We started in the late afternoon on Clearwater. It was a hazy, dramatic day. We made decent time down the lake, pausing a few times to enjoy the palisades and the marvelous scenery. Travelling was a tad slow as we were using a Seneca, a three-person craft that definitely lumbers with only two paddles. At the far end, she wanted to get her first canoe portage out of the way and I was quick to oblige. We reached the West Pike side just after sunset. We would be searching for a campsite in the dark. Thankfully, most groups were still awake and shining flashlights. The only dark spot we found was the island site in the middle. We cautiously poked around the site and found it empty. Perfect! This would be our home for the night.
The next day, we paddled on to take the tough portage into Pine. It’s quite the elevation gain to be sure but is a nice enough trail. Pine was fairly calm this day, for which we were grateful. Of course, we had some good time at Johnson Falls, a can’t miss stop for the area. At the portage into Little Caribou, she went for her first wilderness double packing, a proud moment to be sure! The paddle down Little Caribou and Caribou seemed to take a long time; the Seneca is anything but fast. The portage out from Caribou partially follows an old road grade which led us off the path at one point, but we quickly recovered. Back into Clearwater, we made the crossing to our car. It was a lovely little trip into one of the prettier stretches of water in Canoe Country.
