Canoeing in BWCA, 2004.

BWCA journal
October 3-6, 2004
Schuyler, Mary, David, Lisa and Gary.
Written by Gary Hochgraf

October in the Northwoods can be anything from cold and windy to warm and sunny. We get a little of everything on this trip.
And so we begin. Our put-in is the Little Indian Sioux, a campground by a set of rapids on a river of the same name. The trail was well maintained and well used. Schuy and I put in and waited for the others, and picked a few of the last grains of wild rice standing in the shallows. The Little Indian Sioux River is a pleasant paddle, not too twisty, flanked by wild rice, rushes, and eventually tamarack and black spruce.
Got to the first portage, also well maintained, and met at least three other parties who were on their way out as we went in. This portage is also past a set of rapids, which looked line-able until we passed a 5’ waterfall. Once we had carried all the gear to the lower end, we went back and had lunch at the falls. The water here is quite dark brown - full of tannins.
As we launched a rain squall hit us, with a strong headwind. We got our raincoats on, but the rain was horizontal and not much fun. It stopped in about half an hour, but the wind continued all day.
Soon we reached Upper Pauness Lake, where we had no protection from the wind, but turned east to the portage into Little Pauness Lake. Upper Pauness is quite shallow with rice, sedges and grasses covering much of it. Lower is much deeper. The portage between the two is around another set of rapids. We all carried the gear over, then Schuy and I ran the rapids in Mary’s boat, which is made of Royalex. It was a short but challenging set, requiring reading of the water, then back-ferrying immediately after the first drop, and lots of rock-dodging.
In a short distance was a beaver dam. Schuy and I ran the drop through it, but hit lots of rocks. Mary and David, and Lisa dragged over a grassy spot after our experience. A very brief squall hit us again, and it ended with a low rainbow.
We were able to get some wind protection along the shore along this lake. The first campsite was taken, so we took the next, around a point and totally exposed to the wind. It’s a pretty site, built on a big exposed bedrock outcropping, with a few tent areas back in the woods and slightly protected.
A few more squalls, some with sleet, came through in the evening. The woods were wet, but we managed to get a fire going, but the wind (about 20mph) blew all the heat away and it didn’t warm us very much. But we stood around it anyway and enjoyed it’s ambiance.
Lisa served us a nice batch of spaghetti with tomato sauce for dinner. As soon as it was dark I turned in and was soon asleep.

Monday. We were greeted by a rosy sunrise, sunlight on the far shore, then a deck of clouds blotted it out. Breakfast was simple, then the tents came down and we packed up. There was frost on the tents and graupel in protected areas. Then we headed out into the lake and into the wind. The portage is just around a bend in this small lake, which is ringed with green pines, spruce and cedars, and the yellows, reds, and oranges of the paper birches, aspens, and sugar maples.
The portage is wide, with a hill to climb & descend. The river tumbles over a long series of cascades which were nice to look at. Hiking was good to warm us all up.
We continued into the wind, north along the Little Indian Sioux River, which eventually widened into Loon Lake. Here the wind was more of a problem, and waves too, but we hugged the shore for it's meager protection. At the end of the river we heard a loon, then saw a large raptor. We got closer and identified it as an immature Bald Eagle. It circled us twice and perched high in a red pine while we ogled it. Its markings were quite unremarkable - mottled brown, blacks, whites, and tan.
We left the protection of the shore and pulled hard for the lee of an island, rested, then made a longer crossing through heavy chop to a point on the north shore. The wind is still blowing a steady 20 mph. Once in the lee again, we took out for lunch on a sunny apron of bedrock, well protected from the wind. It was finally warming. The deck of clouds is breaking up. First a few patches of blue through the clouds, then an even mix of small cumulus-humilus clouds and blue patches, then scattered little clouds in a field of intense blue.
After a long and leisurely lunch, we headed down-wind to a very nice, sunny, wind-protected campsite. Within an hour of arrival, the last of the clouds were gone, and we all enjoyed the warmth after yesterday’s cold. Mary made dinner - a beef-barley stew. Quite tasty. David tried his luck with the fish, and Schuy and I bushwhacked east to the next curve of the shoreline. The walk included some scrambling over bedrock. Motor boats are allowed on this lake, and several have gone by, and pulled up on the beach across the lake from us, where the next portage trail leaves from. The fire this evening was quite enjoyable, as the wind wasn’t as fierce and firewood gathering was easier and more plentiful. With the clear skies, the stars came out, bright and clear with no light pollution. Our view was NE-E-S-SW, so we could see Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and it’s galaxy, Delphineas, and Scorpio, and the milky way overhead.

Tuesday. Bright and fair, still windy. Some cirrus clouds, and warming up quickly. I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast for Schuy and I. The others had the usual oatmeal.
Got under way and headed for the beach where there was already one motorboat, and began our longest portage, 220 rods, about a half mile, with a 100 foot hill in the middle. We did it all in two trips, and met two bow hunters on the trail. They were after moose.
Paddling up the last bit of Heritage creek was beautiful - lots of sunshine, a winding channel between grasses and forest, with the northwoods turning colors. The first two days we paddled NNE into a headwind. Starting yesterday afternoon the wind shifted around, and now we paddle SSE into a quartering headwind, but not as strong and much warmer. Lunch was at a campsite on Heritage Lake, then we portaged into Shell Lake. The stream from Shell to Heritage rushes over smooth bedrock, and would be lots of fun to slide down in a swim suit in the summer. We found a wind-sheltered campsite on an island in Shell Lake. There are three campsites on this island, and ours is the smallest and is challenged for places for our tents. We visited the other campsites, both huge and over-used and over-improved. David tried his luck fishing again.
Dinner was mine tonight. I served curried rice with vegs, with a chocolate cake for dessert. This site has Canada Jays, so we had to clean up well, then we walked down the shore to the south end campsite to watch the sunset. Schuy and I walked back the long way - the rest of the way around the island. It was quite dark by the time we finished our circumnavigation. The others had the fire going already. As it darkened, the starshow was even more impressive than last night. We had a great view of the galaxy in Andromeda, and saw many shooting stars.

Wednesday. Dawned bright, no wind at all. The lake is a mirror. I paddled David around while he fished (no luck) but we saw a beaver. It slapped the water when we got too close, and another one further away repeated the warning.
Breakfast was blueberry muffins, then we packed up and headed out. We have a short distance to go today, so we wandered around the lake for a while before heading for the portage. We met a party of grouse hunters on the portage trail, also some canoeists/fishermen. The end of the portage put us back in Lower Pauness Lake. It has warmed to t-shirt weather, with a 10mph south wind (headwind).
We stopped for lunch at the rapids and portage where Schuy and I ran the rapids on Sunday. After lunch we tried lining Mary’s Royalex boat up the rapids. Schuy and I worked the boat, Mary helped, and Dave and Lisa took photos. Schuy and Mary paddled and poled up the tailwater, then I lined it around the next rock, and Schuy helped pull it into an eddy. The next chute proved difficult. We tried several times, but shipped water each time, until finally we swamped it, and the current pulled it downstream and lodged it crosswise, swamped, in the middle of the stream. Canoes get broken doing this! But Schuy and I managed to get one end up enough so we could roll it over and free it from its entrapment. We tried again, this time one of us on each side of the river, and were met with success. I then poled it through a quieter stretch while Schuy scrambled out on the beaver dam. We ferried across below the dam to the break, then handed the lead rope to Dave, and while I continued to pole, he pulled it up the last chute and into Upper Pauness Lake. The exercise was much slower and harder work than portaging, but lots of fun!
From Upper Pauness we turned up the Little Indian Sioux, into the warm headwind, and also into the very bright sun. One more portage, through the wild rice beds, and to the take-out. A delightful and eventful trip, with a cold beginning and a warm ending.