LIS Loop of Solitude
by loonatic
As we headed west out of Oyster lake, we followed fresh moose tracks for half of the portage, hoping we might see one somewhere! But alas, even with the fresh tracks, we did not get a chance to see who had made them. The sun finally peaked out as we arrived on Hustler Lake – the first time we had abundant sunshine in three days. And of course, a little sun burn in a short amount of time!
We observed no campsites to be occupied on Green, Rocky, Oyster, Hustler, and Ruby. As we entered Lynx Lake, the clouds filled the sky and wind picked up. Most of the sites were filled on Lynx and we decided to press on into Little Shell and then to Shell Lake. We finally interacted with another group as we entered Shell Lake… and found the northernmost site on Con Island to be empty. We set up camp as the sun came back out and enjoyed the excellent views from the elevated site with tall red pines. We did a little fishing after dinner, a family was staying at the southern site of the island and reported they were doing quite well trolling for walleyes. Our fishing was cut short with some winds (we chose to leave our small canoe anchor at the truck to cut some weight and now wished we had brought it with) and we returned to our site to catch a sunset (finally) and enjoy a cheesecake dessert. It was a great day – and we were tired from all of the portages!
Emily kicked my butt in a game of cribbage and enough whiskey was consumed to lead us to a deep sleep under those pines. We were proud of the amount of distance we had put in – but concurred that those long trips were easier in years past – is it possible to say that in our early 30’s, we were longing for the energy and athleticism we once had 10 years ago????
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