Day 2 (Namakan to Lac La Croix)
Up at first light. There was a close to a full moon and it never got too dark. The storm had blown through leaving clear skies, cooler temps, and lower humidity. We slept OK, but the adrenaline rush of the storm kept me from relaxing completely. Still, after a 31 mile day the body was tired and sleep came.
We had camped on the far end of Namakan so it didn't take long to get into Sand Point Lake. The first couple of miles paddling were tough, there was a strong wind on Sand Point and we had to paddle to the sheltered side of the lake to get out of the wind. We were still a bit front heavy and the back of the canoe kept pushing in the wind. This would get better over the course of the trip but we were never able to completely trim things perfectly.
There was a resort on Sand Point and we watched a couple of float planes take off and land. We officially entered the BWCA at EP 12 in the early morning (Little Vermillion Lake). The Little Vermillion Narrows were very pretty
-a nice break from the big water we'd been paddling on. We stopped for a coffee break at the entrance to the Loon River around 8:15. We took more breaks today and it felt like an easier day (though river paddling always seems to go faster). I liked the Loon River. Not a huge current to fight, lots of fish jumping. Saw a fair number of motor boats on the river. All were very courteous and slowed down for us. The Loon Falls Portage was listed as an 80 rod on both maps but felt shorter. Uphill climb to start. I took the medium pack and the canoe to start. The canoe didn't sit real well and my arm immediately went numb. Arrgh. I had been training with my GG pack at weight for 2 months and was very used to that, but hadn't trained with a canoe. I was wondering if that was going to be a big mistake. But, it was the first portage and we'll see. I had done a short trip 10 days before and didn't have a problem with a pack and the canoe, but there was more weight in the canoe this time with a full array of thwart and stowaway bags and an extra paddle. But, it was the first portage, so I had plenty of practice to get ready for the Grand. We stopped for a bit at the Loon Falls Portage to watch some boats go through at the mechanized portage. Chatted a bit with the operator and bought a couple of candy bars. It was still early in the trip, so while the candy bars tasted good, we weren't that far removed from real food.
We left the portage and paddled into Loon Lake. Winds were out of the north so we hugged t.he south shore and went around the point to the Beatty Portage. There was noone at the Beatty Portage; we sat on the dock and had some lunch. View:
An outfitter (I think Anderson's) boat came out of Lac La Croix (LLC) as we were leaving. Talked to the people (from Louisville). Sounded like they had a good trip and the fishing was great. We were finally on Lac La Croix, a favorite lake for both Steve and I. We stopped by the pictographs near the Beatty portage. I brought along some tobacco to thank the spirits for the trip and offered some here at the pictographs.
Unfortunately the wind out of the north made for some tough sledding as we were paddling into a strong wind (something we would do a lot of in the coming days). We still had good energy, though. I looked at the trip computer on my GPS and 20+ miles into the day we were doing over 4.5 mph into a stiff wind. We ended up camping on the south campsite of Sandbar Island. Nice campsite, good kitchen. We'd have loved a campsite that nice toward the end of the trip.
I got the camera around and played with the macro mode on a dragonfly...
Here's what we did without a functioning rainfly:
It worked pretty well, just didn't get as much air moving through the tent. Luckily temps were cool.
We ended up going 26 miles this day and it felt a lot better than day 1. We took more short stops and I ate more early in the day so I had more energy by the end of the day. I'd carry this strategy forward for the rest of the trip.
Finally tally:
26.5 miles
2 portages (80, 50)
1 loon
4 eagles
Dinner: Chicken Terayaki, wild rice, Merlot.
Weather:
sunny, windy, humidity down. Winds out of W/NW/N
Orr: high of 77, low of 62.
We had camped on the far end of Namakan so it didn't take long to get into Sand Point Lake. The first couple of miles paddling were tough, there was a strong wind on Sand Point and we had to paddle to the sheltered side of the lake to get out of the wind. We were still a bit front heavy and the back of the canoe kept pushing in the wind. This would get better over the course of the trip but we were never able to completely trim things perfectly.
There was a resort on Sand Point and we watched a couple of float planes take off and land. We officially entered the BWCA at EP 12 in the early morning (Little Vermillion Lake). The Little Vermillion Narrows were very pretty
-a nice break from the big water we'd been paddling on. We stopped for a coffee break at the entrance to the Loon River around 8:15. We took more breaks today and it felt like an easier day (though river paddling always seems to go faster). I liked the Loon River. Not a huge current to fight, lots of fish jumping. Saw a fair number of motor boats on the river. All were very courteous and slowed down for us. The Loon Falls Portage was listed as an 80 rod on both maps but felt shorter. Uphill climb to start. I took the medium pack and the canoe to start. The canoe didn't sit real well and my arm immediately went numb. Arrgh. I had been training with my GG pack at weight for 2 months and was very used to that, but hadn't trained with a canoe. I was wondering if that was going to be a big mistake. But, it was the first portage and we'll see. I had done a short trip 10 days before and didn't have a problem with a pack and the canoe, but there was more weight in the canoe this time with a full array of thwart and stowaway bags and an extra paddle. But, it was the first portage, so I had plenty of practice to get ready for the Grand. We stopped for a bit at the Loon Falls Portage to watch some boats go through at the mechanized portage. Chatted a bit with the operator and bought a couple of candy bars. It was still early in the trip, so while the candy bars tasted good, we weren't that far removed from real food.We left the portage and paddled into Loon Lake. Winds were out of the north so we hugged t.he south shore and went around the point to the Beatty Portage. There was noone at the Beatty Portage; we sat on the dock and had some lunch. View:
An outfitter (I think Anderson's) boat came out of Lac La Croix (LLC) as we were leaving. Talked to the people (from Louisville). Sounded like they had a good trip and the fishing was great. We were finally on Lac La Croix, a favorite lake for both Steve and I. We stopped by the pictographs near the Beatty portage. I brought along some tobacco to thank the spirits for the trip and offered some here at the pictographs.
Unfortunately the wind out of the north made for some tough sledding as we were paddling into a strong wind (something we would do a lot of in the coming days). We still had good energy, though. I looked at the trip computer on my GPS and 20+ miles into the day we were doing over 4.5 mph into a stiff wind. We ended up camping on the south campsite of Sandbar Island. Nice campsite, good kitchen. We'd have loved a campsite that nice toward the end of the trip.
I got the camera around and played with the macro mode on a dragonfly...
Here's what we did without a functioning rainfly:
It worked pretty well, just didn't get as much air moving through the tent. Luckily temps were cool.We ended up going 26 miles this day and it felt a lot better than day 1. We took more short stops and I ate more early in the day so I had more energy by the end of the day. I'd carry this strategy forward for the rest of the trip.
Finally tally:
26.5 miles
2 portages (80, 50)
1 loon
4 eagles
Dinner: Chicken Terayaki, wild rice, Merlot.
Weather:
sunny, windy, humidity down. Winds out of W/NW/N
Orr: high of 77, low of 62.
posted by the.mrrr at 10:54 AM
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