Rest Day

Today turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my life. Not that that was the plan. We had another terrific breakfast. I caught a northern and a bunch of bass from shore and we took an early afternoon nap. I awoke to see my wife was still asleep so I snuck out as quietly as I could to fish off a small island just off the site. The bass were biting and I had a blast. There was a little weather coming in so I figured it was about time to head in. I had brought a couple of bass with from earlier in the day, and with a couple I had caught off the island, I got busy cleaning them for a fish lunch. This would be our first fish meal of the trip. No walleye though. Bummer.

There were some dark clouds and wind so I hurried up and paddled the short distance back to camp and we got the stove going. It felt like rain so we put up the tarp while the fish was finishing up. We had just sat down to begin eating when the rain started. Within a minute the wind really started whipping so we huddled up eating the fish right out of the pan. It was SOOO good!! I used an awesome home made breading and real butter to fry in. We were about half way done when a roar in the distance concerned me. I said to my wife, 'That does not sound good'. It was like a train or jet that sounded like it was getting closer. Immediately the wind started to really pick up and it just wouldn't stop. It just kept coming. It was just unreal. I grabbed my wife, who by now was starting to cry. I mean it was howling. And still building. Then the shit flew. The tarp blew apart and we got close under some small trees. I looked at the tent and it flattened like a pancake. Then it pulled out of the stakes and started to go. I screamed at my wife to grab a tree. You couldn't hear anything. Just the roar of the wind. And the water. Obviously rain, but I believe the wind was also picking water up off the lake because it was like we were being blown by a giant pressure washer. I dove for the tent. The thought just popped in my head that I had to save it. Shelter is too important to lose. So I was literally laying on it against some brush and I look back at my wife. I yelled 'Let go of the trees!!!', as they was falling like bowling pins. Again, it was just surreal.

And then, as fast as it came, it was gone. It was just like it was before it all started. The obvious thought was that it was a tornado. It wasn't until we got back to the outfitter that we were told it was likely a microburst. Never heard of it before. I know about it now. Anyway, my first thought was we had to get a grip on what was left. What broke, blew away, that sort of thing. To her credit, my wife regained her composer quickly and we started gathering up the gear. We were COMPLETELY soaked. Just as wet as can be. And there was debris everywhere. A combination of bark, needled, leaves everywhere. Packed in every nook there was. Ears, eyes, pockets, everywhere. I was just amazed nothing blew away. We recovered everything. The camp chair went the farthest. About 20 feet in the trees. I remember being pissed that there were still bits of cooked fish on the ground. Not really edible anymore, needless to say. The only damage was bent tent poles and the grommets on the tarp. Luckily the tent was still usable. A little off kilter but still usable. 3 grommets on the tarp were still attatched to the rope that was tied to trees that blew down. The luckiest part by far, though, was the canoe. 5 trees fell across it but did not damage it at all. In a way that might have been a blessing. I am certain it would have caught air if not for the trees. Then who knows. Also, I had kept the packs closed up under the canoe when not in use so the majority of the gear was still stowed away underneath the canoe. I was able to lift the biggest tree that was on the canoe and my wife was able to stick a 3 foot long piece of cut tree under it to prop it up. The rest were just barely on top of the canoe and I was able to slide it out from underneath. We spent about 2 hours taking things to the lake to rinse off. I mean, everything was dirty. We had a rope strung up between 2 trees that went down, and most of the things that were hanging on it were still there. We re strung the rest of the ropes and cord we had to hang things to dry. It still rained a little throughout the day but we got most everything dry. This all happened about 3:40 pm btw. It was 3:51 when it dawned on me to check the time.

The trail to the latrine was blocked by trees as far as we could see. The fire grate had dissappeared under some trees. I didn't bring a saw. That won't happen again. There was little I could do to clear the downed trees so we walked around where we could. There was a 2nd tent pad about 25 feet in the trees that my wife wanted us to use that was completely hammered by trees. Felt blessed there.

It was just after 6 pm when we got the canoe in the water to go check on other parties on the lake. I was certain someone had to be hurt. The first site we wanted but was taken was wiped out but empty, thank God. Another site was occupied on the south end of the lake, but the wind didn't get them. We didn't check the last site on the east end. We could clearly see there area that the wind hit. The majority of the north shore had significant blow down. I was amazed at root systems that grew on huge rocks at the shoreline that when the trees went, it exposed the rocks for the first time in who knows how long. And the rocks looked as clean as could be. The wind and water, I assumed. We got back to camp, tired and worn out. We had an easy dinner and went to bed, again to wolves in the distance. The moon was as bright as I had ever seen.

It was then I actually felt lucky. It was an insane day, but we were all right. The big man upstairs was watching over us that day. All the trees that fell, but none on us? I mean, we were right in the middle of it. I could not imagine what it was like in 95' or whenever the big one was. This was small scale compared to that, but it was still scary.