Adventures in Onionism

We woke up at 6:00 and started packing in a light rain. I made quick oatmeal and coffee and we were off by 7:30 or so. We were half a mile from the big portage from Vera to Ensign. We went straight in and made quick work of it. Something about Ensign Lake was different. I cast a line in, MFS said maybe let it get deep and just trawl it behind the boat, and pretty much instantly I had a Walleye in the boat. It was surely the biggest fish I ever caught, though maybe I caught a big rainbow trout on the Madison in Montana when I spent a day at a friend's cabin outside Yellowstone. To Joe's dismay, I threw the fish back and it eagerly swam away. We had plenty of food left and were only a few miles from our exit pickup. A few minutes later I cast again, or rather, tried to cast and accidentally plopped the line in the water a foot from the canoe. Oh well, let it play out. Then a few seconds later a northern pike was in the boat. I squeezed it to keep it still and it barfed up its lun...

Woke up early and got out of camp around 7:45 when the water was still glassy. Did a series of several short portages, then one half-miler (180 or 200 "rods" an absurd unit of measure) that took the guys a while. We moved on to Vera Lake and took a break for a late lunch before attempting the next long portage, except that the clouds were really building and looked bad. So we stayed out and withing minutes it was pouring rain. I got my tent up east, then got wet trying to set up the group tarp. Three of us sat under it counting the sight/sound gap for the lightning. Mostly 4-6 seconds, a couple less than one, not that fun. The rain kept coming, so I eventually went to bed early with nothing but hot chocolate for dinner. Too wet, not worth it. The storm put on a good show, and I read a few more chapters of Lonesome Dove.

We camped in the same place as yesterday. I took a canoe out early on the glassy lake and tried a little fishing. I didn't get any bites, maybe one nibble at most and then the sun went behind clouds and it got too cold, so I didn't have to confront too many vegan ethical contradictions. I read a bunch of Lonesome Dove, climbed a hill behind the campsite and didn't get cell reception, and am 80% sure I found chanterelles, but I never find them in DC so I can't identify them 100%. Besides, I already have dehydrated chicken of the woods and shitake with me so I'm set on mushrooms. A nice day off. No rain to speak of, but not super warm. Big day ahead of us tomorrow so we can be where we need to be for the takeout by 1pm the day after. Our packs are significantly lighter having eaten a bunch of the food.

Slept for 11 hours. Made a multi-course breakfast, then broke camp and paddled around knife lake all day. Went onto Robbins Island where apparently the last person lived in the Wilderness after being grandfathered in, but didn't see any evidence of cabins, but might have found chanterelles. Went to Thunder Point, an ever-so-slightly higher than everything else promontory that actually had decent views and cell reception for lunch. Looked around for a native quarry and may or may not have found it. Did one extremely short portage, then looked at campsites before settling on the third. Large enough for four tents, and sheltered from the wind. It actually has great sunset views. It also has rodents. A good day that went by quickly. Mostly decent weather but it did rain on us at least twice. We're using this camp as a base camp for tomorrow.

We went back to the outfitters and they put the canoes on a boat on a trailer. We caravaned to Moose Lake, and then us and our canoes caught a 25hp lift to the far side, into the wilderness on a permitted motor route to the edge of the first portage. Maybe five portages, a lunch break, some rain, and we set up camp. The motor ride caused a little anxiety, because damn it was cold. Do I have enough clothing? But then we started paddling, and it was a little choppy but not bad. I've paddled a kayak in small craft advisory weather in the SF Bay and nearly barfed; this is nothing. And the effort warms you up. The first group we passed in the other direction warmed my heart because damn they are carrying to much gear and we are probably fine. The heavy skillet and the skillet grabber tool are stupid, and the pots are steel, not aluminum, and definitely not titanium, and the bear hang system is an absurdly heavy way to create a bear piñata, but it all basically fits into four giant bags,...

I'm headed to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness! I've wanted to go for a long time, but of course I end up doing adventures on foot almost exclusively. But I've always had the notion that being stuck in a boat together would be the best way for people of different skill levels to have an adventure together. I'll paddle, you can just sit there; I don't care. I have never really tested this theory, but I jumped at the chance when MFS said he was putting together a guys trip as part of his sabbatical. Well, "jumped" in quotes perhaps. If I'd planned a trip myself, I'd start with 20 miles a day as the floor. I expected normies would do half that, but the proposed itinerary was about a quarter. So, after a little bit of talking, pointing out the default speed on paddleplanner.com , and confirming that nightly planned camping locations are not fixed by permit (only entry and exit point), I said yes. I packed booze and a 900 page novel (Lonesome D...