Now that the "have-you-seen-bear?” thread seems to have exhausted itself, here’s another question: What’s the latest (in the season) canoe trip you’ve taken, either to Quetico, the Boundary Waters or other points north?

For me it was Oct. 17-24 out of Prairie Portage back in ’98. I don’t remember the original intended destination, but we entered the park late and therefore camped on Burke, headed north and ran into wind and sleet and decided to stop on North Bay, and the next day we changed direction and headed east through South, West and the stream to Jeff, which involved crossing an array of beaver dams, stepping in and out of the cold water to maneuver over rocks and around tight corners and finally running out of water. After staying on Jeff for three days or so we went to lower Agnes and came out on Sunday Lake, a trip of no distance whatsoever but it seemed more impressive at the time given the weather, the aluminum canoe and my canoe-mate being a first-timer. Our travel days seem like really short jaunts, but I remember we slept in every morning and it seemed to take forever to break camp, plus the cold just seemed to sap our energy. It was like everything was in slow-motion. The sun finally came out and it warmed up the last few days, which ended the trip on a high note.

Looking through my journal, I see references to:

-      Most wildlife ever, with four moose, two whitetail, several grouse and various small animals.
-      Hazy display of the Northern Lights from the Channel Island on Sunday Lake (our last-night campsite because of early tow-time the next morning.
-      Cutting a leech off my foot.
-      Forceful wind collapsing half the tent on us while we slept on Burke (I don’t remember the exact location, my notes say only “island”).   
-      Lots of sleet and snow flurries, and frost on the packs and ice in the canoe in the morning.
-      Terrible fishing, with four fish caught the whole week. (On the tow out, we asked the outfitter “How do people catch fish in October?” and he answered “People DON’T catch fish in October” and we said, “For the people who DO catch fish, how do they do it?” and he said “People DON’T catch fish in October" and we said something like "Seriously?" and him just giving us a "y'all are stupid" look.
-      Having to set my pen near the fire to warm up so the ink would flow so I could write.
-      Hiking trips, and bushwhacking to at least one unnamed lake off of Jeff to fish.
-      Cutting a lot of firewood.
-      Seeing just one other canoe the whole week, and that was pulled up on the bank on Agnes – so we never actually saw a person. The outfitter said he expected we were one of the last groups to come out before the lakes froze, and in fact he had predicted we’d hit some skim ice, tho we never did.

Word-for-word snippets: “very windy all night” … “wool socks, wool hat, wool vest, wool gloves” … “I’ve almost had frostbite on feet several times now” … “we paddled an amazing stream through thick marshland, often not more than a foot wider than the canoe” … "Can't get a bite -- where are you, Mr. Fish?" ... “snow flurried on and off but it’s mostly been light sleet” … “the silence is loud.”

-      kypaddler

Not as late as your trip, but the 1st 12 days are nice enough without getting ice. We did catch smallies, pike and lakers, though the lakers we couldn't keep. I have caught walleyes during the 1st week before, just not this year. We saw people on Batch and Pickerel the 1st day and nobody for the next 11 days. Camped on Pickerel, Fred, Camel, Delahey, Conmee, Poohbah, Fred, and Walter.

FYI, Don't do Allen Ck. We thought that was far worse than the Death March or Memory Lane. I had heard it was OK now from Jim Clark a few years ago and also asked the park office about it before going and was told it should be fine, not true. We joked about going 4hpm instead of 4mph, sadly it was true.

I love October trips and my latest exited in Halloween. CCO said we were their last group for the year.

This year my son is talking about a December trip - but pull and hot tent, not canoe.

BillConner wrote on Oct 25^th, 2016 at 12:01pm:

I love October trips and my latest exited in Halloween. CCO said we were their last group for the year.

Yo Bill C.,

You can't do that man. (Leave with no details.)

Halloween? That's late. How soon did the ice follow? Where'd you go? What was the weather like? Fish any? Go swimming? See any polar bears? Mermaids in parkas? More wildlife than usual? (I have this theory, probably an ignorant one, that as the last paddlers stroke their way out, all the animals come out of hiding, shake their heads at the messy campsites and celebrate having gotten rid of us again). See anybody else? etc. etc. etc.

- kypaddler

kypaddler,

People don't catch fish in November, either.

I had been living in MN less than a year back in 2001.  We had Indian Summer down in the Twin Cities so I decided to work in one last trip - a solo trip - to a lake somewhat near the perimeter of the BWCA.  My destination was Lake Polly.

I never got there.

It was the end of the first week of November.  I arrived late and parked my car near the entry at Kawishiwi Lake and set up camp there.  Though is was only just 5pm it was nearly pitch black darkness already.  Nevertheless, I got in several casts from shore before giving it up and fixing my supper.  Didn't get a bite then.  Didn't get a bite that entire short trip.

After a LONG cold night, I awoke the next morning (if you could call it that) and it was still pitch-black.  It was foggier than hell, to boot.  However, even before I fixed my coffee, I decided to see if my fishing luck had changed.  So, I went back to the very spot I had been casting from the evening before... and a strange thing happened.

My lure sailed through the air - unseen by me - with predictable smoothness, like normal.  However, instead of "kerplunk", what I heard was more of a whizzing/skidding noise.  Unbeknownst to me, everything had frozen over during the night.  Heck, I KNEW it had been chilly that night but when I cast off, it being dark and the fog so thick, I could hardly see the end of my rod.  I had no idea it had frozen-over.  That was a real eye-opener (or, more aptly... an "ear-opener") for me.

This trip would be unlike any I had ever done before.

Though tempted to go back to bed, I instead fixed my coffee & ate a leisurely breakfast.  Eventually there was enough light that I didn't need to keep a lantern going.  However, I wasn't going anywhere.  The fog wouldn't lift.  I didn't dare venture into the woods very far for fear of losing my way back to camp!  9:00am came & went.  So did 10am, 11am...etc.  The ice wasn't so thick that my royalex canoe couldn't break it so, as it approached Noon, without breaking camp, I decided to go out & test the waters of Kawishiwi Lake.

I didn't have a GPS in those days... not that they are much good in heavy fog, anyway (I found that out just three weeks ago on big Pickerel Lake in Quetico!).  Therefore I kept to the shoreline or, at least, what I could barely see of it.  That was the first and only time I have ever paddled in that area.  Never have I been out in such heavy fog!

The ONLY thing that became clear was that I would be going nowhere that day.  Well, maybe not the "only" thing.  It soon became evident I could do as well "fishing" in some contaminated chemical waste pit in the vicinity of Newark, NJ.  There was nothing doing, not even the hint of a bite.

Around about 2:00pm as I slowly edged my way back to my Kawishiwi Lake camp I thought I saw something on the shoreline through a rent in the mists.  It was very white and about the size of a smallish dog.  At first, it seemed like it was stealthily oozing along and around the boulders.  At other times it seemed to "hopping" (sort of) over big roots and ledges.  Every time I got closer to investigate, it faded off into the woods.  Two or three minutes later, it would reappear at the shoreline, almost like it was taunting me.  This kept on going for about 12-15 minutes.

I never did determine what the danged thing was.  At the time I thought it was possibly a snowshoe hare or, maybe, a lynx.  Over the years, I've pretty much decided it must have been a lynx but I really don't know.

By 4:00pm it was getting quite dark, again.  The fog never really lifted much.  Fishing?  WHAT fishing?  Having a line in the water was worthless. 

I considered my options.  That process didn't consume much time.  NO way I was going to break camp and head to Polly.  The notion was growing on me that I might have to smash my way through ice in order to get back!  Besides, I had doubts I could even find Lake Polly in this fog.  Who knew if the mists were going to lift tomorrow or even the next day?  Finally, it was really beginning to register with me just how MUCH less daylight there is here at this time of year versus what I enjoyed on summer trips.

Live and learn.

It might be Indian Summer back in the Cities but prospects of cold, dark fishless camps in the BWCA in November sure seemed to suck.

I stayed one more night and then went home to Indian Summer.

Short trip!  Lesson learned. 

Jimbo   8-) 

Jimbo,

I need to remember not to follow you on a post.  Hell, I could not even make up a story that interesting, let alone live it.  I applaud your attempt at a November excursion.

My latest was September 29th thru October 5th 2013.   I friend and I were paddling solo but traveling and camping together.  Not a very ambitious trip, just up through Carp and Emerald and around the neighborhood.  We had hoped for some edgy weather and to hook a few shallow Lakers, but what we got was shirtsleeve weather and a few smallmouth with a couple of small Lakers mixed in.

See there Jimbo, how pitiful that sounded sitting next to your story.  Carp Lake and warm weather compared to Great Britain style fog and lures skidding over ice.

MossBack

MossBack wrote on Oct 25^th, 2016 at 3:02pm:

...  compared to Great Britain style fog and lures skidding over ice. MossBack

Ha ha,

Yeah, as I was reading his account, I had a vision of the final scene of "The Shining," and Jack Nicholson's face, and his body frozen in a snowdrift ... only it was Jimbo, frozen in a canoe, because as he was stubbornly trying to catch a fish the ice had crept up and frozen him in place, 300 yards from shore, and he sat there all winter like the Tian Tan Buddha, as a warning against reckless travelers.

- kypaddler

But I hear you, MossBack. The difference in weather from the beginning of our late-October trip (sleet, flurries, harsh wind, gloom) and the end (sun, 60s) was unbelievable.

You never know what you're going to get, and when you're going to get it.

-- kypaddler

Jimbo wrote on Oct 25^th, 2016 at 2:43pm:

I didn't have a GPS in those days... not that they are much good in heavy fog, anyway (I found that out just three weeks ago on big Pickerel Lake in Quetico!).  Therefore I kept to the shoreline or, at least, what I could barely see of it.  That was the first and only time I have ever paddled in that area.  Never have I been out in such heavy fog!

It is clear that I need to take you aside and give you a few lessons on using a GPS.  I think I first noticed that you were "GPS challenged" on a trip to WCPP when you apparently wanted to head "cross-country" to Paull Lake from Middle Kilburn, without first going through Upper Kilburn (but that's another story).

This past year (alone), I navigated from near the portage to Argo across Roland Lake in fog so thick that you absolutely couldn't see 30 feet away.  Yet, I managed to easily navigate through channels where I couldn't see the shore line and across a big chunk of open water and go directly to the landing for the portage to Middle Roland.  Once pushing off from the campsite on Roland, it was literally "IFR" all the way.  It was definitely a case of "trusting your instruments" ... definitely no way I would have attempted it without a GPS, and transit time was just about what I would have expected under normal conditions.  (A bonus produced by virtue of the conditions that day ... the lake was absolutely like glass.)

During the crossing, I reflected on the possibility of running over other  canoeist during my adventure.  But then it occurred to me ... probably NO one else would be on the lake under these conditions.

dd

Dentondoc -

Hmmm... I covered the exact same stretch of water across Pickerel twice during that trip in late September a few weeks back. 

On a clear & sunny Thursday afternoon I paddled the entire stretch (@13 miles) from Dawson campground to my camp (a couple miles southwest of Lookout Island).  I only lost my signal for about 45 seconds, tops, in three hours of paddling.

Eight days later on what started as a fairly foggy morning it quickly became REAL foggy.  I traveled virtually the same stretch of water as before.  The GPS worked fine for the first 10 minutes... right until I got completely immersed in the soup.  The signal died and never did return. 

So I resorted to my compass for the first time in a long while.  Since my route was a straight shot eastward (& waves aren't much of a concern on a foggy day), I wasn't terribly worried.  Surprisingly, after I rounded the point at The Pines, though, it actually got a little more dicey.  I couldn't see a darn thing and needed to cross that stretch of bay about a mile or so in diameter to find the narrow entrance to the Pickerel River.

I did so by using the same tactics I use to find alleged portages.  From The Pines I took a compass heading that would put me a short but significant distance south of the river mouth.  Even though I couldn't see a darned thing, sooner or later I would HAVE to hit that eastern shore... as long as I kept my heading.  By purposely targeting a point distinctly south of the river I would KNOW when I finally hit that shoreline that the ONLY way to head was north.  There would be no guesswork involved.

Anyway, I couldn't see worth crap out there, my GPS was worthless, but my plan executed perfectly.  When I hit the far shore, I found the river easily in about 4-5 minutes.  I paddled away with a small sense of accomplishment that I had resurrected some very rusty compass skills.

I have no explanation why your GPS worked in the fog and mine didn't.  I don't have a clue.  Admittedly, I'm no genius using a GPS but the continual message "No Signal Available" after 10 minutes of travel seems self-explanatory.  I would think it should vindicate me of operator error in this particular instance.  It was 2 hours & 20 minutes of pure compass work.

I admit I was surprised about this development.  I had YOUR account from Roland Lake on my mind as I left camp that morning, telling MagicPaddler that I "should be OK since I have the purple line on my GPS to guide me back to my car."

Maybe I should upgrade to a new model of GPS???

Re: Paull Lake & Middle Kilburn in WCPP, well... I was probably just sizing up one of my "short cut ideas." It's probably a good thing you set me straight at the time, Wayne.  Those brainstorms of mine seldom turn out very well.

I'll probably put my GPS up for sale right alongside my pink wind sail in the gear forum sometime soon.

Later,

Jimbo   8-)

Quote:

I did so by using the same tactics I use to find alleged portages.  From The Pines I took a compass heading that would put me a short but significant distance south of the river mouth.  Even though I couldn't see a darned thing, sooner or later I would HAVE to hit that eastern shore... as long as I kept my heading.  By purposely targeting a point distinctly south of the river I would KNOW when I finally hit that shoreline that the ONLY way to head was north.  There would be no guesswork involved.

It's called Shooting Off and is described in detail in Be and Expert with Map&Compass where I picked the idea up. I thought GPS could get a signal despite foul weather as long as you were in the open?
Oh well, a good old map/compass and that technique is always your Ace in the Hole.


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Jimbo wrote on Oct 25^th, 2016 at 9:18pm:

Hmmm... I covered the exact same stretch of water across Pickerel twice during that trip in late September a few weeks back.  On a clear & sunny Thursday afternoon I paddled the entire stretch (@13 miles) from Dawson campground to my camp (a couple miles southwest of Lookout Island).  I only lost my signal for about 45 seconds, tops, in three hours of paddling. Eight days later on what started as a fairly foggy morning it quickly became REAL foggy.  I traveled virtually the same stretch of water as before.  The GPS worked fine for the first 10 minutes... right until I got completely immersed in the soup.  The signal died and never did return.

Based on this, I'd say you have a defective unit.  Anytime I've had unobstructed sky overhead, my GPS has always accurately placed me on the map.  Weather has seemingly no impact on my unit (which I'd venture to say is older and less capable than the one you have).  It has only failed to provide a signal when I was under relatively thick foliage or in narrow valleys or slot canyons where there is limited sky overhead.

Sounds like you might have a screw wire loose.

dd

kypaddler wrote on Oct 25^th, 2016 at 1:59pm:

BillConner wrote on Oct 25th, 2016 at 12:01pm: I love October trips and my latest exited in Halloween. CCO said we were their last group for the year. Yo Bill C., You can't do that man. (Leave with no details.) Halloween? That's late. How soon did the ice follow? Where'd you go? What was the weather like? Fish any? Go swimming? See any polar bears? Mermaids in parkas? More wildlife than usual? (I have this theory, probably an ignorant one, that as the last paddlers stroke their way out, all the animals come out of hiding, shake their heads at the messy campsites and celebrate having gotten rid of us again). See anybody else? etc. etc. etc. - kypaddler

It was really my son's trip. He went up on his own around 10th of October, after his hs graduation and eagle board of review. 6 years or so ago. Went in Moose and went east to Ogish. I joined him for last three nights, stayed on Moose. He and I only ever saw thin ice at landings. Last day hard blowing snow as we paddled.

I agree the wildlife does come out as visitors wane. I've only seen Moose in October.

Canoeing with your son in the blowing snow?

Didn't Mr. Olson write a short story about that? "The Feel of Spring," if I remember correctly. His son was home on furlough during the war. They were fishing and kept dashing to the shore to build fires to warm up.

Come to think of it, they came out on Moose Lake as well.

Interesting.

C'mon folks, keep these memories coming. They're lessening the torture of being chained to my desk 950 miles to the south here.

-- kypaddler

We used to do a first week of Oct. Trip every year. BWCA and Quetico and then WCPP. We were going late to avoid the bugs and people. Then it dawned on me that those are not things to worry about in WCPP. We still kept doing them using a Coleman lantern for preparing breakfast and supper. The lantern was also used to bring someone back from the first stages hypothermia when it had rained so many days that a fire was hardly an option. At the end of a Leano to Mexican Hat loop where it started with 45 degrees and mist and ended with 37 degrees and heavy wind driven rain in the warmest part of the day I had an epiphany. Sitting 200 miles to the south was my log cabin with a woodstove and a roof. That is where I started spending early Oct. !!

A few years later I must have weakened and consented to another fall trip to WCPP. Irvine was still a bushwhack lake and I had found a nice spot with a southern exposure during a July trip. The group was flying in so we could be well supplied with the extra gear needed late in the season. At our planning meeting I laid out the exact sizes we needed in our tarps and the quanity. We again started the trip with decent 45 degree temps but slowly things kept going downhill. The southern exposure should have saved us but the wind all week came from that direction and kept getting colder and wetter. Tarps kept being added until we added the last one and were huddled in our make shift wall tent. We had two coleman lanterns and plenty of fuel so things were cozy. After the last wall was added to our shelter some finally realized why I had been so specific about tarp number and sizes at the pre-trip meeting.

The last full day one of the fishermen was out in the windy, wet and 40 degree weather. We would keep peeking out a tent flap to check on him as he was in a very small kayak. Then the report came that he was not out there. I packed a sleeping bag and had the others prepare hot water for our hopeful rerturn. I was relieved when I came around a bend and saw his kayak pulled up on shore. I called his name and faster than an echo he called back. When he found he could not get the little kayak back to camp he had retreated to the trees to await his rescue. The real kicker was a few years later when one of our trip mates and this man's wife ended up sharing a bus seat on a shuttle to Ohare Airport. Our daring kayaker let be known later that what happens in WCPP stays in WCPP. As for me, that cabin woodsdtove is working just fine.

So Marten,

Did he catch any fish? Did anybody?

(Hardy souls, ye are.)

-- kypaddler

When they could get out they caught some fish. I remember conditions were the biggest factor. Kayak man had a honey hole for big pike but the wind kept him out of that portion of the lake most of the week. He was rigged for big fish and knew that he had to be properly positioned to fight a 40 inch northern in a tiny kayak. For what it worth evenings around a campfire can be filled with stories concerning that man.

In the late 80's I took two friends in off the Gunflint for three nights early in November. On the third night temperature dropped well below zero. There was open water on the lake we were camped on but both exit options were frozen tight. We ended up portaging  (my fine 85# plus canoe) five miles to the Gunflint and then walking another couple of miles back to the car. A mile of  bush whacking led to an old cart way that led to the road.

Solus wrote on Oct 27^th, 2016 at 1:26am:

In the late 80's I took two friends in off the Gunflint for three nights early in November. On the third night temperature dropped well below zero. There was open water on the lake we were camped on but both exit options were frozen tight.

So it went from no ice to impassable in one night? Wow.

- kypaddler

My wife and I went on a three day trip, October 14, 15 and 16, 2005 into Beaverhouse Lake.  We were the only car in the BH parking lot.  We had to paddle to the ranger station to register and then camped on one of the islands north of the ranger station.  We did not encounter any really bad weather, but did have some strong winds.  We caught a few bass which made two evening meals.  We caught 4 other fish, namely, 18 inch northern, 32 inch, 11.7 pound trout, 27 inch, 6.7 pound trout and a 40 inch, 17.8 pound northern.  I lost one or two other fish.  The lake is very quite in mid October as most birds have left and mating season is over.  The cooler weather makes every thing slower.  But the biggest problem is how short the days are.  Plus, the season on trout ends in September.  I would like to try another October trip because the big northerns are suppose to bite in the fall.  My wife, however, would not accompany me.  Campfires in fall, however, are wonderful.  I think fishing in a future trip could be better because in 2005 I was still working on our fishing techniques.

Westwood wrote on Oct 27^th, 2016 at 3:37am:

We caught a few bass which made two evening meals.  We caught 4 other fish, namely, 18 inch northern, 32 inch, 11.7 pound trout, 27 inch, 6.7 pound trout and a 40 inch, 17.8 pound northern.  I lost one or two other fish.  ...  I think fishing in a future trip could be better because in 2005 I was still working on our fishing techniques.

Very nice. Impressive even.

I have to clarify one thing, however. On our trip, when we caught so few fish, we were primarily fishing for smallmouth and walleye -- not specifically going deep for trout with big lures or going after pike. We usually bring ultra-ultra-light tackle and concentrate on the former species instead of the latter.

-- kypaddler

And re: "the only car."

Lake was EMPTY, eh?

-- kypaddler

kypaddler wrote on Oct 27^th, 2016 at 4:02am:

I have to clarify one thing, however. On our trip, when we caught so few fish, we were primarily fishing for smallmouth and walleye -- not specifically going deep for trout with big lures or going after pike. We usually bring ultra-ultra-light tackle and concentrate on the former species instead of the latter. -- kypaddler

...probably a good thing, too, since the fishing season for lake trout ENDS by October 1st. 

Jimbo   8-)

Quote:

probably a good thing, too, since the fishing season for lake trout ENDS by October 1st.

Well ... there is THAT. Heh heh.

I meant we're pretty one-dimensional fishermen. Light tackle, small lures.

-- kypaddler