The trip of a lifetime!
by WaterBadger
“Its Go Time!”
The alarm went off at 6:30am and we all got up and got going making sure to stop off for the last meal that we did not have to prepare ourselves for the next four and a half days. The French toast, fruit and coffee hit the spot. I think there was sausage as well but the meal was consumed to fast in the excitement and anticipation of what the day would hold that I cannot remember for sure. Either way it was delicious. Once breakfast was finished, we were eager to be on our way. We met our driver, loaded the van and trailer for the short ride to our launching spot and got some last-minute advice for our trip. On the way a question was posed to our driver, was there was a party that he didn’t think would make it. Hilarity would ensue. What we learned is to never put an unwrapped half eaten chocolate bar in the pocket of your life vest if you want to be taken seriously in the boundary waters.
Our permit was for entry point number 54, Blankenburg landing which we reached shortly before 9am. We unloaded and took some pictures. We assigned tasks, and by this, I mean that Nate was to be our navigator. Pairings for the first day canoes were Tony and Nate, with Nate in the bow. Eric and Zach with Zach in the bow. At approximately 9am we pushed off dry land and embarked on an adventure that would be challenging, rewarding, and a dream come true. A bucket list trip about to be scratched off. The plan was to head west into the prevailing wind on the “smaller” water and ride the prevailing wind back on the eastern portion of our loop. Time would tell how wise this decision was. The day was overcast and gray but up to that point no rain and little to no wind so we considered ourselves lucky. The first day we planned to put some miles behind us and get into the BWCA and then take it a little easier as the trip progressed. We planned to get to Ogishkemuncie (Ogish) and find a campsite there. But who goes to the BWCA just to paddle and portage? So, our first stop would be the palisades on Sea Gull Lake. It was said that the views were all encompassing and could not be rivaled in the BWCA. The views did not disappoint. If you want to feel small, climb to the top while another adventurer is canoeing below and see how small they are. The views were awesome, lots of pictures were taken. We saw a bald eagle nest with a juvenile perched just above the nest, it was pretty cool. We ran into a youth group that were rock climbing up the palisades face, wished them the best of luck and continued on our way. It took us about 3 hours to get across Sea Gull Lake, including our stop at the palisades. The portage from Sea Gull to Alpine was easy to find, our first portage!!! This would be our second longest portage of the trip, a pretty flat not to bad 100 rod portage. Before we left on the trip, we decided to single portage if we could and this was the testing ground. Well…… we did it. Zach taking the heaviest load of his pack and a full food pack, probably close to 100+lbs in all. The canoes were surprisingly light!! Kevlar all the way!! Totally worth the extra cost. We knocked out that portage with our confidence soaring and loving every minute of it! Little did we know what was in store for us within the next couple of hours. After repacking the canoes and setting out on Alpine we decided to find a campsite and eat a little lunch, summer sausage sandwiches with an orange. It was about 12:30-1pmish. This was our first look at what a BWCA campsite would be like and even though we did not stay at this one, we had a look around. During our look around we came across the latrine and I couldn’t help but think about having to use one in the middle of the night (thankfully this did not happen). It is basically a pit with a seat in the middle of the woods, no roof, no walls, no nothing. It was literally doing your business in nature when nature calls. After our walk around we loaded back up and continued on our way to the next portage, Alpine to Jasper.
We arrived at the portage shortly after another group that had just started to portage so we hung back a ways and waited patiently. At this point it started to drizzle so we got out the rain gear and put it on, jackets only. If we knew the amount and intensity of water that was about to come from the sky, we probably would have broken out the rain pants as well. We got everything tightened down that we could think of to make sure things stayed dry. As soon as the other group cleared their last bit of gear, we headed into the portage, and then it started to rain. This portage, although a short 45 rods, was a lot more challenging than the first one. There was a pretty steep grade up and over rock and the rain (which was coming down pretty good) did not help. With all this in mind we decided to double portage to lessen the chance of anyone taking a spill. This proved to be the right choice and we never single portaged again the remainder of the trip. We hammered out this portage pretty quickly and set out across Jasper, our spirits still pretty high. About half way through Jasper it rained hard, so hard that it was starting to fill up our canoes. I have never been in a rain like that……... ever. Our rain jackets started to fail, water got in through the sleeves, down the neck, up the back, I have never been so wet in my entire life. It was probably raining 1 inch every 30 mins. I only say this because Jasper is not that big of a lake and it maybe took us 45 mins to cross and we easily had 2 inches of water in the bottom of our canoe. The portage from Jasper to Kingfisher was easy to spot as another group had their tarp set up and 3 of their party were hunkered down under the tarp while the other three were taking shelter standing up under one of their canoes. We calmly paddled up, said our hello’s and started up the portage trail, another short 25 rod portage. It was a little up and down, harder than the first portage but easier than the portage into Jasper. It was still raining ridiculously hard and the portage trail we were walking along was filling up. It was ankle deep water as the rain collected on the trail and ran down the slope. As we were heading back to get the rest of our gear, the group that we passed had started to portage as well. Apparently, we inspired them to get their act in gear and move, a little rain wasn’t going to slow us down!! However, this did clog up the portage trail and the launching spot onto Kingfisher. After some maneuvering, we had our canoes loaded and we were off again. Next stop Ogishkemuncie, our destination for the day. On our way across Kingfisher it continued to rain even harder (HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSILBE!!!!). Kingfisher is an even smaller lake than Jasper (20 mins paddle) and we had a good amount of water in the bottom of our canoe after crossing the little lake. The portage came quick enough and we were off to Ogish. The portage was 38 rods, a little tight at the top heading west from Kingfisher into Ogish but opened up and goes along a stream to the landing at Ogish. There it was decided that we would take the first campsite we could find which happened to be one that Andy had recommended when we were talking through our trip route back at the outfitter. Into the canoes we went and off we paddled to get to the site as soon as humanly possible, we were getting tired of being wet. The rain did start to let up a bit while we were on the portage and was back to what seemed like a drizzle when we got to the campsite. We found the site relatively easily and luck was with us as it was unoccupied. We quickly staked our claim and went about trying to figure out what to do next. This being our first BWCA campsite experience we were green and unorganized, not because there was a lack of outdoors experience but because we didn’t know what we didn’t know. We got the tarp hung and everything settled underneath it. At this point we were huddled together; everyone had that blank 1,000-yard stare and no one said a thing. If you could read minds you probably would have seen a lot of #$*@# @#*@ *#@%. What a way to start our trip!! But no one complained, we sat there a little while to collect our thoughts and to figure out what to do next. There was no way we were going to give up on this trip. We were all in!!
Site # 792 is on the North side of Ogish and was untouched by any of the recent fires that burned through the area in the last couple of decades. This was important as I have a hammock. A little-known fact about hammocks is that you need trees to hang them. The site is spread out with a couple of good tent pads away from the main part of the site. And as mentioned, plenty of trees to hang a hammock. The landing is a bit slick and more than one of us almost took a spill into the water. The USFS fire pit was in a large opening which made hanging a tarp over the fire next to impossible unless you have a very long rope. The latrine was about 50 yards up the hill behind the campsite and was very buggy. This is a great spot for a larger group. Overall I would give this site a 4 out of 5.
While we were standing under the tarp, it was decided the next thing would be to gather firewood, so off we went. There was little firewood close so we had to do some exploring to find some. Once we had a pile going, Zach started the fire under the tarp on a bed of pine boroughs and then carried it to the fire pit. It was now that we found out that Nate did not have a waterproof rain jacket and that his jacket was only water resistant, not waterproof. This had us a little worried about hypothermia but nothing came of it. We never had a raging fire but we got it going well enough to dry out a little. This was all going on while there was a lull in the rain. With the fire going we were going to make dinner. We were supposed to have steaks over the fire our first night. We fished them out of the food pack they were still frozen solid, guess that’s not going to work. Instead we fired up the camp stove and made the Louisiana red beans & rice with sausage. It was delicious and warm, just what the doctor ordered. After dinner was consumed and dishes cleaned up, we set up the tents/hammock, hung the food, changed and went to bed.
We learned a couple of things this first day, as they say experience is the best teacher. First mistake we made was not getting the tents/hammock/bear rope set up while it was light out and not raining……… lesson learned. Another lesson learned, don’t keep your headlamp in your rain jacket pocket while canoeing on lake through a monsoon like rain. Luckily, I had a backup flashlight. The headlamp would make its BWCA debut a couple of nights later after it dried out. And finally, waterproof. Enough said……
Distance traveled: 11 miles (0.65 miles portage) ~Sea Gull Lake, Alpine Lake, Jasper Lake, Kingfisher Lake, Ogishkemuncie Lake
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