First Quetico Trip August 1994

First Quetico Trip August 1994
by Art Scoular (continued from page 1)

Day 5:
I had a great sleep until just before dawn when, as I was dreaming about paddling to work along Oxford St. (just crossed Richmond through a red light), Matt yelled at the top of his lungs, "God!!!" I laid there until dawn then got up and started talking to a brown squirrel that was upset I was in his territory. He soon left after I chattered back to him. What a gorgeous morning...mist rising from the lake...a loon slowly cruising by our campsite. This is our well earned "layover day", where we stay on the same lake for two nights.

In the morning we moved to the best campsite on the lake where one of the other guide's (Chris) had been the night before. Matt and Mike found some fresh bear dung on the cliff above the campsite, so they named it "Bearshit Island." The campsite rested in a small bay on the island and had many cracks and crevices at the shore where you could sit or lay and soak up the sun. After a breakfast of pancakes cooked by Suzie and I, me and the guys set out exploring the sites of Dore Lake.

We saw;
• 400 to 500 year old Indian (Onishnabe Tribe) pictographs (one man in a canoe and "Misshepezhieu"
• a serpent-like creature who stirred up the lakes) on the rock face...took photos and gave an offering of cedar to the "Rock Spirit"
• an aeolian spring...water was very cold and clean.
• three old gravesites (300 to 400 years old of either voyageur or Indian origin)
• a 70 year old outhouse left by the loggers
•"Gabby" the notorious guide

We spent the afternoon either swimming, fishing or lazing in the sun. At dusk, Fr. Al, Mike, Suzie and I paddled through the narrows near our campsite and stopped on an empty campsite to have our "wee dram" and discussed how the trip was going so far....all agreed that they were having a good time and that the guys were doing a great job. I am particularly impressed with my guys since they are the youngest group (three 14 year olds and a 13 year old). When we returned within sight of my campsite in total darkness my guys were doing an Indian dance around a roaring campfire...quite a sight!"

Day 6:
We had a nice easy paddle (got here at around noon) to our last campsite on Pickerel Lake near the "Racers Portages". A group from Carmel, Illinois was packing up for their last day, so we asked them if we could look around. This may even be a better site than "Bearshit Island." It has a 15' cliff down to the water, a nice sandy docking place for the canoes and lots of firewood caused by the root fire last summer. At the docking point for the canoes, we found a moose antler with 8 points (Chris, the guide told us the moose was probably 10 years old).

Father Al is camped across the bay from us. He came over for a swim this afternoon and saw a creek behind our campsite where we may see moose tomorrow morning.

The rest of the afternoon was spent fishing, swimming and relaxing. Brian is snoring on the rock behind me now.

Matt wanted a "Bloomin' Onion" for supper so I fried our onion in a mixture of butter and Pierre's Fish Mix.....YUMMY!....we also pigged out on enough food to feed 12. Suzie came over after supper for tea and a "Vigile". She asked the guys and I what expectations we had for the trip and if they had been met and also to think about what we had learned. We all agreed that our expectations had been exceeded. Brian thought the chemistry in our group was much better than last year thus he had a much better time.

We all laid on the cliff for a while watching the satellites and shooting stars go by. The largest meteorite lasted about 4 to 5 seconds. The guys slept on the granite cliff near the waters edge tonight...I slept in the tent.

Day 7:
We were all up at dawn hoping to see a moose in the marshy creek behind our campsite...no luck so Matt is off trying to catch fish for breakfast. It's hard to believe this is our last day in the park. After breakfast (no fish) all the "Mangers du Lard" scrubbed the pots, pans and the Coleman stove. We then had some time to relax and pigout again on the leftover salami, cheese, bread, etc. before our final departure, around 12:00.

It was another short paddle to the first of the two "Racers Portages", (770 and 860 m.). Prior to starting these, Suzie read us the "Last Portage" by William Henry Drummond....a very moving poem.! Brian carried one canoe on the first portage and I the second. The other three guys shared the other canoe on both portages, all done in one trip again! I startled a ruffed grouse at the top of one of the inclines about 5' in front of me on the last portage. This was probably the most challenging as far as steepness that we have encountered with several steep up and down sections, but we felt strong at the end of it.

Mike's group and mine formed a flotilla in Black's Bay while we waited for Suzie and Fr. Al's group for the final paddle home. As we waited several of us did 1/2 "Murphy's" from the front of the canoes (we dove into the water). We found out after from Ian that full "Murphy's" are done in the raw.

We all paddled within 15 minutes of each other on the last section to the island on Nym lake, then Suzie invited us to swim the canoes in the last 100 meters (about 1/2 of us did including Matt and I). We swam up to the dock to the recorded sounds of bagpipes playing Scotland the Brave.

After scrubbing the pots three more times I had just enough time to have a shower before a huge roast beef dinner...tasted good!

Later in the evening, around dusk, the 350 year old secret "Voyageur Initiation" ceremony took place for all the "Mangers du Lard". After that we were allowed to have a sauna and dive into the lake naked...the stars looked great.! The skits then followed and bed at about 2:30. The plywood floor in the "Adirondack" felt like a feather bed after sleeping on granite all week.

Day 8:
Started the day with another shower and a big pancake breakfast, then everyone got a chance to check out the gift store. The guys chipped in and surprised me with a beautiful soapstone carving of a moose.

We then set out for our last paddle to the dock in the "Montrealers" and hugs all around before boarding the bus for home.

Summary
In short, this was probably the most physically demanding thing I have done in my life, yet also one of the most exhilarating. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful. Everyone in my group, (Brian, Scott, Mike and Matt) worked as a team throughout and also had a great time. Some of the things I enjoyed most were: the long paddles into the wind (1 to 2 hours nonstop), the portages, no watch to look at all week, the mist rising from the lake at dawn (usually with a loon paddling by), playing poker by the campfire, exploring on Dore Lake (especially our gift to the "Rock Spirit"), throwing moose turds at the guys when we stopped on the last day........................................................