Tuesday, June 24, 2025 Jordan to Splash Our pickup was at 10am at the Splash portage on Wednesday, so we wanted to get as close as we could to Splash the next day. We hadn't seen anyone on Sagus or Jordan the days we were camped there. So we got the solitude we were looking for. We saw 1 canoe peek around the corner across the bay when we were packing up to leave. Not sure if they were just fishing or looking to see if the site was open. The middle campsite was occupied when we went by, but the one near the portage was unoccupied. It's supposed to be pretty nice, but sees a lot of traffic.

We crossed the portage to Cattyman and paddled across. There were some pretty flowers along the portages to Ensign.

First we noticed a couple of guys walking canoes through the water coming out from near the falls area. They had accidentally put in at the point where the trail turns and looks like the end of the portage. It's possible, but not easy, they said they didn't recommend it. Cattyman from portage to Gibson

There was a group of kids and a couple of adults eating lunch at the actual portage to work around. We chatted a bit, they were scouting type group from Fargo. They had carried the canoes across to see the falls from Ensign, not realizing that the falls could be seen mid portage. One of the kids was letting them know pretty endlessly he was not happy about it. When we got the second load over and were about to put in, another group was waiting for us to clear the portage. They were the same scout group as the other kids, but were staying at another campsite.They asked if we had seen them. They planned to leave their canoes at that end and walk over to see the falls.

Cattyman Falls, I thought I got a better picture, apparently not. We loaded up and started off for the Gibson to Ashigan portage. On the portage to Ashigan, 1 of the groups started going back through while we were coming back for the 2nd carry. They pushed off first and started for the Ashigan to Ensign portage. We decided to pull out our PB&J sandwiches to eat in the canoe and wait for them to clear the portage. When we got back for the 2nd load there, the 2nd group started on that portage. We caught up with the last kid who was dragging all the paddles across the rocks behind him.

When we got to Ensign, both groups were there with all their gear spread out over the end of the portage and fishing. They were definitely over the limit for the number of people, at least 12. We were irritated, but we aren't the enforcement officers, so we went in at the far open side without saying anything. Fortunately it is shallow and wide there, so we could get in without too much trouble. It wasn't the best group dynamic we have seen.

We set off and floated a ways out to the middle of the lake while we got the Garmin set up to navigate by and started the long 4 mile or so paddle down Ensign. We were paddling into about a 10mph wind so we ducked behind the islands for a little break a couple of times, but we made it through pretty fast. We thought we would probably end up on Sucker since it was after 4, but decided to check if the Splash site was open, I wasn't holding out much hope since it was so late. It's hard to see until you get to the other end of the lake, but as we turned the corner there we could see it was unoccupied. I walked up to check it out and was initially not too impressed. It was somewhat trashed with firewood scattered around, the sun was slanting in and baking the kitchen area and the logs are not in great shape and the tent pad was not too level. I got Dan to come up to check it out and we decided it would do for the night. We found a trail over to a large open area later that has a lot of room for more tents that were better, but we'd already set up the tent. We liked the site a lot better after we got it cleaned up a little, and got the gear organized to cook dinner.

We were going to have grilled cheese sandwiches and make chicken vegetable soup like we had last time, but we realized the day before that real cheddar cheese gets moldy in 80 degree weather, so we switched to egg and bacon sandwiches. We pack a few extra packets of Ova Ezy eggs just in case. The soup is always appreciated on long travel days when we are feeling dehydrated. We could hear boats going by out on Sucker until dusk , but it would probably have been worse on the campsites out there.

We thought about putting the fishing poles together and going out fishing in the evening since we had scared off some nice sized fish on the way in, but decided to enjoy some down time instead. There were a lot of fish breaking the top of the water a little ways out near sundown. It would have been nice to see what was there, but it was a pretty intense trip, and relaxing was nice too. We got camp cleaned up and packed up for an early exit the next morning.

Jordan to Cattyman 44 Rods, Cattyman to Gibson 27R, Gibson to Ashigan 111R, Ashigan to Ensign 54 R, Ensign to Splash 5R 6.7 miles Paddling, 2.3 portaging Total: 9 miles