Sunday, September 06, 2020
Up at 6:30, Cerberus eats but I do not; still feeling Second Dinner. Camp is down and we are paddling in one hour. A strong headwind out of the South is going to make this day a slog…it’s blowing 12-15 pretty constantly.
We retrace our steps, and stay upright this time – take that, beaver dam. But just east of the Spring Creek/Beartrap Lake intersection, we find the West end of the 1153m portage back to Beartrap. Score! We jump on that and cover it in under 20 minutes – shaving off an hour from my ‘shortcut’ from two days prior. Sidenote – I specialize in those would-be ‘shortcuts’, and in that type of result.
We fight across Beartrap and Thunder, and have to hug the shore on Gull. Winds intensify briefly, delaying the paddle across Home Lake for a short while, but we eventually launch, portage and then have to dip and duck along the shoreline to make it down the length of Angleworm. I don’t use the double-blade much but it was essential on this day. Back at the parking lot at 1:40 and home by 7.
The exit day was ~4.5 miles of single-portaging and ~8.5 miles of paddling. Without Charlie to keep me company, this was a much better trip. Sunday Lake was great solitude – glad we went - but I do not feel a burning need to go back soon. I think there is better scenery, better fishing and equal solitude in many other places within the BWCA.
As it was throughout this second trip, “Charlie on the MTA” is still stuck in my head. Cerberus as well, as you can see…