Monday, June 10, 2013

The rain finally relented just before first light. I woke up for good sometime between 6:30 - 7. Not quite ready for the day, I decided to grab my book while still in my sleeping bag and read a little before breakfast. At some point during this period of time I could distinctly hear; what sounded like someone urinating near the fire grate. I knew it wasn't Clay, because he was still asleep right beside me. Since it had rained most of the night; I just presumed that noise was a result of me not getting the CCS tarp setup taught enough, causing a bladder of water to form & eventually let loose. So I went back to reading my book without giving it a second thought.

A short while later, as I was preparing pancakes for breakfast, Clay crawled out of the tent and sat down to have a cup of hot chocolate while he waited. The silence was shattered a moment later when Clay barked out an expletive. He excitedly claimed, " Look under that hammock. We had a wolf in camp last night!" "I know damn well that pile of scat wasn't there yesterday when I set it up. I would've stepped right in it." Upon closer inspection it appeared to be very fresh. (Had it happened last night, the constant rain surely would've deteriorated it some.) It was then that the light went off in my head about the urination sound I'd heard earlier. Wish I could've got a glimpse. But, I'm sure at the first sound of the zipper, he would've vanished in an instant. I did feel reassured in the fact that he left our food (blue barrel) alone. It was sitting on the ground only a few feet away from where he did his deed.

It was a cool misty morning. Never the less, Clay still opted to rinse off in the lake after breakfast. While we missed seeing the wolf, we were treated to another visitor that we did get to see. It was a loon. The first we'd seen on this trip. Strangely, we hadn't seen or heard any during our stay on Big Rice but, we did hear several Canadien geese while there.

While the clouds were still gray, the mist was slowly dissipating. So after breakfast chores were done, we hopped in the Black Pearl & headed for Ol' Baldy.

We were in no great rush, so we brought the fishing poles along. Success was immediate, as I hauled in a northern pike within a stones throw from camp. We retraced the portage to Hook & confirmed that the folks camping at that site had indeed left. Oh well. We were happy enough with the way things had worked out last night.

Next we hit the portage to Rice. It was a longer trail (130 rods) but, after a short moderate rise, was a pleasure to traverse. Although the amount of wolf scat on this, and all trails in this area, was palpable.

Just after completing this portage and pushing off into Rice lake we passed a couple of women heading the other way. Undoubtedly they would claim the Hook campsite.

The portage to Slim started out very rocky. There was a very scenic babbling brook following the course of the trail. In fact the trail crossed it twice. Of course those spots were incredibly rocky, as was the put in on Slim.

While the sky remained gray & overcast, there was no rain and very little wind so the paddle south down Slim was very pleasant. The first campsite we passed was vacant and, from what I saw in passing, didn't impress me much. The middle site was occupied and looked like a keeper. We were also impressed with the scenery of much of the lake. Large, sometimes exposed, granite bluffs dominated much of the shoreline. And, seeing the trees growing out of a sheer rock wall always fascinates me. We also got an idea where the portage back to the parking lot was for our trip out tomorrow.

Fortunately the southern most sight on Slim was unoccupied, so we pulled right in without disrupting anyone's solitude. This site had a nice landing, a decent fire grate area with a great view & at least 3 premo tent pads. Also, the trail up to Ol' Baldy originated here & was quite easy to locate.

The well worn trail begins climbing almost immediately. At some point, soon after leaving the campsite, I believe we technically left the BWCAW. (Don't tell anyone!) The bare granite quality of the knob gives an obvious clue as to how Ol' Baldy got it's name. From the top there is a nice view of Burntside lake.

Of course Ol' Baldy was the, must see, pinnacle of these trails. But, we further explored the maze of various spur trails as well. (Although we turned back before reaching the road.)

As we paddled back, blue skies were becoming more evident. Once back in camp, we restocked the firewood pile then retreated to the hammocks for a little R&R before supper. This site was ideal for hammocks and afforded an excellent view while lounging.

After supper we headed back out for an evening paddle around the lake. Our quiet solitary paddle around the mirrored liquid was only disrupted by the small northern pike we occasionally pulled in.

Our desire to fish eventually waned as evening drew near and we paddled back to camp. There we settled in & gathered around the fire grate to enjoy the ambiance of our small, crackling campfire. A beaver shattered our serene setting by flopping his tail on the water just off of shore. Seemed he was intent on the goings on in our camp as he swam back and forth from one side of the peninsula to the other.

Peaking my interest, I decided to follow him. In doing so, I stumbled onto a curious find out away from camp.

It was a message jar! In my pre-trip research I had read an old thread on bwca.com about this. I guess I hadn't thought it would actually be here so, I hadn't devoted any serious time or effort in searching for it.

There were several messages inside that dated back at least a handful of years. I had mixed feelings about this discovery. Certainly it was against the Leave No Trace rules. And, I wouldn't want to see this sort of thing all over the place but, I still found it very fascinating. So, as I did with the marker & sign found on Hook lake, I left it where I found it.

Afterwards, Clay suggested a great solution. He proposed we take it and put it near the middle of the portage to Big Rice. Then write "Last will & Testament" on the outside of the jar.

As our last evening wore on, there was a distinct 'chirping' sound just behind us. We both thought it was a baby grouse or some kind of bird. After finally narrowing down where the sound originated we were surprised to find that it wasn't a bird at all.

It turned out to be a small tree frog. With that mystery solved, we headed off for bed.

Keneu Lake, Hook Lake, Rice Lake, Slim Lake