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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 1:55 PM | TrackBack
June 1, 2007
Day Four: Gabbro Lake
This campsite is what makes it all worth while. A shelf for swimming, numerous paths and trails, even patches of grass for Selkye. The water leaving Bald Eagle was dead calm, and we missed the Gabbro channel the first time. We survived the stress only to arrive at rapids which Roomie was not comfortable shooting. So we lifted the canoe over from one pool to the next. While lost on Bald Eagle we spotted several turtles and a young moose. He was red in color; he did not move like a deer at all. Also saw an osprey snack on a seagull nest. The gulls tried to fight him off to no avail.
Island campsites rock! We followed the coast of this island to a channel and found some deer scat. I reckon they came over the ice looking for forage.* Upon arrival here, went swimming immediately. Felt very refreshing. So much so that Roomie dove in several times as well. We have decided that the BWCAW is Selkye's annual bath. She fetched a five-foot long birch stick out of the lake several times. A steady breeze took up residence as soon as we landed here. Roomie reminds me that we saw an otter** at Bald Eagle. Perhaps it was a beaver, since it did not bob around like the otters we saw on Quadga. There was a turtle waiting for us, sunning himself at tour island campsite
* I have been told that they swim to islands for food. Probably when it is hot out.
** Actually, we are pretty sure that it was a beaver.