Day 2 - Sunday, September 15, 2019

TIME ALLOCATION #2 (12:00 am – 6:39 pm)

Lakes/Rivers:(8) Little Vermilion, Loon River, Loon Lake, Lac La Croix, Bottle, Iron, Crooked, Basswood River

Portages:(6.5) Loon Lake, 56 Rapids (.5), Beatty, Bottle, Curtain Falls, Lower Basswood Falls, Wheelbarrow Falls, and Unnamed. Camp: Horse Portage campsite on Basswood River

Miles: 67

Total Time: 18.7

Rest time: 7.5

MPH: 3.6

Notable: McPipes quote – “BeaV has broken me”

For those who were able to muster some sleep, the Raven called them awake at 11:00 pm. For the rest of us, it was just a reminder that our day was about to get A LOT longer – for me, it started at roughly 3:30 am so at this point a couple of us are on no sleep and roughly 19.5 hours of awake time. Initially when drafting this report, I had written about the wake-up meal stating, “Oatmeal and coffee (hot water) as the only menu items”. My editor BeaV subsequently advised… (Jim…if this is the second morning, we slept til 1 am. If you are still talking about the first morning on Sand Point, no oatmeal for breakfast. We had donut balls.). It’s months after the fact and I must still be sleep deprived because I swear that we had oatmeal at 11:00 pm on Saturday September 14th in preparation for our big push on Sunday the 15th. In his editorial comments, BeaV falls pray to the classic error of time computation i.e. what is a “Day”? At this point I don’t recall what the hell we had for breakfast on Sand Point at 11:00 pm on September 14th.

What I do remember about this point in time is feeling “ready” for the day ahead. I remember looking over the OFP and discussing it with BeaV weeks earlier at Grandma L’s. Even though I had never paddled 60 miles in a day on flat water, let alone two days in a row, I felt good about the plan. Maybe I was being naive but at Grandma L’s and again getting ready to push off Sand Point, I had confidence in the plan. For his part, BeaV takes this shit seriously; and rightly so. He put time and thought into the OFP. His prior experience and dedication to challenges and knowledge of our team’s skill sets allowed him to put together a float plan that was not just feasible but methodically achievable. Thank you BeaV.

The OFP for this time block (we will call it Day 2 – irrespective of what the MN Court of Appeals has to say on the definition of a “Day”) was to make it to Wheelbarrow Falls. According to the OFP this jaunt would take us 18 hours if we kept a pace of 3.5 mph. Those in the know, were accustom to BeaV’s float plans. They are there for a reason…to give you hope. Hope that something might be accomplished if you worked really really hard. In his mind the plan is always in flux. To be sure we are on need-to-know basis. BeaV will let us know when he thinks we need to know and that is typically never. I embrace that concept. I use it regularly on my wife and kids. They like that approach about as much as some of our crew does. That said, my brain is wired to get to the end. From point A to point B. I pay little attention to anything else. Hell, I am so focused on the goal that I wouldn’t even notice a bottomless beauty sunbathing on Flat Top rock. Ok, that’s not true. I did notice. So, for me, BeaV’s approach is…well…refreshing. He does the figuring and all I need do is keep moving forward.

I remember three things about this day. It was long, I was tired, and we camped at the Horse Portage camp site along the Basswood River. I have pictures to prove the last part. Why didn’t we stop and camp near Wheelbarrow Falls? Cause we was fast and blew past Wheelbarrow. The OFP is out the window and we are on a need to know basis. I love it. Let’s Go!!!

The OFP had us doing 63 miles and I think we ended up well past that. I think 67 miles. There is someone out there (BeaV, GrandmaL) who keep official stats. The rest of us grunts are assigned to tell stories. Somewhere along the way (I don’t recall where) the pet shop boys’ boat came up alongside of ours and McPipes states in his sly tone and without reservation “BeaV has broken me”. I trust that was a true statement.

We get to camp, and everyone is tired. Deke and I had worked out an efficiency plan prior to leaving Sha Sha. Deke would set up our tent while I helped with food prep. BeaV had more than enough on his plate since he had to set up his own tent. It made sense for Deke to set up the tent because it was his and he could set it up in the dark if need be. The intent was to let everyone set up their tents while I unpacked and prepped food. Hopefully that plan provided some efficiencies in camp. We took a lesson from last year where we were wasteful of our camp time.

Not unexpectedly, after a long hard day, some negotiations on tent pads took place. All was resolved without incident or hurt feelings. It’s all love. Textbook example of positive conflict resolution. I took some pictures of us setting up camp and see the WRH’s smiling. I call bullshit. They are just as tired as everyone else is. Those were fake smiles for the camera. Music was available for those who wanted to listen. I had downloaded the songs each of us suggested would be our day and night songs of choice. Hopefully it provided some enjoyment to what is otherwise a physically and mentally challenging trip.

I don’t recall what we had for dinner that night. I know it was pasta, it was hot, and it was yummy. I just don’t recall what protein BeaV put in. Although I rested at Sand Point, I never fell asleep. For me it was the first time I would sleep since around 3:30 Saturday morning. Just shy of 40 hours. McPipe’s comment was as humorous as it was profound. But I was not going to let BeaV break me. Not today. This challenge, for me, is as much about finishing as it is about competing. What/who I am competing about/with/for is often open for discussion. Falling asleep was not an issue. R.E.M was about to be my friend.

The new plan was to be awaken by the Raven at 1:00 am and be on the water by 2:00 am. At this point, we are an hour ahead of our OFP and several miles further down the way. The new plan is working. Weather has been on our side…so far.