Of Wind, Water, & Wilderness
Bill Kuntze
There is a feeling of remoteness on Clair, a sense that it hosts few visitors. We locate the portage into Bentpine Lake and immediately realize the same scenario from Burntside by running out of trail a short distance in. We walk back and decide to paddle the shoreline in each direction looking for a more prominent path, finding none. Returning to the apparent landing, a more careful study leaves us wondering what we could be overlooking. We had not spotted a campsite on Clair and neither had a desire to trek back to Burntside. The time had reached late afternoon and a rain had begun to fall. Bentpine Lake is shown to lie one half mile to the west. We plot a 260 degree compass heading, shoulder the packs and set off along the edge of a marsh. At about what I'd term the halfway point we connect with the actual portage near the base of a steep rise. By back tracking the trail to a creek, we unravel the mystery. We had hit the portage correctly. Had we continued in the general direction of the path bit further, we would have come to the creek, which was part of the portage. The new spring growth had concealed the trail.
The arrival at Bentpine Lake was a much anticipated event. I have read and re-read the accounts of BWJ editor Stu Osthoff's family trips to this lake over a several year period. Within a couple of hours we too would be in pursuit of those "kid friendly" walleyes. The rain that had started on Clair Lake now became heavier and was soaking through our rainwear. The day's travel had drained my energy and I could especially feel it in the weight of the paddle. In an hour we arrive at the island campsite, having the lake to ourselves.
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