ACT 3: Drumroll please...the PMA

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Today was the first day for our entry into the Hairy Lake PMA. If you are unfamiliar with PMA's, they are special zones within the BWCA that are not maintained in any way. Meaning no portage paths, no designated campsites. You need a special permit and a special level of crazy to stay overnight in one, but you are pretty well guaranteed solitude.

We are not early risers...insert "teenage boy who really, really likes to sleep in" and we are not fast movers in the morning...insert "too many coffee drinkers" (of course, I myself am NOT in that category). Plus remember we had a group member who was a novice at pretty much everything. But we headed off with vigor for the portage into Copper Lake. Feeling a little cocky we spent a lot of time walking back along this portage to take photos, but, hey, if you can't enjoy the journey what's the point. At least we knew no one was going to beat us to our campsite for the night.

Research told me there could be some faint old portage trails to the first couple unnamed lakes/puddles before reaching Sora Lake. I am not going to include a lot of details here regarding the portages and bushwhacks, because any description I give could be a totally different experience for the next person, but I can be contacted with specific questions.

From Copper to Puddle #1, found an old portage on the east side of the stream. Pretty easy and we thought we were done, but then discovered a beaver dam at the north end of the puddle made our put in impassable. We had to bushwhack through a hummock filled marshy meadow. Some boot sucking mud.

From Puddle #1 to Puddle #2, decided to start doing double portage while in the PMA. This second portage also pretty easy to find, again on east side of stream. No beaver dam issues.

From Puddle #2 to Puddle #3, again found a faint trail on the east side of the stream. Harder to be certain so we used Joey as a scout. He did a great job giving everyone accurate directions and helping to guide the canoe carriers. This portage was significantly longer so we were happy we ate lunch before starting it. There were a lot of very tight spots for the canoe and a tree down that was too large to climb over so we had to pass the canoes over. We really started working well as a team on this portage.

From Puddle #3 to Sora Lake: We had mixed notes on this and we didn't expect to find an old portage. But we are pretty experienced at finding and following faint paths in the woods. We paddled as far south as we could, but then there was a tree in the way and really bad mud on the east side of the channel. Better to land slightly farther north on east side where there is grass and less mud. We followed a very faint path and then came to what could best be described as a dead end. It was a 4 foot high rock ridge that ran off in either direction. Faint path completely gone. We took turns scouting in different directions before hitting impenetrable walls of trees.

At the start of this bushwhack, Joey had gotten very overheated so he laid on shady moss drinking water while we staged all the gear at the "dead end" and started searching for a way through. Fortunately, he recovered and ended up being vital in finally tracing a route on the west side of the marshy area. On this portage, we started using the following bushwhack method. Two people rest with the gear while 2 people scout a route, putting up bits of surveyors tape to mark as far as another good staging area. Then work together to shuttle all the gear to that spot and start setting up the next leg. The person taking up the rear would remove all the marking tape. Sora is beautiful lake and we happily found a place to tuck in for the night.

Total time: 6 hours (5 bushwhacking, 1 paddling) ~Snipe Lake, Copper Lake, puddle 1, puddle 2, puddle 3, Sora Lake