Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

Might be my Last Rodeo
by Bearpath9

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 08/12/2024
Entry & Exit Point: Slim Lake (EP 6)
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 1
Day 3 of 4
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 Got up around sunrise, turned on the weather channel, and caught the forecast, which was more of the same good weather I had been enjoying. Ate some oatmeal and had my tea, pondering what I could do today. Decided to read a little bit, and wait for the sun to get higher. Around 10 or so, I put on my water socks and sandals, along with my brace for my knee(I only put it on for strenuous stuff)and backed the canoe out and into the lake. I still had the southern part of the lake to explore. I knew that the south end, from where I was, was smaller in area than the previous days trip, so I took my time. The shoreline(west side)was about the same-rocky, hilly, and clear views into the interior. I'm still not seeing any wildlife, other than the occasional bird. I entered the bay, and went around the shoreline, looking for that other campsite. I found it, or what I thought was it, about mid-way up the bay. It appeared to be on a hilltop, and I thought I found the landing, but I decided not to explore it, since I didn't like the landing, and I didn't want to climb the hill. So I went around to see the other side, in another small bay. Couldn't get down very far, as a tree had fallen and blocked the entrance. Paddled over to the east side and headed north. As I cleared the point, I checked out the small island off of the point. And it was small. Looked to me like it was just a hump of rock with little growth on it except for one tree that had burned. I really wanted to check it out, but there didn't seem to be anywhere good. Since my canoe was kevlar, and rented, I didn't want to return it with a couple of big gouges in it. I swung over to the east side and continued on. The east side was more hilly, and all the rock leading down to the water was covered in moss. The moss was various colors, green, gray, and rusty brown. Very pretty. I kept going until I reached the bay for the EP, then cut across to the west side and down to my site. It was around 1 by now, so I made some lunch and listened to the radio. I grabbed my book, and my cup of tea, and headed to the shore to relax. The day so far was just like the previous two, sunny, an occasional cloud and a light breeze. No biting insects, but plenty of ants. I don't mind them, they go about their business and I go about mine. Since I keep a clean camp, they didn't bother me. I did do a patrol of the camp after I got stuff set up, and it was pretty clean. I did find about 20-30 feet of fishing line, and a pair of needle nose pliers, which looked like they had been there for a few years, and a sock. Not a pair, just the one. I read and just looked out at the water for a while, then I decided I needed to clean up if I was leaving in the morning. Got down to my skivvies and had a good swim around the shoreline. Water wasn't bad, little chilly at first. I had just put on some clean clothes when I saw a canoe with two people headed my way. Waved as they went by, and saw that they were headed to the southernmost site. Other than the hiker, they were the first people I had seen since I got here. I had some time until dinner, so I went back into the woods and picked up some wood for the next people for their fire. It has been picked pretty clean, but I managed to get enough for at least one fire going. I don't usually have a fire. Don't know why, I just don't. Maybe because I don't cook anything. Gettin on towards evening, so I ate another sandwich, and watched the sun go down. Gimped up to the tent, put the rain fly back on, and headed down to the water for a nightcap and a glimpse of the stars. It was getting cloudy, so not much in the way of stars. Went back to the tent, climbed in and called it a night.