The Principals Paddle

In the summer of 2006, I traveled up into Canada to Quetico Provincial Park. We hauled a canoe and all our gear to Nym Lake and began our paddling from there. We were gone 8 days into the wilderness and had a lot of fun. When we got back, I spent a little more time in the area doing some things on my own.

We paddled across Nym and it took a little while to find our portage to the next lake. This portage turned out to be quite tough. Very hilly and filled with plenty of large rocks and boulders. It was tough to carry all of our stuff across this portage.

When we got to Batchewaung Lake, we saw that the wind had begun to blow and we suspected that a storm was brewing. Paddling in the wind would be tough without tipping the boat and losing all our gear. We decided to find the nearest campsite and stay the night. We wondered if this tree was a “widowmaker.”

Our Campsite A campsite in Quetico has a firepit but no grate. There are logs to sit on also. A campsite there does not have toilets. This campsite was great! It was large and had hiking trails and a beach nearby.

We settled in. We made some dinner and watched the sunset.

The next day, the wind was still busy. There were white caps on the water. This meant it was too rough to travel by boat

And the next 2 days after that…more white caps. No traveling! We were stuck there!

But the day after that, it was calm. By then, though, we didn’t want to go anywhere! So what did we do while there?

We swam at the beach next to our campsite!

We collected lots and lots and lots of firewood and covered it to keep it dry!

We rearranged the “furniture” and brought in more “chairs.”

We watched the wildlife…

This mother bird was hiding her young babies from us.

We looked at all the interesting plants

Sometimes, we saw blueberries growing out of the cracks of large rocks.

Who set these rocks here?

We took photos of ourselves and everything around us.

Look closely…it’s the moon!

We picked blueberries to put in our pancakes.

We wrote in our journals about our days and our thoughts.

One day when it was calm, we paddled around the lake. A ranger’s station was on this island. Which is the sky and which is the water?

A fish corral is used to hold live fish until you want to cook them.

I went fishing. I am a beginner, so I took along a fish identification chart, a knot tying guide, and a how-to-filet guide too! All of these helped me catch fish. Of course I also took a fishing pole, hooks and bait!

The first fish I caught was waaaaay too small to keep! He was a smallmouth bass.

This one was a fighter! He was a northern pike! Their teeth can be dangerous and I did not know how to bring him in carefully, so I cut the line and let him go! Rats!

This smallmouth bass was just the right size for keeping. I caught 2 like this one.

Now I had to figure out how to filet the fish on my own so I could cook them!

One night some people stayed at the campsite near us and left food in the firepit when they left. This can bring bears.

On the 8th day, we decided it was time to leave.

On the road home to the US, we saw inukshuks along the road. These were placed there to wish everyone safe traveling.

When we got back to Ely, we stood in front of the webcam and had my son back home capture this picture on the computer.

We visited the Dorothy Moulter museum. She used to live in the Boundary Waters at a resort and would make homemade rootbeer for paddlers who came by to visit her.

After Lisa left for home, I stayed and took a hike to this waterfall.

I decided to take a day trip paddle by myself to see if I could do it.

It was a beautiful day to paddle and this dragonfly rested on the edge of the boat.

I paddled to a place that I knew had pictographs. Long ago, native Americans painted these pictures on the rocks to tell a story.

I paddled a little farther and saw pitcher plants (they eat insects) and a blue heron. What a wonderful day of paddling on my own!

The End (Until next time!)