A really good campsite would depend on the wind, weather and bug situation. Ideally it would be close enough to the opposite shoreline to watch for wildlife. The fire place would be huge, tall enough to cook without stooping, with some flat rocks to set pots and stuff on. Or should it be a low fireplace for keeping warm? Of course it would need sun in the morning for breakfast and shade in the afternoon for dinner. A good northern view in case the lights are out is a big plus too.

My favorite is on Beg. I stayed there once, and I can tell you it has none of these features. It was back in the days when we stayed up late and packed on thursday night, got out of work on Friday, drove all night, put in about noon, and paddled all day Saturday to get as far as we could. All with youthful exuberance.

As we traveled our first day out, we trolled, photographed and lost track of time. When it started to get dark, we started to look for a campsite. We had never been on Beg before and little did we know we had passed the first one already.

It got quite cold and started to rain - hard. It always seems colder when your hungry and tired. Not being real experienced, we needed to paddle the shoreline to notice a campsite. That made the little lake seem much larger. We wondered if it was called Beg because there were no campsites.

It was pretty dark and we were approaching the portage. We knew because we could hear the falls. The portage was on the other side. Not wanting to portage in the dark or accidentally go down the falls/rapids, we decided the next rock we could get out on would be our home for the night. It wasn't a campsite. There was no place clear enough for the tent. We improvised with a tarp and the groundcloth to keep us as dry as possible. It was, by far, the most comfortable night's sleep I've ever had up there.

I showed the spot to my wife last summer. She was kind enough not to point out that there are three decent sites within 500 yards. To me, it's not the campsite that counts. It's the memories it holds.

Posted by db on February 20, 2000 at 01:47