Thursday, August 11, 2016

This was a big day… we started paddling at about 8am and arrived at our destination around 4pm with a total of 6 lakes and 10 portages.

From Phoebe, we paddled north to Knight Lake, through the Phoebe River with its many rock gardens with narrow passages, and to the first big portage into Hazel Lake. I was leading the way on this portage with a canoe over my head. The wind was at my back, so I couldn’t smell what was in front of me. Near the end of the portage, all of a sudden, I was standing over a full-grown moose carcass! It looked well scavenged, but also had plenty of fur and well… check out the pictures if you dare. The interesting thing was it looked like it had just collapsed because it was lying on its stomach, rather than its side. When we got back I called the DNR, reported its location and sent them my pictures. It was very sad to see, especially since we’ve heard so much about their decreasing numbers and the fact that we still haven’t seen a live one up there! Well, one step closer I suppose.

We continued past Hazel Lake on the Phoebe River with a series of short portages and beaver dams until we arrived at Polly Lake. We stopped for oatmeal lunch and continued on the three portages up to Koma. At this point we started seeing people again, and ended up sandwiched between two groups. We were trying not to rush the ladies in front of us, but we were also trying to get out of the way for the group of men behind us! However, we were the only group that continued past Koma and on to Malberg.

On the last portage of the day, we took some time to enjoy the north-facing view from the big rock and the rapids pouring into Malberg. When we were ready for the final push, we paddled up through Malberg and turned west into the narrows. My goal site 1053 was open and we gratefully accepted the end to a long day. This site is just as good as all the reviews: the fire grate is on a flat rock space overlooking the narrows and the tent pads are like private “bedrooms” off to the sides in the shade of the trees.

That night I experienced another foul smell – worse than the moose and anything else I’ve ever smelled! Apparently, we hadn’t eaten the broccoli we brought in time and it had gone very bad. One of our friends had mentioned this once or twice throughout our long day of travel, but I didn’t understand her pain until I opened the bag myself. The odor was staggering, gag-inducing, and clung to your nostrils, hands, or anything the broccoli touched. She had endured this all day in the canoe and every portage, when she wore the food pack in the front, it sat just inches away from her nose. We built a very very hot fire and carefully burned the rancid vegetables piece by piece. What would you have done?

~Phoebe Lake, Knight Lake, Hazel Lake, Polly, Lake, Koma Lake, Malberg Lake