Northeast Quetico - September 9-14 2000
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The first stretch was tough but do-able. Ironically, I got out at the same campsite I was windbound two years ago to assess my chances of making it past the second nasty stretch. Except that time I was going with the wind. I ended up reaching the same conclusion as I did then. The water doesn't get any warmer than this and if I mess up, me and all my stuff will simply wash up on a sandy beach. When the attempt was made there was a welcome lull in the wind. The big stopper swells were less numerous and the paddling was easier than I expected. Most people wouldn't think that much of it, but seeing an empty seat getting splashed in front of you and knowing you haven't paddled in a while changes your perspective a bit.

Most of the following days were spent annoying squirrels and beaver. I guess they're both working hard in preparation for winter because they both were active night and day. I thought it was interesting that if there were more than one beaver upset because I was too close to the lodge, only one would hang around for more than five minutes, all the time trying hard to get me to chase it. A few nights, one beaver would quietly swim up to my camp, wait for me to be totally unprepared, and startle the heck out of me. Wait until I had forgotten all about it and do it again! I've also never associated Quetico with Canada geese, but seeing flocks coming in for a landing really made it seem like fall was here already.

On one day trip I bushwacked through a thicker and more tangled than average area to a spot that always held a lot of easy photo opportunities. The last time I was there, beavers had begun to change it drastically. I was looking forward to seeing what was new. This particular time, on this particular day it turned out to be quite ugly. The only thing I could do was turn around and hike back without even taking a camera out of the case. What didn't help my attitude was that I left my water back at the canoe. I didn't notice until the first portage the next day that, somewhere out there, I had lost the piece of my tripod that holds the camera. I almost always use a tripod. Every portage after that I felt privileged to carry seven pounds of useless photo equipment. It could almost have been twenty useless pounds but eventually I was able to fashion a semi-adequate velcro solution... We'll see...

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