I found out that my sister Carolyn was going to be in town, so I decided to ask if she wanted to go on a short weekend canoe trip with Katherine (another sister), my wife Auralee, and me. Carolyn said it sounded like a good idea. Katherine loves fishing, so she was very excited to go. I had come back from another weekend trip just the Monday before, so trying to get everything dried out and repacked was difficult to do in just three days. But we did it and were able to head out to the Boundary Waters.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Carolyn and Katherine had picked up the permit the day before at the ranger station in Cook. We got up really early so we could reach the entry point around sunrise. We headed up through Cook and Orr instead of going our usual route through Ely and up the Echo Trail. It had been raining, so the Echo Trail was a little muddy and slippery, but we made it to the Little Indian Sioux River without incident.
Headed to Upper Pauness
I wanted to make it to Heritage Lake, but this trip wasn't really for me. I told everyone that we could stop whenever and wherever they wanted. It was a damp and rainy morning, but there was little wind. We donned our rainsuits and life jackets and headed out. I had never been to entry point #14 before, so it was a new experience for me. The first portage went well. We made it into Upper Pauness and prepared for the "up-and-over" portage to get into Lower Pauness. Even though it was only 8 rods long, it proved difficult in the rain. The portage was one slippery rock. I fell down and scraped a knee, but luckily my injury wasn't too bad.
Then we came to the long-portage that could make us really suffer. The portage into Shell was well over 200 rods long. It was raining, the trail was muddy, and the packs were heavy. We managed to do one and a half portages (dropping a pack halfway) to save some time, but everyone was pretty tired at the end of it. We stood on the shore of Shell Lake eating soggy granola bars with water dripping off the front of our hats. By this time, the wind had also picked up, so there were waves to greet us on the lake. We discussed what to do and decided to stop on Shell rather than pushing on to another lake.
I didn't know which campsites were good on this lake, so we just headed out to the closest ones. I tend to like campsites off the beaten path a bit, so I didn't want to stay at the one right after the portage. Instead, we headed south. We took a look at the southwestern campsite on the lake and decided we liked it. The landing was pretty good - a shallow rock ledge - and there were the types of large red pines that I really like.
We set up our tents and the tarp to put our gear under. We also ate lunch under the tarp - the rain was making it a bit miserable to be out. After lunch we all crashed in our tents and took a well-deserved nap. When we woke up, it had stopped raining, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon/evening at least semi-dry. We finished setting up camp and then made dinner. In the evening, we went out and tried the fishing for a bit. Carolyn and Katherine were in one canoe, and Auralee and I were in the other. Auralee and I headed back a little early since we weren't catching anything. Right after we headed back for camp, Carolyn and Katherine caught a northern. They had trouble landing and releasing it. By the time they got the hook out, the fish was dead. They brought it back to camp. We don't like wasting fish, so we tried putting the dead fish on a stringer and hoping it would be there the next day so we could eat it. We only had the head left by morning...
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Walleye on Shell
The day was cloudy, but it wasn't raining, which was good. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes and then headed out fishing. I tried my usual technique of trolling along the shore, but I wasn't having much luck. I couldn't understand how Carolyn and Katherine were catching a whole bunch of fish out in the middle of the lake. Only then did I look at the map and realize that Shell Lake didn't get over 10 feet deep on this part of the lake. I adjusted where I was fishing and had more success, but still not as much as Carolyn and Katherine. They were really getting into the walleyes. We had caught dinner several times over by 10:00 AM, but we were having a lot of fun out there.
Fish On!
We headed back to camp for lunch. On the way back, Katherine still had her line in the water. Just before we reached camp, she got a big fish on. Auralee and I paddled over to help. When it surfaced, we all let out a gasp. It wasn't a monster by any means, but none of us like trying to handle northerns (and we don't bring a net). It took about 15 minutes and several tries, but we finally landed it. We weighed it back at camp, and it was between 4 and 5 pounds.
Shell Northern
It rained that afternoon, and we spent a few hours playing card games in the tent. We even continued playing for a bit after it stopped raining. I cleaned the walleyes and fixed dinner, and a good one it was! We spent the rest of the evening relaxing around camp. Katherine fished from camp. She ended up catching a small bass.
Bass from Camp
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Calm Sunday
What a gorgeous day! It was nice and sunny, especially compared to the last two cloudy, rainy days. After breakfast, we explored the north end of the lake by the island campsites. The campsites were occupied, so we just looked at them as we paddled by. The campsites looked nice. I still liked our campsite well enough. Once again, we had good luck fishing at the northwest end of the lake. We caught enough walleyes for dinner. Carolyn wanted to learn how to clean a fish. I taught her how, and she did pretty well.
Learning to Fillet
Campfire on Shell
Splash!
We enjoyed a small campfire and smores in the afternoon. After the campfire, we went swimming. The water was a little cool, but it felt nice.
After swimming, I decided to explore a bit of the lake alone. I took a canoe and paddled out to the eastern portion of the lake that we hadn't been to yet. The southeastern campsite was closed due to a small forest fire that was burning near there. Over the past couple of days we had seen planes flying over checking on it. The Forest Service, it appeared, was just letting this one burn naturally. I tried trolling while I was paddling, but it a little difficult since there was a light breeze. Soloing in an 18 1/2 foot canoe in even a light breeze can be difficult. It was hard keeping the canoe on course while fishing at the same time. Eventually I gave up the fishing and just explored the lake. I circled around the northern islands and came back to camp.
The evening was beautiful. We ate dinner and then packed up what we could of camp in preparation for leaving the next day. Then we enjoyed the evening.
Shell Lake Landing
Sunset on Shell
Monday, June 7, 2010
Shell Lake Sunrise
We woke up around 5 AM this morning. I got out of the tent and noticed that the sunrise was just beautiful. I went back to the tent and grabbed the camera. I snapped off a few photos, which turned out to be spectacular. One of the pictures ended up being one of my father's favorite photos. It pays once in a while to get up early.
We packed up camp and headed out. For some reason, the portages never seem as long on the way back. That was the case today. All too soon we were back at the entry point loading up the car. We stopped in Cook to pick up some lunch at Dairy Queen, which is our custom after each trip.
It was a fun trip, and I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with my sisters. Hopefully we will be able to do that again someday.