June 10, 2022 - We were on the water about 8:30 am heading across Stuart for the first portage. As we paddled away, I took some pictures of the island that intrigues me, even though I do not understand the infatuation! This was my first return to Stuart since October of 2018, when it was windy (gusts up to 50 mph), rainy, and even snowed one night. These two days were much enjoyed, realizing that weather is not always optimum on trips, but each trip has its own joys, some come days after the hardships are over.
The paddle was pleasant as the water was glass with no evidence of a breeze. We were heading to the first portage into fox, a 279-rod walk in the woods. It was a workout, but I really enjoyed the views along the way. Seems like Stuart Lake and beautiful portages go together. Fox lake was a short portage and the one campsite on the hillside that did not even arouse a desire to check it out. Then a 65-rod portage into Rush Lake, and the campsite was occupied this day, but it looked like Rush would be a pleasant lake to spend a night and evening on, with the island camp site looking very nice.
The portage into Dark Lake led to a muddy landing, which was even less appealing than Fox lake, and even though I was browsing the shoreline for the campsite, I did not locate it before jumping on the trail to Iron. I had also seen many videos of Curtain Falls and Iron Lake, and my first view of Iron took my breath away, or maybe it was the portage, either way I felt we had arrived in heaven.
When we started the first portage this day, Peter felt like he needed to help me and we discussed our travels and came to an understanding that he is faster than me on the trail, and it takes me longer, but I can do it. We agreed we would each carry our double portages, and he would fish the next lake until I caught up. This worked great as he likes fishing and I try to enjoy the journey. We have made enough of these trips that we are each starting to learn to slow down or speed up, smell the roses or catch the fish or both, and as will be explained on the next day, it is worth bringing my Nikon DSLR camera with, as it takes much better pictures than the waterproof Lumix.
At Iron, we got on the water and Peter said he would try to get to the island campsite, but his race with another group came up just short, and we ended up on site 1836, even though the landing seemed flooded, the fire grate was higher up the hill side and It was actually a very nice site. Another lesson I have learned is that most campsites are nice, just because they are in the BWCA, although there are some that are not even adequate, but few and far apart. We set up camp and spent the evening fishing, catching several Walleyes, but all catch and release as we have learned to clean fish and eat an earlier meal so we do not have to fight the mosquitoes, just get to camp and go to bed. This was the first trip we brought the lean 3 with, which has made it possible to actually stay up later without the bugs bothering us. But this night, we just hit the tents and got a good night sleep.