June 16 at 5 a.m., camp 4, temperature 4℃, looking like it might be a good day. Up to Wilson at 3 a.m., I put on an extra third shirt, then in a few minutes a heavy fleece shirt, as I pack and have a cold breakfast. Away by 5:30 a.m., only 2½ hours to break camp, a fast time. No bugs yet ... yeah ... I like cold mornings!
Canoeing to the upper end of 'unnamed lake 5', then poling and wiggling the canoe up the narrow shallow channel, I manage to get right to the start of the portage. As usual when unloading the canoe, I sort the gear into individual loads to be carried, three in this case, leaving two loads (the canoe and personal pack with the canvas Tent/stove underneath). Because the trail is so long at 3150 metres, I will leave the latter two loads until tomorrow. So not only do I carry two loads as pre-portages, there will now be two post-portage loads, a new experience for me. Because the blackflies are very bothersome, worse because I am sweat-soaked, I wear the hat scarf all day. Each carry weighing up to 45 kg (100 lb) takes 50 to 60 minutes with 40 minutes to walk back, sweat-soaked and weary. I fall back on my mantra of loudly announcing at one kilometre milestones how far to go to the end of portage, kind of giving myself a pep talk. As with much in life, it is more about stamina, more about mental not physical strength.
For the first trip, I carry my rubber pack with the miscellaneous bag on top, plus the laundry pail full of gear in my hand. The rubber pack does not work as well as my personal pack for this load, but I want to have my lunch gear right away at the next camp. I have to stop once to re-rig the load to be more comfortable, but otherwise walk straight through. At the camp 5 location, after hanging some of my clothing on tree branches to dry, I erect the tarp shelter and assemble the tools. My plan is to do part of camp setup after each carry, which will take longer to finish the entire portage, but no longer in the end, and may be faster as it gives me an extra break between carries (my older self's idea).
The second trip includes the kitchen barrel with the canoe pack on top, and in my hand the paddles bag and gun case. Again I have to stop once to reposition the load. At camp 5, I put up the nylon tent but do not enter as I am sweating heavily and am surrounded by blackflies. I do place some gear in the tent's rear vestibule. The two paddles go with the pre-portaged barrels near 'unnamed lake 6'.
On my third trip, as the sun gets higher and hotter, I carry the clothes pack with the food pack on top, and in my hands both coolers. I do stop part way to rest a few minutes. At camp, I dig a fireplace and start a fire then set the four pots on to boil water. To fetch water at the shallow shore, I put my rubber shoes on, with no pants, to wade past the very thick grass and fill the laundry pail using the bailer. I eat a very welcome lunch, sitting downwind of the smoke from the fire which keeps most of the blackflies away.
Because I do not feel good about leaving my personal pack under the canoe, I do one more trip. This pack contains the satellite phone and all of my maps not in use plus some survival gear. The plan had been to carry it and the canoe in one trip tomorrow. Back at camp by 3 p.m., I use the SPOT™ Satellite Messenger to let my contacts know I am okay and my location. Because it is Sunday I also perform my once weekly check with the satellite phone for messages from my wife Jeanette. The text message states "OK. no fires. Good weathr Monday on 4 u. JH." (Jeanette texts me Saturday nights with a report on family status, forest fires in my area and weather forecast.) I very much need a bath, and find a somewhat suitable place about 200 metres up the lake, having to wade past plant growth along the shore and into a muddy bottom. Blackflies are bothersome so I undress/dress right at lake shore. Back at camp, I eat supper of macaroni and cheese, often my go-to meal after a long hard day, and today certainly qualifies. I have drank most of two one-litre canteens of water today, reserving some for tonight, plus lots of water filtered with the LifeStraw®, plus two litres of boiled water. Hopefully I will not get leg cramps tonight which often happens if not keeping hydrated well enough. I nod off a few times during supper under the tarp shelter where thank goodness the bugs are being reasonable. My younger self might have done the other two carries but I am very thankful to be in bed by 8 p.m. As I thought, the tent floor is sloped too much, so I get up to prop the low side of bed (with my rubber pack, chair, jeans, tent clothing bag, my bag of sleep gear bags).
June 17 morning. Slept well, even sleeping in a bit past 4 a.m., and no leg cramps. Thank goodness for the LifeStraw® filter which allows me to drink unlimited water. Temperature is 6℃, but sitting by the warming fire there is no need for extra shirts this morning. After a cold breakfast with hot water, I make the two trips to finish portaging gear and canoe. On my last trip, I hear frogs singing along the lake, and see a snowshoe hare welcoming me on the trail at the top of the knoll above the lakeshore. From my journal: "Hope I don't have such a long portage EVER AGAIN." My left foot is sore, not a good occurrence when I have to do so much portaging. Also as often happens, the skin along my right thumb nail splits mainly due to repeated water exposure, and even with antibiotic ointment and a bandage it aches all night. O'Keeffe's® Working Hands® Hand Cream applied along my fingernails daily while camping really helps, but occasionally there is still a split, usually near the start of the trip until my hands get toughened.
Canoeing to the upper end of 'unnamed lake 5', then poling and wiggling the canoe up the narrow shallow channel, I manage to get right to the start of the portage. As usual when unloading the canoe, I sort the gear into individual loads to be carried, three in this case, leaving two loads (the canoe and personal pack with the canvas Tent/stove underneath). Because the trail is so long at 3150 metres, I will leave the latter two loads until tomorrow. So not only do I carry two loads as pre-portages, there will now be two post-portage loads, a new experience for me. Because the blackflies are very bothersome, worse because I am sweat-soaked, I wear the hat scarf all day. Each carry weighing up to 45 kg (100 lb) takes 50 to 60 minutes with 40 minutes to walk back, sweat-soaked and weary. I fall back on my mantra of loudly announcing at one kilometre milestones how far to go to the end of portage, kind of giving myself a pep talk. As with much in life, it is more about stamina, more about mental not physical strength.
For the first trip, I carry my rubber pack with the miscellaneous bag on top, plus the laundry pail full of gear in my hand. The rubber pack does not work as well as my personal pack for this load, but I want to have my lunch gear right away at the next camp. I have to stop once to re-rig the load to be more comfortable, but otherwise walk straight through. At the camp 5 location, after hanging some of my clothing on tree branches to dry, I erect the tarp shelter and assemble the tools. My plan is to do part of camp setup after each carry, which will take longer to finish the entire portage, but no longer in the end, and may be faster as it gives me an extra break between carries (my older self's idea).
The second trip includes the kitchen barrel with the canoe pack on top, and in my hand the paddles bag and gun case. Again I have to stop once to reposition the load. At camp 5, I put up the nylon tent but do not enter as I am sweating heavily and am surrounded by blackflies. I do place some gear in the tent's rear vestibule. The two paddles go with the pre-portaged barrels near 'unnamed lake 6'.
On my third trip, as the sun gets higher and hotter, I carry the clothes pack with the food pack on top, and in my hands both coolers. I do stop part way to rest a few minutes. At camp, I dig a fireplace and start a fire then set the four pots on to boil water. To fetch water at the shallow shore, I put my rubber shoes on, with no pants, to wade past the very thick grass and fill the laundry pail using the bailer. I eat a very welcome lunch, sitting downwind of the smoke from the fire which keeps most of the blackflies away.
Because I do not feel good about leaving my personal pack under the canoe, I do one more trip. This pack contains the satellite phone and all of my maps not in use plus some survival gear. The plan had been to carry it and the canoe in one trip tomorrow. Back at camp by 3 p.m., I use the SPOT™ Satellite Messenger to let my contacts know I am okay and my location. Because it is Sunday I also perform my once weekly check with the satellite phone for messages from my wife Jeanette. The text message states "OK. no fires. Good weathr Monday on 4 u. JH." (Jeanette texts me Saturday nights with a report on family status, forest fires in my area and weather forecast.) I very much need a bath, and find a somewhat suitable place about 200 metres up the lake, having to wade past plant growth along the shore and into a muddy bottom. Blackflies are bothersome so I undress/dress right at lake shore. Back at camp, I eat supper of macaroni and cheese, often my go-to meal after a long hard day, and today certainly qualifies. I have drank most of two one-litre canteens of water today, reserving some for tonight, plus lots of water filtered with the LifeStraw®, plus two litres of boiled water. Hopefully I will not get leg cramps tonight which often happens if not keeping hydrated well enough. I nod off a few times during supper under the tarp shelter where thank goodness the bugs are being reasonable. My younger self might have done the other two carries but I am very thankful to be in bed by 8 p.m. As I thought, the tent floor is sloped too much, so I get up to prop the low side of bed (with my rubber pack, chair, jeans, tent clothing bag, my bag of sleep gear bags).
June 17 morning. Slept well, even sleeping in a bit past 4 a.m., and no leg cramps. Thank goodness for the LifeStraw® filter which allows me to drink unlimited water. Temperature is 6℃, but sitting by the warming fire there is no need for extra shirts this morning. After a cold breakfast with hot water, I make the two trips to finish portaging gear and canoe. On my last trip, I hear frogs singing along the lake, and see a snowshoe hare welcoming me on the trail at the top of the knoll above the lakeshore. From my journal: "Hope I don't have such a long portage EVER AGAIN." My left foot is sore, not a good occurrence when I have to do so much portaging. Also as often happens, the skin along my right thumb nail splits mainly due to repeated water exposure, and even with antibiotic ointment and a bandage it aches all night. O'Keeffe's® Working Hands® Hand Cream applied along my fingernails daily while camping really helps, but occasionally there is still a split, usually near the start of the trip until my hands get toughened.
Black bear just beside the long 3150 metre trail as I return to pick up another load to portage. Thank goodness I noticed something out of the ordinary in my peripheral vision or I would have missed seeing him. He is hidden completely in the bottom picture but I can hear him moving in the brush. The best bear is one like this who runs away.
In the grassy meadow, my shadow as I walk away from the sun shows one of my loads, pack on back with another on top.
My "getting close" view of 'unnamed lake 6' at the upper end of the long portage.
Down firewood is abundant at camp 5 which is 3½ km from camp 4, including the 3150 metre portage. I also canoed an extra six km to do the pre-portages.
There is no really good shade, so I hang the medium tarp using clothespins, to shield me from the afternoon sun.
The two holes in the sand pile from the firepit were probably dug by a red squirrel, presumably to bury cones.
Temperature is quite hot by midday each day, reaching 31℃ on the last day here, so my clothes get sweat-soaked easily. The fire is maintained to help keep blackflies away.
The lake at camp is shallow at shore so I push canoe out just enough to be able to walk out to bail drinking and cooking water into the laundry pail (to be purified by boiling).
The nylon tent gets quite hot in the sun, so I go to bed with no clothes on, laying on a cotton sheet until cool enough to put on sleepwear.
June 17 afternoon, the narrows between the main body of 'unnamed lake 6' and the part of the lake with camp 5 is too shallow for the canoe. It is unlikely that Adam's snow machines cross here, so I investigate the bush nearby and find a short 70 metre trail that does not require any clearing.
The trail at the upper end of the large portion of 'unnamed lake 6'. It took me much longer than anticipated to find the winter trail as its landing was hidden by the brush on one corner of the lake. Canoeing near shore from one side of the lake to the other, I cannot spot an opening. Paddling back to one corner, I stop at four places, walking inland along the top bank with no luck. Finally canoeing farther on, getting a bit frustrated, I check one more spot. When I hike inland a short distance, I first see a pole trap set, then the trail beside it going down to this corner of the lake but at an angle making it hard to spot from the lake. Success finally! Once I locate it, I walk the trail that parallels the shore until it reaches mid-lake before turning straight away towards 'unnamed lake 8'. I walk the entire 1330 metre trail to "make sure", throwing off the occasional small fallen tree. Then I cut my own connecting trail at mid-lake to shorten the portage by 130 metres for a length of 1200 metres. The only downside is the steep 45° slope up to the top, after which I have to cut a few branches and trees to connect to the main trail.
The two heavy barrels cached in a clump of birch, covered with spruce branches to shield from the sun, at 'unnamed lake 6'. The spruce branches are those cut to clear my portion of the trail. I have hopes of portaging the barrels to the upper end of the trail but the day is getting too late. Opening the two barrels, I remove all the bags of white "chocolate", that I have decided I cannot eat, to burn back at camp. Although a waste, at least this will lighten the loads a bit.
The 1200 metre trail traverses a rough uneven 700 metres of stones and boulders, with the remainder being a sandy path. Note the birch trees that I saw off the following day to allow me to hoist the barrel when the harness slips off and I have to set it down. With practise and a few slipped loads, I figure out that the lower harness has to be near the bottom of the barrel, but not "too" low.
'Unnamed lake 8'. (There is another lake nearby that I label 'unnamed lake 7' but do not access.)
At the small 'unnamed lake 8', I walk around it to check out the portage to 'unnamed lake 9'. The 380 metre trail is in excellent shape and thankfully not full of stones. Note that there are two pieces of a moose jaw directly on the trail, that I step over without disturbing, wondering what happened to the owner.
On the main portion of 'unnamed lake 6', approaching the 70 metre portage back to camp 5. I pick two servings of fireweed greens along the trail, the first of the season, my favourite salad. Note in the upper picture, the landscape takes the shape of a woman laying on her back.
June 18. From my journal: "Last night in the nylon tent, I spilled some urine from the pee bottle! Aie! Mopped up with two handkerchiefs and some toilet paper. Aie! Will see if the smell lingers. Aie!" I need to make sure not to let go of the bottle once the lid is removed. One more reason to have the plastic tarp laid out on the nylon tent floor. Note that I "could" exit the tent to empty my bladder, but that would mean putting on boots and facing mosquitoes some of which will enter the tent. Not sure what ladies do, but, no matter that they are more coordinated than men, assume they would need a bottle with a larger opening. (When my daughter was a youngster on short canoe trips she used one of the cooking pots in the tent as a pee potty, the ultimate in multiple use tools. You might say "eww", but healthy urine is sterile and the pot did get rinsed.)
Today I canoe back to pre-portage the two heavy barrels from the upper shore of 'unnamed lake 6' across the 1200 metre trail to 'unnamed lake 8'.
June 18. From my journal: "Last night in the nylon tent, I spilled some urine from the pee bottle! Aie! Mopped up with two handkerchiefs and some toilet paper. Aie! Will see if the smell lingers. Aie!" I need to make sure not to let go of the bottle once the lid is removed. One more reason to have the plastic tarp laid out on the nylon tent floor. Note that I "could" exit the tent to empty my bladder, but that would mean putting on boots and facing mosquitoes some of which will enter the tent. Not sure what ladies do, but, no matter that they are more coordinated than men, assume they would need a bottle with a larger opening. (When my daughter was a youngster on short canoe trips she used one of the cooking pots in the tent as a pee potty, the ultimate in multiple use tools. You might say "eww", but healthy urine is sterile and the pot did get rinsed.)
Today I canoe back to pre-portage the two heavy barrels from the upper shore of 'unnamed lake 6' across the 1200 metre trail to 'unnamed lake 8'.