We took our time waking up. Eventually we let Bob know we were ready for our shuttle to Snowbank. It was a nice, short drive and we were at Snowbank in no time. There was one other group putting in at the canoe landing when we got there (around 9:45?). There were seven of them in three aluminum canoes and they were completely loaded down with coolers and other gear. It seemed clear to me they weren’t going far. We waited a few minutes while they put in, then put in ourselves right behind them. It was a foggy morning, but the forecast called for the fog to burn off soon.

We had decided to do the two-portage route into Disappointment by going through Parent. That is fine with me, since I personally really enjoy portaging. I thought the location of the portage into Parent was interesting, being that it was so close to the Wilderness Bay resort. It may have only been 100 rods, but it was a moderately difficult one that saw a lot of ups, downs, puddles, and rocks. For the two in our group that had never seen a portage before, it was an eye opener!

Snowbank-Parent Portage:

Mike's first portage:

Soon enough we were on Parent and it was then that the fog burned off and the day started to heat up. A short paddle later and there we were at the portage to Disappointment. What a beautiful portage trail! Especially the bridge over the rapids close to the Disappointment end.

We single-portaged during this trip, and Tim and I would alternate carrying the canoe and food bag. Now, Tim did all the planning. He did a great job—but may have overestimated how much food to bring for the four of us for three nights. That bag was so heavy! At the end of the portage trail, we ran into the group of seven from the Snowbank landing. They were portaging from Snowbank---I would guess they were double portaging given all their supplies. We small talked and they contemplated if they would have been better off doing the two smaller portages. Personally, if you’re going for time, I would say the one portage was by far the better (and even easier) choice for their group that did not enjoy portaging. As I surmised, Disappointment was indeed their target destination for their entire stay.

Disappointment:

Disappointment is a very pretty lake. We were constantly looking at the map as it is a little navigationally challenging. Neary every site was occupied. No problem for us, since we were not planning on staying here, but I was hoping it wasn’t a sign of things to come. One campsite had music blaring from it. I would have hated to be the other campsites near that one!

We reached the portage to Ahsub and waited as a group of four women were unloading. They were very friendly and told us a bit about their previous few days in the wilderness. There was also a group coming the other way as we got to the other end of the short portage. And then another group behind us! It was grand central station at the little portage between Disappointment and Ahsub! The group coming off Ahsub let us know that the campsite on the west side of the lake was free and looked like a good one. It was very near the portage, so we checked it out. Indeed it was a good one. It is very elevated so it has a great view of the lake, my most important criteria for a campsite! In addition, it looked like it had access to the Snowbank trail through the back of the campsite. Another plus if we had some time to explore!

Ahsub campsite:

Given all that we decided to make Ahsub home for the night. After getting camp set up, Mike and Rick went out to try to fish some trout, while Tim and I opted to explore the hiking trails. The trail was fairly well worn and easy to follow. It would be fun to do a hiking trip sometime through the BWCA—it would be a very different experience! I don’t think I’d want to do it in summer though. It was high 70’s today and we were both very sweaty walking a mile or so on the trail without even carrying anything. We checked out the hiking campsite on Ahsub, since I had never seen a hiking campsite and wanted to check it out. Wow, unless I missed something, that is a terrible site! The fire grate was ok (no seating), but I did not see one level place to put a tent. Really there was no cleared-out camp area at all, just a trail. So maybe you have to use a hammock at a site like that. The site did have access to the lake—if you were willing to walk down a very steep hill. You wouldn’t be able to see the site from the water for sure.

After we got back it was the perfect time for a swim. There is a decent swimming area by the canoe landing. It certainly was cold given it was early June, but so refreshing. Mike and Rick came back from fishing—hadn’t even had a nibble. We heard from others later that Ahsub is not a good fishing lake. After not too long we started on dinner: steak and mashed potatoes. The fire was a bit too hot as the steaks got charred on the outside and were cold on the inside, but through trial and error we eventually got it cooked to a good level.

No sooner had we finished dinner did the black flies come out. In full force. I have never seen them this bad. I had a head net on and could consistently see 10-20 flying around my head at all times. It was enough to drive someone mad! We escaped the flies by paddling out to see the sunset.

Ahsub at dusk:

By the time we got back to our campsite, the flies had mercifully subsided a bit, and kept getting better and better as the night wore on. We stayed up late, watched the beautiful star show, and chatted until we decided it was about time to hit the hay.

Thursday's Route:

~Snowbank Lake, Parent Lake, Disappointment Lake, Ahsub Lake