Rob and friends to Hegman...7-22-15

We joyfully paddled across South Hegman Lake.  Rob and Tate practiced their new strokes and utilized them to keep control of their canoe.  We paddled under blue skies and white puffy clouds as we made our way to the next portage. We crossed the 5 rod portage efficiently and were on the water again in a few minutes.  Soon we were at the pictographs and were reminded that the ancient people of this land felt the same way we did.  This is a wonderful place to canoe and travel.  We paddled to  the bog and Malik got out and walked on the giant mass of floating flora.    We enjoyed the picture plants and the water bed like bounciness of the bog.  Our next destination was the top of a nearby cliff where we had a birdseye view of the bog and channel between the two lakes.   Afterwards we traveled to the next lake to the north and enjoyed the rocks and tree studded shoreline.  Eric video taped most of the journey back to the last portage.   Rob carried his  canoe to the top of the 120 rod portage to the parking lot.  It was a great day.  Glad to have such enthusiastic participants.

John and Judi to lake four. 7-15-15

John and I paddled to the entrance of lake three.  When we entered the lake Judi joined in to help power us into a stiff east wind.  We had already efficiently done the portage and had a nice lunch on an island.  We were enthused to complete the last hours of our trip and get to lake four.  We found the crossing of Lake Three daunting.  We rested in the channel between Three and Four.  We started fishing as soon as camp was made.  John cast a few times and landed a giant Bass.  He was so happy.  Me too.  We had bass, and steak for supper. We fished after supper from shore catching and  releasing several bass and sunfish.   After breakfast we fished more.  By one pm  we had 5 bass and a northern. John  had caught the two biggest fish.   We fried them up and then took a nap. The afternoon was bright, hot and windy.  At eight pm we loaded the canoe and headed for the channel that went north from camp..   We were hoping for good luck.  We got several hand sized sunfish.  John got one giant bass.  He is the winner of the biggest fish contest.   The bugs drove us off the water and home we went.  As luck would have it we now had to paddle back to lake two in a westerly head wind.  It was work but we did it.   We found one of the last sites available at 12:30 .   The place  was crowded.  At seven pm that night we went fishing again.  There was no luck in lake two.  We fished till nine pm with out a nibble.   We were chased into our tents by mosquitoes.   It was o.k. tho because it had been a long day.    In the morning we paddled in a side wind, not bad but a little difficult.  When we turned north in the middle of the lake we were able to sail with easy paddling.  The weather was decent except for the wind.  Got rained on once  for about ten minutes.  The fishing was great.  The companionship was wonderful.

A nice day trip, 7-10-15

We paddled and portaged the Hegman lakes to my favorite fishing spot.  There we caught several nice bass.  We then headed for the pictographs and were awed by the symbolization the  ancients left on the rock cliff.   We then bounced on the floating bog.  And wondered at the unusualness of the pitcher plants.  We tied up  the canoes and traversed a steep rock to the top of a mossy knoll.  Here we enjoyed a birds eye view of the Boundary Waters.  We fished a little more and caught another keeper bass.  Now it was time to head back.

Pat and Pam to Basswood, 7-12-15

We paddled away from the Fall Lake landing hoping for adventure.  We were chased by thunderstorms the last two miles.  We  felt safe on the portages but the thunder seemed to get closer and closer the farther we paddled.    We got to a nice campsite on the north side of Wegen's point about thirty minutes before it started to rain.  This gave us time to pitch the  tarp and tents.   That afternoon, Pat and I fished far and wide looking for fish.  After struggling with the   wind we found a corner of an island across from camp that yielded some action.   We stopped to go have supper and returned later.  We fished all around the island till ten pm.  We caught 6 bass and 3 walleye.  We threw the small ones back.  In the morning  we had a big breakfast of bacon, eggs and hash browns.  Fished in the morning and only caught one.  Then at one pm we had a fish fry.  When it started to rain Pat and Pam went to their tent to nap and I sat under the tarp watching the misty fjords of

Basswood as the rain and mist moved across the lake.   We fished more that evening but threw them all back.  The next morning Pat and I tried the island once more.   With ten minutes to go before we had to pack to  leave Pat tied into a huge bass.  It made the day for him. We released him.  The paddle out was the best we'd had all weekend.  The sky was blue and the winds were gentle.  We had a nice lunch  between the portages. It was sad to go back to civilization but great to have such a great day to paddle.

Bill, Ruth, Mark and Marsha fishing in Park Lake

We started fishing about 5 pm.   There was a little breeze but not bad.  We paddled to the far end of the lake and took advantage of the breeze to drift the boat through the bay.  We started catching fish immediately.  We fished for 3 hours taking many bass, sunfish and perch but throwing them back in the lake.   While we fished the sunset warmed our skin and the cool breezes kept us comfortable. It was the best that summer has to offer.

Caleb, Ken and Pam to North Hegman, 7-6-15

We made the first  portage in good fashion.  Canoe instruction followed and  a one mile  paddle across South Hegman to the second portage.  I put together all the tackle during our time on the portage.   We paddled into a west wind and ducked into a bay to try fishing without being blown around.   We were in luck. We all caught fish and did very well.  We moved to a second spot and caught a couple more.   We continued our journey to the pictographs.  The wind had let up quite a bit.  We were all inspired by the figures painted high on the cliff next to the water. Next we paddled to the floating bog and looked at the Pitcher plants, there were many of them.  We tied our boats to a tree and scrambled up a rock face to the top of a wooded area.  There we found Pink Showy Lady Slippers that hadn't bloomed yet.   We enjoyed the view of the bog and river channel while munching on a few stray early blueberries.  We paddled back to the last portage with the wind, a relief after struggling with a head wind all the way there.    The uphill grind of the last portage was taxing but we all made it to the top.  Ken did very well with the second canoe.    It was a very nice day with excellent people.