Sunday, July 04, 2021

Layover day today. I forced myself to plan one and to use it. I have a hard time not traveling in a day, but it is good for me...I guess. After a cherry-chocolate smoothie for breakfast, I got up and made a paddling circuit of Wine Lake to see if I had any company. Nope. Empty. The site in the bay south of me was very hard to find. It looks like it never gets used and had small shrubs growing through the fire grate. The site near the portage to Frederick looked like it probably gets the most use out of the three, but was empty on this July 4th. Who says the BWCA is crowded?! I had a 3 campsite lake within a few hours paddle from one of the busiest entry points all to myself for the July 4th weekend.

After a rest back at the campsite, I took lunch and paddled over to explore the blue line and pond that leads toward Mug Lake. Maybe I could see the waterfall on Mug. It was a fun paddle exploring the bog area. It ended at a massively long beaver dam. I crashed through the brush and down a steep hill to Mug. I found where the water should be flowing from the pond to the waterfall, but it was all dried up this year. On my way back out through the bog, I had a chance to photograph the little Rose Pogonia orchids that were everywhere.

blooming pitcher plant
Rose Pogonia Orchid
orchids and pitcher plants together
Hung out at the campsite all afternoon, swimming and playing solitaire. I had finished my book a day ago and was missing having reading material. No bugs again today...this site is fabulous! I am ready to be home. I planned the last 2 days to be rather short in case I had run into delays or I had bad wind trying to paddle Sawbill. But if the wind is favorable tomorrow, I will plan to just head out. I have a HUGE craving for the crack tater tots at Trail Center so I might drive there even though it is the wrong direction.

Distance traveled: layover day so just paddled around the lake a couple times

~Wine Lake