Day 10 (South Lake)
We slept in again. Felt really, really good. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was out, life was good. There was a bit of a wind out of the south.
We paddled out of the Granite River. There was a 100 rod portage along Little Rock Falls into Magnetic Lake - wasn't bad, but hilly. There was a group of people from Gunflint Lodge at the falls taking pictures. We saw one group heading into the Granite as we were leaving the portage.
We paddled past a very nice chalet style cabin on Magnetic/Gunflint; it was on its own island and was immaculately kept up. We bucked a south wind into Gunflint. We stopped at the Gunflint Lodge - our first dose of civilization in over a week. We had some time so drank a Moosehead and ate a burger and fries (our waitress's name was Lucia). Good stuff after all the Mountain House! We got news on the government shutdown and also heard the weather forecast: 80% chance of showers/thunderstorms in evening. Not so good. So, after lunch we planned to make tracks on Gunflint with the impending weather. After a quick stop at a neighboring resort to restock batteries and replace the duct tape I left on Sagg, we lit across Gunflint. We more or less had the wind at our backs and made some sweet time. I was keeping track on my GPS and we were averaging 5 mph in Penny.
We had a tough time finding the entrance into Little Gunflint. Eventually, though, we were off Gunflint and moving towards North and South lakes. We came across a pair of loons and their two young on Little Gunflint:
The railway portage connected Little Gunflint with North Lake. It was a short portage (20 rods) and you could see the old tracks along the portage. I found single white leather glove (hee-hee) at the end of the portage.
North Lake (and South as well) were very pretty, a different look than we had seen previously with elevation on the shores.
We had a south wind to buck on North and South lakes but it wasn't too bad. Just trim the canoe, point into the wind, and go. After our experience on the Sagg this wasn't anything to fret. It was in the 80s, the sun was out, and we hadn't seen any sign of the thunderstorms that were supposed to be on the way.
We had the 80 rod Height of Land portage to go to get into South Lake. Looking at all the elevation along the shore I was worried it was going to be brutal, but it wasn't too bad, actually. we got a picture at a marker on the portage:
We fought the wind again out of the south on South Lake, but had smoother sailing once we got the south shore of the lake. We checked out a campsite about half way across the lake but passed on it in hopes of finding something better. We ended up staying on the campsite at the east end of the South Lake (along Rat portage). Heading up to it we weren't sure if it was going to be on the US or Canada side (looked like it was going to be Canada), but we saw the USFS fire grate so knew we were OK. We set up camp and did a little exploring.
The site is right along the side of the portage and when looking for the latrine I came across this abandoned boat:
Not sure how it got there; you can't see it but it's tied down with a big 'ol hemp rope.
Our campsite had a bit of elevation so we had a pretty good view:
There was a big blow down near the entrance of Rat portage that our campsite overlooked:
After our big lunch of 'real' food we weren't that hungry but did make a little something for supper:
With 20 miles in today, we were looking at some short days the rest of the trip. Today had felt pretty easy. Our gear was dry and the packs lighter because of it. My hands were dried out and not pruny any more. My feet were still a bit fungy but not too bad (the X-static socks helped). We swam a bit - the water was very clear. I had a nice smallmouth swim within about 2 feet of me as I stood with my legs in the water.
We had a nice western view from the site so I took some sunset pics:
I went to sleep wtih the skies still clear and no sign of the storms.
Final tally:
20 miles
6 portages: 100, 30, 20, 25, 20, 80
Wildlife:
8 loons, 2 eagles
Supper:
Mountain House chicken terayaki w/rice
Chipotle Rice
Garlic toast (hamburger buns)
hot chocolate for dessert
Weather:
sunny
wind out of south
We paddled out of the Granite River. There was a 100 rod portage along Little Rock Falls into Magnetic Lake - wasn't bad, but hilly. There was a group of people from Gunflint Lodge at the falls taking pictures. We saw one group heading into the Granite as we were leaving the portage.
We paddled past a very nice chalet style cabin on Magnetic/Gunflint; it was on its own island and was immaculately kept up. We bucked a south wind into Gunflint. We stopped at the Gunflint Lodge - our first dose of civilization in over a week. We had some time so drank a Moosehead and ate a burger and fries (our waitress's name was Lucia). Good stuff after all the Mountain House! We got news on the government shutdown and also heard the weather forecast: 80% chance of showers/thunderstorms in evening. Not so good. So, after lunch we planned to make tracks on Gunflint with the impending weather. After a quick stop at a neighboring resort to restock batteries and replace the duct tape I left on Sagg, we lit across Gunflint. We more or less had the wind at our backs and made some sweet time. I was keeping track on my GPS and we were averaging 5 mph in Penny.
We had a tough time finding the entrance into Little Gunflint. Eventually, though, we were off Gunflint and moving towards North and South lakes. We came across a pair of loons and their two young on Little Gunflint:
The railway portage connected Little Gunflint with North Lake. It was a short portage (20 rods) and you could see the old tracks along the portage. I found single white leather glove (hee-hee) at the end of the portage.
North Lake (and South as well) were very pretty, a different look than we had seen previously with elevation on the shores.
We had a south wind to buck on North and South lakes but it wasn't too bad. Just trim the canoe, point into the wind, and go. After our experience on the Sagg this wasn't anything to fret. It was in the 80s, the sun was out, and we hadn't seen any sign of the thunderstorms that were supposed to be on the way. We had the 80 rod Height of Land portage to go to get into South Lake. Looking at all the elevation along the shore I was worried it was going to be brutal, but it wasn't too bad, actually. we got a picture at a marker on the portage:
We fought the wind again out of the south on South Lake, but had smoother sailing once we got the south shore of the lake. We checked out a campsite about half way across the lake but passed on it in hopes of finding something better. We ended up staying on the campsite at the east end of the South Lake (along Rat portage). Heading up to it we weren't sure if it was going to be on the US or Canada side (looked like it was going to be Canada), but we saw the USFS fire grate so knew we were OK. We set up camp and did a little exploring.
The site is right along the side of the portage and when looking for the latrine I came across this abandoned boat:
Not sure how it got there; you can't see it but it's tied down with a big 'ol hemp rope.Our campsite had a bit of elevation so we had a pretty good view:
There was a big blow down near the entrance of Rat portage that our campsite overlooked:
After our big lunch of 'real' food we weren't that hungry but did make a little something for supper:
With 20 miles in today, we were looking at some short days the rest of the trip. Today had felt pretty easy. Our gear was dry and the packs lighter because of it. My hands were dried out and not pruny any more. My feet were still a bit fungy but not too bad (the X-static socks helped). We swam a bit - the water was very clear. I had a nice smallmouth swim within about 2 feet of me as I stood with my legs in the water.
We had a nice western view from the site so I took some sunset pics:
I went to sleep wtih the skies still clear and no sign of the storms.
Final tally:
20 miles
6 portages: 100, 30, 20, 25, 20, 80
Wildlife:
8 loons, 2 eagles
Supper:
Mountain House chicken terayaki w/rice
Chipotle Rice
Garlic toast (hamburger buns)
hot chocolate for dessert
Weather:
sunny
wind out of south
posted by the.mrrr at 10:46 AM
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