Monday, May 30, 2022

We had a couple visitors around the campsite...

...turtle taking a walkabout ...this little tough guy became our mascot and traveled home with us.
Early morning thunderstorms. I love my new stake out system for my solo tent. All of us lounged around in our shelters until about 8:45am waiting for the rain to slow down. Since some light sprinkles continued we cooked our oatmeal on the stove under the tarp. We reluctantly tore down camp, not eager to head home. We didn't pull away from the campsite until noon.

The wind had strong gusts from the east so we had some tailwinds, some headwinds, and some side gusts. Stew trolled while Joey and I paddled gently while we had current and a tailwind. Once the headwinds hit us, Stew added his powerful strokes and we flew quite quickly.

The portage out to the parking area had a lot more water on it as well as a freshly fallen tree that required some teamwork to pass. Stew didn't feel up to carrying the canoe and I wanted a turn so we took all the packs over first and then Joey and I returned for the daypack and canoe. It reminded me that I need to get into much better shape before the Grand Portage trip in September.

We loaded up and returned the canoe to Piragis. We always get compliments for returning the new canoes with no scratches. We drove to Virginia to charge up the car. We decided to only charge for 35 minutes before driving to Moose Lake to finish charging while eating dinner at the Lazy Moose restaurant. Fortunately, we managed to arrive about 30 minutes before closing.

On our way to Moose Lake, we had started hearing the approach of a big line of storms. We started watching the radar and listening to the weather reports. This storm was stretched across most of MN and it was producing numerous tornadoes and straight line winds, hail, and ferocious rains. We knew we would have to pull off the freeway before it crossed our path, but the challenge was figuring out where. We didn't get off at Hinckley, but a mile before the Beroun exit, the gust front loomed ominously over the road in front of us and had signs of severe downbursts. We pulled off at the exit and turned left to "hide" out at the tiny Marathon gas station.

Less than 60 seconds after pulling into the parking lot, the rain hit hard and fast. Then the hail began! Nearby trees vanished from sight as the wind drove the rain/hail horizontally. We pulled forward under the canopy. Our car was shaking and we couldn't see anything! The station attendant invited everyone into the building if they felt more comfortable. Stew went in to talk to others about the conditions. One guy had exited the freeway right after us and had watched as a tree fell across the road to the right. Glad we turned left!

After 15-20 minutes, we headed back to the freeway but traveled at lower speeds due to the debris strewn on the road in places (branches, metal, and more) and sections with hard downpours, but the hail was done and the wind was more normal. We were all very happy to arrive home safe and sound. That was the scariest storm I have been in without a basement to hunker down in. A couple weeks later, as I drove north again, I saw an entire row of trees twisted and snapped off near the Hinckley exit. Glad we had chosen Beroun.

This was a wonderful break-in trip and I especially appreciate that our son still wants to trip with us.