Throwback Canoe Trip
A week ago was Valentine's Day. Our celebration wasn't over the top, but I got a bouquet of flowers for Jenelle and she lavished her love on me by buying me some dark chocolate and a bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee beans. Other than that, well that was about it. If you're a die hard Valentine fanatic, you probably think that was lame. But we did start planning another family canoe trip for this summer. Jenelle and I have been together long enough to know that we love each other more every day and the things that we do together in life probably contribute more to that than any romantic holiday ever will.
The planning and just getting everything ready is exciting in itself. And like it often does, the planning took us to good memories and stories from the past. So instead of belaboring you with details about what we hope to do, I thought I would just copy a little quip from our journal from a trip we were on five years ago, along with a couple of throwback pictures. Hopefully it gets your own thoughts rolling around, and you can make plans for your own next adventure, whether that's in your backyard, or a thousand miles away.
Here goes.
BWCA 2018
Sunday morning after a breakfast of eggs and sausage, we packed up and paddled for the portage from Kawishiwi lake to Square lake. We went a little too far to the left and missed the inlet that leads up to the Kawishiwi River and on up to Square lake. We looked at the map again and backtracked and paddled up the right inlet. There were lots of yellow lily pads and grass that should have been perfect for seeing moose, but we didn't get the opportunity to see any. We bobbed around the corner of Square lake and got out of canoes and got ready for the portage. We had packs for everyone with Blake carrying the lightest one. We were able to get everything on one carry, except for one pack and one canoe that I was planning to make the second trip for. That would give time for Jenelle and the kids to hang out and play in the water while I got the rest of the gear. Everything went great and we were off again down the Kawishiwi River. The next portage was a simple 10 rod portage around a beaver dam. The boys loved playing in the mud at the portage. After that we paddled into Kawishachong Lake where we camped for the night. There had been a forest fire sometime in the recent past years as the trees were mostly dead around the shore. The first campsite on the right had several tall pines and survived the fire so we camped there. It turned out to be a really nice campsite. We played cards and for supper we made chicken fajitas. Later I caught my first pike of the trip right at the brink of the most beautiful sunset. We also shared our campsite with a beaver, a turtle, and a snake. The pooper was quite luxurious as 2/3 of the sides were walled in with small saplings and brush making an afternoon sit quite relaxing.
Monday we woke to Blue skies. We had a simple breakfast of oatmeal, hot chocolate and coffee. Then we tore down camp and headed out for lake Polly. After battling the wind and waves to get across Kawishachong lake, we got to the dreaded 189 rod portage on our trip. One rod is equal to a 16 and a half foot canoe. Everyone did awesome packing the gear to the next lake. I had sunburnt my shoulders so packing two canoes and packs seemed to grind into my shoulders. We made it to Townline lake where we met a friendly quartet of fishermen from Duluth. After picking their brains about how to catch fish we loaded the canoe for a short paddle to the next portage which led to Lake Polly. We got all of our gear over without incident. The portage drops down a steep jungle of rocks to the lake and the view was quite beautiful with great blue green water and tall pines and cedars around. We paddled up the lake. Caleb wanted to camp on an island and we were blessed to find one uninhabited. We set up our camp and then me and the boys set out to get some fish and Aiyana and Jenelle went exploring around the lake. Blake got his first walleye ever, that was about 15 or 16 inches . Fat it was. Later he nailed his first two Pike as well. One smaller and one about 23 we threw the one back and kept one and the walleye for supper. Fish and rice along with Swedish fish for dessert, made for a great supper followed by a round of cards.
Tuesday morning Blake and I got up at 5:00 and went fishing. We paddled to the other end of the lake to fish and then it started to rain. We went to a little island and popped up the canoe on a rock and used it as a shelter. After it stopped raining we paddled back to camp for breakfast. After breakfast I suggested we head down Phoebe river to try and see a moose. Caleb navigated and we found our way to the portage. The portage was muddy and lots of skeeters were everywhere. They were hungry and we were food. We didn't see a moose but it was a beautiful river and we got some supper. A pike and big small mouth bass, possibly 3 or more pounds and around 19 inches long. Caught him on a Zara Spook. He was quite spirited and Aiyana had trouble netting it, but we got it into the boat and took him back for a supper of mashed potatoes and fish. Delicious!
That’s just a glimpse at a couple of days on the water. I often try to keep a journal , but more times than not, I don’t take the time to do it. When I do write, those little things that we’ve forgotten, once read, bring the trip back to life. It’s funny how we remember the good things and often the hard things like the fatigue of carrying a canoe from lake to lake, are totally forgotten. At the time you were sure that you would never spend another week swatting mosquitoes and carrying a canoe, sometimes a mile or so, just to get to the next lake to do it all over again. But here we are, making plans to do it again.
Spending a lifetime with someone can be that way too. Everyone has those hard times when it’s hard to press on. But we do. And looking back at all of the memories, well, we know it’s worth it. And so we keep on!
Happy belated Valentines Day everyone!
