Friday the 13th of November, 2009...Ely MN

On Friday the 13th we moved into a cabin outside of Ely. The United Van Lines semi arrived at noon and was unloaded and headed down the road by 3. We felt very happy and lucky to find this place. The previous 2 months had been a flurry of activity. We had lived in Red Wing for 37 years and had quite the collection of memorabilia. In those 2 months we had a garage sale, filled a 10 yard dumpster, made 6 trips to the Salvation Army, and 6 more trips to the dump. Salvation Army showed up after the garage sale and hauled away another 1/2 a truckload. When buying a house 300 miles away there are many emails, faxes, UPS overnight air packages and letters to send off. We succeeded largely due to the hard work of Wendy, Lee, Jeremy and many others. We hope to be totally settled in by mid-January and available to enjoy the arrival of old friends from the south. We've also made several new friends in Ely and after the holidays hope to go ice fishing, skiing, hiking and general partying with them.

October 15, 09... Little Sioux Indian River

Paddling through the river channel was enchanting with the beautiful autumn colors. There were misty clouds, brief rains, occasional patches of blue sky and gray clouds. The Birch trees were in full autumn splendor. There were groves of orange scattered among the quiet and patient evergreens. The breeze was light which made for very comfortable paddling. The portages were warm because of our heavy clothing nessessary for insulation while out in the open lakes. It took us less than 3 hours to get to camp. It was sprinkling and did so for the whole evening. Coop started a fire and we had supper, all of which was very warming in the cool autumn weather. I finished camp chores and sat by the fire. It warmed my spirit.

After sleeping late we had pancakes with pepper bacon. Bremer took a solo hiking/fishing trip around the bay to the south. Coop and I fished and canoed around the bay and found Bremer on the far point, we gave him a hitch back to camp. We continued fishing the shoreline and bays on the way to Devil's Cascade Portage. We walked the portage and sat above the cascade watching and listening to the rushing water below. We were experiencing alternating periods of rain, mist, or just cool and dry. It never got above 40 degrees all day. When we returned to camp it was still misting occasionally. When it was dry out we wandered around camp and fished. The rain let up for the evening and Mark and I cooked steaks for supper. Gary and Bremer brought a pile of firewood from a distant camp thereby making a warm fire for the evening possible. At about mid-evening the clouds disappeared and the stars shone brightly. I didn't do my camp chores that night and went to bed to sleep soundly.

In the morning the bright sun lit the autumn foliage across the lake. Gary made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. A hot breakfast is wonderfull on a cold October morning in the North. I helped Gary wash dishes and later we all sat on the rock telling stories about our lives. Around noon it got cool, cloudy and breezy. We bundled up. After a late lunch we fished from shore and then played cribbage. Bremer and I won 2-1. Fishing proved futile all weekend. We think it was the cold weather and maybe a little too late in the season. Bremer made excellent Chili and shared it with all of us. We sat around the fire talking late into the evening.

It was a great 3 days, the good food warmed our bodies and spirits. The weather was cool but refreshing. Bremer was the only guy to catch a fish and he threw it back because it was too small. Cooper and I enjoyed the time on the water trying to catch them anyway. Bremer kept us supplied with monster cookies, snickers and jiffy pop. Gary was excellent camp member with good cooking and conversation. Some of the highlights were sunshine mornings, starry nights, misty fiord landscape scenes, warm campfires, good food and enlightened conversations.

KWHS September 30,09

The 3 chaperones paddled stern while the students paddled bow or rode duff. After a few paddling lessons we headed across Lake One on our way to the portages that ended at Lake Two, our destination. We moved efficiently because we had experienced paddlers in the stern. We were fortunate to find the Lady Boot campsite empty and made camp soon after arriving. The teepee was pitched as well as 3 other tents. Coffee, snacks and freetime followed. We welcomed a chance to relax after the hectic previous day. Supper was fire grilled steak, baked potatoes and salad.

Our day trip took us to the Rock Island Lake portage. We stashed our canoes on shore and headed down the trail with cameras and snacks. It was a cloudy and windy day and the shelter and warmth that the woodland trail offered was a relief from the windswept Lake Two. The trail was challenging and satisfying at the same time. It was an accomplishment to navigate the hills, rocks, roots, puddles and downed trees. After returning to camp we had snacks and freetime. The students explored the woods and I started supper. We had a beautiful evening campfire and made S'mores. It was great to be in the woods with such a special group of students.

We became windbound and had a fabulous pancake breakfast to start the day. The kids took several day hikes into the woods. Chicken Noodle Delight was prepared for supper. For the evenings entertainment we told stories while in the shelter of the teepee.

A leisurely breakfast was enjoyed by everyone. We started across the lake in a light rain. The layers of muted colors caused by the islands, trees, rocks and mist made a beautiful paddle out. The wind was very light and we moved easily through the cool autumn weather.

September 10, 09....Alpine lake

On our way to Alpine travelling through the Islands of Seagull we saw something swimming in the water, and it didn't have antelers so we knew it wasn't a bull Moose. We paddled fast to get closer. It was swimming very fast towards an island. As it neared the shoreline and started walking through the water we were startled to see that it was a huge black bear. Because it was wet it's legs looked long and skinny plus it's fur was very shiny. We continued westward past the Palisade and found several young people jumping off a 45 foot cliff. They had to run and leap to clear a volkswagen size rock at the base of the cliff. It was a thrill to watch and the sound they made as they entered the water was unforgettable. The Seagull Hilton was taken and so was our second choice. We continued westward finding an island campsite and settled in for the evening. Cooper served spagetti and fulafull. The fulafull was different but good. We also swam and had a great evening campfire.
In the morning we packed up and headed for the portage into Alpine Lake. The portage was 105 rods, smooth but a little bit of a hill. It took me and Mark 3 trips to get our stuff over. Alpine looked like a moonscape with skeletal trees. This was from a fire several years ago. We ended up in the SW corner of the lake at a campsite the the forest service had saved from the fire. We spent the next 2 1/2 days swimming, playing cribbage, eatting good food including the Bass, Notherns, and Walleye that Mark and Marsha caught. The sky was sunny and the temperature neared 80. It was beautifully foggy in the mornings. There was an Eagle's nest and several Eagles. They watched us and we watched them. The Eagles followed us around the lake as we fished. Always perched in a nearby tree ready to pick up fish that we threw back or the remains we left on shore after cleaning.
On our way back we decided to run the river rather than do the 105 portage. The river was shallow so we had to walk our canoes through the channel. Coopers went first and then Mark helped me walk our canoe down. It was refreshing and fun. We fished the rapids below the channel and continued walking our canoes through shallow rock gardens. We found an island campsite to have lunch on and decided to spend the night there. The water was very cool but we swam for a long time and got used to it. We rounded out the afternoon by having snacks and coffee in the shade. It was an unusually warm September afternoon. Coopers furnished supper. Cribbage completed the evening with Mark and I coming from behind to win. The good weather held on for the paddle out. It was a wonderfull week made good by the excellent company and mild weather.