.....really now, not all that dramatic....another title might be...."Why you never believe an Oct weather forecast"!

But I was prepared for the worst and made the best of it.  It was to be 6 day solo trip,  out on Northern Light lake and Sag....but I cut it to 5 days this morning when I awoke to 40 degrees, wet, wind and clouds.  My mood had soured and I decided to "bag it" and head for the car, 7 miles down on the Seagull river at Voyaguer Canoe Outfitters.  I rode a 15 mph NW wind in, and had some close calls with the whitecaps, but I made it from east side of Red Pine Isle to VCO in 2 hours solo today.

I'll say this....I paddled SE Sag (Red Sucker bay), the whole west 2/3'rds of N Light and up through Trafalger, and NE Sag.  LaVerendrye Provincial park is a "bargin"....just shy of $9.00/night Crown Land rate....and little development.  There may be an occasional boat/motor....I saw 1 in use in 4 days.  Crown Land Sag on the other hand is quite developed....even in the furthest reaches.  I'd say it beats one's typical "Basswood experience" hands down (IMO).

The "Northern Light portage", up in NE Sag, is a boat portage, I counted about 11 boats...all in their sleds on the beach (N Light side)....no empty sleds.  One crew was pulling their fishing boat across as I awaited my exit out onto Sag yesterday morning.  Old timer there told me of the last 40 years on N Light and all the changes he's seen (political and in the fishery).

Hidden gems...Wantelto lake (between Sag and SW N Light) is a gem...not for the scenery....but the fishing was fantastic.  Plus one gets to view N Light falls.  I've never marked so many fish and litteraly caught one on every cast (a fish tale)?

Ham Lake fire?  Well you can sure see it.  But not as bad as I thought it would be after 2 years.  MUCHO green growth, and the fire was quite "spotty" in many areas, leaving many clusters of prior vegetation (pics to follow).

Weather....Last Sat called for the upcoming week to have 40 degree lows, 50-60 highs, and sunny every day but Mon.  Guess what?  Rain every day but day 1.  Took most of my pics during the short sunny intervals between cloudbursts....so a false impression is given of fair weather...anything but IMO.

Bugs....No See-um's....nasty.  Got lots of welts from something.  Not a squeeter left.  No 4-legged critters seen.  Only loons and eagles.  I'm headed for the hot tub....pics to follow in the AM.

I set out for thr Gunflint from Nevis, MN at 2PM Saturday.....arrived at 10 PM after some delay in Duluth.  Bunked it and had cakes in the AM....late tow out, and got dropped off at Sag falls at 10AM Sun morning.  I haven't paddled solo in 3 years on "big" water...the driver encouraged me to do an "open water drop"....I don't think he wanted to get wet with a shore landing.  It must have looked hillarious watching me lower my 250lb frame over the gunwale into that Prism....packs just tossed in willie-nillie....I immediately headed for a landing to rearrange things for 15 minutes.  It was slowly coming back to me.  "Oh yeah...this is time to do things right or die".  I felt really alone as he drove away.

Looking across Red Sucker bay on Sag was a little intimidating and I had fleeting thoughts of just sacking out here on this island for 5 days.  Mustered up some foolhearty courage and headed out into the wind....it rapidly came back to me...I went to the south shore to stay out of the easterly blowing at me.  In an hour I was well into Curran Bay on the Maligne and approaching the first of only THREE portages for the entire trip.  A double set of rapids with a small portage around.  Portage is on the south bank for future travelers.  This area and the S end of N Light were heavily burned 2 years ago (Ham lake fire)....it was a "patchy burn" and still some trees exist.  A blue-bird sky was welcoming (the last of the trip).


Development....all of Crown Land Sag was developed with cabins.  If you look at N Light on Google Earth...there are cabins on the two Eastern Bays (Trafalgar snd Southeast bay)......but most of the western 2/3rds of the lakeshore is LaVerendrye Provinvial park and I saw NO shoreland development for the rest of the N. Light portion.


Some quick-fix JPGS

the rapids between Sag and Wantelto lake...
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if you have Fischer map F-20....you will see the road coming into N Light from the North shore of Lake Superior...wraps around the S side of lake.....Google Earth now shows this road extended and it now crosses the Maligne just before the entrance to Wantelto.  I don't know what it serves up to the N?  I paddled the whole N channel (granted, I didn't see everything)....and saw not a cabin nor dock.  Perhaps for fire-fighting?  Research?  Logging?  Anyway....here's the road.....current under here was all I could manage to paddle up solo.  About tipped my barge.   (Addendum:  I just checked Google again...the road appears to be leading to logging tracts, just to the S of NE Sag?  What say you experts?)
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As soon as you paddle under the bridge and round the corner...you are treated to a view of Northern Light falls.
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I decided to bag it early for the day here at the falls and camped right above them.  Looks to have been a campsite in the past with a few tent pads and a fire ring.  Wantelto had so many fish, I had to turn my alarm "off" on the fishing buddy.  Within 20 minutes I had several pike, Walleye, and a 15 lb pike that took me 10 minutes to land.  All succombed to the Berkley Gulp "Alive" leeches, and the glow orange minnow...all on jigs.

Closeup of Northen Light falls....
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This is the far end of the portage (and that's the second portage of the whole trip!).....looking out onto the south arm of N. Light lake (portage is on the East bank)....I was trying to capture the "glimmer" of the sun on the water...but failed.....
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Tried experimenting with the tripod I drug along....it definatly increased the "visual sharpness" of the photo...but I discovered I hate all this gadgetry....the tripod became a bow anchor for the rest of the trip.....I just don't have the patience for this techno jumble.....here's my one and only tripod shot....looking back over the falls at burned-over Wantelto lake.....
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Anyway...that was enough for day one.  I fell twice and begin to wonder if my advancing age was imparing me.  Just befor beddy-bye...I sprained my ankle, which led to a yell heard for miles.  What was I doing out here?  The weather radio all of a sudden had done a 180....changed the forecast to gloom, doom, and wet, cold for the next 5 days....yippeee!

More later....

That's right Solo....I feel like the "Gulp God"!  Wonder if I could get any $$ out of Berkley.  "Five nights in the wild and survived on Gulp!"

Extras I brought along on this trip (as there were only three portages)
...tripod
...clothing
...canned good
...6-pack of Smirnoff Ice bottles
...VHF handheld
...3 books
...1 extra pack of white 4" Gulp minnows that I never got to...for a stab at the Lakers


Woke up to rain at 10 PM...rained through until 6 AM.  Not cold though and todays route would keep me out of the now NW wind until after lunch.


One of the more severe fire scars....
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As I paddled East I arrived at Moose bay...here are some island shots.....MUCHO islands here...a fishermans dream....
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As you leave the S arm and enter Moose bay....you pass by the "Painted Rocks"....a much bigger area than this pic....

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Turned up Trafalgar channel and planned on camping for the night just S of the big Trafalgar bay.  If weather was ok....plan was to trout fish it tomorrow....that never happened.



A Fish Camp I found and used....just N of Savage bay in Trafalgar channel....on an island.
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I went out at 3 and caught a smalll pike for supper.....tried a self-portrait....
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Caught him over there on that shore.....
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problem was....I was careless....and how it happened, I don't know....but one of the biggest disasters that could befall any trip.......
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So I spent the rest of the afternoon crying like a baby.  All I needed were the diapers.  Felt like the posterboy for "canoe tripping rejects" after that event.....  I was glad no one saw me do that to my new rod.  Well, there went my Laker fishing plans for the rest of the week.

Took a few pics around the island between downpours as the sun would reappear....

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And off to bed in the drizzle...wet all night...awoke to cold and grey....  At least my ankle was better if not my pride.  The physician in me just dreamed all night on that orthopedic injury.....not my ankle!....the fishing rod!  I just knew there would come a "cure".....















and then it came to me like a midnight embrace..........the "cure".....
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but would it work?..........Later....

WHAT?!??  NO DUCKTAPE?!?!???

Old Salt....it's as if you were there screaming at me!   I frantically ripped through my pack for my trusty tape............but Wally is known for last minute "pack-jobs".....like 10 minute pack-jobs!  List....I don't need no stinkin' list (just ask monjon).

Old Salt....you know as well as I do where that duct tape was!------>  It was monjon's fault....last I saw 3 years ago....he used some out of my pack and I bet the dirty b*#@! never put it back.  It's all his fault!