My dogs Chloe and Sadie were along on this trip. Sadie rode in the bow infront of Ruth and Chloe sat on the packs in the middle. Sadie at 60 pounds had to be stabilized in front so that she didn't rock the boat. Chloe enjoyed the freedom of walking around, sleeping and sitting anywhere she wanted in the middle. Our paddle to the first portage was cool and comfortable in the mist and rain that the North country had experienced for the previous 3 days. Chloe had one little mishap a half mile from the portage. She either fell asleep or slipped and landed on the gunnel behind
Ruth's left side. She laid on the gunnel momentarily and then wriggled to regain her feet thus sliding over the edge and falling into the lake on her back. I grabbed her leash as she was passing the canoe. I pulled her in as a fisherman might hand over hand pull in a big fish. I got her in the boat and she immediately started to shiver. Her short hair and skinny body didn't keep her very warm. Ruth dried her off with a towel when we got to the portage. At the end of the portage we met Don and Andrea from the forest service. They checked our permit and chatted for a few minutes. They had been into Insula for 6 days the last 3 of which were total rain. We all had on appropriate rain gear and felt warm and dry on the inside. We agreed that it was good canoing weather, not too hot, no bugs, no sweating, and no dehydration. These rangers were very cheerfull. They were good representatives of the Forest Service. At the end of the second portage we talked to a canoist that said the rollers on Lake Two were very big. Considering this serious information we headed for the first campsite in the islands. We put up the lean-to tarp and made coffee. It was a pretty good campsite but not perfect. Supper was a prime example of poor nutrition. We had hot dogs and potatoe salad. After dark we played cribbage in the tent, each of us winning one game.
I slept till 8 the next morning and Ruth wasn't out of the tent until after 10. It was a comfortably cool and breezy morning with no bugs. Our afternoon tour of the area took us to Lady Boot campsite and found that it was occupied. We continued on to the Rock Island Lake portage. It was beautiful. It was 120 rods of rocks, roots, deadfalls, and water. It was challenging but an enjoyable workout for us and the dogs. The afternoon and evening were spent journalling, reading, talking and observing the wilderness from our rocky perch.
I slept till 8 again the next morning, I was really getting into vacation mode. At 10:30 we once again headed for the Lady Boot campsite and found it empty. We left a pack and a chair on shore and rushed back to camp to get the rest of our stuff. Kincaid and his group stopped by having seen us loading up. We talked for a while and invited them for coffee later in the afternoon at our new camp. On the way to Lady Boot we saw people walking on the site. We were very concerned that there would be a confrontation about who's campsite it was. As we neared we could see that there was a red canoe and a green canoe. At this point we were pretty sure it was Kincaid's group. We had coffee on the West rock and visited for a couple hours. It was great to see Kincaid. After they left we got busy making camp comfortable for our 4 day stay. The lean-to tarp was pitched almost perfectly and the tent was placed back in the shade of the forest. Supper was Chicken Delight on the North rock. It took me 7 throws to get the bear bag rope over a tree branch, after that everything went well. The remainder of the evening was spent on the West rock watching the last edge of the of our cloudy weather pull away from the sun and horizon. The low sun manifested many different colors and phenomenon. We saw pink and purple clouds, yellow sky and golden water bouncing the suns rays into our campsite. The water was quiet for the first time in days. The loons were singing good night and the mosquitoes were flying around like minature buzzing vampires. Ruth was enveloped in mosquito netting watching the meteorological drama of our first sunset in a week.
Our fourth day was total relaxation. I read "Deep Survival" and Ruth read "The Shell Seekers." It was a beautiful day with gentle breezes, and small white clouds drifting through a blue sky. Our campsite offered many areas to sit depending on the sun, wind, and temperature. We sat on the North rock in the sun eatting breakfast, while the it's rays warmed the rock after a cool night. In the afternoon we moved to the beach to swim and be cooled by the breeze off the lake. After pizza for supper we watched the sky from the West rock. The sunset was beautiful and the reflection of the last light on the water was a fitting end to a very pleasant day. We spent the last of the evening listening to the Twins lose in 16 innings.
I woke up early and it was a beautiful cool morning with squirrels and birds heralding a new day. Sadie and Chloe were very interested in all the animal life but soon realized that they were uncatchable. Talk radio, polka music, bagels and strong coffee rounded out the morning. We fished while on our way to Dangerous Waters. Didn't have any luck. We had lunch on a rock near the landing. Back at camp Ruth napped in the hammock and I sat on the North rock. For supper we had potatoe soup with mozzarilla cheese and onions mixed in. It was delicious. Ruth ate all the MM's out of the gorp mix for dessert. We listened to the Twins win while we watched another fantastic sunset.
Our plan for this day was to paddle to the Pow Wow trail and hike. By the time we were ready our forecasted "Breeze" had whipped the lake into rows of whitecaps. We decided it was a day for R and R in camp. I fished from the North rock, played cribbage with Ruth, I won, and took a nap. Supper was tuna caserole. We packed away most of our stuff so we could make an early departure hopefully leaving before the winds got strong. We watched our last wilderness sunset and turned in.
We woke up before dawn after a restless night. Our paddle out was good and the breeze wasn't too bad. We met the Forest Service at the landing, it was Don and another ranger. They were on a day trip patrol through Lake One and Two.
