Day 9 (Clove)
We slept in until about 7am. Felt really good. Took our time getting ready in the morning.
We would be travelling on the Granite River today so the wind wasn't much of a factor but Sagg didn't look quite so bad in the morning:
Penelope was none the worse for the previous day's adventure...
We were on the water around 8:30. The wind had shifted to out of the north so would be at our backs on the river. While not nearly as bad as yesterday, it was still breezy.
After our first portage onto the Granite we came across a bull moose along the edge of the river. It was the first moose I had seen in the BWCA. My camera batteries were on their last legs, so I had to do some swapping to find some with any juice left, but I was able to snap one picture of a semi-obscured moose...
The Granite was pretty. Lots of new growth forest - very different from the western edge/LLC area. The portages were generally short, but a couple were pretty sloppy. I slipped along the rocks along the side of the river and almost took a fall while stacked pack portaging on one so I double shot a couple since they were short.
Finally! Sun!
The sun came out in the morning and it ended up being a beautiful day. Mid 70s, low humidity, a bit of a breeze - perfect day for drying out our gear and enjoying the sunshine. So, after 9 miles we stopped at Clove lake and did just that:
It was nice to get our gear and clothing dry. We took the afternoon off and read, napped, and enjoyed the sun. It was nice to be in shorts again and feel the sun on the face. We planned out our schedule for the rest of the trip (weather and such dependent of course). Even with our short day we were looking at easier days from here on out.
Given the sun and time in camp we had time for a real supper again, so later in the afternoon we went looking for firewood. I caught a little northern - the last fishing I'd do on the trip. We happened across a family of beavers. Now you see beaver sign everywhere up there but I don't see many beavers. Well we were lucky to watch 6 of them at a big lodge - 4 adults and 2 young. The young ones were playful; while one was playing with an adult, the other swam up to us. When it got close enough, another adult slapped its tail and they all dove under.
I was suprised by the lack of people on the Granite. We saw one group on the portages as we were coming through but didn't see anyone else until the afternoon. All sites filled up on Clove, though, and around 6:30 we saw a group of 4 canoes move through.
Here's a look at Steve's fine duct-tape handiwork on the rainfly...
It may not look pretty but it kept us dry, so pretty by my standards.
Final tally:
9 miles
7 portages (34, 25, 36, 26, 25, 63, 46)
Wildlife:
5 loons
2 eagles
1 moose (bull)
1 turtle
6 beaver
Supper:
Mountain House lasagna
Asian garlic pasta
Parmasan flatbread toast
flatbread American cheese melt w/ garlic
hot chocolate for desert
Weather:
Windy, cloudy, brisk AM. Maybe 50.
Skies cleared, sunny, mid 70s. Low humidity
We would be travelling on the Granite River today so the wind wasn't much of a factor but Sagg didn't look quite so bad in the morning:
Penelope was none the worse for the previous day's adventure...
We were on the water around 8:30. The wind had shifted to out of the north so would be at our backs on the river. While not nearly as bad as yesterday, it was still breezy.
After our first portage onto the Granite we came across a bull moose along the edge of the river. It was the first moose I had seen in the BWCA. My camera batteries were on their last legs, so I had to do some swapping to find some with any juice left, but I was able to snap one picture of a semi-obscured moose...
The Granite was pretty. Lots of new growth forest - very different from the western edge/LLC area. The portages were generally short, but a couple were pretty sloppy. I slipped along the rocks along the side of the river and almost took a fall while stacked pack portaging on one so I double shot a couple since they were short.
Finally! Sun!
The sun came out in the morning and it ended up being a beautiful day. Mid 70s, low humidity, a bit of a breeze - perfect day for drying out our gear and enjoying the sunshine. So, after 9 miles we stopped at Clove lake and did just that:
It was nice to get our gear and clothing dry. We took the afternoon off and read, napped, and enjoyed the sun. It was nice to be in shorts again and feel the sun on the face. We planned out our schedule for the rest of the trip (weather and such dependent of course). Even with our short day we were looking at easier days from here on out.Given the sun and time in camp we had time for a real supper again, so later in the afternoon we went looking for firewood. I caught a little northern - the last fishing I'd do on the trip. We happened across a family of beavers. Now you see beaver sign everywhere up there but I don't see many beavers. Well we were lucky to watch 6 of them at a big lodge - 4 adults and 2 young. The young ones were playful; while one was playing with an adult, the other swam up to us. When it got close enough, another adult slapped its tail and they all dove under.
I was suprised by the lack of people on the Granite. We saw one group on the portages as we were coming through but didn't see anyone else until the afternoon. All sites filled up on Clove, though, and around 6:30 we saw a group of 4 canoes move through.
Here's a look at Steve's fine duct-tape handiwork on the rainfly...
It may not look pretty but it kept us dry, so pretty by my standards.
Final tally:
9 miles
7 portages (34, 25, 36, 26, 25, 63, 46)
Wildlife:
5 loons
2 eagles
1 moose (bull)
1 turtle
6 beaver
Supper:
Mountain House lasagna
Asian garlic pasta
Parmasan flatbread toast
flatbread American cheese melt w/ garlic
hot chocolate for desert
Weather:
Windy, cloudy, brisk AM. Maybe 50.
Skies cleared, sunny, mid 70s. Low humidity
posted by the.mrrr at 10:37 AM
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