BWCA
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June 2014
Page
2: Days 1-3
Lake One to Lake Insula
Day 1 – Tuesday, June 10 – Touring the Numbered
Lakes
After a quick granola breakfast, we load the boats and
gear on Voyageur North's van and head out for the Moose Lake landing
to drop off the car, and then to our put-in at Lake One. We
head out under perfect conditions: temps in the low 70s and a SE wind
of 5-15 mph. The slight headwind is enough to make island-hopping worthwhile
but not enough to make paddling tiring.
It's a bit eerie, traveling through the area burned
by the Pagami Creek fire in
2011. To the south many charred tree trunks stand like oddly-spaced
pickets, interspersed with many patches that were spared. To the north
the forest remains green as ever. Some campsites in the burned area
are small islands of green, as though they'd been watered while
the fire was raging.
It doesn't take long before we work out a rhythm to portaging.
We have all the gear a typical tandem team would carry - one main
pack, two smaller packs, and two personal daypacks - which would ordinarily
make for portages of two trips each. However, with two boats there's
an extra load. Rather than triple-carry, Jen
decides to carry the two smaller packs, which must weigh at least 70
lbs combined. Throughout the trip we switch off this double-pack
load between us; by the end of the trip, with 20-30 lbs of food gone
we're able to make two packs almost as light as one.
The water is high, which means the rivers are running
fast, and along the way
we have a bit of fun in the outwash of some good-size drops. For starters,
I play around below the rapids in Lake Four and make a few more
contributions to the YouTube series "Boundary Waters: Why We Portage.".
Here are a couple of video clips in case you want to see the water
in motion: Part
1 Part
2 Part
3. There's also a little clip on "What
We Portage."
 
After checking out a number of campsites we decide to
linger at the first site on Hudson Lake (site 1, C1377). It's one of
those unburned islands: small, but pleasant enough for one night.
Dinner is Hawk Vittles' Cashew Curry with Cache Lake
fry bread - yum.
I stash the
food as usual.
Day 1 summary:
Total distance 11.2 miles in 7:00
5 portages of 135 rods
Day 2 – Wednesday, June 11 – From Grey
to Green
There's nothing special about leaving a campsite, but
this one has a nice little ramp.
Remains of the 2011 fire continue to be visible as
we travel north through Lake Insula.
At about the middle of the lake
I notice a rather abrupt transition from the grey remains of the forest
to the green of the unburned area. In a way it's strange, but in another
way it's restful and reassuring.
Having stayed at the site
on Williamson Island, I'm hoping it's open, but no cigar. I've
also had my eye on the primo site just to the north, at the top of
Lake Insula, and it's open, so we stop there (site 42, C1323). I like
to have a layover day soon into the trip, for three reasons: to assess
how the gear is working out; to give my body a bit of a rest; and to
slow down. It's also convenient when the next day's forecast is
for rain, which it is.
Today it's in the mid-70s, partly cloudy, with a 5-10
mph south wind. That makes for
a nice tailwind but I'm glad to be on land when it builds to
15-20+ in the afternoon. We set up a double "front porch" with
the entrance of each tent under the tarp) which
makes life easier.
Jen notices something interesting in the water, a young
snapping turtle, which is really nothing unusual.
What's interesting is that it's being followed by a painted
turtle. Now that's different.
Since there's rain in the forecast I put up the latrine
tarp. It immediately gets kudos from my tripping partner.
Dinner: Mountain House Wild Rice and Mushroom Pilaf with
Cache Lake chocolate pudding and a nice view for dessert (this is just
one of the many nice shots Jen got).
Day 1 summary:
Total distance 7.2 miles in 3:00
1 portage of 95 rods
Day 3 – Thursday, June 12 – Stormy Weather,
Part 1
It's a nice morning and we enjoy a leisurely breakfast
of scrambled eggs with mushrooms, tomatoes, onion and bacon bits along
with Cache Lake fry bread. It rains all afternoon and evening, and
the wind blows 20-40 mph from the northwest. Despite much tweaking,
the tarp blows down in the late afternoon. With additional adjustments
it holds the rest of the day and night. However, despite
careful examination of the tent pads, my tent somehow ends
up in a shallow depression. I'm glad I patched the plastic liner that
goes inside the tent; it does its job well during the steady rain.
Several years of use show up when the fly starts to drip, but I'm able
to temporarily stop it by spreading a plastic bag over the leaking
seam. Later, when it's dry, duct tape comes to the rescue.
Tomorrow:
On to Thomas Lake
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