Monday, September 16, 2024
We enjoyed a few extra hours of sleep and made it a late start to our day. We set out a little before lunch for some fishing and to gather some fire wood. We fished the south shore to the east but didn't have much luck. We headed back to camp by early afternoon as we noticed some thunderheads building off to the west. We knew the weather report called for a chance of rain in the afternoon.
It turned out that 'a change of rain' ended up to be the most severe wind and rain I have survived in the BWCA to date. We started hearing thunder well before the storm arrived so we had plenty of time to batten down the hatches. I thought we were well prepared. The CCS tarp was hung low to the ground, fire wood, packs and chairs under the tarp, canoe tied down, checked the lines on my hammock... check, check, check. Well, as obvious as it seems now... we didn't put on our rain gear! I mean, why would we need it? We were going to weather the storm under the tarp.
Well, the storm came right down the lake from WNW to SSE... directly at our site. It kept building and building... and just when we thought it couldn't blow any harder... it did. I honestly thought at one point it was a tornado! Even though our tarp seemed well secured, we were both holding the leading edge because it felt like it was going ripped from the line! Then as I'm sitting there laughing nervously at the incredible power of nature, my buddy says 'Holy crap, the rainfly for your hammock is gone!' I look over, and sure enough, my hammock with top-quilt and under quilt is getting soaked and blown around like a rag doll. (This is where It would have been great to have on my rain gear).
I have no choice but to try and rescue my hammock from being shredded and soaked. There was no way I was going to re-tie and secure the rainfly to protect my warm gear, so my only choice was to try and unhook my hammock and carry it under the tarp. Now, I hang my hammock with a whoopie-sling and toggle and up to this point I thought it was great. I have sense come to learn that a wet whoopie-sling under high-tension will not release! To further complicate things, my under-quilt has become tangled with the sling and it was an absolute battle trying to get the hammock toggle free. Then, I have to hold my hammock, top quilt and under-quilt while I fight to free the toggle on the other side. All while getting pounded by wind and rain! I finally managed to free my gear and carry it back to the tarp.
While I'm fighting my battle, my ground-sleeping buddy realized a sizeable lake was forming right where he pitched his tent. We had a 2 or 3 long branches that had not been sawed into fire-grate lengths, so he ingeniously slid them under tent, to hold his tent bottom and warm gear up and out of the water. We met back up under the tarp and continued our string of 50-60 'holy sh*ts' until the wind finally died down and the sky started to lighten.
All in all this probably lasted 20-30min but it felt like a lifetime. I kept listening for loud cracks from two very sizable trees in our site. We talked strategy about running to shore and squatting on our life-jackets. Our canoe tried to fly away but thankfully I remembered to tie it down before it all started. It was easily the most dangerous situation I have been in.
Then, just like that... it was over. 15 minutes later the sun was shinning and the winds were gone. Clotheslines were hung and my hammock gear actually managed to dry out (save for my pillow but that's no big deal). I don't spontaneously give prayers of thanks very often but I did that day. I am so thankful that even though it was mid-September, the temperature was in the 60's. Without the sun that dried my hammock gear and warm temps, I would have been in serious jeopardy from hypothermia. In year's past, I've woken up to frost! Just imagine dealing with that with wet gear.
That night was spent gratefully depleting our whiskey rations around a fire. It was clear night and a full moon and many moments of silence were broken with 'That was crazy'... or 'I can't believe that' and the aforementioned 'holy sh*t'.