Lake Four, April, 26-30,2012

We departed the Lake One landing amongst a dozen Forest Service workers.  Most left before we did.  The paddle through Lake One was glorious.  The sky was clear and the breezes were gentle.  We crossed the portages smoothly and were in the middle of Lake Two in an hour and a half.  We stopped at the first campsite as we entered Lake Three.  While there a research crew from the Forest Service arrived and began to make camp there.  We visited for a while.  We met Kevin, one of the leaders and a couple named Burt and Johnnie.  They were researching and mapping the burn area.  We then continued our journey to Lake Four.  One of my favorite campsites was available and unburned.  Camp was pitched and coffee made.  Everyone enjoyed the break and Terry joined in the conversation and camaraderie even though he didn't drink coffee.  It was a pleasant but chilly evening and we all went to bed early.  I had gotten cold and it took an hour and a half to warm and go to sleep.  We had pancakes and bacon provided by Joe for breakfast the next morning.  It was a very cool morning and when it warmed up at mid day we headed for Fire Lake.  We struggled through several windfalls near the second portage as we traveled.  We paddled nearly to the end of Fire before we got to a sunlit campsite.  We enjoyed a great lunch hour while basking in full sunshine. On the return trip the windfalls were navigated efficiently having negotiated them previously.  We enjoyed another evening of food and conversation.  Awoke early the next morning and had pleasant and long morning of talking and laughing.  After a tortilla and tuna lunch we  headed for Bridge Lake.  The route was beautiful as we paddled and portaged our way west.  The lakes were narrow and lined with mother nature's rock sculptures.  It was constant visual delight.  When we got back to camp we had coffee and treats, scrumptious.  It was much warmer that evening and we really enjoyed our conversations.  I went to my tent before dark.  The morning was warm as we devoured our pancakes.  Terry and Joe had to leave and watching them paddle away was like watching the end of a good movie.  They were very mellow and capable wilderness canoeists and it was great traveling with them.  During the afternoon Norm and I read and journaled.  We also paddled around our part of Lake Four and got a close-up view of the campsites that were burned. Two Forest Service workers were cutting trees and rehabilitating one of the campsites we visited.   In the morning we had a leisurely breakfast and packed up.  We paddled out knowing we had responsibilities to fulfill but enjoyed the wilderness views along the way.