Thursday, June 18, 2020

We had originally planned on an eight day trip with today being the day we started working our way back. While I was feeling better, sleeping on a blow up air mattress was painful and we were both satisfied with the trip and ready for a mattress and a shower. The wind had been whipping our butts the entire trip, so in deciding what to do, the wind played a major role in the decision. I was grateful for the accurate forecasts via the Garmin InReach mini I’d picked up for the trip. The winds were supposed to be calmer and from the south today vs stronger and from the northwest tomorrow. There are some good sized lakes along this route back that I wanted no part of being on the wrong side of the lake for. So, we decided to at least try to get back to Moose or near it today. That meant 14 miles of paddling. So far, we’d not traveled more than six or seven miles of paddling a day. We’d managed to hold about a three mile an hour average and there were far fewer and much shorter portages now. So we figured we’d at least give it a go and see how it went.

We finally got an early start and were on the water before 7:00am. We headed west down knife lake with a goal of stopping once we got to Isle of pines. The wind was almost non-existent this early and we were able to cut across the larger bays and make good time. Before we knew it we were at the isle of pines and checking out the ribbon rock. It’s really cool and a great place to stop at stretch for a few minutes. A quick snack and back in the boat we went. I had re-arranged my seat back this morning to be able to hang my tailbone off the back of the seat. Between that and alternating between from seated to kneeling I ended up being able to paddle okay.
As we headed into the knife river the banks began to narrow and we were simply astounded at the beauty of our surroundings. Several times we just stopped paddling and gazed around in wonder. I really enjoyed this section and would travel it again without hesitation. Before we knew it the portage was upon us and we were in Canada! My first time in Canada and Brock’s first in another country. I know it barely counts, but for a year when the border is closed, I’ll take it! These next couple small lakes were really clear beautiful little lakes. Particularly the little pond you end up in after the first knife portage on the Canadian side. We kept on going through Carp and Birch without any real issues. One more stop at a campsite for a quick break then back to Moose we went.
We made it to the Birch Moose portage (Indian portage as the I was told later) at around 1:00. Overall it turned out to be a good day of paddling. This is defiantly the easy way into and out of the Knife lake area. But then again it’s the path less traveled that makes all the difference, but I’ll leave that story to Frost.
We had planned on paddling Moose on the way back, maybe even staying a night on it, but with all that had happened we were done. As I sit here writing this eight weeks later, my tailbone is still not back to normal, almost but not quite. After we unloaded, I busted out the cell phone and called LaTourell’s to see if they could come get us. Once again they came through. They said “Sure, he just left on a tow, but as soon as he gets back we’ll send him your way. It’ll probably be about an hour. “ Another group was at the portage when we got there, also trying to get a ride in. They were still waiting when our boat pulled up 45 minutes later. I’ll use LaTourell’s again anytime I’m in region.
After a shower we headed back to town for dinner. Ely steakhouse was the only place we could find that had dine-in, again thanks to all the COVID rules, and even then only by reservation. So we made a reservation and headed that way. We were both immediately struck by just how different being back amongst society was. The only word that came to mind was abrasive. From total quiet and not speaking to anyone else for several days coming back to town was a bit of a shock on the senses. Anyway, dinner and off to home we went already planning the next trip!
Beavers are a$$holes!