Scenes through the five weeks at camp 25, which is 13 km from camp 24, plus eight km extra for pre-portage. There are many more days of rain than clear weather, and much cool weather, so the stove is used often. Possibly a record for me, in the 39 days at camp 25 it rains 26 days (67%) and the stove is on 35 days (90%). Some days I never see the sun through thick clouds. From my journal: "As Johnny Cash sings in Folsom Prison Blues, '... I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when ...'." The weather is preceded and accompanied by strong north winds, often making canoeing impossible with a lightly loaded canoe for exploring or fishing. On August 19 I hear the first of many flocks of Canada geese migrating south, also snow geese and later sandhill cranes. The good news is that weekly texts from Jeanette mention that forest fires are few and at one point none in all of Saskatchewan. Rain is much preferred to forest fire. With the rain and dense clouds, getting satellite phone reception is a challenge. I can only do so many puzzles, reading and writing, and from my journal "One of these days the weather will change, for the better I hope. I've had enough rest, forced as it is. Glad I could get out to do some work today and get some exercise even if I did get a bit wet. Thank goodness for the stove." Baths are increasingly colder in the rising waters and without the stove would definitely occur less frequently.
Daylight is getting noticeably shorter and my mornings start later, a bit darker every day. Now I often use candlelight morning and evening to be able to read and write. Temperatures range from freezing with heavy frost to occasional highs of 20℃, but most are in the single digits to low teens. Blackflies and mosquitoes are bad.
I remark in my journal that it would sure be nice to have a partner, but not many people would cope, let alone enjoy, and for protracted trips like I do we would need two canoes to manage the amount of supplies required. Paddling alone can be tiring and another difficulty that the partner has to tolerate, especially when faced with bad weather or winds.
Despite rain, I canoe for fishing and exploring while wearing rain gear. Also I explore in various directions in the bush, but walking is difficult in most places. From my journal one day: "Walked through THICK bush, down fire-killed trees everywhere. Aie! Don't think in my lifetime (the remainder) that these areas will be back to open, able to walk. Climbed over, under, through thick brush, large and small down trees helter-skelter laying over each other. Aie!"
During my stay I see a variety of small wildlife - spruce grouse, red squirrels, mice, ravens, bald eagles, kingfishers, warblers, boreal chickadees, an American three-toed woodpecker, common loons, gulls, teal ducks, common mergansers, gray jays, sparrows.
Black bears concern me at any camp but especially when staying in one place for an extended time. One day while in Tent a black bear looks in the door while I am reading. We are both surprised. I bang my hands together and yell loudly "hey!". He runs away, then immediately comes back to look again, silly guy. Again I yell "hey!". This time he stays away. Picking up my gun and wearing bear spray, I walk around camp and a bit farther afield but do not see him. This is a good example of how suddenly and quietly any animal can show up. Later I see one fresh bear scat full of lingonberries on a nearby trail. A few days later I hear what I think is a bear nearby and then the sound of an animal running away. Again I walk a circuit around camp and see nothing suspicious. For the remainder of my stay I never see a bear, although farther afield I do spot some fresh scat. Thankfully the bear decides to stay well away from my camp.
Daylight is getting noticeably shorter and my mornings start later, a bit darker every day. Now I often use candlelight morning and evening to be able to read and write. Temperatures range from freezing with heavy frost to occasional highs of 20℃, but most are in the single digits to low teens. Blackflies and mosquitoes are bad.
I remark in my journal that it would sure be nice to have a partner, but not many people would cope, let alone enjoy, and for protracted trips like I do we would need two canoes to manage the amount of supplies required. Paddling alone can be tiring and another difficulty that the partner has to tolerate, especially when faced with bad weather or winds.
Despite rain, I canoe for fishing and exploring while wearing rain gear. Also I explore in various directions in the bush, but walking is difficult in most places. From my journal one day: "Walked through THICK bush, down fire-killed trees everywhere. Aie! Don't think in my lifetime (the remainder) that these areas will be back to open, able to walk. Climbed over, under, through thick brush, large and small down trees helter-skelter laying over each other. Aie!"
During my stay I see a variety of small wildlife - spruce grouse, red squirrels, mice, ravens, bald eagles, kingfishers, warblers, boreal chickadees, an American three-toed woodpecker, common loons, gulls, teal ducks, common mergansers, gray jays, sparrows.
Black bears concern me at any camp but especially when staying in one place for an extended time. One day while in Tent a black bear looks in the door while I am reading. We are both surprised. I bang my hands together and yell loudly "hey!". He runs away, then immediately comes back to look again, silly guy. Again I yell "hey!". This time he stays away. Picking up my gun and wearing bear spray, I walk around camp and a bit farther afield but do not see him. This is a good example of how suddenly and quietly any animal can show up. Later I see one fresh bear scat full of lingonberries on a nearby trail. A few days later I hear what I think is a bear nearby and then the sound of an animal running away. Again I walk a circuit around camp and see nothing suspicious. For the remainder of my stay I never see a bear, although farther afield I do spot some fresh scat. Thankfully the bear decides to stay well away from my camp.
Some of the northern pike caught for supper, many a good size, the largest being 32" long (81 cm) providing two meals. Usually I catch enough fish for two meals, occasionally dicing one to make a chowder, but more often frying fillets in Crisco® shortening (coated with a mixture of ⅛ cup cornmeal and 1 tbsp Montreal steak spice), one serving for supper that day, the other stored in a moss "fridge" to be refried the next day. I often also cook the liver, not fond of the taste but it provides extra protein and vitamins. Reminds me of my mother spooning daily cod liver oil into my mouth in the winter time. (That was old school, now I just take vitamin D tablets.)
I develop my new favourite refried pike recipe (sauteed in 2 tbsp butter, then adding a mixture of ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp lemon pepper, half the mixture to one side before turning, then adding the other half before turning again. Next adding ¾ cup wholewheat couscous, orzo or bulgur (cooked in 1¼ cup boiling water with added 1 tbsp each of nutritional yeast and chicken soup base), mixing with the fish mixture to soak up the butter. Eaten hot directly from the Dutch oven pan ... mmm good! Of course everything tastes better with the seasoning of exercise and fresh air. It does not hurt that by now I could eat a jackass stuffed with firecrackers.
During my stay here I have three aching finger tips for a few days. Filleting knives have to be sharp to perform properly, and I slice a bit off the tip of one thumb. When disgorging a fish hook I poke a finger with one of the very sharp pike teeth. A third finger gets sliced when I drop a filleting knife. No wounds are serious but the aching interrupts sleep and a reminder to be more careful. The term "be careful" on its own does not mean anything and is over-used. Really it is everything you specifically do or avoid doing that leads to "being careful".
I develop my new favourite refried pike recipe (sauteed in 2 tbsp butter, then adding a mixture of ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp lemon pepper, half the mixture to one side before turning, then adding the other half before turning again. Next adding ¾ cup wholewheat couscous, orzo or bulgur (cooked in 1¼ cup boiling water with added 1 tbsp each of nutritional yeast and chicken soup base), mixing with the fish mixture to soak up the butter. Eaten hot directly from the Dutch oven pan ... mmm good! Of course everything tastes better with the seasoning of exercise and fresh air. It does not hurt that by now I could eat a jackass stuffed with firecrackers.
During my stay here I have three aching finger tips for a few days. Filleting knives have to be sharp to perform properly, and I slice a bit off the tip of one thumb. When disgorging a fish hook I poke a finger with one of the very sharp pike teeth. A third finger gets sliced when I drop a filleting knife. No wounds are serious but the aching interrupts sleep and a reminder to be more careful. The term "be careful" on its own does not mean anything and is over-used. Really it is everything you specifically do or avoid doing that leads to "being careful".
Lots of lingonberries that provide servings for supper through the entire period at camp 25, progressively getting riper as my stay progresses. I do find a few servings of blueberries, but long after the fire of 2010 the days of bountiful berry crops are done and finding a good patch is more difficult.
A red squirrel eating a pine cone.
Pine mushrooms supplement supper meals during the last week of August and first week of September, sauteed in 1 tbsp shortening, excess water poured off, continue heating to brown, then season with lemon pepper. Very good, my favourite mushroom, meaty and flavourful.
Male spruce grouse with the distinctive red eye comb.
Female spruce grouse.
Video of this male spruce grouse who was unseasonably randy, strutting his stuff to attract a female. He will repeat his dance in earnest in the spring during mating season. Proving the adage "fool hen", this grouse was not fearful, letting me get very close.
Attractive mackerel sky.
Video of blackflies and gnats which are very very bothersome the entire period of August and September. I wear my hat scarf or headnet most of the time while doing any outdoor activity. The movement of the scarf shoos them away but when they are too much for that, I don the headnet.
Beautiful autumn scenes of yellow birch interspersed with green spruce, and the bottom photo of Labrador tea.