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June 4, 2007
Days 5 and 6: Gabbro Lake to White Iron
Gabbro Lake: The rain finally caught up to us this afternoon. The morning was pleasant; we fished behind our island, in the channel, and in the little bay with a beach that we saw paddling to our campsite. In the last bay, I hooked what I call a walleye and Roomie claims is a crappie. It, like the other fish I tempted on this trip, escaped. I returned to the bay later soloing the Minnesota II (not the easiest canoe to solo) and had no luck finding fish.
The rain steadily increased, and eventually we were driven under the tarp, where Roomie finished Unusual Side Effects and I Code of the Woosters. The dog quickly discovered the comfort of the air-mattress chair; I let her enjoy some rest there while I watched and listened to the rain.
We turned in early, anticipating an early start back to civilization. The only condition under which we would have stuck to our 7 day 6 night schedule was if the weather was so delightful and non-threatening that we could not resist. Otherwise, we were going to have a 10+ mile paddle to my folks' place on White Iron Lake.
We pushed off early in a light drizzle. The first portage took us over to the Kawishiwi River. Mosquitoes were intense. On the Kawishiwi, the drizzle abated somewhat. At the second portage, a large beaver dam was holding back an acre or two of water, some four feet deep. The portage was totally flooded. Upon closer examination, we could see where enterprising voyageurs had blazed an alternate trail around the pool.
This was the first portage of the trip where we saw other people, in this case a group of fishermen double-portaging their way to Kawishiwi. We put in at Clear Lake toward the final portage of the day. By the end of the portage, I had decided that the rain gear should be stowed for the duration. We arrived at the portage alongside a family of campers we first saw when they were clearing their campsite on Kawishiwi.
Once on Kawishiwi, we were free of any other paddlers. Kawishiwi is a lovely river, and we were paddling away from the more-frequently used boat launch access and toward Farm Lake.
The boundary to the BWCAW is marked by a campsite and a series of orange buoys strung across the channel. On the civilized side, numerous cabins and docks provide access to the motorized public.
Roomie expertly navigated the canoe through the manifold channels and islands, and we crossed Farm Lake in an usually easy manner. From Farm, we entered Silver Rapids, where a gentleman had a large walleye on the line. He wrestled with it, his rod bending under the weight of the fish. By the time a friend came to help him haul it in, it had escaped.
This action behind us, we crossed under the bridge at Silver Rapids, paddled past the boy scout camps and resorts on White Iron, and made for my folks' dock. Only the dog-sitter was home.
We looked forward to the hot shower and the steak dinner at the Ely Steakhouse: neither event disappointed.
Posted by Underblog at June 4, 2007 1:55 PM
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