It took an hour and a half to paddle to the seagull Hilton campsite. When i got there Doug and Mark came from the east side of the camp and had been exploring. We spent 4 hours talking, drinking coffee and snacking. Mark says that i was waiting for my soul to catch up. The canoe trip here and standing in my favorite campsite was great, great joy. I was so glad to be canoe camping in the BWCA again. It had been 7 months since i was here last. My route through the islands was ice free. but there was a sheet of ice in front of our campsite that went all the way to the south shore and all the way to the west end of the lake. we could see that the northern shoreline was open several feet from shore all the way west as far as we could see from the top of the hill. At 6:00pm Doug and Mark went fishing. They were back in 15 minutes with a huge lake trout. Now i was ready to go out. I paddled and fished for an hour. I didn't catch a fish or even lose any bait. As i paddled past the edge of the ice sheet the gentle breeze made the eroding edge of the ice make a tinkling sound. It was 50 degrees out and the water was in the mid 30's, sure death if you tipped over. It was always on your mind to be very careful. Back at camp Mark and Doug had prepared fireroasted trout. It was doused with creamy Italian dressing and wrapped in tin foil and put on the fire for 45-90 minutes. It had started sprinkling at 7pm and turned into a full shower at 8pm. We sat under the tarp and told stories, talked about women, movies and pass campouts. At 10 pm we hung the bear bag and went to bed.
When i crawled out of my tent at 6:15 it was a white world. It had snow 3" of wet heavy snow. My tent was fine but both tarps were sagging under the weight of the fresh, wet spring snow. I spent the next 2 hours watching the huge wet flakes drift down from the heavens. I ate breakfast, organized my camp and took some photos of the spring phenomenon. The temp at 8:30 was 36 degrees and the other guys were still sleeping. They knew it was snowing and cold so they slept in. We drank coffee all morning waiting for it to warm up. To pass the time we made a snow woman. We called her Betty White. It was a satisfying experience building her. There was a lot of discussion about snow sculpture contests next winter. At 2 pm we went canoeing. I talked to 2 different groups. One had a camp east of us and had tried to paddle through the ice yesterday. They were headed towards Alpine when the ice went out all the way. The other group was paddling around looking for a campsite. I paddled and fished till 5pm as did Doug and Mark. It was a beautiful day with just a little breeze. It was very cool in the breeze and almost hot in the sunshine out of the wind. Doug and Mark caught 3 more lake trout. One trout was caught in a hot spot between the shore and ice. The other 2 were caught trolling 50 feet from the ice edge. Meanwhile i trolled my favorite hotspots with no luck. Which is alright, it was just great paddling around. I stopped at a creek in a bay west of camp. I followed a trail along the creek till i could see a huge beaver dam. It was 50 feet long and had a 6 foot breach in the middle of it. The beavers had tried to patch the gash but some water was still getting through. Back out on the lake the ice edge continued to sound like little chimes in an orchestra. About 10 feet of the ice edge was floating smaller slabs. I paddled out into them and felt like an ice breaker on Lake Superior. It was a beautiful 3 hours of paddling in the sun and breeze. Supper was delicious. We had potato soup, rice, and fish baked over an open fire. We ate 2 fish and Doug was taking the third one home for his girlfriend to bake. Saturday and Sunday we felt a huge sense of bliss and euphoria. It was great to be in the woods after 7 months of winter. We felt a great appreciation of the wilderness wonderland here in the Boundary Waters. The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and loaded up and left.
When i crawled out of my tent at 6:15 it was a white world. It had snow 3" of wet heavy snow. My tent was fine but both tarps were sagging under the weight of the fresh, wet spring snow. I spent the next 2 hours watching the huge wet flakes drift down from the heavens. I ate breakfast, organized my camp and took some photos of the spring phenomenon. The temp at 8:30 was 36 degrees and the other guys were still sleeping. They knew it was snowing and cold so they slept in. We drank coffee all morning waiting for it to warm up. To pass the time we made a snow woman. We called her Betty White. It was a satisfying experience building her. There was a lot of discussion about snow sculpture contests next winter. At 2 pm we went canoeing. I talked to 2 different groups. One had a camp east of us and had tried to paddle through the ice yesterday. They were headed towards Alpine when the ice went out all the way. The other group was paddling around looking for a campsite. I paddled and fished till 5pm as did Doug and Mark. It was a beautiful day with just a little breeze. It was very cool in the breeze and almost hot in the sunshine out of the wind. Doug and Mark caught 3 more lake trout. One trout was caught in a hot spot between the shore and ice. The other 2 were caught trolling 50 feet from the ice edge. Meanwhile i trolled my favorite hotspots with no luck. Which is alright, it was just great paddling around. I stopped at a creek in a bay west of camp. I followed a trail along the creek till i could see a huge beaver dam. It was 50 feet long and had a 6 foot breach in the middle of it. The beavers had tried to patch the gash but some water was still getting through. Back out on the lake the ice edge continued to sound like little chimes in an orchestra. About 10 feet of the ice edge was floating smaller slabs. I paddled out into them and felt like an ice breaker on Lake Superior. It was a beautiful 3 hours of paddling in the sun and breeze. Supper was delicious. We had potato soup, rice, and fish baked over an open fire. We ate 2 fish and Doug was taking the third one home for his girlfriend to bake. Saturday and Sunday we felt a huge sense of bliss and euphoria. It was great to be in the woods after 7 months of winter. We felt a great appreciation of the wilderness wonderland here in the Boundary Waters. The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast and loaded up and left.
