May Boundary Waters Trip

     Canoe trips to the Boundary Waters and Canoe Area Wilderness have become a regular part of our adventures.  True enough, the only things one finds up there beyond creatures are water, trees and rocks.  Rusty and Steve (our guide) seem to have incredible memories of each trip, each campsite, each portage, etc.  They will be discussing a map and say "Wasn't that Lake YOUNAMEIT where you caught that large northern right off the point on the northeast side?"  Or, "Wasn't that the campsite with the big red pine on the west edge where it got below freezing and then the next day we had afternoon thundershowers?"  The two of them look at me for confirmation.  My standard reply is, "Were there rocks?  Were there trees?  Was there water?  Then, yes."
     I enjoy the beauty of each river, lake, sunrise, sunset and campsite, but  to be able to distinguish and remember the individuality of each one is beyond me.  For my blog readers, I imagine it might be hard to read through another blog of trees, rocks, and water.  So if you've had enough, I get it.
     That said, we had a fabulous trip, so here goes.

The entry point at Little Indian Sioux has giant rocks that make for a smooth path, but it's much steeper than this picture illustrates.  It's a 40 rod portage. (1/8 mile times 3 trips)

The beginning of our trip up the Little Indian Sioux River.

Rusty was brave enough to paddle through one of the rocky spots with fast water, while Steve and I walked the portage.

We paddled through 3 lakes and 2 rivers and 4 portages on the first day to arrive at Shell Lake where we set up camp.

This was such a perfect campsite that we stayed there all four nights.

Home!  Flowering Juneberries all around.

The first afternoon the guys went fishing and caught fish for dinner and returned with a canoe-full of firewood.

On the front of our campsite were some stacked rocks we named "Mr. Rockhead."

We had mostly sunny weather, very calm winds, and temps in the 70's for this trip. (We also had black flies!)  Shortly after 8 p.m. I took these two shots.

Looking west from our campsite.

Looking east from our campsite.

We day-tripped to various lakes and were very successful in our fishing.  Every evening meal we had fish.

I have my very own tackle box.  (Rusty switches lures for me.)

I caught a Northern and a small-mouth Bass.

The guys caught most of the fish, but then they worked at it more than I did.

While the guys fished, I paddled around in Steve's foldable canoe and took pictures.

...like this pretty bay.

One of the great things about having a guide is that he's super at cleaning the fish!

We had a great deal of flat water (no wind). I found the symmetry captivating.

Lunch spot on Lynx lake.

Fly-fishing

Finding the right pine needle for a toothpick.

Steve takes a breather.

Di enjoys the sun.

My favorite lure.

Beginning of our moonlight paddle.

Ahhhhh.  Peace and loveliness.

Two sun-burned and happy paddlers after 5 days in the wilderness.