Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Wind, Waves, and Karma
by naturboy12

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 08/08/2020
Entry Point: Saganaga Lake (EP 55)
Exit Point: Seagull Lake (EP 54)  
Number of Days: 7
Group Size: 2
Day 2 of 7
Sunday, August 09, 2020

Entry day is usually a pretty early morning, but with Gull Lake being so close and an easy paddle from there to get into Sag, we decide to sleep in all the way until 6:00 AM. We are on the water by 7:15 and paddling past the rental cabins through a dead calm Gull Lake and into the river like area that heads north into Sag. We could hear and see the occasional outfitter moving people into and across Sag, but otherwise it was a peaceful and calm morning. Our goal was to find a site in the Long Island/Gold Island area, so we headed west upon hitting the lake and followed the map around the many points and islands as best as possible. It was my first time on Sag and I doubted myself a few times- a GPS would certainly have come in handy for navigation here, but we found our way without too much issue.

As we made our way around Sag, we kept passing campsites. Every site we passed on the south end or that we could see out on Munker Island to our north was occupied. We were going to have to get lucky to find a site where we wanted. We headed across open water from the more southerly areas of Sag and towards Long Island, only to see those eastern end of the island sites full as well. He headed into the narrows between Long Island and Gold Island, and saw what looked to be an open site. The canoe landing was empty and we could see no gear set up anywhere! We were 100 ft from shore when a woman comes walking over to the landing with a fishing pole. Our spirits are now crushed, knowing the next sites; while close; are also likely to be occupied. Rain is definitely on its way and we want to be settled in before it arrives. Thankfully, the woman calls out to us and asks if we need a site. She tells us her group is loaded up at the other canoe landing and just about to push off, and the site their group absolutely loved was all ours. Amazingly, luck is on our side this morning, something that will happen later this trip more than once.

We settle into what turns out to be an amazing campsite (#395), get set up in the misty rain and then fish until lunch. No luck there, but at least all our gear was ready to go. The rain picked up from 1:00-6:00 and we spent most of the time in our tent. We were then blessed with a beautiful evening and night sitting around the campfire and talking about plans for the next few days.