Day 1
Depart
A long day at the airport and in the car getting to
At Base camp, I saw two deer. I stopped to watch. One deer went into the woods, one deer
started approaching me! I started
backing up, it still was interested in me, so I
started running back up the hill towards the cabin.
We
got to meet our Interpreter for our 7-day adventure, Jay. The other crew’s Interpreter’s name is
Mary. I guess we were a little envious
of not getting Mary, but we try to find the positives. One positive is that Jay is a seasoned
veteran of 11 years with Northern Tier!
He was excellent at designing a route that took into account the goals
for our trip: 75 miles, water quality monitoring, geocaching, seeing
pictographs, and waterfalls.
We
ate pizza at the dining hall with our interpreter. We go to bed late (
Day 2
We
wake up for day 2 at
We
meet with our interpreter to get our gear--paddles, life jackets, stoves,
food. The Northern Tier guidebook does
not give the best impression of the food on the trail--high in carbs, food
colorings/additives. Our food is
extremely heavy, but looks great! Better
than Philmont.
We
get 3 Kevlar Wenonah canoes. Hit the
water at
Check
in with Canadian immigration, and get 4 adult fishing licenses. Lunch is turkey, cheese, pickle relish,
mustard, apple, peanut log rolls.
We
see 2 bald eagles!
Monitored lake quality at 1 lake, about 18 feet
visibility.
After
our 80 rod portage we paddled 5 minutes to an island to make camp. Setting up the tarp tent was a little
difficult given the increased wind—my paddle supporting one side of the tarp
tent fell 3 times. Charles came to
help. I set one side lower to help
shield against the wind. Of course, the
wind died down with the evening.
Whitney
catches a turtle with her hands!!
We
have lots of laughs trying to hang the bear bag. It took us 5 people, and about 20
throws. One time, the rock just perched
on top of the limb.
Dinner
was rice, red meat, tortillas,
Thorn:
We didn’t drink enough water today
Rose: We had good conversation with Jay in boat
today.
All
day, I paddled with Whitney and Jay (3-person boat).
In bed at
Day 3
I’m
hungry! And groggy! I’ll have some hot tea to help keep me from
getting a head ache.
Breakfast--English
muffins, eggs & bacon bits, hot tea/coffee/hot chocolate.
Left camp about
Today, there was a lot of
wading up creeks, going over beaver damns.
The portages wore us out, but we worked well as a team. We aren’t just carrying our own gear. We pack 3 people’s gear in one bag! So that is two bags of personal gear. We have two heavy food bags, which
fortunately grow lighter each day. Our
interpreter carries a 5th bag.
Then there are the odds and ends we must carry--paddles, 2 water bottles
per person, our easy access bags (rain gear, mosquito repellant,
sunscreen). Oh yeah, we also have 3
boats to carry. Yesterday, I carried the
boat one time, and I believe that will be the last. We girls and Paul are best suited carrying
the other 50 pound packs. I paddled with
Paul today, switching out each portage who paddled bow or stern.
Lunch
was
You
cold tell we are tired today because our camp is a mess! We get to camp on another island today. About a mile back we had to push on to find
another campsite because one of our options was inhabited. That meant head down, dig your paddles in the
water because the wind had picked up tremendously. I asked Paul and I
to paddle on the same side just to help me keep a good line and fight the wind.
Furman,
Charles and I rinsed out our clothes. We
hope to swim tomorrow to clean up some more.
I
love putting up the tarp tent with the paddle anchoring one side.
We
hung our bear bag off the face of a cliff, not off a tree limb.
It
didn’t take long for everyone to fall asleep, I hear snoring. Going to bed at
Day 4
Woke
up at 5:45am to get out of camp earlier, but that
didn’t really help us out! Moving a little slowly, despite a round of Vitamin I last night. Breakfast--nasty oatmeal, chocolate chip
granola bar, OJ.
We
have 3 portages today. Going back to the
portages, we’re not just walking around a flat track,
we’re walking up hills, down hills, carefully around and over rocks, over or
under fallen tree limbs—with a 50-80 pound pack or a canoe on your neck! A ritual after every portage is to check for
ticks.
Lunch
is cheese, sausage, pita bread, chocolate chip cereal, M&
M trail mix.
We
only see one group of people today on the water--3 fisherman.
Caroline
Weber and I paddle together today. We
were strong and efficient team, staying ahead of alongside the other two
canoes. We, that is until the last 2 or
3 miles when we were tired and the wind wore us out.
The
weather has been great for us. Raining
lightly 20 minutes on our first paddling day, then
raining lightly in the early morning hours last night.
On
the water today we played “I spy” and the “Alphabet Game” with Jay, Whitney,
and Furman for some entertainment. The
ABC game is ‘Where are you going,’ ‘How are you going to get there’ and ‘What
are you going to do?’
We
get into camp today at
I
fish for about 15 minutes before dinner, no luck. Whitney caught a fish at lunch and she baked
it with butter and Old Bay/Yellow pepper as an appetizer.
Dinner--beef
stroganoff (peas, carrots, beef, alfredo packet, beef
stroganoff packet), yellow cake, purple Gatorade.
It
is uncomfortably hot and muggy at
Day 5
Very
tough day, beginning at 3am. I have never been in a worse thunderstorm in
my life. I got really nervous. I couldn’t find my flashlight and I wanted to
put my rain gear on, pack up my sleeping bag, and get ready to run. I finally found my flashlight. I curled up in an emergency pose. The storm finally blew over. The tarp tent survived. I did not pull out my sleeping bag because
many things were wet. I put my feet into
my blue portage pack and curled up in my rain gear for the last few hours of
sleep.
Up
at 6am. Breakfast--Granola with tea/hot
chocolate poured in my bowl, and an apple cinnamon bar.
The
rain and ‘wet everything’ threw us off and we left camp at
masterfully carried canoes today. One would carry canoe until tired, the other
carry the danglies. Then switch. We were very proud of ourselves!
My
body is tired today and I am mentally spent from the storm. It doesn’t help that the wind was at our
faces again, slowing our forward progress.
We
saw pictographs today on two different rock faces.
Caroline
and Paul each caught a fish for supper!
Lunch--bagels,
PB, strawberry jelly, trail mix.
We
played ’20 questions’ to help pass time on the water. I paddled with Furman today.
We
are down to one food bag today.
Northern
Tier is very different from Philmont in that you can bury your leftover food,
you have better trail food, you don’t have to set daily
mileage or campsites.
We
get to our campsite late. I am cook
again, with Paul. Dinner--rice, veggies,
fish, and disgusting yellow cake mix (spoiled by baking soda Jay added to
flour).
We
can throw the fish remains on the shoreline (rocks) for the birds to feed. We saw 2 eagles and seagulls fighting over
the fancy feast. There is an eagle’s
nest on our island campsite. Whitney
catches a snake. There are no poisonous
snakes in
Another
swim saves my day! Church
service on the rocks. Hope for a
non-violent storm. Bed
at
Day 6
No
storms last night thankfully. A wonderful day ahead of us.
16 miles and no portages. Easy, right?!*
No! Add in a little current (against us)
and some wind, and you have some tough miles in front of you.
Breakfast--nasty oatmeal
(too much cinnamon or something), OJ, chocolate coconut granola bar
(yum!). We dig a lot of the oatmeal in
the ground. Or bodies would be stronger
and more powerful if we ate our full portions of food.
We
stop on land to look at a 1919-1928 Chevy Buick car rusting away! How did it get out into the middle of
nowhere? Possibly by driving out onto the ice. Remember, we are in remote wilderness,
hovering between the Canada/USA borders.
We
do see many more groups today. If you
see another Boy Scout group, the standard greeting and response are Hol-Ry,
Red-Eye!
I
paddle with Jay and Whitney today (3 person).
I rest 1st. I throw
the fishing line to the shoreline, a few casts later I
catch a keepable bass! It is important
to supplement dinner because somehow we are missing one allotment of meals
(B-L-D)! I am done fishing till later because
my tackle gets caught on a rock and the line snaps.
Lunch--crackers,
cheese spread, sausage, cookies, trail mix.
Again, rationing some food.
We
paddle wearily to see some more pictographs-heron, moose, big canoe, cat, man
shooting. Mileage goals and tough
conditions get in the way of having fun, we are not
stopping often enough to rest our muscles.
We paddle to Lower Basswood falls and camp beside the thundering
water. We arrive at camp early (
I
bathein the water, then dry off completely by the blazing sun.
Jay,
Charles, and Furman have a set of maps and navigate through the
Lakes-Bays. Today there were a series of
Bays called the days of the week.
We
go to bed with the drone of the falls, not mosquitoes!
Day 7
Charles
wakes us up at
Breakfast-instant oatmeal, OJ, blueberry granola bar.
We
break camp and are on the water by
We
saw another eagle today, 9 total for the trip so
far. We saw deer alongside the
shore.
The
mile portages is to get to Upper Basswood falls. We are smart and break the portage into 3
parts. We work efficiently and strongly
and finish in 1 hour, 20 minutes. I had
to pull out another Luna bar to give me energy to finish the last leg. I was able to carry the canoes again
today.
Caroline
and I paddled together in the morning.
In the afternoon I paddle with Jay and Paul. Then another switcheroo to
paddle with Charles.
Lunch--
After
lunch was an extremely tough paddle with the wind strong on
Dinner--spaghetti,
hot chocolate, and coffee.
Whitney
set up her fishing rod and after 2/3 casts, I catch a bass. He jumps off my line as I try to land
him. The flies on this island are
horrible, and I stop fishing.
We
build a fire to dry us out, use as insect repellant, and a place to gather to
share stories.
Tonight
I hear the cry of the loons. We actually
get to sleep in tomorrow morning! Cause we don’t have many mile left and we can’t return to
base until
Day 8
Last
day on the water, we are sad but relieved.
Relieved to be escaping the mosquitos and black flies.
We
wake up at
Breakfast-leftover instant oatmeal, hot chocolate,
Hudson Bay Bread, coffee.
We
leave camp leisurely at
Early
on, dark, heavy Canadian clouds start forming.
Jay advises us to use the islands as a windblock. Our 5 miles quickly becomes 6-10 miles in
length because we must ferry across the windy sections to the opposite bank,
turn downstream and sail/surf in the safety of the landmass. Repeat!
I start the day paddling with Charles, me steering. At times, when the wind picks up, it is all I
can do to steer. I am practically
leaning over the right wall of the canoe.
Next break, Charles and I switch seats.
Furman
and Whitney get to witness a loon laying 2 eggs underwater. She felt threatened by their closeness, she scurried about and even bumped into their
boat to signal that they better back off.
We
can’t arrive back to Base camp until
We
turn in our gear, and head to the showers.
I wash my hair and body 3 times, and check for ticks as best I can. We put on our Blue polos and head ½ hour down
the road to Ely. Most everyone has steak
on the brain.
We
head back to base camp to participate in a ‘Rendevous!’ Our skit was Ladybug: Butterfly, Housefly,
Horsefly, Ladybug (3 girls).
Day 9
We
wake up at
We
all eat at the Chili’s?-Too restaurant and share stories from our 2 escapades.
We
get delayed at the Cinncinnati airport for about an hour.
Arrive
in