DAY TEN

July 11th, Wednesday

Burke Lake, an island campsite just north of the portage to Bagley Bay of Basswood Lake GPS Location: N 48 degrees 05.926’, W 091 degrees 28.336’, Elevation 1330’

Lakes Traveled: McIntyre Lake, Sarah Lake, Side Lake, Unnamed Lake, Unnamed Lake, Isabella Lake, Isabella Creek, North Bat of Basswood Lake and Burke Lake

Total time: 11:50

Total miles: 19.5

What an unbelievable day!!! Today was the adventure!

This morning I woke up a little later at 0437 hours. I thought at first I might try and fall back to sleep, but with yesterday off I was ready to go. It was 0450 hours when I started doing my back exercises.

This was the earliest I got on the water at 0634 hours. The wind was already starting to blow out of the southwest. I started down the east shore south of my island campsite to the point. I tacked over to the west shore so I didn’t have to fight the waves as much while making my way south to the portage, then I followed the west shore around the point in the narrows.

I found the take out to the short, 20 rod, steep portage known as the “Wall” or the “Hill”. Going a little ways to the south I found the easier, but longer 60 rod portage. I opted for the easier one. My knees aren’t like they used to be and I have to be very careful. The longer portage starts with a nice incline, but then levels off.

Sarah Lake was calm where this trail comes out into the little bay. I started being affected by the wind approximately 2 miles, north of a big island. I stayed on the southwest shore of the big island and headed east to the next portage.

Having never been on these lakes before, I had no idea what these portages were going to be like, I guess with a name like, “Hearth Stop Hill” this should give me a pretty good indication. This portage is 125 rods.

This was actually a difficult portage and with the rain yesterday it sure didn’t make it any easier. It immediately started off with a steep incline, leveled off, then up some more. The trail then followed the stream in the wet marshy area next to some rock outcroppings. The trail that followed the stream area was wet and underwater in large sections from yesterday’s rain. There were sections of boulders that I needed to walk over, also. This portage had a little bit of everything.

I got to Side Lake and paddled toward the south end of the lake. While I approached the portage, I saw someone putting a canoe into the water and then they disappeared back up the portage trail. Eventually, I met a father and son who were headed toward Sarah Lake. They said they were from Ohio.

I thought the previous portage was bad. This portage starts off fairly level all the way to the trail that goes off to the left at the “Y”. Not too far after this left turn I came to a very steep section that seemed to go on and on at the speed I was walking. This was mostly a dirt trail with medium sized rocks. Actually, the footing in this section was fine; it was the length and steepness of the incline that was the killer. All I seemed to do is put one foot down, slowly bring up the other foot and place it a little ways in front of the other one, over and over again. Robert Beymer in his book described this section as,”It climbs abruptly for the next 20 rods- suitable only for mountain goats with strong hearts.” There were other tricky, slippery areas that I had to be concerned about as well. This was a very rocky portage.

Taking my time on this portage, like I had a choice, I got through it safely. The younger guy from Ohio warned me about the next portage as well. He told me that the portage from this unnamed lake going to the next unnamed lake is down a steep granite rock face to the put-in.

I paddled across this unnamed lake to the next portage. The portage wasn’t bad until I came to the steep rock face that I had to walk down to the put-in. I had to be very careful in this section, since it had rained after I began this portage. I was hoping to get across it before it rained too much. Well, so much for hoping. All these portages were triple portaged, except the first 60 rod portage.

Besides these portages being treacherous by themselves, the rocks and ground were wet from yesterday’s rain causing more problems. It rained enough while I was doing the “Y” portage to slick it up, again.

When I had talked to the father and son from Ohio they told me they had come in through Isabella Creek to Isabella Lake. They told me there would be enough water in the creek to paddle it. They said there was a portage at the start, some shallow areas and a few beaver dams to pull over.

I had lunch at the end of the portage on the unnamed lake with the steep rock face going to the put-in. This is the unnamed lake just before Isabella Lake. I put on my rain gear just as the sky let loose with a 5 minute hard rain.

There were three aluminum canoes that I saw on the other side of the unnamed lake and it appeared they had come from the portage from Isabella Lake. They disappeared out of my sight and I wondered where they went since they weren’t paddling up to this portage. There was a small point off to my right that I couldn’t see around until I began paddling across to the other side of the lake. They had paddled up to shore and they were getting out of their canoes. I paddled over to them to make some small talk before I crossed to the other side. I asked them if they came from the portage. The older adult male asked, why, weren’t we supposed to? Some others in the group told me I needed to paddle past the dead cedars to get to the portage. Enough of this awkward small talk, time to move on to the portage. I considered none of these portages as easy.

Isabella Lake is where I had to make the decision on if I would go southwest through Point Lake, then take the 175 rod portage into Nest Lake, take a couple more “skips’ before reaching the North Bay of Basswood Lake. My other choice was to paddle northeast on Isabella Lake to Isabella Creek then out to North Bay.

Somewhere I read that the 176 rod portage to Nest Lake was easy. Well, what is easy? Even if easy was an accurate description it’s still over a half mile carry one way.

You guessed it, I paddled northeast on Isabella Lake toward the creek. There wasn’t anyone on the campsite that’s located about the middle of the lake on the east shore. I had to find a place to pull over and grab my rain jacket that I put away at the last portage. I was having a problem finding a place to pull over because the water was deep right up to shore. It began raining hard just as I put on the rain jacket. My regular pants were totally soaked from this downpour because I didn’t put my bibs on.

Isabella Creek begins in a bay at the northeast end of the lake and that’s where my first portage begins. I got out and started to make my first trip across. This portage immediately came to a “Y” in the trail. I followed the lower route first and it took me to the area I needed to get around. I backed up and took the trail that went right up to higher ground. I’ve been this way before, but the opposite way, and I don't t recall any steep sections on this portage. Anyways, I made the first trip across and headed back on a different trail. I found out that I needed to actually walk in the stream to get back to my canoe and this avoided the steep incline at the start of the portage.

I paddled down the stream and there were I believe three beaver dams I needed to pull over. There was a couple more times I had to get out of the canoe because of the very shallow water. On the second shallow area I jumped out of the canoe in the shallow, swift water to avoid having the bottom of my canoe scratched some more. The Isabella creek has a firm, gravel base. Well, when I swung my legs up over the gunwales, I got a Charley Horse on the inside of my upper left leg when I jumped into the Creek. The pain was excruciating as the large muscle contracted. I limped over to the side of the marshy beaver area of the creek, while I lined the canoe behind me. I sat on shore with my pants down rubbing the muscle on the inside of my leg for a few minutes. That was some tremendous pain as the muscle tightened up. I was back up and ready to go in about five minutes. There was one more pull over at the last beaver dam and then in a couple minutes I was on the North Bay of Basswood Lake.

Wanting to make Burke Lake I passed up the first campsite on the point as I entered the North Bay. Looking across the large bay I couldn’t believe how relatively calm the water was. I rounded the point and began going slightly southeast cutting off a small portion of the north shore of the bay.

There were a couple people standing on an outcropping of granite off in the distance to my southeast. They appeared to be looking my direction. I thought it appeared strange! What were they looking at?

When I turned around and looked behind me all I saw was a sky that was completely black from top to bottom. It appeared to be a wall. This large solid black wall was moving quickly in my direction. I still had another minute or so before I would reach the east shore. I paddled as fast as I could while looking for any place to land the canoe. I pulled the canoe up on the sharp rocks. No time to worry about the canoe now. I threw all my gear out of the canoe, and then grabbed the canoe. Next, I ran the canoe up into the woods where I secured both the bow and stern lines on the canoe to some trees. The lines were tied parallel to the wind about twenty yards into the woods to prevent my canoe from being blown away or damaged.

Now I could hear the loud roar of the wind approaching and it kept getting louder and louder. I was in an older stand of red pine trees and there wasn’t anywhere to put my tent up. I got both of my packs up from the shore, as well as my camera case and water bottles and brought them further up into the woods past my canoe. I pulled my tent out of my pack and put on my rain gear even though I was thoroughly soaked already. The lake now had waves two feet or higher. I’m sure the waves were even higher further down the bay.

I pulled the tent over my body while I sat at the base of a large Red Pine that was about two foot in diameter to prevent the straight line lines from directly striking me. The rain came down very hard and it also hailed considerably.

I’m not sure how long this was going on as I was only concerned about my safety. I was in a survival mode at the time. The tree canopy was above me, so it blocked the full impact of the hail and rain. Not knowing how long I would be in this situation I began taking off my boots while I was underneath the tent. Since there was a good possibility I might be there for a while I knew I needed to get out of all my wet clothing and change into some dry clothing as soon as possible to avoid hypothermia. I began to cool off due to the inactivity.

I changed into some dry clothing after the real heavy rain ceased, but there still was a light rain coming down. I still had no idea how long I would be in this situation.

The worst part of the storm seemed to have come and gone, there was still a pretty strong wind, but nothing like a little while ago. Would there be another cell popping up?

I really wanted to get to a campsite so I could put up my tent and crawl inside my nice warm sleeping bag as it was still cloudy and cool. I re-packed my pack the best I could. I folded up my wet tent and just stuck it on top of the pack above my plastic liners.

I began paddling south along the east shore looking for the first available campsite. There are about 6 sites within the first ¾ of a mile and every one of them was taken. In fact, I got out of my canoe at one site and walked up to the main area before I saw any tents. There wasn’t anyone outside of their tents. Apparently, they were all snuggled inside their cozy tent or very frightened from the storm. There was another camp site where I got out of my canoe, but I didn’t go very far before realizing that it was taken.

I continued fighting the waves that got larger the further south I went. I finally got to the portage that goes to Burke Lake. This is a very rocky 48 rod portage.

There was a guy with what appeared to be a brand new Prism canoe like mine at the portage who said he was going to do some fishing for the next couple of days. He asked me if there was anyone camped on the island directly north and I told him I didn’t think so, but I didn’t check. He then mentioned that there were a couple deer on the south part of the island. I looked and saw them. They were the only large animals I saw while on this trip, but at this point I really didn’t care to be observing wildlife.

I asked him how the next portage was and he told me I wouldn’t need to do it. That was a big relief.

This was a very rocky portage, but fairly flat. There were a couple other people walking from the other direction that I said hi to as they walked passed.

Arriving at the end of the portage, I put my pack down at the end of some rocks where I was going to put my canoe when I returned with it. There were some other canoes coming from the south toward my direction while I was putting down my pack.

I walked back with my other pack and canoe to where my first pack was and the group I saw earlier was still there blocking my access. Now I had to carefully step on the racks to get my canoe close to the water in another less than desirable spot. This group didn’t say a word to me and I didn’t say anything to them as all my attention was directed at safely negotiating the slippery rocks.

I paddled a short distance to the next portage that was marked on my map as 18 rods, but the other solo canoeist said I wouldn’t need to do it. What was he thinking, I had to do this portage and there’s no way he didn’t do it, either.

The further south on Burke Lake I went the northwest wind kicked up the waves. The first two campsites were taken. The first time on this trip, I was starting to get discouraged. I had one more island campsite to check out before I got to the portage that goes to Bagley Bay. I know there are two campsites to the east of the portage, but I didn’t want to do another long portage to find that they were taken, as well.

I could tell I was back to the border lakes as most of the campsites were taken. There wasn’t going to be any more solitude. It seems that most of the people don’t travel too far past any of the border lakes, either on the Canadian or American side.

Well, the island campsite was available and I pulled my canoe up on the south side of the island at 1824 hours. This was 10 minutes shy of a 12 hour paddling day. This was a long day!

Looking around on the campsite I found the best area for the tent. I put it up immediately so it could dry out. The northwest wind was just howling through this site. I put on some warmer clothes and the warm hat went back on. I laid down on my Therm-a-rest pad for about 15 minutes to rest my sore back and to just rest my whole body.

I had to get things organized to eat. I knew I would feel much better after eating. I did have some gorp, while I boiled water for coffee and dinner.

My clothes were still wet from earlier and from the cold northwest wind it didn’t appear that things would be drying out anytime soon.

There was a nice sunset so I took many photos of the sky; afterwards I went inside the tent around 2130 hours.

This was a very physically demanding day with all those portages and the number of miles I paddled today. It really isn’t the number of miles that I paddled, but all the rugged portages that I had to triple portage.

The portages were extra treacherous because the trails and rocks were wet. They would be difficult enough under normal conditions. Again, I also have to be very careful since my left knee is so bad. The thing I noticed when I tripled portaged was I became very familiar with those portages. I’m not really saying that’s a good thing just a fact.