Camp Log: 6/21/15

(From Hummingbird’s logs, edited and transcribed 7/2/15)

Happy Summer Solstice! It turned out to be a nice one, though you wouldn't have guessed it this morning. The day dawned misty and overcast, though it was calm. I got up around 6:30 and found it was rather chilly. Grandpa had a kettle of lake water on the stove fore breakfast, so I sat by him and just rested for a bit. The plan had been to pick the first nice day from Saturday onward to head back to the Sawbill campground. Yesterday it poured, so obviously that was out. We kept a close eye on the weather this morning to see what it looked like.

For breakfast, we had oatmeal, almonds, and dried berries again. I also washed the dishes, so as to make use of the hot water. By the time we finished up, the sun had burned some of the mist off. I went out on a rock to get a look at the clouds and slipped, sliding into the lake and soaking myself from the knees down. I was able to get a look at the clouds, though. They were still grey, but appeared to be moving off.

Eventually (aka 8:00), we made the executive decision to head out while the weather held, seeing as we had no way to know what tomorrow would be like. The boys and I tore down our tent and the rainfly. The others got the rest of the supplies. By 10:00, we were ready to go. Just before we left, the boys found a little crayfish off shore. A ton of minnows died last night (possibly due to sediment washing into the lake from the rain), and the crayfish was grabbing their bodies and eating them.

The sun broke through the clouds, and with almost no wind, it was one of the nicest days we have had. Nick and I got out way ahead of the others, so we floated along right next to Hog Creek after crossing the lake. The seagulls gave us a bit of a send-off, and we saw the eagle wheeling around by the opposite shore.

When the others got on the lake finally, Nick and I headed onto the creek. There were lots of birds up in the trees - grackles, rad winged blackbirds, and some other songbirds. We were cutting a pretty good pace at first, but the father upstream we got, the more the current picked up, and the harder it was to steer. We kept seeing places we recognized, though, and i saw a couple more Tiger Swallowtails, so we both felt pretty good about where we were headed, at least.

When we got to the portage, it looked like there was a lot more water coming down the rapids this time. Nick and I hauled our things across, and then carried the canoe over together to load it back up. I fell in the water again, because I wasn't paying attention. Also, we put our canoe in on the far side of the portage, closer to the rapids, so we could avoid a huge mud puddle.

We waited there for everyone else to catch up, and I pointed out a red-headed merganser to Nick. He also saw a toad while I was holding the canoe, fishing out spiders with my paddle. The others finally arrived, and once we got back on the creek it was only another 1/4 mile or so to the entry point  - barely two minutes of paddling.

Everyone was totally exhausted when we got back that we just stuffed everything in the cars as quickly as we could. Grandpa had to drain some rainwater out of his truck bed, and then we loaded the three canoes up on top again.

We drove back to the Sawbill campground and took sites 2 and 3. Lunch was ASAP - string cheese, granola bars, peanut butter on bagels, dried coconut, mango, cherries, and apples, beef jerky, freeze dried edamame, and gummy bears. Soon after, I advocated for getting the tents set up in case of another change in the weather. The boys helped me put it up, and then they went down to the lake while I very meticulously brushed out of the tent as I could while letting it air out.

Not long after, I walked down with grandpa and dad to the waterspout to fill up all the water bottles and look at the scenery. There's a very nice pier out onto Sawbill Lake. Apparently, the boys found a snapping turtle there, but by the time I arrived it had gone.

Right around 6:00 we got started on dinner. Mom had a readymade rice package which just had to be heated up, and then we had summer sausage and cheesecake pudding. Somewhere along the line this morning while packing, the soap had gotten mislaid, so that took a while to find, but once everything was washed up, we went over to the Outfitter's.

The Outfitter's had some camp pillows which I liked but were a little outside my budget. The owners have a dog, though, named Pheobe. I pet her for a while, and she lay down on the floor for a tummy rub. Everyone else purchased their necessities, and we walked back to camp.

Grandpa had bought a tent patch kit, so we were finally able to fix the tear in our rainfly. It's not as neat as it probably could have been, but it should stop it getting any bigger.

If the good weather holds, the plan for tomorrow is to day trip on Sawbill. There's a good chance it may rain tomorrow, though, so in that event we'll head out for a hotel in Duluth. Either way, it will probably be eventful.

(As it would turn out, the weather the following day was terrible. We split camp and headed for Duluth.)