Fall Fun

I took an enjoyable canoe trip last week. My Mother-In-Law, a.k.a MIL, and my Brother-In-Law, a.k.a. BIL, wanted to go on a trip after having to listen to me about all the adventures over the years. Mid-September was preferable in order to avoid the bugs and crowds of summer.

Sunday, September 12, 2010
After another fun evening provided by Chief MLB’s daughter getting married on Saturday, I awoke early and did the last of the packing. MIL and BIL had arrived in Duluth Friday night. We loaded up the gear and hit the road about 9:00 a.m. We cruised up to Ely, got fishing licenses, ate lunch, got the permit, and arrived at the landing for the tow boat right on time at 1:00 p.m. At some of our stops we heard about active bears in the area…people were being harassed in campsites and on portages. The wind was pouring down onto the tow boat dock as we loaded up the boat and tied the canoe on the boat rack. We had decided to take the three person canoe this trip. It was a rough ride down wind to the first portage, where we unloaded and made the first, short carry. The whipping wind and whitecaps convinced us to simply paddle around the corner and take the first campsite. It is a good one with a nice sitting rock and a kitchen right on the water. We were in the lee of the wind, so it was comfortable. Tents were set up, firewood was gathered, and dinner was prepared. We had wild rice cheese burgers and a noodle salad. BIL is a vegetarian, but the wild rice burgers from the Brew House are so good, I didn’t mind at all. We all turned in pretty early.

Monday, September 13, 2010
We weren’t early risers and we took our time packing up camp, having egg burritos and sausage for breakfast. After stashing the cooler in the woods, we headed east in the canoe, riding a strong tail wind. The MIL and BIL both learned the process of portaging rather quickly as we made five short carries. On the big lake, we rode some big rollers east out of the crowds of people on the portages. Once through the big narrows, we had the BWCA to ourselves. We took a good fall campsite that is big and spacious but protected from the chilly wind. We discovered that the site was frequented by a family of beavers thinning the birch grove behind the site. They had worn a deep path in the camp by continually pulling the tree limbs down to the water. The BIL and I got out in the canoe for a bit of fishing before supper, but only caught one northern pike and one smallmouth bass. The bass was a pretty nice one. On the menu for supper was a favorite-my homemade pesto with andouille sausage over bowtie noodles. In the middle of the night I awoke to the sounds of beavers dragging trees through camp.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
It was sunny and breezy on Tuesday. We had oatmeal and bagels for breakfast, packed a day bag, and hit the water. The BIL caught a nice smallmouth bass right away, and then had a lake trout type strike over deep water, but didn’t hook up. Unfortunately, those were the highlights of the day’s fishing. We explored a ton of water, fished fast slow, shallow, deep, and everything in-between. Nothing was biting and the wind made boat control tough. We did see some new country, however, and it was a nice day. Back at camp, we took advantage of the sun shower and cleaned up. I lost a big fish fishing from shore when it broke the new $14.99 pole I had bought as a spare/shore rod for the trip. I guess I got what I paid for. We had red curry rice with foil chicken for supper. It was pretty spicy, but very good. We interrupted our listening to the Twins beat the Sox to hear a nearby pack of wolves howl for a good while.

Wednesday September 15, 2010
It was a cold, drippy morning as we ate pancakes under the tarp. We packed up a day bag and hit the bay behind camp to portage to a nearby lake. After the two portages, we were on the lake and jigging for lake trout. The MIL caught a nice eater right away and lost two other fish, so the action was better. We didn’t stay too long due to the nasty weather, and didn’t catch any more fish on the way back to camp. The rain let up late that afternoon and we enjoyed braised lake trout with red beans and rice for supper.

Thursday, September 16, 2010
It was cold, but calm and sunny morning. We decided to stay at our site another day and we packed the day pack. We trolled to a nearby portage and the MIL caught a smallmouth bass on the fancy lure she had picked out for herself at the bait shop. The portage landing was a sand beach and there were lots of moose tracks in the sand, which we followed for a bit, but didn’t spot a moose. The longer portage we were on was through the heart of the 1999 blowdown, and it was a bit like portaging through a prairie with really tall grass. We trolled the small lake at the end of the portage in the sun and calm winds, and the MIL and BIL caught three nice lake trout, which we stuck on the stringer and headed back to camp. The trout were cleaned and battered, then fried-absolutely delicious. A batch of au gratin potatoes accompanied the fish.

Friday, September 17, 2010
After a rainy night, we woke to a stiff west breeze and cloudy skies. We packed the gear and headed out into the waves, which, due the gusty, rather than steady, nature of the wind, were not too bad. We took a bit of time to check out the former island home of the Root Beer Lady and then proceeded west to the same campsite as night one. We strung up some lines and dried out the tents before setting them up. It was red curry peanut butter noodles for supper-a new recipe than might have been my favorite of the trip.

Saturday, September 18, 2010
The forecast called for a low of 28 degree on this morning, but it wasn’t quite that cold at our campsite. The wind was already blowing pretty well when we packed the gear and went to meet the tow boat. An old timer was our driver, and he shared a lot of the history of the lake where we stayed. Apparently his father had run a resort at the site of our mid-trip campsite. Pretty interesting. After getting the gear loaded in the truck at the landing we grabbed some French toast in Ely and then toured the Root Beer Lady museum and checked out some of the shops. It was an uneventful ride back to Duluth.

It was a good trip-very relaxed. I enjoyed seeing the BWCA through the eyes of a couple people who hadn’t experienced it before.

Nature Moment: On the far end of the portage we took on Thursday, several small trees were laying across the path. Their cracked trunks didn’t show any evidence of beaver teeth and it took me a second to figure how the trees were broken. When I saw scraped bark on the trees, I realized a bull moose was using the trees as a scratching post, trying to get the velvet off his antlers in anticipation of the fall rut.