Day 7:  Sunday, June 13th

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The rain continued until the early morning hours, with a brief break around 10:00.  I remember lying in my sleeping bag trying to establish whether the drops hitting the rain fly on my tent were actual rain drops or drops falling from the trees surrounding my tent.  Each kind of drop produced a uniquely different sound.  Rain hitting the fly was a higher-pitched, staccato while the drops falling from the trees was more like a dull splat.  I finally awoke around 5:30, on this travel day, but knew that the pack-up would be slow and wet!  I rolled over in my sleeping bag and finally started moving around 6:15.

I’d chosen not to take my cooking fly down the previous evening and had strategically placed gear in a dry spot for overnight safekeeping.  Unfortunately, the wind had slightly shifted overnight, which translated into most of the gear being AT LEAST damp, if not downright wet.  And, there was no chance that any of it could be dried before my departure.  Although it wasn’t raining any longer, a dense fog at set in, sufficiently dense that I could not make out any of the adjacent shore from my island home.

In any case, I whipped together the standard morning breakfast (oatmeal and coffee) and set about breaking camp between bites of oatmeal and sips of coffee.  I guess I could have waited for more desirable conditions to break camp, but when it’s time to move, it’s time to move!  Packing up wet was a bit slow going, but I was ready to paddle by 8:45.

My route today leads me mostly due east, with a jog north when I reach Optic Lake.  The day is still thick and overcast, so much so that I begin my paddling in my rain gear.  It takes me about an hour and a half to reach the first portage that will put me on Optic Lake.  There are two portages here, separated by a small inverted-U shaped channel.   Claire had advised me, pre-trip, that I’d run into a series of boat caches in this stretch.  She was dead on!  As I approach the first portage, I notice two v-hulled boats along the left shore, with the cascade of a small waterfall a bit further up the channel.  These boats mark the beginning of the portage, but nearly block my access to the shore.  But, I finally succeed in my tugging match with my canoe and it is soon secured on the grass and sand beaching area.

These portages turn out to be among the sloppiest of my trip.  Of course, the conditions aren’t helping because the air is still heavy, although no rain is falling.  The good news is that, although wet, most of the submerged places are mostly solid, with either sand or clay at their base.  As I reached the end of the first portage, I don’t find boat, but rather a pair of cached canoes.  Well, yes.  That makes sense; the small channel to the next portage is not long and probably doesn’t warrant having an actual boat to cross.  Sure enough, when I reach the other end, I find another pair of canoes and after reaching the far side of the second portage into Optic, I find another pair of boats.  With so much equipment, clearly this ear receives a lot of traffic, by both boat AND canoe travelers.

After finishing the portage and before I do a put-in, I inspect the skies.  No rain is falling and it is unclear what the future holds in that regard.  In addition, I’ve expended some effort to make these portages and it getting a little stuffy under the rain suit … so, off it comes.  The morning air still holds a bit of coolness and it feels refreshing against my body.  Now super-charged, it push off to make my traverse of Optic Lake (so called, I presume, because its shape is reminiscent of a pair of spectacles … lying north/south).

I no sooner paddle to the end of a short “ear piece” when I spot a motor boat and its two occupants moving at trolling speed in my direction.  My route is such that I’ll be in close proximity to them in my northerly run.  It isn’t long before they obviously spot me, reel in their trolls and alter their route to make a clear intersection with mine.  Within perhaps a minute, we are within shouting distance, and we exchange distant “Good Mornings.”  We each stop in unison, lying parallel but separated by just a couple of feet so the continuing conversation is without projective effort.  The driver was an older gentleman (who did all of the talking) and was perhaps in his early 70’s.  His companion, who was more lake late 40’s/early 50’s, shared enough facial similarities that I took them for father and son.  Although we didn’t share names in our introductions, I did establish that they were from the south-side of Chicago and had been coming to this lake for several years.  As we continued our chat, one absolute piece of golden news was revealed.  They had arrived the day before, but they had heard that the weather was supposed to be clearing by tomorrow.  HALLEUJAH!!!  Maybe there will be some sun on this trip after all.

We closed our conversation and wished each other well.  They proceeded in the direction from which I had just come and I continued my northerly path.  I’d not paddled 20 minutes before I started to spot small round circles on the water’s surface all around my craft and in the distance, I could clearly hear the very distinct sound of rain hitting the water.  Again, I donned my rain gear and continued my paddle.  It wasn’t but a minute or two before I was in a full-ledged downpour.  I repeated to myself “Clearing, TOMORROW!”  But the clearing was going to have to wait, as the rain became even harder, this time accompanied by a stiffening wind.  It took no time before white caps started to appear.  The good news was that I was headed into the wind and the “eye piece of the spectacles” wasn’t too far away.  I continued to pull into the wind, waves and rain as I started to be able to make out the sound of a boat motor straining to make headway.  I guess straining is a bit of exaggeration because they seemed to pass on my left as if I was standing still!  I remember thinking that they would reach the far end of the lake in the amount of time it would likely take me to pass through the “eye piece.”

I labored on, and I’d not much more than passed the “eye piece” when the weather begin to abate.  First the rain slacked and finally died.  Then the wind abated a bit to make the paddling somewhat less effort, although there was still a significant chop on the water.  Another 20 minutes or so put me within sight of my objective … a point of land that I would have to circumnavigate to reach the channel for leading to the next portage.  As I paddled closer, I could make out an outline of something clearly not of nature … it’s a cabin and as I get closer, it’s clearly of a newer generation that the lodge on Hansen, in fact it looks quite modern.  A bit closer, I make out the younger man.  He is out on the front deck having a smoke and is dressed like he might be back home on a cool day … jeans, plaid shirt, no hat and clearly dry as a bone!  Before I’m within conversation distance, he finishes his smoke and heads in doors to the warmth of his cozy abode.  But as I near the end of the peninsula, the older man appears.  “I see you finally made it”, he says.  I reply that “Yes.  Just a tad slower in my craft.”  We exchange farewells and waves and I continue on and he returned to the cabin, where I can now see a whiff of smoke rising from the chimney.   The scene was almost enough for me to reverse my course and invite myself in for a while … well, ALMOST!

I rounded the peninsula and instantly I could hear the rush of water coming tumbling down a waterfall just beyond the anticipated portage location.  I spot the portage without difficulty and quickly unload and begin my march to Telescope Lake which lies just beyond.  I’m immediately aware that the trail is very wet.  Well DUH, it has been raining!  So, I carefully and cautiously make my way down the soggy track.  It ends on a sizable rock hump with a manageable put-in point.  I quickly return and get my second load across.  Then, as I’m in the process of loading my canoe I notice an odd looking smudge on the ground … and it’s moving!   Wait!  It’s moving at the same time I’M moving!  It’s a faint shadow!!!  I quickly look skyward and through the haze I can make out the golden orb in the sky.  And then … it’s gone!  Nature can be a real teaser at times!

I finish my loading and I’m soon off down Telescope Lake, so called because it appears as a series of graduated series of increasingly smaller bodies of water, like sections of an expandable telescope.  As I enter the lake, I’m on the “big end” of this body of water which stretches east-west.  I remember from a few trip reports I’ve read that traversing this lake can be a bit dicey when the winds are running out of the west (or east I suppose).  This very much reminds me of Pickerel Lake in Quetico Provincial Park, although Pickerel is significantly larger.  

Although a relatively expansive body of water, I only have about 5 campsites marked on my map.  One is in the first section of the lake … a bit too soon to stop and I want to push a little deeper.  My next opportunity is an island in the second section.  Camping here will put me about one-third the way down the lake.  The other campsites are at the far end of the lake, more distance than I want to travel today.  So, I set my sights on the island campsites and hope one, if not both, will be available when I get there.  

By 2:15 I’ve reached the island.  I do a quick visual inspection of the campsite on the extreme western end of the island.  It looks to be a first rate campsite, but I’d hate to pass up a true 5-star site that is just around the corner to the north.  So, I paddle the short distance to site #2.  This site is OK but it is tucked back into the woods, the water in front is shallow and weedy and it faces north, which happens to be the direction that the current breeze is coming from.  I decide that #1 is easily the better choice.  

By 2:45, I’ve return to the first campsite and set into campsite set-up mode with a fury.  Before long the tent is up and I’ve started spreading some of my wet gear (including my tent fly) around so that it can begin to dry.   The wind is an able assistant in this drying task; even better, the sky beginning to clear.  For the first time on this trip, I am not able to completely obscure the blue patch by covering it by my extended hand … and the gaps between the clouds are getting larger!
It is at about this point that I find myself in the lake, AGAIN!  However, this time it is with a wash cloth in hand!!!  Although it is still a bit breezy, it’s time for at least a head to toe rinse without benefit of clothing.  The water is cool, but any discomfort quickly drifts to the back of my brain and the rapture of relaxation washes over me with each scoop of water over my head.  And the final reward at the end of my heavenly dip … clean clothes!

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Doesn't this look like an inviting bathing spot?

While I could have stayed and “played” in the water indefinitely, I did need to get back to work.  While bathing, I was aware that the wind was beginning to stiffen.  I did a quick assessment around camp and decided to opt for a cooking fly lean to setup.  I strung a line between two trees slightly below the mid-point of my fly so that one half of the fly would reach the ground.  As it turned out, there was a birch log and a couple of handy rocks that I could use to anchor that side of the structure that would be a wind screen.  The other half was pitched up at an angle so if the rains did return, it would be able to protect gear placed up against the backdrop.

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SUNSHINE!  I cast a shadow.  (Cooking fly pitched to the right)

After rigging, I set my stool under the structure and had a seat.  I need to check to make sure there were not any gaps along the bottom that would interfere with cooking.  Amazingly, there were no gaps at all.  The bottom was completely sealed off by the log and a couple of rocks.  And despite the later gusty winds, the structure continued to hold tight.

With my cooking station established, I soon set about the task of preparing the evening meal.  But the focal point of THIS evening was not about food, it was about SUNSHINE!  At every opportunity, I’d take a few minutes away from my chores and head for an open space on the western point of my campsite or a mostly open ledge on the southern side.  Eat my meal … let’s do that in the sunshine.  Wash dishes … in the sunshine.  Have an after dinner drink … sunshine, although by this time the sun was beginning to sink behind a distant shore.  And during this series of sun worshiping events, the wind died away completely, leaving glass smooth water.

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Ah!  Sunshine!!

So, at the close of the day, I sat and watched my sunset of this trip.  It was not overly spectacular, as sunsets go, but when you haven’t seen one in a week, it was still pretty special!  The sun was completely set when I decided to turned in around 9:30.

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A relaxing evening.

Next:  Day 8:  A day to lounge on Telescope Lake (What?  MORE cabins?)