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.