Friday, September 4, 2009
Just two weeks prior, my son Weston had been born. Auralee’s mom was at our house helping out, and Auralee graciously let me take a canoe trip with my dad. It was a spur of the moment type of thing. A week before Labor Day weekend, I went online and found an open permit. I invited my dad, and he said it sounded like a great idea.
So we found ourselves at the Moose River North entry point the morning of Friday, September 4th.
The "Before" Picture
The river at times was narrow and windy, which made it a little hard to navigate in an 18 1/2 foot canoe, but otherwise it was just a nice morning to be out canoeing. It was sunny and warm, especially considering that it was the beginning of September. We saw a few other parties, most of them heading out. I still wonder why so many were heading out at the start of a long weekend.
It appeared that most, if not all, of the campsites on Nina Moose were taken. That didn’t bother me, though, since our goal was to make Emerald. I had chosen Emerald since it is a dead end lake, and I hoped to find some seclusion on the busy weekend.
The portages between Nina Moose and Agnes weren’t too bad. We were definitely enjoying the nice fall weather. A few of the trees had started turning already. The wind was calm, and it really couldn’t get much better than this.
There were also quite a few people on Agnes. I was hoping to leave the crowds behind with another couple of portages. The portage from Agnes to the Oyster River seemed very long. It was steep in places, and there was also a downed tree at about waist height that I had to climb over. The portage took a lot out of me, but we kept going.
The portage from the river to Oyster Lake was, I think, the prettiest I have ever seen. It was lined with tall white pines. The forest floor was interspersed with pine needles and green plants. The sun shone through the canopy and illuminated everything around me. I really enjoyed double portaging this time.
The wind was starting to pick up a little bit, but it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. We started crossing Oyster, trying to find the narrow passage that led to the portage to Hustler. We started going in the wrong direction, towards the northwest corner of the lake, but we eventually saw what we were looking for and corrected our course.
We ate lunch at the beginning of the portage. Another group came in and started down the portage while we were eating. Both of us were feeling a little tired, so I suggested that we could stay on Oyster. Dad said that we had come this far, we might as well try to reach our goal. (I think he said that because he thought I wanted to keep going.) Lunch really hit the spot and rejuvenated us a bit.
When I had planned the trip, the map I had used had shown the portage being about 220 rods. The maps we used on the trip, however, showed it being 310 rods. I wasn’t sure which it really was, but I was hoping for the 220. I had never done a mile long portage before.
I started down the trail with the canoe, looking at the ground in front of my feet. I was counting my paces as I went, so I was surprised when my boots came to the edge of some water about 100 rods in. I looked up and saw that it was actually a pond in the middle of the trail. About 50 yards ahead of me the trail emerged on the other side of the pond. I thought about it and decided to just go for it. I plunged into the water and forged ahead. The water was thigh deep, as long as I stayed on the trail—it was a bit deeper if I ever got off of it. I got to the other side and was able to keep going.
Oyster-Hustler Portage
Towards the end of the portage, the pads on the canoe yoke had slipped, so I had to support the canoe with my arms. That got very tiring and very uncomfortable very quickly. I eventually had to put the canoe and pack down, adjust the pads, and throw the canoe back onto my shoulders.
After I reached the end, my pace count showed that it really was 310 rods, not 220. I was exhausted, and I still had to go back and get the packs Dad had dropped halfway. We both eventually finished, and we were beat. After a brief rest, we packed up and kept going. We only had one portage left until Emerald.
The last portage was only 40 rods. I was excited to finally get to our campsite. As I came to the end of the portage, though, I saw that our campsite was already taken. After talking it over, we decided to take the other campsite on the lake—we were too tired to go back over the portage. The campsite wasn’t what I had hoped for, but it would do. It was covered in jack pines, which, to me, aren’t very attractive. Dad said later, though, that the campsite had grown on him.
We pulled into camp at about 4:30 PM. I set up the tent so my dad could take a nap—if I was this tired, I couldn’t even imagine what he was feeling. While he took a nap, I set up the rest of camp and made dinner. Dinner was ham and applesauce. It tasted delicious!
We went to bed to get a good night’s rest. During the night, we heard wolves howling—and they weren’t in the distance. They sounded really neat, but it was chilling hearing them so close. We heard them both nights that we were on Emerald.
Bringing Canoes into Emerald Campsite
Emerald Lake Sunset
Saturday, September 5, 2009
We both slept well. We woke up and made breakfast. As usual, I was in charge of the pancakes. After eating and cleaning up, we prepared to explore Emerald. We decided to try fishing it. The DNR website had basically said there were no fish in the lake. Last night, though, I had seen some minnows near shore, so we decided to try our luck.
What really amazed me about the lake was how clear it was. I could easily see the bottom in the middle of the lake, and it was over 20 feet deep! We trolled all along the shore until we reached the other campsite on the lake. We hadn’t received a single bite. We had also noticed that the lake had absolutely no weeds—the bottom and shore were just rocks. The lake seemed to be dead. The other party had left during the morning, so we landed and had a look around the camp. It was a nice campsite, but not really what I had imagined when I read the description of it.
Since we weren’t having any luck on Emerald, we took the portage back over to Hustler. We had good luck on bass here. We caught enough for dinner and then some. In the afternoon, we took the portage back to Emerald to have some lunch.
After lunch, we tried fishing Emerald once more. This time we trolled the western shore of the lake. There were absolutely no fish, and no sign of any fish, so we just basically enjoyed a nice paddle on a beautiful day. As we were heading back to camp, though, Dad had a fish bite. We laughed for a few seconds as he fought it, but it spit the hook in a short time. We will probably never know what kind of fish he actually had on.
We went back to camp, relaxed a bit, and then made dinner. Dad cleaned the fish, and I cooked them up. The hot chocolate really hit the spot!
Hot Chocolate on Emerald
I had been thinking and had been a little worried about making it out at a decent time on Monday. It had taken us about 8 hours to get in. However, I wanted to be able to get out at about noon on Monday. Because of this, I suggested that we go back to Oyster the next day. Dad wondered if I was suggesting this because I was worried about him. While that was partly true, my main motivation was being able to get home on Monday. We discussed it and decided to pack up the next morning and go to Oyster.
We packed up what we could that evening. Then I decided to have a little fun in the canoe. I went out a little ways and practiced my solo turning. It was fun seeing how low to the water I could get before swamping.
Practicing Canoeing Strokes
It was a beautiful last evening on Emerald. We took "baths" and swam around a bit. I had some fun with the goggles in the crystal clear water. The wind died down before sunset. We sat on the rocks and read while the light faded. Finally, we headed in, readying ourselves for the morrow.
Sunset on Emerald
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Since we weren’t going very far today, we had a pancake breakfast. We cleaned everything, packed up, and started paddling. I wasn’t looking forward to the mile-long portage, but at least it was pretty much going to be the only thing we had to do today.
Actually, the portage didn’t seem as bad this time. We had discussed taking pictures at the flooded part of the portage. Unfortunately, I misunderstood what I was supposed to do. Dad wanted to take a picture of me walking through it with the canoe. Instead, I took the canoe all the way to the other end of the portage and then walked back for a pack. So, instead of getting a picture with the canoe, we just got pictures carrying packs. It was fun and actually made the portage enjoyable.
Oyster-Hustler Portage
Oyster-Hustler Portage
There were three campsites on the peninsula on Oyster. All three were open, so we visited all of them before deciding on the one where the peninsula narrows. We could actually see all the way through the campsite to the other side of the lake. It was a great campsite. There were plenty of places to put tents, though we only needed one spot.
Oyster Peninsula Campsite
Kitchen on Oyster Campsite
Oyster Peninsula Campsite
Tent Pads at Oyster Campsite
After setting up camp, we went out fishing for dinner. Since it was windy, we didn't venture out onto the main lake. Instead, we stayed in the bay by the portage to Rocky Lake. We actually had good luck with the smallmouth bass by the portage.
Fishing on Oyster
The evening was great. We had bass for dinner and then just enjoyed the nice weather. As usual, the sunset was spectacular.
Sunset on Oyster
Monday, September 7, 2009
We got up early and packed up camp. The morning was still, foggy, and silent. At first, we were the only ones out paddling. As we neared the entry/exit point, the crowds got thicker. We had to wait our turn at some portages as everyone was trying to leave on Labor Day. Despite the crowds, we enjoyed the time traveling back.
It was a great trip to share with my dad, just the two of us. I will have these memories for many years to come.