Some people say that the Minnesota state bird is actually the mosquito. And I believe them.
Kirsten and I just got back from a trip (on Friday), and I have counted at least 20 bites. On my legs. From below the kneecap. On both legs. I’d say that I got at least 75 mosquito bites over the 42 hour trip.
Bugs aside, everything else was fantastic. We headed out from West Bearskin lake to BWCA entry point 60 (Duncan Lake). Since we left after work on Wednesday, we tried to keep a good pace in order to make the two portages and find a campsite before dark. We ended up cruising through Bearskin and Duncan before settling in on Rose lake. Rose is a border lake (between Canada) and much larger than the previous two lakes we traveled through. It is pretty popular because it has a beautiful waterfall that connects Duncan and Rose lakes.
On Thursday morning we traveled back to the falls and got some pix because we didn’t really stop the evening before since we were trying to find a campsite. Then we headed west along the border to South lake (with Rat lake, truly more of a pond, in between). South lake is large, and its west end is a BWCA entry point (58?) from North lake.
We didn’t see a single person on South lake, but once we got to the portage to North things got interesting. First Kirsten almost got stuck in the mud, and then just her sandal, but both survived the muddy/mucky portage trail. But the real excitement came when I heard some rustling and saw a small black bear disappearing about 40 feet off the trail. But then we got to the end of the portage to North and we heard a much larger crashing sound on the other side of the trail. Instead of trying to scare off whatever it was (as you should with Black bears) we ran. Not the right move, but we didn’t suffer the consequences. While we never saw it, my guess is it was mama bear (which could have been bad news) or one of the bear’s buddies. However, the story now is that it was Sasquatch.
That was enough excitement and paddling for us (we ended up traveling about 14 miles that day; about double what we recommend for a day). But the weather was perfect on the lake so we caught some rays. Too much in fact. Both of us are not only scratching our bites, but also our sunburned backs.
We awoke Friday morning to the briefest of Thunderstorms and ended up with another gorgeous day off. We finished by heading to town. It was a bustling day in Grand Marais. There was a wooden boat show and a lot of tourists. We grabbed a bite at My Sister’s Place, which I now highly recommend. The Canadian Dave (an open faced hamburger topped with gravy) is fantastic.
The bugs are so bad right now that it might be awhile before we have another round of BWCA updates, but Island Royal (on Superior) could be our next destination. So for now enjoy these pix…(click on them to enlarge)
Kirsten and I just got back from a trip (on Friday), and I have counted at least 20 bites. On my legs. From below the kneecap. On both legs. I’d say that I got at least 75 mosquito bites over the 42 hour trip.
Bugs aside, everything else was fantastic. We headed out from West Bearskin lake to BWCA entry point 60 (Duncan Lake). Since we left after work on Wednesday, we tried to keep a good pace in order to make the two portages and find a campsite before dark. We ended up cruising through Bearskin and Duncan before settling in on Rose lake. Rose is a border lake (between Canada) and much larger than the previous two lakes we traveled through. It is pretty popular because it has a beautiful waterfall that connects Duncan and Rose lakes.
On Thursday morning we traveled back to the falls and got some pix because we didn’t really stop the evening before since we were trying to find a campsite. Then we headed west along the border to South lake (with Rat lake, truly more of a pond, in between). South lake is large, and its west end is a BWCA entry point (58?) from North lake.
We didn’t see a single person on South lake, but once we got to the portage to North things got interesting. First Kirsten almost got stuck in the mud, and then just her sandal, but both survived the muddy/mucky portage trail. But the real excitement came when I heard some rustling and saw a small black bear disappearing about 40 feet off the trail. But then we got to the end of the portage to North and we heard a much larger crashing sound on the other side of the trail. Instead of trying to scare off whatever it was (as you should with Black bears) we ran. Not the right move, but we didn’t suffer the consequences. While we never saw it, my guess is it was mama bear (which could have been bad news) or one of the bear’s buddies. However, the story now is that it was Sasquatch.
That was enough excitement and paddling for us (we ended up traveling about 14 miles that day; about double what we recommend for a day). But the weather was perfect on the lake so we caught some rays. Too much in fact. Both of us are not only scratching our bites, but also our sunburned backs.
We awoke Friday morning to the briefest of Thunderstorms and ended up with another gorgeous day off. We finished by heading to town. It was a bustling day in Grand Marais. There was a wooden boat show and a lot of tourists. We grabbed a bite at My Sister’s Place, which I now highly recommend. The Canadian Dave (an open faced hamburger topped with gravy) is fantastic.
The bugs are so bad right now that it might be awhile before we have another round of BWCA updates, but Island Royal (on Superior) could be our next destination. So for now enjoy these pix…(click on them to enlarge)
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