An evening on the Mississippi.

We launched my Old Town Discovery after supper on a recent monday evening. We estimated that there was 2 hours of light left. Muscle memory soon had the canoe gliding forward at a smooth efficient pace. It was cool, comfortable and overcast as we headed upstream. After a 1/2 mile we headed in to a lake off the channel. This bottom land lake was full of ducks and coots. As we paddled near some flew and others just swam out of the way. The river was flooding but it wasn't high enough to paddle through the trees to other parts of the bottoms. We circumnavigated the lake looking for possible openings into other areas of the bottoms but the water and leads were too low to facilitate any such thing. Except for the beating of the coots wings we paddled through the lake in total silence. We made our way back to the channel with time to spare. So we decided to go to the harbor and tour around. With about 100 yards to go before the harbor the clouds parted and began to rain. We drifted down stream while we pulled on our rain jackets. It was a refreshing experience paddling in the rain. We decided not to tour the harbor and headed right for the boat landing. As we got out the rain stopped and we loaded the truck. We were on the water for about an 1 1/2 hours. It felt like a mini vacation to a beautiful, peacefull wilderness area.

Eagle Mountain

We left the trail head parking lot at 9:30. The trail was packed with snow but if you stepped to the side of an imaginary 6" wide line down the middle of the trail you would sink up to your knees and quite often do a face plant. It was like walking a tightrope. Traction was o.k. but packed snow at 45 degrees is slippery. So not only were we going up hill on a rough narrow trail but we were back sliding and inch or so with each step. It took an hour and a half to walk to Whale lake. We did take several rest breaks. The breaks were refreshing and took the drudgery out of the uphill climb.
The first campsite was taken with one little tent. We continued around the lake past the trail to the summit and on to the second campsite on the other side of the lake. Norm put his tent up and I had lunch. Two guys from North Dakota dropped by. They were camped across the lake. They had been to the summit and were now exploring around the area on their way back to camp. We talked about other trails to hike and Isle Royal. They were going to Isle Royal with 6 people in August. Norm had been there 5 times and I've been there once with Ruth and John S.
I got very cold while talking to them. It was a combination of the breeze and cooling down after the hike. I layered up and was fine. Next we headed for the Peak. It was a 30 minute climb up a steep snowy trail. I was soon warm as toast. At the top I was mesmerized by the view. The sky was hazy blue with wispy white clouds here and there. The sun was bright on our faces as we soaked in the view of tree tops, snowy lakes and Minnesota mini mountains in the distance. The slab of rock we were sitting on radiated a lot of heat from the sunny sky. Snow melt was trickling down the sloping surface. The heat, cool breeze, sunshine and peace lulled us into a nap. We snoozed for an hour warm and perfectly comfortable. The other campers walked through and went to another rock face farther west. Having no desire to leave we stayed until after 4:30. It was a quick and slippery decent to the lake. Back at camp we made coffee and started supper. My stove quit working and I had to use Norm's stove. Supper was rice medley prepared with too much water. I drank the broth and ate the rice. It was good. Next I had a cup of Tetley's decaffinated tea, which really hit the spot. During our conversations I decided that I need a new XGK EX by MSR. The best of the best. My old XGK is basically shot. Plus it's not a shaker jet which would solve a lot of problems if it were. I'll have to wait until REI has another 20% off coupon. I just missed one but there'll be another one in May. After supper we sat below a large pine on the shore of Whale lake. The radiant spring sunshine had melted all the snow below the tree. We sat there watching the evening light grow dim on the forest. I journaled and talked to Norm. It was unbelievably quiet. No mechanical sounds, no voices except our own. We haven't heard a sound out of the guys across the lake. At 6pm it was 41 degrees. On the peak this afternoon it was 50 and at 8:30 that evening it was 37 degrees. It was almost totally dark but we could still see across the lake. This was a perfect weekend quick trip. There was toil and sweat getting to camp, good conversations with like minded campers, and three sublime and surreal hours on the summit. During the night we got about 5 inches of snow. The hike out was difficult but still easier than the hike in. When we got home we found out Ely got 24 inches of snow.