Tried to get an early start leaving Minneapolis Saturday morning but realized after a bit of driving that I'd forgotten my wallet and had to return for it. Quickly checked to see if there was anything else essential I'd forgotten, and restarted the journey, minus the early start. To make up for the time lost retrieving my wallet, I drove straight through from the cities to Grand Marais, skipping the normal family stops (Tobey's) and hoping to beat the forecasted rain. I did stop at World's Best Donuts, and planned to check in at the Beaver House, only to discover that it's no longer a bait/tackle shop and has been converted to a liquor store. The owner was gracious and friendly, but said he did not fish, and couldn't offer any advice. There were a few raindrops, and the clouds looked ominous so I didn’t stay long. By the time I got to Rockwood Lodge the sky looked clear, but there was still rain predicted in the area within the next hour, and a steady breeze was creating a few mild waves on the lake. The outfitters were friendly and helped get me launched quickly, after one last phone call back to civilization.

This was my third trip across Poplar Lake, so I imagined I could make it to the portage without checking my map this time, but got turned around somewhere in the middle, and had to paddle into a cove to get out of the wind and check my location/direction. When I got to the portage, another group was loading onto Poplar, so I stayed well away and off to the side fishing to wait for them. Once they finished, they headed straight for me, asked me about the fishing, and after a friendly chat, wished me a good trip. It felt good to stretch my arms and legs after the long paddle into the wind, and I felt like the first portage went much better than normal, despite needing to double portage with no one else to help carry things. I was happy to finally have arrived, and happy that the rain seemed to be holding off despite the wind.

The Lizz Lake paddle was still somehow into the wind, but I didn’t see anyone else, and was grateful for the boardwalks for loading and unloading. There was a group of people on Caribou exploring campsites, (they were at campsite 645 after my first portage and 644 when I finished portaging, with only two canoes and no gear) but they just waved as I went by on my way to the next portage. There was also a group at site 646, across from the portage to Horseshoe, but I think there’s been someone at that site every time I’ve passed it. While unloading the canoe after landing at the portage, I heard a group approaching from the Horseshoe side of the trail. I’d landed around the corner from the main portage, navigating through a shallow, rocky stream mouth where I knew I could easily wade and avoid some of the larger rocks at the natural end of the trail. So I finished unloading and waited for them to pass. There were 8 people in the group, and they were having a great time. Lots of loud talking and laughing, yelling to each other, etc. They were startled to see me, but very polite and friendly as well. I waited for them to finish their double portage and began carrying my canoe once they were busy getting loaded. I could still hear them all the way across the short (22 rod) portage, and made it back for the 2nd half of my portaging to see them depart. I felt a little bad for the group across the lake at site 646, but figured they wouldn’t have to put up with the noise for much longer. It was still turning out to be a nice day, and the rain was still holding off, and since they were heading the opposite direction as me, I knew I wouldn’t need to worry about camping within audial distance of them for the night.

When I finished the 2nd half of the portage, there was a couple in a canoe waiting for me, so I quickly loaded onto Horseshoe Lake to give them space to land. The number of people I’d met started to worry me, since I was heading for Allen Lake and I knew there was only one available campsite there, so I thought about stopping on Horseshoe, but I was making good time, and figured I’d be able to keep going if that site was taken. The portage from Horseshoe to Allen was being guarded by a pair of swans, but they slowly moved away as I approached. I thought I was ready for the difficult portage I knew was coming, but doing it twice took a lot out of me, especially since I hadn’t eaten lunch yet. I took a break after completing the portage to sit and have a snack. There were a few mosquitoes at the landing, the only place I’d seen any all day. Mid snack, I noticed another canoe heading for me, so I finished quickly and got loaded into the canoe before they arrived. They confirmed for me that someone was already occupying the Allen campsite, but having just finished the portage between Allen and Horseshoe, I didn’t want to do it again in reverse, so I made the decision to move on to Gaskin instead.

I’d never done the portage to Jump Lake or Gaskin before, but I knew they were short, so I didn’t think it would take long. They were both very steep though, and the water Jump Lake was low, making the first few yards difficult to paddle without hitting rocks. I had to wade out a bit with the canoe since there were too many rocks in the water around the landing area to navigate, and then nearly dropped my portage pack trying to get it to the canoe. Then I ended up at the wrong spot for the portage to Gaskin, picking what looked like a landing/portage trail on the southwest side of the small lake, but luckily I stopped to check my location before unloading everything from the canoe. I passed another group of three people on the portage between Jump and Gaskin who had also intended to stay on Allen but moved ahead to Gaskin and were just coming back to fish. Two of them were carrying the canoe by the handles, and the third was navigating the trail barefoot. They let me know that they’d taken the closest island campsite on Gaskin. That made me a little nervous, because it was getting late, but I knew there were a good number of sites on the lake, and I’d save time by skipping the site I knew they’d taken.

The second closest site (628) was available, and it turned out to be very nice, although I felt selfish taking it for myself since it seemed more suited to a large group than a single camper. It was well used and there were a lot of cut down trees, although it looked like they’d been cut years ago. I got set up as quickly as I could and started dinner, feeling a little overwhelmed by the relief from finishing the journey, the fact that the predicted rain hadn’t ever happened, and the happiness that I’d found a place well before it got dark, mixed with the disappointment that I’d missed getting the spot/lake I’d wanted, the hunger, and the general tiredness from the extra difficult portages and paddling. The sunset made up for all of that though, beautiful colors covering as much of the sky as was visible. The bass started jumping at dusk, giving me hope that the fishing would be good, and the dinner was delicious. It took a long time to find a suitable place to hang the food bag, and the latrine was twice as far from camp as any I’d seen previously, but it was a beautiful site, with lots of places to explore, and fantastic view of the lake in all directions. After dark I could see the fire of the group I’d passed earlier, but beyond that, there didn’t seem to be anyone else on the lake. An otter startled me by checking out my canoe, and it didn’t seem concerned when I approached either, swimming around the landing for awhile until it realized I wasn’t leaving and slowly making its way to deeper water. The stars came out even before the sunset was finished, and I checked into bed a few hours earlier than I would have at home to do some reading and get some needed sleep.

~Poplar Lake, Lizz Lake, Caribou Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Allen Lake, Jump Lake, Gaskin Lake