Having endured 6 days in a row where it was either cold, rainy, windy or just plain disagreeable weather wise at some point during each of these days; today the pattern finally breaks and I finally wake to no wind, blue skies and plenty of sunshine! Surprisingly the only really wet or damp items I have at this point is the pair of pants and underwear I was wearing when I took my spill the other day and, my tent and CCS tarp. I take a little time to set these items out (the tent is obviously already up) to dry and then get ready to head out and explore Alice Lake with the Black Pearl.

It's an idyllic bluebird day with just a trace of a cooling breeze. I spend the early afternoon lazily paddling around the north end of the lake including the narrow arm. Near the entrance to the narrow arm there is a cool naturally protruding rock formation that catches my eye. As I quietly paddle around a good number of natural wonders vie for my attention. Taking a moment to step back; from a certain perspective I realize that none of these things are really all that unique or unusual, it's just that this is actually the first day on this trip where I've been able to contemplate them under blue skies without the threat of wind or rain. This fact helps me enjoy this day all the more!

Later, back in camp, I have a light lunch and then decide to do some hiking on the trails spider webbing out from camp. I work my way out to the beautiful peninsula beach just west of camp and then follow the south shoreline back east towards the other campsite located there. Along the way I stumble upon some artifacts (or garbage - depending on your perspective) of days gone by. I remember my Dad talking about bringing motor boats back here many years ago, so it's not surprising that there is residual evidence of that bygone era still around.

I finally emerge out into the campsite located here on the SE side of the peninsula. It has a huge wide open sandy beach. There is an expansive view across Alice from this vantage point and the backside of the site sports some mature red pines. The draw back is that most of the site is almost completely open with limited convenient tarp options making it very susceptible to winds ripping through camp. Still for summer time campers, you could do a lot worse.

There is a well worn trail from this camp back to mine and I look for prime peices of firewood on my way back. It is still reasonably early when I get back to camp but, instead of heading back out on the water I do some shore fishing from the peninsula. As the sun drops, I retreat back to camp to enjoy my first real sunset of the trip. I savor the more moderate weather pattern of this evening and stay up late finishing off my ardent spirits. It was a long time in coming but, I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this temperate, rain free day.

~Alice Lake