Day 16: August 26 Irregular Lake

“The Day of the Damp”

We slept late and got up to a wet camp but it’s not raining! We whipped up some bacon and eggs for breakfast and doubled up on the hotdrinks. It was cold, damp, and misty but not blowing so we launched around 1030am and trolled about for five hours looking for fish near the islands but they weren’t biting.

No surprise. It drizzled for a bit, but never really rained or blew hard. It was a relief to paddle in the near stillness. Later back at camp we made corn chowder and pan-fried biscuits for dinner which was surprisingly satisfying. And then as if that wasn’t enough to eat we baked a blueberry-apple crisp for dessert. We snacked on half of it as the day darkened and saved the rest for breakfast. We went to bed under low heavy cloud cover without wind. It rained off and off throughout in the night.

Day 17: Irregular to Mather to Bivy Camp

“The Day of the Storm”

We got up to an overcast and cool morning with some wind. We packed up our mostly dry but damp camp and headed off to the portage into Mather in a medium headwind. We crossed the first portage (150m) easily and paddled on to the next 60m portage as the wind grew.

It started to rain at the second portage (1100am) and it grew throughout the next few miles as did the wind. We hunkered down behind an island in the area of “Mather Man” for a snack and decided it was increasingly dangerous to continue in the rain and whitecaps. We powered our way to a couple of known possibilities but given the weather and the fact that we were deep in “The Burn” they were too exposed to provide adequate cover. Eventually we found ourselves at the next portage (50) into a small pond along the Garner River and frankly, after the hours of driving rain, we were getting really wet and cold even through our raingear.

We agreed we needed to find a spot to throw up an emergency camp and warm up so we started looking actively for any port in this storm. There was nothing at our current location so we headed up the rocky narrow Garner River wading in some water and crossing some rocks to cross the next wet, brushy portage into the next burnt over pond. It was here, in a hole between the rocks, skeletal trees, and blueberries, we found a spot to throw up our tarp in a hole. Tony created a windbreak with the dry bags and tied off the boat as I started the stove and got some sugary hotdrinks into us until we were warm enough to set up the tent under the tarp.

At this point we ditched our wet outer clothes under opposite vestibules and huddled in our sleeping bags shivering ourselves warm and attempting to dry our damp clothes in the bottom and sides of the bags. Yay. The wind and rain raged outside. We woke up around 730pm and it was still blowing and raining. Warmer we motivated ourselves enough to venture out for provisions and check on the canoe. With the boat tied safely we snacked on jerky, cheese, nuts, a coveted apple, and energy bars for dinner and then hunkered in the tent hoping for clearer skies tomorrow. This was our third day of weather and definitely the most challenging day. The rain stopped around 200am but it continued to blow hard all night. The tarp remained strong and protective blowing only a little over our hastily pitched bivy camp.

Day 18- August 28 Bear Camp in the Burn

“Bears rule the night.”

I woke up at 6am and snuck out of the tent to answer a call of nature. It was overcast and blowing HARD but thankfully, not raining. We hid in the tent until 730am but still no rain. WIND. I got up and made some hotdrinks and oatmeal and then hung all our wet clothes and raingear under the tarp and along the tarp lines to wind dry.

It’s overcast with a few small sucker holes. Maybe it’s clearing? We ate breakfast under the tarp. At 900am it was windy with more blue holes or it could be wishful thinking. Clothes drying, we laid in the tent doing crosswords in our bags, making an hour-by-hour decision regarding whether we should push on. At 10:14:41am the sun hit the tent briefly and it was fabulous! At 11:15am, MACH10 winds are blowing the clouds rapidly above us and more blue sky is appearing. We discussed briefly breaking camp and making a short move along the Garner River but we were hesitant to get really wet again. By 130pm the skies were clear with the exception of a few puffy clouds and we very thoroughly winded in by white-caps even on our small pond. It does feel nice to be warm and dry again but we can’t launch in this fierce wind. We spent some time readjusting our tarp to take the stress off the pole area which was showing some separation at the central seam. Since we had no real choice, we decided to wait it out here, and make a dash for Jester tomorrow. Ya know, as much as you can dash through 8 known portages, 2 obstacles, and countless stream slogs-maybe the rain brought the water level up a little? Ever the optimist :) We spent the afternoon organizing our retreat by breaking down the rods, organizing gear, and consolidating our trash. Tony created some anchors for our tarp trees in hopes that they wouldn’t blow over. We played cards in the tent until 500pm and then got up and made a windbreak with packs and PFDs on a nearby rocky knob in order to bake a couple of pesto pizzas for dinner. The wind died at 6:23pm. It was a beautiful evening so different than last night. We packed all our bags preparing for move day tomorrow, battened down camp, and hit the tent. AND THEN at 1130pm we had our first bear encounter of the up close and personal kind. For context, the tent was pitched partially under the tarp. The bags, filled with gear, clothes, trash, and what was left of our food were sealed and lined up at the edge of the tarp acting as a windbreak. Our small campstove and one pot was sitting out on a nearby rock at the edge of the tarp and the incident went like this. . .

I was awakened by a noise at the stove. I immediately elbowed Tony awake and whispered, “There’s something at the stove.” Tony replies sleepily with, “Is it a big something or a small something?” I confirm, “A big something.” Tony says, “OK, Ok, I’ll check it out,” and hops over me as metal is clanking. He unzips the vestibule yelling and shining his light out in the general direction of the stove. We couldn’t see anything in the darkness, then Tony says, “ It’s a bear. Do you hear it breathing?” I agree vehemently, “Yes, I hear it breathing.” Tony says, “ Do you have your whistle? Blow your whistle!” Well, I complied and right next to Tony’s ear, not that there was a lot of choice. By now Tony was well into is bad bear routine. You know, “ BAD BEAR! GO AWAY BEAR! THERE’S NOTHING HERE FOR YOU!” and simultaneously complaining about the ringing in his ears, but he did see the bear lumber away up the hill. The bear was about 10 feet from the tent but behind some trees. Next, we got dressed and we both went out with our headlamps, speaking loudly and survey the scene. First, let me say it was VERY dark. Tony collected the pot, and stove and grumbled, “ That bear took our pot lid!” We decided to clip all our drybags (4) and PFDs to a nearby cluster of skeleton-like trees, hopefully to prevent the bear to carry them off. Ironically, we usually do this every night but I guess we got complacent. Then we booby trapped the bags with paddles and poles to create an alarm should the bear return. Additionally, we placed the stove, pot, on a small kitchen tarp another 25 feet away as an additional alarm.