Sunday, September 13, 2020 Today was supposed to be a layover day. However, we woke up to a text from my wife that her grandpa had passed away. So, the question became whether we stayed, or we pulled the plug on this trip. The first day was a long day, and we were questioning whether we bit off more than we could chew with this trip. Moreover, if we traveled further in, it would be harder for us to quickly exit to be with our family. 

We spent the morning close to camp. It was a pretty windy day already, and I was not sure how well we would paddle in these windy conditions. So, we went across the channel and gathered a bunch of firewood. I finally got to try out my pocket chainsaw. It worked great, but I definitely could tell I don’t use those muscles much. A couple of loons kept close to our canoe every time we were out. 

After processing firewood, R says she wants to check out the Wall portage I had told her about. If we do have to leave, she wanted to at least walk it. So, we set out in the wind, trolling our Taildancers again. She picked up a few pike before we reached the portage into Muskeg. Two gentlemen pull up to the portage shortly after we do. They looked much more efficient that us, so we told them to go ahead of us. They quickly leap frog us. Then we work our way through the bouldery mine field that is the Long Island/Muskeg portage. This is the one time this trip that the low water helped us – all of the rocks were exposed making it easy to plan our next steps. There is a beaver dam at the Muskeg end of the portage that you load from. 

 

There is one small dam pullover at the other end of the creek leading in to Muskeg. It might be float-able in higher water. We then walk the Wall portage into Kiskadinna. We were of course doing this unloaded. It was pretty intimidating even without any packs. 

We meet the other guys on the far side of the portage and talk for a while – mostly about fly fishing. I believe they were staying on the island (564 or 563) with a larger group. They head out fishing, and we hike back across the portage where we have lunch on the big rock in the middle of the path near the Muskeg shoreline. The wind has picked up significantly now, so the paddle across Muskeg was a challenge, but R was really pulling her weight. She proved that she is a reliable paddling partner is some nasty winds.

Back on Long Island, the wind is just as bad, but with R’s help, we make it quickly back to camp where we relax on a wall over the NE corner of the island and watch other groups fight the wind.

Later in the evening, the wind dies down some. R is tired, so I suggest we just troll – she doesn’t have to paddle then. After catching a few more pike, we have a short campfire to roast marshmallows and get to bed before it gets fully dark.  

~Long Island Lake, Muskeg Lake, Long Island Lake

Lakes Traveled:   Long Island Lake, Muskeg Lake, Long Island Lake,