Ready to move on after canvas Tent packed at camp 1. I try to leave a tidy camp, in this case with the Tent poles and stones cached in case I am back this way again someday.
No matter how nice the day looks, unless I have a short paddle to the next portage, I cover the canoe load with a tarp. My first day without the cover I was lucky, but I have been caught in unexpected rain many times before.
About to shove off from camp 1, blackflies are bothersome so I don a hat scarf; I have to wear it for some time as the bugs follow me down the lake.
I keep an eye out for the bear and cub as I paddle away from camp 1, but it would be a real stroke of luck to see them. Stopping for a stretch, a pee break and a drink of water at the tip of the island, I can finally remove the hat scarf. Looking ahead about two km to the next island, with no nearby reference points while paddling, it always seems to take forever to reach the target in such a long stretch of water.
Items laid out in the sun at a stop for lunch, the same place as last year (camp 4). New this year is the mauve coloured Waist Pack. (Jeanette defines the colour as mauve or lilac; me being a guy it is light purple.)
I was a bit skeptical of the practicality of the new "MEC® Trail HT Waist Pack" but it is perfect, holding the gear from the two belt bags I previously used (the blue "emergency" gear bag and the other for "utility" gear). "Emergency" incorporates survival items including the "SPOT™ Personal Tracker/Satellite GPS Messenger" if I capsize and lose all my gear. "Utility" includes items that I use routinely such as a lighter, lip balm, ammo, headnet, camera. Note that I modified the Waist Pack to remove the water bottle carriers.
Mayflies ("fishflies") resting on the side of the canoe while I eat lunch. These insects in high numbers are a sure sign of unpolluted water; the adults usually live up to 48 hours at most, their sole purpose being to reproduce.
At a location recovering from forest fire, I picked some plants for supper salad (fireweed greens, yellow dandelion heads, white wild strawberry flowers). A small "sandwich" Ziploc® bag easily holds one serving.
Early morning on June 3, the sky is dark and foreboding as I look towards the bay where I will portage to the next lake.
A perfectly baked cinnamon bannock ... mmm good!
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Summary:
Bothersome mosquitoes and blackflies, abundant mayflies, some more new gear, fresh supper salad, sights and sounds at camp, a hot 28°C day delays supper but is cooled by a thunderstorm and heavy rain. Distance paddled 18 km.
June 2:
My alarm is set for 03:00, but I sleep in, not waking until 3:30. At first I think the alarm did not ring, but it has run completely out. So much for hearing bells on the two barrels 100 metres away. Hopefully that never happens again. Must be attributable to the naproxen I took at supper last night, a side effect of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Making good time, in spite of having to pack the canvas Tent for the first time, I am away by 06:45 after breakfast. Mosquitoes are bothersome, but also blackflies at the shore, and I wear a hat scarf until I stop at the end of the island, and again when I stop to pick two servings of supper salad. The sky is clear and yay, there is a tailwind that lasts all day. I thank the weather gods several times over the course of the day, making faster time than expected. Yay also for the beautiful day, but have to say that a tailwind (or even calm) is more important than absence of rain. Fortunately the wind helps keep the bugs away when I stop to camp at 12:45. This location is where I camped last year (camp 4). Sweating, I need a wash. After camp is set up, I have a very welcome but cold bath. I am always cautious when wading into a lake, often on uneven slippery rocks, bending low to avoid falling, but I scrape my arm on a sharp boulder beneath the surface, revealing another problem with NSAIDs - enhanced bleeding and bruising. After 18 km of paddling, I am weary and in bed by 20:00 after a very welcome hot supper. By morning I am in the sleeping bag, another cold night.
June 3:
A kingfisher flits along the shore in my bay, making its "krrrrrrrr" call before it dives several times to catch breakfast while I also eat mine. Several flocks of Canada geese fly over, loudly honking as they fly north. There is also one flock of snow geese with their softer tone, quieter, more frantic, slightly squeaking "almost" honk. A ruffed grouse was somewhere nearby drumming all night, its direction difficult to tell, likewise with a pileated woodpecker's loud hammering in daylight. A loon surfaces close to shore near the fireplace, and two mergansers fly past, quacking nonstop. The sky is dark and completely overcast, dead calm, looking like rain; mosquitoes are bothersome. Before lunch, I test fire the gun to make sure the sights remain accurate. For a target I saw a short length of a two inch pole laid lengthwise on a block, of course picking a location with a safe background. I know if the .22 upper barrel (for small game) is on target, a 20 gauge slug (for protection) will be also. Although temperature was 12°C last night, it reaches a HOT 28°C by midafternoon when the sky clears after two brief rain showers. It seems too early in the year to be that hot. Mosquitoes continue to be bothersome, so I wear a hat scarf; darn quiet "little" mosquitoes are biting, sneaking in with no warning sound. Usually I start supper at about 16:00 but in this heat I wait till 5:15 after the sun has moved farther to the west. Supper is almost ready when a storm brings welcome cooling rain, but also lots of lightning and some fearsome thunder claps just overhead; thank goodness for the Tarp shelter. By 19:30 temperature has cooled to 18°C; still raining, I head to bed in the nylon tent. Despite the rain, I still plan to move on tomorrow.