then some. After working my way across Kiana, a 180 rod portage and through the corner of Insula I began to paddle the Kawishiwi River. The Kawishiwi River is different than any of the other rivers and streams I’ve paddled in the BWCA. the banks of all the others are lined by flat grassy areas, bogs and flat low lying tamarack swamps. The banks of the Kawishiwi are like the shores of a narrow lake, usually you don’t even notice the current. It is pronounced at points where the river narrows, but otherwise of little influence on the speed and direction of the canoe.
At a wide spot in the river I came across a boulder smaller is size that a VW bug, sticking out of the water with a single small pine tree about 12 inches tall growing from the top. LG and I stopped at the “island” for some pictures. It was a perfect size for my little traveling companion.
The Kawishiwi river passes through the southeastern end of Alice. At this point I discovered the river had been protecting me from some a wind that had been building throughout the morning. Good sized waves were coming in from the northwest. Not enormous, and they would have been easy to handle in a tandem canoe with my friend Chris, but large enough to provide an adrenaline rush for me and my canoe. I feel much more stable in the Wilderness vs. the Magic mentioned below. The short time on Alice went well.
There are two portages between Alice and Fishdance. When I get to the end of the second 90 rod portage, I discover a bent shaft Bending Branches Sunburst paddle with a wooden blade and carbon fiber shaft. I hadn’t seen anybody so far this day and assume it is from a group travelling in my direction. They will likely come back to get it. It appears to have some kind of BSA decal. If that is the case, I can understand in the hubbub of a bigger group, how an item could be left behind. I’m guessing they will be back to get it before I return with my second load. When I return with my pack the paddle is still there. I check it out, it is very long 52” and light, in contrast to my 48” bent shaft paddle that fits my smaller 5’6” frame. I put it back where it was and head south to find the pictographs on Fishdance Lake, hoping the owners come back for it before I need to make a decision to carry it out. I find the pictographs with little trouble, and enjoy looking at them. Across the lake from the pictographs is an occupied campsite with a person and dog launching a canoe heading south. I start to paddle over, as they paddle away to the south. A casual “chase” ensues as I paddle close enough to make contact. When I’m about 50 yards away I get her attention and we talk briefly enough to determine she is not the paddle’s owner and she’s only seen one other group and they were headed north.
I head back stopping at the pictographs again and head towards Kawishiwi Lake. I stop at the portage to check on the paddle again. It is still there. Now I have to decide, leave it, or pack it out. Is it more likely that someone will return for it, or that someone will come along and just keep it? Upon closer inspection, I find that the carbon fiber shaft is cracked about a foot below the handle, not snapped in two, but a blow from the correct angle would easily cause more damage. The fact the paddle is broken helps me make my decision. It adds one more what if. What if it’s been abandoned because it was broken and the presumed scout didn’t want to face the consequences of breaking a $200 paddle. The BSA decal made me assume I could call the Boy Scout canoe base when I got out to help me find the owner. Turns out story I make up in my head, and assumptions were all wrong. I’ll tell the tale of the paddle in it’s proper place, later in the story. For now, I wrap a couple pieces of duct tape around the crack to stabilize it and continue on my way. Carrying three paddles, instead of two paddles, doesn’t really change anything. When canoeing I do like to have everything but the paddles in a pack. When I come to a portage my life preserver and map case are clipped to my main pack. I put on the smaller day pack and portage the canoe. Then enjoy the walk back to get the main pack and paddles.
I depart the canoe landing with the extra paddle resting next to my spare paddle. I must have really been in the paddle zone, because about 5 minutes later, the woman I’d spoken to earlier says hello. She’s about 20 feet from me approaching from my right. I am startled and laugh at myself. She’s paddling a tandem canoe backwards with a dog in the front. Her husband is in camp taking a nap with their other dog. We have a nice chat. I show her the paddle. Upon hearing it’s broken she reinforces my idea that it was abandoned. We were both wrong.
We part ways and I continue northeast up Kawishiwi River. I don’t know it yet, but the 10 miles I’ve covered so far haven’t gotten me to the halfway point of my destination yet. I stop at a campsite for lunch when I see a large group at a portage coming in my direction. They will pass by me as I eat and are not the owner of the paddle. I can see that there is a weather system coming in. I remember being told that it is the conditions to the north that are the ones that will pass over me in canoe country. That assumption seems to hold as grey stormy looking clouds pass by going south. My travels keep me in a “sunny slot”, but I can see that others must be getting wet near by. I start to be aware of campsites I might stop at for the day. If a nice one is available, I will take it, but it’s too early to take a bad one. When I get to Malberg Lake, I’m hoping that the nice campsite west of my first nights stay is available. I won’t stop at my first campsite, it wasn’t that good. Alas, it is occupied. The folks at it are just setting things up. I’m not willing to paddle around the lake looking for something, I’ll continue on and if something is open, check it out. Otherwise, I’m guessing there are open sites on Koma.
When I get to Koma, I check out the three sites on the north end. All three of them just don’t feel right. There is a good bit of wind damage and leaning trees at each one. I’m assuming I’ll be getting some windy weather later and don’t want to spend the night wondering if something is going to fall on me. So, two more portages to Lake Polly, there were a lot of nice campsites there, earlier in the week when I passed through. I’ve been on the water a good 12 hours and am ready to stay at one of them. As soon as I get on Lake Polly, I can tell that two prime sites at the north end of the lake are occupied. Assuming there is less canoe traffic down the eastern arm of the lake I head towards the two campsites there. The first is unoccupied, but has the same issue where all good hanging locations are in the path of trees that are already leaning over them. I continue on towards the end of the arm with the wind and finally find an empty campsite, in the shade, with a few down trees, but I think I can make it work. Well, the forest service service has other ideas. There is a notice posted on the fire grate. Campsite closed. I am grateful that they have been around to check on the conditions of the campsites after the wind storm that went through a couple of weeks earlier, but I’m starting to get tired, and am facing a paddle back into the wind to check on anymore campsites, and it is evening. Now I need to be systematic. I’m ready to check every site on the lake moving from north to south. Well, I do just that, working my way northwest to southeast as I weave my way from anticipation to disappointment each time. It isn’t until I get to the last site on the south end of the lake, a little before the sun gets to the horizon, that I find an available camping location.
Until then I’d been considering other options. Knowing everything was pretty much burned out between Polly and Square Lake I was thinking about finding a spot off a portage trail. I could do that without making a fire and hanging the hammock would not have left a tent trace. On a clear day/night, I think I could keep going. If it were to turn stormy, I think I’d have found a place off the trail. Anyway, the site is serviceable, but it has seen a lot of action over the recent years. The Pigami Creek fire passed within 50 yards of the site as it burned the tip of the lake including the portage just to the south of the campsite. There are many trees that have also blown down at this site over the years and recently. Everything still standing looks healthy, but more “alone” than is typical. The canopy is thinner than normal because of the trees that have been taken down by wind. However there are some very good trees spaced well for hanging the hammock near the fire pit. I hang the hammock and batten down the hatches. Too tired to cook, I snack until full. I’m so close to my entry point, I know that I’ll leave the next day, a day earlier than planned. The pull of family and food (hamburger or pizza, or maybe a large breakfast? hmmm) is too strong for me to be that close to the exit, and not head out.
I head to bed shortly after “supper” to listen to my book. A good while later just before the nighttime darkness is complete, the wind really kicks up and it starts to rain a bit. I get out of the hammock, put on my life jacket, head lamp, long pants and rain jacket, the SPOT goes in my pocket. I double check the condition of the trees. They are holding well, but I’m ready to be mobile if they begin to make noise. I double check two locations with large boulders. If trees were to start falling, these are my safe points for structural safety. The wind relaxes and the rain picks up, I head to bed, shoes on. I fall asleep quickly and sleep well the rest of the night. I wake to a calm clear sky morning.
As an aside, before I purchased my solo canoe I rented a Bell Magic for a trip with Chris and a work friend of his named Phil. They used my Bell Northwoods and I used the Magic as a test run of a solo boat five years ago in early May. It was a good learning experience for me. Despite 30 years of paddling experience that canoe was skittish and tippy for me. A surprise, I thought I had good balance. Ultimately it taught me a very good lesson, and I was able to learn from the lesson with the safety net that Chris and Phil provided. Trying to paddle into a heavy wind on Hudson Lake I bit off more than I could chew and capsized in frigid early May waters. Chris and Phil had seen what might happen, and had held back ready to respond if needed. They pulled me with the wind to a small nearby island. The wind blew my canoe and attached packs to the island. While I dried off, changed and warmed up in a wool blanket Chris and Phil went to fetch my two paddles which hadn’t followed me to the island. One paddle was easily captured, the second had hung up on some shrubbery near the wind blown shore. A large rock tossed in an attempt to dislodge the paddle for retrieval ended up breaking it in half. A small price to pay for several lessons learned. The lessons I learned. 1) This paddler can’t handle the same wind and waves solo as he can when with his life long friend and paddle partner Chris. So with my Wenonah Wilderness I have been working my way into wavier and windier conditions, exploring my limits. When testing myself, it is in warmer conditions, near shore, and in such a way that if I were to capsize, the wind/waves would take me too shore relatively quickly. 2) Always bring a spare paddle. 3) Be patient and prepared to stop and wait out the wind. 4) Travel smaller lakes during this learning process. 5) I am fallible. On a solo trip rescue is not certain, know how long it will take to get myself out of a capsize situation. I.e. If need be, stay near shore, take the long way, enjoy the shoreline.
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