Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Where Are The Maps?...and No Pictures, Please--our 2017 trip on the Little Indian Sioux
by bottomtothetap

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 07/21/2017
Entry & Exit Point: Little Indian Sioux River (north) (EP 14)
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 4
Day 3 of 4
Sunday, July 23, 2017

Day three was going to be a travel day as we wanted to get closer to our exit point which would make for an easier pace on the day of take out and the 5-6 hour trip home. We finished off a pancake breakfast and struck camp, setting out about mid morning. This was going to be just a bit more work than the trip in as we would now be paddling into a stiff breeze but it was certainly manageable, even for our newbies. We continued to hope for any sign of my camera gear but still came up with nothing. At about peak sun we were pulling out onto Lower Pauness Lake, happy to have that long-ish beaver pond portage over with for this trip.

We decided to try for a lunch stop at the Lower Pauness campsite that's out on the point just past the weeds coming off the Shell portage. It was open and we found it good enough to stay past lunch and call it home for the night. This site gives a great open view out over the lake with an exposed rock shelf elevated a bit over the water. But that openness and lack of trees make for a hot sun near the front of the site and the fire pit. We soon sought to get out of the sun and tarp-hanging options were scarce. We did find that If one goes back into the trees a bit there is an awesome clearing with a pine needle floor and plenty of shady relief as long as you don't mind the bugs. We also learned that it's a better spot if the breeze doesn't come from the direction of the latrine since that sucker was pretty full and ripe!

For much of this day we just hung out and fished a while, having that whole section of Lower Pauness pretty much to ourselves. Fishing was rather slow both from shore and out on the water with a few small northerns and a couple of rock bass being all that our whole group could muster. That was OK as the lake itself was beautiful. At one point we looked at our campsite from out on the water and seeing the tent positioned out on this slightly elevated point with the fire grate in front and a backdrop of pines we noted a scene like you would see on the cover of some outdoors magazine (but, again, no pictures). With no fish, we still had plenty to eat too. We dug into the freeze-dried stuff we had brought along as back-up food and it wasn't half bad!

As darkness fell we were treated to a lot of stars and fewer mosquitoes. While Kirby and Aidan turned in a little early, Brian and I spent much of our last night in the woods by staying up by the fire till well past midnight just discussing life and solving many world problems. We also managed to finish off the little sumthin'-sumthin' in the small flasks each of us brought along! A pretty fun final night on the trail.