July 21, camp 19, setting moon at 4:25 a.m. Arising at 3 a.m. I eat breakfast in tent, as on any warm day now, because the mosquitoes are so bad.
Rising sun, one hour later at 5:25 a.m.
On the move from camp 19 at 5:30 a.m. At the short 70 metre portage, I pick three salads of fireweed. By the time I reach camp 20 (old camp 5), one km away including the short portage, the blackflies are bothersome so dig a firepit to get a fire going by 7 a.m.
The portion of the long 3150 metre trail that was under snow and ice on the inbound trip in June, now with rocks and holes exposed.
After an early lunch at 10:30 a.m., I pre-portage two loads (barrel 3, two paddles) [barrel 2, cooler 1, laundry pail (with two painters, four rubber ropes, wash plunger, sponge, rag, one canteen)]. The long portage that I said I hoped never to do again. There is no sign of the two robins that greeted me on each walk through the big meadow on the trip in. Hopefully their young safely hatched and have flown the nest. Because of the very bothersome blackflies at the swampy lower end of the trail, I wear my hat scarf each return trip. My younger self thinks to do all four pre-portages today, which my older self says is crazy. With today's clear sunny weather it is a hot 29℃ and I am even more sweat-soaked than usual. The frogs are singing at water's edge in the hundreds.
Horseflies are very bothersome under the tarp shelter in the hot sun, especially so at supper time so I eat in a bit of shade away from the tarp. From my journal: "Horseflies are BAD, BAD, BAD! HOT! Thought of having bath before supper but bugs too BAD." To nylon tent by 6 p.m. where it is hot, even with no clothes on. I changed socks and doctored my sore toe twice today and again at bedtime. I think the lubrication of the ointment is probably more effective than the antibacterial component, which I do not want to use chronically as that promotes bacterial resistance. Keeping feet dry with powder and dry socks is important.
After an early lunch at 10:30 a.m., I pre-portage two loads (barrel 3, two paddles) [barrel 2, cooler 1, laundry pail (with two painters, four rubber ropes, wash plunger, sponge, rag, one canteen)]. The long portage that I said I hoped never to do again. There is no sign of the two robins that greeted me on each walk through the big meadow on the trip in. Hopefully their young safely hatched and have flown the nest. Because of the very bothersome blackflies at the swampy lower end of the trail, I wear my hat scarf each return trip. My younger self thinks to do all four pre-portages today, which my older self says is crazy. With today's clear sunny weather it is a hot 29℃ and I am even more sweat-soaked than usual. The frogs are singing at water's edge in the hundreds.
Horseflies are very bothersome under the tarp shelter in the hot sun, especially so at supper time so I eat in a bit of shade away from the tarp. From my journal: "Horseflies are BAD, BAD, BAD! HOT! Thought of having bath before supper but bugs too BAD." To nylon tent by 6 p.m. where it is hot, even with no clothes on. I changed socks and doctored my sore toe twice today and again at bedtime. I think the lubrication of the ointment is probably more effective than the antibacterial component, which I do not want to use chronically as that promotes bacterial resistance. Keeping feet dry with powder and dry socks is important.
Grass in the meadow portion of the long trail has grown quite long and thick, so have to be careful of footing that is hard to see, repeating my safety mantra at each bad spot.
A leaning spruce tree arching over the portage trail. Every time I walk underneath I state out loud "And I bow down to you, who bough down to me." Well, if you were listening you could not actually so interpret the spelling, but that is what I am thinking. Not saying I talk to myself much, although in this case I was talking to the tree.
A freshly picked salad of bluebell flowers, yellow goldenrod flowers, green fireweed tops with a sprig of purple mint flowers on top.
July 22. The moss "fridge" at camp 20 is 180 metres from the campsite, the closest spot available. At 5 a.m. when I go to fetch some butter to make cinnamon bannock, the fridge is torn apart with cooler 2 nearby. Thank goodness I pre-portaged cooler 1 yesterday. A black bear has bitten holes in every surface, including a large bite out of one corner. Fortunately the bite did not perforate the inner liner. Even more fortunate, the bear did not know that to open the cooler, the button on the end must be pushed. I have always wondered if these coolers were bear- resistant, and it is nice to know the answer. New coolers are not resistant because the manufacturer Igloo® tampered with a good thing and moved the latch to the top handle which is easy to release, so much so that people complain that the container opens too easily just when they are carrying it. Progress? The best bet now is to buy used coolers. I think I can patch this one though.
July 22, I pre-portage two more loads (canoe and canvas Tent/stove). Then I canoe the three loads across 'unnamed lake 5' to the next campsite (two barrels, laundry pail, cooler 1, Tent/stove). Unlike in June, the water is no longer flowing down the channel so I have to position the canoe farther from the original landing and then pull it even farther before I can get in. First thing in the morning and each time I walk back to camp from a portage, I check on the moss fridge to make sure the bear has not returned.
Today is even hotter than yesterday, reaching 34℃. There is not a lot of shade at camp and I try going to the tent to get away from the terrible flies. However, even with all my clothes off I still sweat profusely. At least outside there is a bit of breeze. From my journal: "The breeze makes a BIG difference. So I proved the heat is worse than the horseflies! Today would have been great to have bug tent. Aie! The only shade here is from slender jack pines 10 metres tall. I sit under two larger pines whose trunks shield the sun. Pine branches don't shade much, unlike birch or spruce of which I have none. C'est la vie. As my mother said 'You just have to make the best of it.' Thank goodness I did the portaging early. Have got bitten three times in a few minutes by horseflies through my single shirt. Buggers!" The only advantage of the heat is that sweaty clothes dry quickly hanging on clothesline.