Out of the Wilderness Once Again

On August 22 we put in at Moose Lake for our annual adventure into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Dorcas and I have gone to the Boundary Waters each fall since we met in 1997. Well, technically we skipped one year way back when and went to the Allagash River in Maine instead, but who's really counting

The traditional group photo at the put-in

Our trip this year was almost identical to the one we did in 2017, except in 2017 it was just Dorcas and me.  This year Wayne and Lynda went with us.

Finally loaded at the Moose Lake access 

This was perhaps our coldest, windiest and wettest trip into the Boundary Waters that I can recall. Temperatures most days did not get out of the 60s and most evenings were in the low to mid 40s.  We huddled under the rain tarp at least once at each camp. During our 4 nights at Splash Lake it seemed to rain almost non stop.

It was a dreary day on Moose Lake

Generally, motor boats are prohibited in the Boundary Waters, but there are exceptions. In some larger entry area lakes boats with motors up to 25hp are allowed.  Such is the case on Moose and Newfound Lakes. Outfitters will provide a "tow" to the far end of these lakes, particularly to Prairie Portage, a border crossing into Quetico Provincial Park in Canada, or to the portage to Splash Lake.  Taking such a tow can avoid a long tedious paddle and save a day for those on a tighter schedule. Apparently, many years ago they actually towed the canoes, but now they load them onto Jon boats. They still use the term getting a tow.

Tow boat on Moose Lake

It's still a dreary day on Moose Lake

Steak grilled on the fire with potatoes is a traditional first dinner

The fishing this year was generally slow, but we did make a few catches.

A small Northern pike on Newfound Lake

Brrr....  But at least it's not raining

Matilda guarding the wood pile

Enjoying morning coffee. Whose gonna make breakfast?

An immature common loon

Matilda enjoying a sunny day

A glorious sunset

A raft of mergansers float by

Fog on a still clear morning

My biggest catch was this 4.1 pound Northern pike, caught in a cove near Camp 2 on Newfound Lake.

A nice Northern pike

We were hoping for a fish fry. This guy was large enough to feed two, but would be a rather meager meal for four.

We put this guy on a stringer, hoping to catch another about the same size.  In the meantime, a huge, and I mean HUGE snapping turtle came along looking for his own dinner.  The guy was about 24" from head to tail, and aggressive. Dorcas had to literally beat him off with a paddle to keep him from eating Bubba. We know he would have eaten our pike, because it happened once before when we left a fish out on a stringer.

This snapper was about 16" wide and 24" long

He didn't leave even when Dorcas whacked him with a paddle

In the end no more fish were caught this day. Bubba was released and swam away happy and smug. 

Matilda guarding Wayne and Lynda

When we did have a clear night we would get up after midnight and look at the stars.  This area has truly dark skies, particularly to the north.  On several evenings the skies were so clear, the stars so bright and the lake so still, that the stars reflecting off the lake were as clear and bright as those in the sky.  There was no moon, but you could see to walk under the starlight.  We saw the aurora borealis (northern lights) several nights, but it was never particularly colorful or animated. It looked more like the glow of a distant city on the horizon where we knew there was no city.

A common loon at dusk

We frequently cook pancakes in the wilderness.  Cooking pancakes is always an adventure, and it's not always pretty.  Our pan is not the best for pancakes and the stove's flame is concentrated on a small spot.  But sometimes they come out OK.

This batch came out pretty good

When asked about his pancake, Wayne says "It's alright"

Dorcas removing cockle burs from Matilda, a never-ending chore

When the water level is up, the 5 rod portage into Ensign Lake can be bypassed, and the boat can be dragged up the chute.

The "portage" out of Splash Lake into Ensign Lake

Wayne and Lynda paddling the "Chute" into Splash Lake

When you are in the wilderness for two weeks, you try to prepare for equipment failures. Wayne and I carry identical MSR Dragonfly backpacker stoves, which provides some redundancy and reduces the need for excess spare parts.  Early in the trip Wayne's stove failed.  There was apparently a blockage in the burner jet that prevented the flow of fuel.  We tried all the easy ways to clear the blockage, but every one failed.  We concluded that we needed to remove the burner jet nozzle in order to clear the blockage.  Easier said than done.  MSR provides a stainless steel multi-tool for this purpose, but the jet just wouldn't budge.  After much fussing and cussing, I bent the tool, and we gave up.

I gotta have a talk with MSR about their nozzle tool

A rare calm sunny day on Ensign Lake

Wayne cooking pinto beans over the fire. Life is hard. 

Dishes gotta be done

This was an easy trip with many layover days.  This gives us a lot of time to do nothing. Many books were read.

We use traditional north woods canvas canoe packs which have been made by Duluth Pack in Duluth Minnesota since 1882. On the left is our Duluth Pack Camp Kitchen which is equipped with a stainless steel liner box, that we use as a food pack. On the right is our Duluth Pack No. 3 Cruiser Pack combo, which is a traditional Adirondack-style canoe basket inside a Duluth pack timber cruiser pack.  Duluth Pack still makes expedition gear, but like most outdoor product companies nowadays, their bread and butter products are more fashionable items

Our Duluth Packs 

We did not see any bears this trip, but in years past we have had bears in camp.  USFS rules and common sense require you to secure your food at camp.  Actually bears are probably less a threat than rodents and other small varmints. At each camp, one of my first chores is to string the bear line in order to hang the food packs. The details are fairly complicated, but essentially we run a heavy line from a high stout limb to the base of another tree some distance away.  Then we use a pulley to hoist the bags off the ground.  Tree selection is all-important and some campsites offer poor opportunities. A successful bear line has the packs at least 8 feet off the ground and 6 feet from the nearest tree.  Our two food packs combined likely weigh about 140 pounds at the beginning of the trip and hoisting the packs each evening can be exciting.  Blood has been shed and more than one tree has been pulled over.  Thankfully, the food packs get lighter each day.

A model bear line

Bald Eagle on Ensign Lake

Lynda getting out of the wind to read

A still foggy morning at Camp 5 on Newfound Lake

Grits, fruit and side meat are a breakfast favorite

Laundry day on Ensign Lake

Lynda is the pancake queen

Am I cute or what?

Matilda found some nice grass to frolic in at Camp 4 on Ensign Lake

Dorcas and I bought a new tent for the trip this year.  Our old tent was an REI Half Dome 2-Plus.  We bought that tent in 2011, and it was pretty much worn out.  We had logged 171 nights in our old tent. (I tend to be a bit obsessive about keeping records). Our new tent is also an REI Half Dome 2-Plus, but a number of significant improvements have been made since the 2011 model.  Specifically, it has an improved fly design, better doors and zippers, more storage pockets, more head room and larger vestibules.  We love our new tent!

Matilda guarding our new tent

Matilda's Island at Camp 5 on Newfound Lake

Interesting wildlife sightings were not frequent, but we did have fun watching this mouse. I first saw him scurry from the woods and disappear into the rocks at the hearth.  We had just eaten a snack that had cheese and bread sticks, and the mouse wanted to take the plastic container away. He was very entertaining.  The plastic container was too big for the mouse to take it back into the rock pile, and it kept getting hung up.  Each time I would retrieve the container and bring it back out into the open area in front of the fire pit.  Then the mouse would come back out and steal it again.  Great fun!

Another pancake shot

A finely pitched rain tarp

The last of the tequila. So sad!

Wayne reading

We occasionally will use walkie talkies to communicate on the water, particularly when both parties are scouting different campsites on a lake.  My radio is also equipped to receive weather information from the National Weather Service. Weather forecasts are very handy when choosing campsites and travel days, etc.  The forecast originates at the National Weather Service office in Duluth and is broadcast from a transmitter somewhere near Ely MN.  The forecast is for the ELY area and is therefore fairly relevant. Reception is sometimes good, and sometimes not so good.  Sometimes in order to receive the weather report one must find just the right spot, stand on one leg, hold one arm up in the air and stick the antenna in your ear.  It can look silly.

At Camp 4 on Ensign Lake weather radio reception was poor.  We finally did find a spot back in the woods where the reception was tolerable. In order to find that spot again we marked it with a rock cairn.

Our radio rock-rock.  (Think Radio Ga Ga)

Yours truly performing the weather radio dance

Wet hair and wet socks

The US Forest Service guidelines for trash management have evolved over the years.  Glass, cans and other non-burnable containers have always been prohibited, and campers were encouraged to burn their burnable containers and wrappers.  That concept is no longer eco-friendly. The USFS has come to acknowledge Minnesota's rules prohibiting the burning of trash (as has NC and many other states).  Current guidelines are to pack out all your trash.  Right.  I doubt the USFS really expects folks to do this, but they have to say it.

Two weeks of non-burnable trash: 6.4 ounces

After 13 nights in the wilderness we paddled back from Camp 5 to the Moose Lake access.  From there it was a 30 minute drive back to Fall Lake Recreation Area, where our motor home was parked and where we had reservations in the campground for 4 nights.  Fall Lake is a great place to leave the  camper when we go into the Boundary Waters.  It is paved, lighted and we can park next to the rangers office, where they know us well.  We have never had a problem leaving our vehicle there.

The parking lot at Fall Lake Recreation Area

I have a 400 watt solar array and in past years we have always come back to a happy camper, with a fully charged battery and cold beer and frozen ice cream in the fridge. However, when we returned this time our house batteries were totally dead.  The first sign was when the alarm fob did not engage the alarm system. After I opened the door manually, the electric step did not come out. NOT GOOD! The house 12v system was just plain dead.  Nothing worked.  Unfortunately, the refrigerator needs 12v power to operate, even while operating on LP,  and it had apparently been off for some time.  There was question about whether I would be able to start the engine.  My starting battery (separate from my house batteries) is old and weak. I usually bridge the two battery banks whenever I start the coach, because I don't want to put too much load on the pitiful starting battery.  Thankfully, after lugging for a moment, the engine turned over and started.

I still haven't figured out what happened.  My solar array should have kept the batteries charged.  Failing that, the coach is equipped with an automatic generator start function that was set to come on when the house battery voltage dropped below 12v.  I recorded the generator hours before we left, and I know the generator did not run while we were gone.  I subsequently checked the generator, and it fired up normally.  Wayne has a much smaller solar array on his Airstream and his battery was fully charged.  So it is a mystery why the house batteries were drained.  I am concerned that we may have some sort of electrical issue that caused the problem, and I am worried that this event may have damaged the batteries.  My solar charge controller suggests the solar array is working properly, however, since we are currently plugged into 120v service, I can't really be sure.  It is worrisome because as we continue our trip into Canada, Algonquin Provincial Park and the Adirondacks, we will be boon docking and need to be able to function off the grid.  Before leaving Fall Lake I intend to unhook from shore power and see how things go.

All in all we had a great trip. It was cold, wet and windy, but there were enough nice days to make it all good.  It was an easy trip, with only one short portage into and out of Splash Lake.  All but our first day was a layover day.  We had 5 different camps, so we didn't need to break camp every day.  My GPS showed Dorcas and I paddled a total distance of 25.4 miles, but our actual distance would be a little more.  On several occasions the GPS had not acquired the satellites, and on a few day trips I forgot to carry the GPS.

I would not be surprised if this was the last trip for Wayne and Lynda.  Age and health issues are catching up with all of us.  Dorcas and I are actively recruiting for paddling partners for future Boundary Waters trips. Get your application in now, before we're sold out!

We are set to enjoy 4 nights of cushy RV camping at Fall Lake before moving north into Canada.

Life is still good.