Wild Mint at campsite
It rained more during the night. This morning was sunny, but it was very wet in the bush with lots of water falling from the trees every time the wind blew, or you shook their branches. Although we got up at 6:30 we did not get away until 9 because it took longer to pack up the wet gear.It was starting to get windy by the time we were on the water. The wind got much stronger all morning. It didn’t bother us much at first, since we were quite sheltered by the islands at the north end of the bay, but as we approached the west end of Drinking Lake it began to be a strong headwind.
We reached the portage which was in very poor shape. We debated wading up the tiny shallow creek, but instead decided to portage. I cut down small poplars and willows at one point on the trail. There was a steep rocky ledge of about 1.5 m to get over. The trail was not well used, so in retrospect it would have been a lot easier to wade up.
The next portage is in good condition and wide open, though the pole skids which are there have really started to deteriorate. The old wooden rollers have mostly rotted away. The west end of the portage is quite shallow, and it was harder for Graeme to get away than Enid and I. I just gave the canoe a hard push and jumped in.
We paddled to the next point after the portage and ate lunch. After that we paddled past the cabin out to the main part of the lake, and no further. The lake was very rough with large waves and whitecaps, and our direction of travel would have been directly into the wind. We looked for a place to camp, but there was nothing so we went back to the cabin site.
The ground was covered with blueberries, especially where we were going to pitch our tents, so we picked them. After we had the tents up Graeme and I went fishing, while Enid stayed on shore and picked more berries. She got about 5 litres of berries, and we caught lots of fish, but only one walleye. We kept enough jacks to take lots home, plus what we would eat for supper.
We cooked on the gas stoves tonight, and didn’t start a fire. I also baked two bannocks in the backpacker over. There’s a sign posted here that is almost illegible as it is so faded. Graeme thinks he pieced out the letters to read “Private Property No Camping”. Oh well, we can’t leave in a canoe!
It is still very windy. It is less than it was during the day, and we could now probably paddle against it. However, we plan to get up early tomorrow morning, so should be able to get away.
Paddled: 7.6 km
Camped: 13 U 546754 6141379