Kawishiwi Loop
by landoftheskytintedwater
Trip Type:
Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
07/19/2006
Entry & Exit Point:
Kawishiwi Lake (EP 37)
Number of Days:
10
Group Size:
3
Day 8 of 10
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Day Trip to Makwa Lake
Since we chose not to travel up to Makwa with all our gear, we planned to take a day-trip up to Makwa on this day. With the day pack and lunch, we headed up to Makwa and it was nice to travel with just the canoe and no heavy packs and extra gear. The portage from the Kawishiwi to Kivaniva had a nice trail except for an awkward downed tree in the middle of the portage. It was a short paddle across Kivaniva to the portage into Anit Lake. This portage was rocky on the Kivaniva side, but was otherwise short and easy. Another quick paddle had us across Anit Lake to the portage into Pan Lake. This portage was really intreresting as it starts along a swampy bog area, then enters a wooded area, crosses a dried up stream, then ascends into Pan Lake. We decided to let Bryce take a stab at paddling the stern across Pan Lake and I tried out the bow. After a lot of zig-zags, we finally made it across Pan and headed up to Panhandle Lake. The 55-rod portage had some downed trees and was pretty narrow but was fairly easy. Panhandle is a small lake so we were quickly out of the canoe again and portaging to the no-name lake ahead. This portage had about a half dozen downed trees and then had a tricky landing on the north end. After navigating the portage and small lake, we were on the 60-rod portage into Makwa Lake. This portage was also fairly easy.
Here is where some context is helpful to the reader. Drew and I are both pretty tame. We aren't dare-devils, and left to our own devices, we wouldn't take any big risks, especially in the Boundary Waters. Bryce is the opposite. He is a performer and tthrives on taking risks and entertaining others, even at the cost of doing stupid things at times. So, we paddled into Makwa and got out past a point on our left which revealed a huge cliff. The only word out of Bryce's mouth was "YES." I was already getting worried he was going to want to try the cliff yet we still paddled over to the campsite adjacent to this cliff. The people we had talked to were right. There was a great rock to jump off into the lake, better than the one at our Kawishiwi site. The water was also very clear so we did some jumping for a bit, then Bryce forced us to at least scope out the cliff to see if we could jump off of it. We got back in the canoe and paddled toward the cliff. Once at the base, Bryce jumped out and swam down as far as he could go, not touching anything. Then I tried the same and couldn't touch or see anything below. It was obviously deep, but how deep? We didn't know. Then we decided to walk up to the top and examine it from there. The water was clear and we could see nothing but water below. We were confident we were safe to jump with life-jackets. Bryce said he would go first and Drew and I said if he jumped we would follow. Being scared of heights, my hands were all clammy and I had to pee really really bad. We decided to pray before jumping and Drew, who was about to start seminary, led us in prayer. Then Bryce walked slowly toward the edge and jumped off, screaming on the way down. Drew and I were relieved when Bryce came back up with a yell. Then I walked toward the edge, looked down quick, and jumped off. Normally when you fall it is over quick, but about halfway down, I got that feeling of "wow, i have a lot further to go" and I felt like my stomach was rising and that I was starting to fall faster. Then I hit the water and just plunged down. When I came up, it let loose a scream from all the adrenaline. It was such a rush. Having watched us both jump, Drew followed and watching his face on the way down was priceless. Definitely the highlight of the trip. We each jumped one more time, Bryce without his life jacket even. Then we headed back to our camp on the Kawishiwi, where we spent the rest of the afternoon jumping off the boulder at our camp and relaxing. We had a dinner of ChiliMac and noodles for dinner and the addition of noodles to the ChiliMac was great. Best dinner of the trip. After dinner, we stayed out until the bugs were terrible, then we hit the tent. Just as we were dozing off, we heard what sounded like a woman screaming, whick spooked the hell out of all of us. We knew the closest sites were on Malberg, but that had to be a mile away. We heard it a couple more times, and it had us all assuming the worst. Considering it was dark, there was no way we were going to check it out. So, it took me a while to get to sleep but, eventually, I did. Creepy way to end an awesome day.
Day Trip to Makwa Lake
Since we chose not to travel up to Makwa with all our gear, we planned to take a day-trip up to Makwa on this day. With the day pack and lunch, we headed up to Makwa and it was nice to travel with just the canoe and no heavy packs and extra gear. The portage from the Kawishiwi to Kivaniva had a nice trail except for an awkward downed tree in the middle of the portage. It was a short paddle across Kivaniva to the portage into Anit Lake. This portage was rocky on the Kivaniva side, but was otherwise short and easy. Another quick paddle had us across Anit Lake to the portage into Pan Lake. This portage was really intreresting as it starts along a swampy bog area, then enters a wooded area, crosses a dried up stream, then ascends into Pan Lake. We decided to let Bryce take a stab at paddling the stern across Pan Lake and I tried out the bow. After a lot of zig-zags, we finally made it across Pan and headed up to Panhandle Lake. The 55-rod portage had some downed trees and was pretty narrow but was fairly easy. Panhandle is a small lake so we were quickly out of the canoe again and portaging to the no-name lake ahead. This portage had about a half dozen downed trees and then had a tricky landing on the north end. After navigating the portage and small lake, we were on the 60-rod portage into Makwa Lake. This portage was also fairly easy.
Here is where some context is helpful to the reader. Drew and I are both pretty tame. We aren't dare-devils, and left to our own devices, we wouldn't take any big risks, especially in the Boundary Waters. Bryce is the opposite. He is a performer and tthrives on taking risks and entertaining others, even at the cost of doing stupid things at times. So, we paddled into Makwa and got out past a point on our left which revealed a huge cliff. The only word out of Bryce's mouth was "YES." I was already getting worried he was going to want to try the cliff yet we still paddled over to the campsite adjacent to this cliff. The people we had talked to were right. There was a great rock to jump off into the lake, better than the one at our Kawishiwi site. The water was also very clear so we did some jumping for a bit, then Bryce forced us to at least scope out the cliff to see if we could jump off of it. We got back in the canoe and paddled toward the cliff. Once at the base, Bryce jumped out and swam down as far as he could go, not touching anything. Then I tried the same and couldn't touch or see anything below. It was obviously deep, but how deep? We didn't know. Then we decided to walk up to the top and examine it from there. The water was clear and we could see nothing but water below. We were confident we were safe to jump with life-jackets. Bryce said he would go first and Drew and I said if he jumped we would follow. Being scared of heights, my hands were all clammy and I had to pee really really bad. We decided to pray before jumping and Drew, who was about to start seminary, led us in prayer. Then Bryce walked slowly toward the edge and jumped off, screaming on the way down. Drew and I were relieved when Bryce came back up with a yell. Then I walked toward the edge, looked down quick, and jumped off. Normally when you fall it is over quick, but about halfway down, I got that feeling of "wow, i have a lot further to go" and I felt like my stomach was rising and that I was starting to fall faster. Then I hit the water and just plunged down. When I came up, it let loose a scream from all the adrenaline. It was such a rush. Having watched us both jump, Drew followed and watching his face on the way down was priceless. Definitely the highlight of the trip. We each jumped one more time, Bryce without his life jacket even. Then we headed back to our camp on the Kawishiwi, where we spent the rest of the afternoon jumping off the boulder at our camp and relaxing. We had a dinner of ChiliMac and noodles for dinner and the addition of noodles to the ChiliMac was great. Best dinner of the trip. After dinner, we stayed out until the bugs were terrible, then we hit the tent. Just as we were dozing off, we heard what sounded like a woman screaming, whick spooked the hell out of all of us. We knew the closest sites were on Malberg, but that had to be a mile away. We heard it a couple more times, and it had us all assuming the worst. Considering it was dark, there was no way we were going to check it out. So, it took me a while to get to sleep but, eventually, I did. Creepy way to end an awesome day.
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