Moonset at 4:32 am with the reflection in the lake.
Breakfast fire at camp 29, 4:44 am.
Eating breakfast at 5:53 am.
Luckily there is a reasonably dry area to unload the gear at the lower end of the portage at 7 am.
The 100 metre stretch of muskeg to the pond where the stern of the canoe is barely visible. I carry the canoe first because it will be the only dry spot to place the gear.
The 30 metre pond across which I will ferry the gear, one set at a time because there is one area of the pond that is very shallow and crosses a submerged log. The mud is too deep to pole (unless I had a "duck-foot" attachment for the pole). Regardless, if I get stuck on that log with a fully loaded canoe I would have a terrible time trying to get it off. I would likely have to "swim" the breast stroke in the shallow water on top of the metre deep mud. Aie! And then what ...? I paddle the empty canoe across first to make sure it is doable.
One load in the canoe on the lower side of the portage ready to paddle across the pond.
The same load on the other side of the pond ready to be unloaded and carried to dry land.
The empty canoe ready to paddle back for another load.
The heavy food pack is sitting on top of two packs stacked on top of each other. Fully loaded the pack weighs 40 kg and in order to lift it onto the top of another pack on my shoulders I need to have it elevated, usually on top of one end of the overturned canoe. But today the canoe is at the other end of the portage.
The four other loads to cross the pond.
My boots and lower pant legs are soaking wet, my upper pants wet from the brush and grass. I am thankful that I did not fall while portaging the long stretch of muskeg. While carrying a heavy load, I make sure to be careful to take measured steps in a situation like this, pausing sometimes to get my balance when I misstep or one foot sinks into the bog. It would be a bad time to be doing this is at the end of a long day when weary and hungry; if unavoidable, then I start talking to myself "Barry, be careful, take it easy."
A welcome sight on any portage is a view of the waterbody near the end of the trail.
A bay of the very large lake I am now on.
I am fortunate to have a pair of common loons come very close to the canoe.
A video with sound of the first loon.
A video with sound of the two loons together.
The sunset between 8:03 and 8:07 pm at camp 30, 3 km travelled, including the 750 metre portage (100 metre muskeg, 30 metre pond, 620 metre dry land). The smoke colours the sunset from a not very distant forest fire. At the time I am unsure how far away the fire is, but later I learn that it started from a probable lightning strike near where I first started this trip on July 29, the distance in a straight line from my current location being 35 km. I have travelled a total of 45 km by canoe and portage. It is always a bit disconcerting when there is forest fire smoke, but not sure how close the fire. I had to flee a fire in 2010 and since then I am a bit more concerned when there are plumes of smoke that appear nearby.
After I stop to check that I have found a good campsite, I canoe up the lake 5 km towards the smoke and relatively close to the upper end of the lake. This is where my trip ended unexpectedly last year on September 9 because of severe diarrhea and I had to get flown out. I want to check that campsite because I inadvertently left a plastic cooler of butter buried in the moss. When the float plane dropped me off at my vehicle I realized that I had left the cooler but it was too late. If I had been packing my canoe I would have missed it because everything is always placed in the same place in the canoe. The "fridge" is still intact and four blocks of unopened butter in Ziploc™ bags appear to be okay, after 11 months in the moss, amazing. As I continue on my voyage, I use this butter on my lunch bannock which sells me on revising my menu to include extra butter for that purpose. The butter is as solid and tasty as the new blocks I have taken this year.
After I stop to check that I have found a good campsite, I canoe up the lake 5 km towards the smoke and relatively close to the upper end of the lake. This is where my trip ended unexpectedly last year on September 9 because of severe diarrhea and I had to get flown out. I want to check that campsite because I inadvertently left a plastic cooler of butter buried in the moss. When the float plane dropped me off at my vehicle I realized that I had left the cooler but it was too late. If I had been packing my canoe I would have missed it because everything is always placed in the same place in the canoe. The "fridge" is still intact and four blocks of unopened butter in Ziploc™ bags appear to be okay, after 11 months in the moss, amazing. As I continue on my voyage, I use this butter on my lunch bannock which sells me on revising my menu to include extra butter for that purpose. The butter is as solid and tasty as the new blocks I have taken this year.