Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

The best laid plans....
by Bearpath9

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date:
Entry & Exit Point: Wood Lake (EP 26)
Number of Days: 6
Group Size: 1
Part 4 of 6
Rain overnight, and rain in the morning. Ate breakfast without getting too wet, but I did have to go get the food and garbage containers. I keep all my food in a BV 500, and the garbage goes in a BV 450. I thne stash them in opposite directions, about 100 or so paces from my camp. I can get about 15 or 16 dehydrated food packs in the 500. Couple of things about those. I noticed that most brands serving sizes were for 2 people. If I eat an entire one, it keeps me going until late afternoon, then the dinner keeps me full until I wake up. Another thing is the amount of water to add to these. I usually will put less water in. Two cups of water, for instance, I equals 1 3/4 cups for me. Open up after 4 or 5 minutes, take a look, stir, and if you think it needs more, add more. This reduces the amount of soup you have in the bottom. Also, the Cajun style Jambalaya is fantastic. Some of the curry's are too, some not so much. Anyway, I waited for the rain to leave, then went out to see if I could some pics of the swans. I followed them into the bay on the east by my site, and into the reeds. I didn't get too close, since I didn't want to stress them out (they did have cygnets, after all) but I did manage some pics. Headed back to camp to drop off the camera, looked at the sky, and decided to make a trip to Good Lake. Got to the Hula portage, and of course it was kinda muddy, but pretty easy. Hula was pretty shallow, almost marshy, but easy paddling. I arrived at the Good Lake portage and decided to just hike it. I am glad I didn't come here on Monday, since I don't think I would have tried it. Pretty lake though. I tried to see the campsite opposite the portage, but couldn't tell if it occupied. The portage was muddy and rocky. The Good end was kind a sketchy landing, while the Hula end was good. Got back to camp around 2 or 3, but not before getting caught in another cloudburst. Had the rain jacket with me, so I didn't get soaked, but I was beginning to think that the rain was becoming a bit of an overkill. Made some dinner and sat under the tarp reading and listening for weather updates. Started to get dark, so I decided to call it a day.