Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Bubba Slow-Step’s excellent adventure
by inspector13

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 09/11/2017
Entry Point: Lizz and Swamp Lakes (EP 47)
Exit Point: Meeds Lake (EP 48)  
Number of Days: 5
Group Size: 2
Part 3 of 3
Say What?

Day 4 Thursday Sept 14th

Our destination for the day was Meeds Lake so our exit Friday would be accomplished by noon. Our chosen route was through Jump and Allen Lakes, hoping once again to possibly sight a moose. Jump is a small nondescript lake. I barely remember passing through it. Allen reminded me a lot of Horseshoe, into which it flows. It narrows considerably before the portage. Once again, no moose sightings. We knew they exist in the area because of the many tracks they left in the muddy sections of the portage trails. Steve’s hearing aid batteries died one by one during this this paddle.

Every map we had with us showed the portage from Pillsbury Lake to Swallow Lake located in Pillsbury’s narrowest part. Since we trusted this to be accurate, we didn’t even start scanning the shoreline until then. Once we determined we had to be too far west, we slowly backtracked. We found the small overgrown western campsite and thought we might be close. Because that campsite was near the creek, and there seemed to be a vestige of a landing at the mouth of the creek, we made an assumption and went to shore. We also unloaded. The false trail quickly petered out. After getting past a fallen tree, which was barely under water, and back out on the lake, I noticed a canoe coming from the southwest. We saw another possible portage landing in the narrows. We learned our lesson and was going to check it out before removing any gear from the canoe. This false portage went a couple hundred feet before disappearing. The other canoe seemed to be hanging back trying not to make the same mistakes. As we located the true portage, which is located about 700 feet to the east in a bay, I realized my map had been left behind at the creek. We turned around to retrieve it and pointed out the portage to the couple in the other canoe. It didn’t take long to get back, and we caught up to the nice couple from East Bethel on the Swallow Lake side of the portage.

It is a very short paddle across Swallow, and at this time I began to wonder about the availability of campsites on Meeds Lake. Both the other couple and we intended to camp there that night and there are only three sites. There were also fresh Vibram FiveFingers footwear prints in the muddy spots on the portage trail. On Meeds we encountered two canoes, whose occupants were fishing, and asked them if they knew if any of the campsites there were vacant. They told us the eastern island campsite had been open that morning. They were staying on the other island site and didn’t know the state of the third. I asked them that if they saw the couple, who at this point were behind us, to convey that we intended to take the eastern site. Steve and I were up for sharing a site with this couple, yet we never discussed it with them on the trail. I assume they took that far western campsite since we never saw them pass by on their way to Caribou, which has at least eight campsites.

Someone that used the site in the previous week or so must have had some type of latrine anxiety. There were several places around the vicinity that had clumps of toilet paper sitting on the ground. This type of thing would normally have me move on, but the circumstances of the day prevented that. I would just have to be very careful in the placement of the bear vault this night.

The western sky and distant rumblings hinted at what was to come. Steve and I put up his ridgeline tarp in preparation. While in his pack he found the extra hearing aid batteries, just in time for the storm. I could see the shelf cloud approaching, which is usually indicative of straight line winds. The strong winds didn’t last that long. The lightening however persisted. We went to our tents realizing the storm was not going to end anytime soon. The rain finally stopped just before sunrise.

Three boardwalks and one sore hip

Day 5 Friday Sept 15th

Packing up on your last day is not pleasant when everything is wet. We did our best with shaking the fabrics and using a chamois cloth to remove some of the moisture. I’m guessing we gained more weight in water than what we had lost in the consumption of our food. I wondered how Steve was going to deal with wet gear since he was to re-enter the BWCAW on a solo two days later, and the tents and packs were all his. Nevertheless, we paddled the short distance and crossed the portage to Poplar Lake.

My first crossing went fine with the realization that this one was more difficult than average. My second, with much less burden but without paddles that helped with balance, didn’t go so well. There are many obstacles on this trail, and when it is damp some of them get very slippery. It was the boulder field located about halfway across that had it in for me. I slipped and landed on my PFD, which resulted in a broken zipper rendering it useless. My hip became bruised from the fall. Perhaps the PDF lent some protection. After all, you should look on the bright side. Otherwise you might end up in a nursing home much too early.

We paddled across Poplar Lake quickly, separated our gear, and pack our cars. I returned the canoe to Sawtooth Outfitters and made it to Duluth as planned. Steve was going to try for a bunk at Rockwood and eat at Trail center, so I still owe him for his generosity. (No cash machines or banks mid trail.) I also need to send him a link to the Wiki page for the movie Bubba Ho-tep. “Thank ya. Thank ya very much and goodnight.”