As for our actual anniversary, we did get a trip in on that day too. Thanks to a four day work week, we got to head out on our actual anniversary, after work. It had been very rainy previously, so we were a bit anxious to head out into impending storms. However, we got a great start which mainly held throughout. Clear skies and clam waters which we hadn’t seen in weeks. It was also our first trip off of our own lake, Clearwater. It’s a pretty popular lake, and this year permits dropped to 3 a day (down from 4 daily).
Once we got to our site, we hurried to set up camp, cut firewood, and cook dinner before the storms. However, things never quite go as planned. We got great firewood, but it was all soaked. But we got everything done before the rain, and had plenty of time to enjoy nature before dark. First, with rain pending, the sky was an incredible range of pinks and purples at sunset. Then the loons and fish entertained us. The loons, which we’ve mainly seen traveling solo, were four to six in number in our bay all weekend. They were playing, calling, cleaning, diving, and flying over head. Just before the rain started, the fish started to feed. Our bay became a sea of splashes, as each surface for a bug bite. Finally, the rain came. It was intermittent and we were prepared so we just sat and enjoyed the third part of our nature show. The lake became a strobe light as the rain splashed down, the lake’s surface became a trippy speedy of splashing. It was all incredible and much too hard to recount.
The next morning, as all of the rain had cleared the skies, we laid out and enjoyed another loon show. Clearwater is also quite clam and clear in this bay (near the portage to mountain) and so we watched fish play in the rocks and take down dragon flies. And thanks to Mark’s binoculars, the wildlife shows were up close throughout the flight patterns.
After lying around, and catching up on our naps, we finally did a portage. Without a pack, it was a breeze. Mountain lake, a border lake, is a larger lake with the Border Route Trail following its rocky south shore. While we tried the trail, it is pretty over grown, and we gave up on our search for vistas. But as we entered Mountain, we were surprised to find two more loons just playing in the entrance inlet. We followed them from about 50 feet for a good while as they were fishing. Once we got too close they started calling to each other, which was breathtaking as their voices echoed off of the surrounding cliffs. After we gave up pursuit we headed to the land to the north. We turned into one large inlet in order to relax and read in the lake. As we did we came across what appeared to be an abandoned campsite. Later we also discovered a Canadian back road that cut the inlet in two. Mountain is a pretty lake and the loop trip off of Clearwater looks to be the perfect week long trip for those interested.
The next morning we woke up early to the sounds of motors; our lake permits motors and our coworkers were towing a group to the portage by our tent. We packed up and headed home on a glassy Clearwater lake. Once back we headed to town to visit our favorite Grand Marais café, Blue Water. It was a fitting end to another wonderful weekend up north.
No comments:
Post a Comment