Note the boat seat tied on the front of the truck. Junk on the trail is testimony to problems encountered in the past by others.

Black flies were quite bad on the portage this trip. The new bridge across the trail was very helpful.  Back in 1992 when Don had his face to face meeting with “his Indian”, Joseph Clark, he had warned Don to not make any improvements to the portage trail into Spalding.  He wanted to keep it a bit difficult to access and thus preserve the fishing there.  I said I agreed with that.  So when I found this new trail and bridge, I was concerned that Joseph would think I had made the improvements.  It turned out that it was Joseph who made the upgrade.

Jeromy and Alistair made quick work of the portage, as they always do.  This view is looking toward the lake.  We normally can back the truck to this point for unloading and loading.

Don and Alistair on the trip across the lake to the island which was smooth and not at all stressful this trip.

We found everything on the island OK.  There is always considerable anticipation as to what condition we will find things and it is always a great relief when things are OK.

Don removes the canned goods stored under the kitchen cabinets over the winter.  Work started on Saturday to set up the cabin for occupancy.  The big problem was our inability to find the piping required to hook up the water pump.  We had hidden it too good the prior summer.   Sunday was spent setting up the cabin.  On Monday, Alistair found the missing (hidden) piping and we finished setting up the water pump.  The pipes to the shower were frozen during the winter and that necessitated removing a section of the wall in the mudroom in order to repair the broken pipes.  Fishing was great with Don pulling in a 4 pound walleye

Don and Alistair work on the plumbing.  Note the hot water heater in the attached nook.  This has proven to be very serviceable.

Don works on the water piping, mostly installing drain plugs that were removed the prior year.  The incoming water pipe seen here attached to the three filter manifold has since been lowered to be under the ground and is no longer the obstacle to traffic that this arrangement was.

Don works on the water pump.  The water is shooting out into the lake at this time.  Once the pump is primed and pumping water at this low level back into the lake, the valve on the pipe up to the water tank is opened and the valve on this outflow is turned off and the water is shunted up to the water tank on a gradual basis.  Once the tank has been filled and the pump shut off, the valve on the pipe to the tank is shut to keep back pressure off the pump.

After that, priming is automatically provided by water in the pipe and tank.  Thus it only requires an opening of the pipe valve and usually a singe pull on the starter cord to refill the water tank, usually about every 3 days.

Don is working with the valve on the pipe to the water tank.  One year this valve was ruptured by ice that formed over the winter because the valve was not entirely drained of water the fall before.  Faced with a very leaky valve and no prospects for a quick replacement, Don tried a repair using JB Weld epoxy.  Expectations were not too high but miraculously this fix has lasted for many years, probably long enough for the spare valve to get lost.

Jeromy loves the walleye fishing.

Don find fishing at the “Honey-Hole” very good, especially off the back of the boat, where everyone claims the best fishing to be.  Alistair squints in the late afternoon sun.

Alistair weighs the fish, probably only 2 ½ pounds but a good to eat (on the large end of the scale) size.

Jeromy proved to be the king of Northern catching, if not walleye too.

Jeromy is really a very accomplished fisherman.  This trip he used a leader at all times, even with walleye and seemed to catch as many if not more than Don who was brought up to never use a leader with walleye.  Of course this meant Don isa much more subject to “snake-bite”, when a northern comes along and bites the line off, leaving you to wonder just how big that fish was.

Don does manage to snag a “snake” or northern pike occasionally.  Holding them by the eye socket is standard procedure.  It tends to stun the fish and keeps them from thrashing around the boat, causing injury to fisherman and fish alike.  When released into the water, they soon recover and swim away no worse for the experience.

Jeromy caught the largest fish of the trip.  While trolling between the north end of Indian Island and North Island, Jeromy had just attached a mega sized “Red Eye” onto his line.  On his first cast, this 16 pounder stuck the lure almost immediately after it hit the water.

Don is fishing in the dark!  We just had to try to see how the fishing was at night at the “Honey-Hole”.  Well, it was just like Don remembered fishing in the dark, very hard to do all the finger things, like changing baits, casting or handling the fish.  The fish were about the same size and not of the monster size we had hoped.  Bottom line, Don has not been fishing in the dark since.  Besides, at these northern latitude in the spring, dark doesn’t come until after 1PM, so NO THANK YOU.

The permafrost cooler is quite fully stocked at this point.  Unfortunately, an inconsiderate visitor after we left one Fall, opened the cooler and then did not fully shut it.  The mice then “fouled” the facility and it has never been too appealing after that.  With the addition of LP operated refrigerators, this cooler has been relegated to holding over flow storage.  We fill bottles with clean water at the end of the year and they freeze solid over the winter.  That keeps this storage at 40 degrees or lower all summer long.

This was the year for gluing down the floor tile used as a counter top.  It received many coats of polyurethane and much rubbing from us all and turned out quite nicely.  It does require a lot of attention to keep it dry and to minimize water damage.

Paneling was installed on the end of the cabinets.

The original barrel stove from the cook tent continued to provide a touch of warmth in the mornings.  Note to sunken concrete pad.  It awaits the installation of a 3” layer of stone.

Don and Alistair are shown in the kitchen by Jerome who is taking photos while perched on the ceiling truss.  Horizontal surfaces always get heavy use.

The loft contains a couple cots for Alistair and Jeromy.

Jeromy provided the inspiration for the design of the front steps.  Here we laid out the plan with strings to get a feeling of how it would look. It would not be constructed until the following year when we brought in the deck lumber and special brackets that were required.  Big Dave’s ladder was still used to get up to the deck.

Flat stones were being collected for the floor under the stove.

The new table and bench are well received.

Amazingly, we continue to find uses for the original table that we build at Greenbush Lake in 1991.

Jeromy loved how this joint turned out.

The 95 pound bracket will probably survive beyond the life of the cabin.

Jeromy made a picture frame that I bet he still has!

A rare moment when the floor is actually clean.  Note that the thickness planer does not yet have rollers under it to make moving it around a bit less arduous.

Don and Alistair next to the log cabin at the Indian fish camp.  By this time it was not being used and soon fell over.

This is the newly constructed facility that the Indians live in during the four days or so it takes them to net their 3000 kilo of walleye in the fall of the year

Looking toward Northern Bay from the crows nest.

On July 15,  Steve, Hidayat, Tom and Don leave Boulder for Canada.  Don checks the front spare tire while Steve cleans the windshield.

Hidayat test the crowded double rear seat.  Naturally ever cubic inch of space is utilized.

Steve , Don, Hidayat and Tom.

Betty is ready for tennis after Don and the boys leave.

Don gases the truck at Flying-J in Cheyenne.

Don, Tom and Hidayat enjoy a lunch at the usual rest stop north of Douglas, Wyoming.

Cottonwood Homes, at the rest stop.

Typical Wyoming prairie.

We spent the night at the Richland Inn in Sidney, Montana, pretty much a standard procedure.

South of the Canadian Border we cross Medicine Lake Wildlife Area.

Swans, pelicans and ducks abound here.

North of Plentywood we approach the Canadian Border.

Hidayat and Tom celebrate entering Canada.

This is a view looking back south at the border station we just passed through.

Tom and Don at the entrance to Canada.

Back on the road just north of the border.

Canola growing  24 miles south of Regina

Perhaps the best photo I own, thanks Steve.

Flax field.

More flax.  Linseed oil from this crop is going to China to help keep their poor quality of concrete from scalding.

These water pot holes in Saskatchewan are very instrumental in producing many of North Americas duck population.  The also provide beautiful scenery.

Don, Hidayat and Tom stand near the replica York Boat in Prince Albert.

Looking up the Churchill River at the Otter Rapids.

Tom and the Devil’s Hole on the down stream side of the Churchill River.

Tom is looking to hitch a ride up the road just north of the Churchill River Bridge.  There is a nice camping area to the right of the truck.

Don opens his travel bag that night at cabin #5  in Brybant the usual stopping spot on the second night after leaving Boulder.

Don, Tom (resting) and Hidayat are up early the  morning for a quick cereal breakfast before getting underway for the last 80 miles to the Wathaman River.

Steve is ready to go.

Chris, the owner of the resort used copper pipe for electric conduit.

This shot shows how the horizontal logs have a filler strip of wood between the logs holding in insulation instead of the older methods of using mud or moss for chinking.

Hidayat may not be completely awake.

Hidayat, Don and Tom in front of cabin #5.

Hidayat and Steve at cabin #5.

The cabins at Brabant are surrounded by this nice stand of birch trees.

We made it to the Wathaman River Bridge with no problems.   Early morning traffic on the stretch of road is essentially nonexistent.

Wathaman Lake is on the west side of the bridge.

The old bridge has not yet been pulled to the north side of the river.

The 4-wheel track between the gravel road to the portage trail head.  Somehow, it never looks any better than one remembers it.  Fortunately, it was dry and we had no problems.

Hidayat walks up the portage from near the lake, glad he has on the required rubber boots.

Tom negotiates the mess at waters edge to load the boats.

Hidayat comes down the portage trail carrying boots for someone.

Don, Tom and Hidayat enjoy the nice weather for crossing the lake.

Steve also enjoys the great weather.

Tom and Don get the fishing gear tuned up while Hidayat catches a bite to eat.

The cabin survived Don’s absence in fine fashion with no problems.  The work of the first trip crew made getting settled in for subsequent visitors much easier.

Tom, Hidayat and Don continue working on the fishing gear.

Don works on a pancake , eggs and bacon meal.

Tom and Hidayat enjoy a fire in the stove with Hidayat adjusting the air vent on the stove.

Don continues his cooking chores.

Wolf bones recovered in 1992.

The cabin location is tied down by this shot of Don’s new GPS.  Thanks Scott!!

Hidayat goy a nice northern in the interim lake.

Tom shows off some walleyes before they go into the fish live box and await preparation for a future meal.

Approaching Dancing Loon Island.

The white Tyvex covering on the cabin front certainly helps reveal its location.  In later years with wooden slabs covering the cabin and with additional growth of the vegetation, the cabin has almost disappeared from this distance, just the way Don likes it.

Tom takes over some of the cooking chores.

The tool shed was moved from outside into the mudroom.  Note the increasingly wide shelves at lower levels.  This was a design feature of the tool shed originally built outside and was suggested by Jeromy.

The cooler shed and the phallic tree that Jay salvaged.

Inside to cooler shed.  Note the counter weights that help lift the trap door,  copied from the attic design at the Marble cabin in Clear Lake, Iowa.  There is seldom anything new in the world.

The side of the cabin from the cooler shed.

Log trusses under the cabin provide much needed horizontal stability for the pier/stilt type construction.

Rock pile under the center of the cabin.

The stone and mortar piers continue to be crack free.  This shows the rebar that was mortared into the pier then slotted into the post and secured with heavy staples.

The braces are attached to the post with 3/8” lag bolts.

This shows the detail of where the post transition to the 4 x 12 beams.

Cabin front.

The cabin starts to disappear as you move down the forested hill in front.  Some folks would like to see these trees cut down to open up the view, but Don insists on keeping the trees intact and thus the cabin retains its “hidden” look.

This is where the water from the tank on the hill comes into the cabin.  The three blue filters are plumbed in parallel and contain 20 micon filters that remove any visible contaminants from the water.  A 5 micron filter further down stream improves the quality of the kitchen sink water while a one micron filter eliminates things like Guardia from the drinking water faucet.  The garden hose stands ready for any fire.

The 40 gallon LP hot water heater.

Steps to the back door, now replaced with the extension of the deck to the rear side of the cabin.

Black Spruce slabs ready for installation both inside and outside the cabin.

A fish supper is enjoyed many evenings.

Fish, potatoes and corn, hard to beat.

Don, Tom and Hidayat are happy campers.

Hidayat likes almost as much ketchup on his fish as Grandpa.

Log truss work and the heavysteel welded bracket.

The trees were just not big enough to make some of the larger beams needed in the cabin so average sized logs were laminated to make larger load bearing beams.

Fitting these logs together was done with a chain saw and chisel.

The bathroom is not finished here but it is certainly functional and considered a big step forward from the outside John.

The kitchen is very functional.

The log trusses always draw a lot of attention.

Loft

The map of my lake.

Reindeer Moss grows everywhere.

Tom at the crows nest.

Looking to the southwest from the cliffs behind the cabin.

More Reindeer Moss.

It is hard not to take a picture of all the different variations of how Reindeer Moss is found.

Don waits as he estimates the time it will take to fill the water tank.  He has tried various schemes, including LED lights controlled by a float in the tank to determine when it was low or full but they all turn out to be more trouble than help.  The pump pushes about 40 gallons a minute up to the tank, so just due the math and use your watch.

Don demonstrates the pressure generated at the pump.

More Reindeer Moss.

Don comes down the side trail along the lake from the water pump toward the main trail from the beach to the cabin.

Don rest at the rock “grotto” on the trail below the cabin.

Another perspective of the log truss work.  Steve is taking pictures from on high.

The kitchen from on high.

From the loft, the wood color is pleasing to look at.

Tom returns from the cooler with fresh food for supper.

Tom mixes fish batter.

Tom fries fish while Hidayat pitches in with some help.

More supper preparation.

Tom covers up the first batch of fried fish with a metal plate in order to keep them warm.

Tom, Hidayat and Don in the kitchen.

The steel brace from yet another angle.  It does tend to collect some dust.

Hidayat anticipates his fish and corn.

Tom is retrieving something from the crypt.

Hidayat stand next to the saw under the saw pavilion.

The saw from another angle.

Only a few logs remain to be “slabbed”.

Too bad these older logs were ruined by the bugs under the bark.

Hidayat and Steve in front of the cabin.

Tom has more supplies from the cooler for the evening meal.

Hidayat helps by pealing the potatoes.

At breakfast, Tom prepares for his pancake flipping move.

The cake flew so high it was out of view.  You need a motor driven Nikon to take this series of shots.

The pancake finally descended into the pan.  No problem, Tom can do it every time!

Steve studies the local maps and aerial photos.

We get a lot of use out of these folding desk chairs.

A beautiful sunset.

Same sunset with different settings.

Steve is making coffee and hot chocolate, two favorite beverages at the cabin.

Don enjoys a late evening hot chocolate.

Don sprays the Spruce slabs with Clorox to get rid of the discoloration caused by some sort of mold.

Hidayat takes over spraying the logs.

Hidayat in the loft.

Tom in the Mud Room.  The cord from the radio phone can be seen at the far lower right.

Don does his best Jack Nickolson impersonation.

Tom and Hidayat on the trail to the beach for some fishing.

Water flowing into the Intrim Lake from the small flow (west side) of Wilson rapids.

Steve lands a nice Northern.  Tom helps landing and handling the catch.

Tom displays Steves northern pike

Tom and Steve with the Northern  that Steve caught.  Looks like an 8 or 9 pounder.

The fish gripper came apart working that Northern.  No worry, a little peening with a hammer and it is as good as new.

Tom at the fish cleaning station with some eating size walleyes.

The indication of a good fillet job is to be able to see through the backbone when you are done.

These fish guts are bound for “bear beach”.

Close up of the antlers.

These are the spruce centers that were left after cutting slabs from their sides.  Don took much if this wood home to use in Boulder.

Bear trap.

Don reads aloud at supper time from his favorite book, “Trader. Tripper, Trapper”.  It is about a Hudson’s Bay Trader who spends much of the book in the local area.

A model of the cabin that was constructed during the 1991-1992 winter.  Look carefully inside the model and you can see how the ceiling log truss of the model match the full size cabin.  The only significant difference between the model and “as built”, is that the front wall has been “pushed out” 2’ because I found the windows in the junk yard after the model was built.  These windows were one inch wider than the model and that made the front room “grow” out a bit.  Since the floor joist were on a 2’ spacing, I grew the front room the amount needed to have the front cabin wall fall on top of the next available floor joist.

The model even had a stone floor for the stove area.

The model has small numbers written on the logs.  During the summers of 1992 and 1993 when we were cutting logs for the cabin, we gave them matching numbers to the model logs as a way of keeping track of which logs we already had cut and which logs we needed to find and save as full length logs .  It was much easier to cut the logs into the 9’ lengths used to make floor joist and beams, so we saved work by doing that with most of the logs and dealing with the full length logs on an individual basis, since we had a way of keeping track of the logs via the model numbering scheme

Tom prepares to hang the model up in the rafter where it can be seen but still be out of the way.

Steve and Hidayat on the front deck.

Tom, Steve, Don and Hidayat.

Hidayat deals with a Northern at the “Honey-Hole” while Don jigs for a “real” fish.

And Don catches the fish he was looking for.

Looking north from the Honey-Hole out over Wilson Rapids Bay.  Jay’s Island is on the horizon in the middle of the photo.  I had named that island for Jay because on his first day camping in 1991, he had to hike up to the top, then walk the length of the island, just because it was there.

Hidayat would like a walleye like Grandpa caught.

Tom and Hidayat launch the sports canoe into the Interim Lake for some fishing.  They had portaged it across the approximate 400 yard trail.  In later years we would leave a small boat at this location to avoid the portage.  Originally we left Dad Marbles small 13’ aluminum boat there but it eventually disappeared, never to be seen again.  Later we brought in the light blue Naden reject from Clear Lake, Iowa.  Eventually, that boat also disappeared but several years later, Rod Ury found it across the portage into the  Caldwell River.  As of 2009 it was back at this spot .

Hidayat with a Northern, fishing in the backwater at the bottom of the rapids.

Don weighs it while Tom looks on.

Tom is having luck with a very small Dare Devil.

Steve  got this close-up of a very pretty dragon fly.  We love these mini helicopters for the many mosquitoes they eat.

A truly beautiful bug!

Tom seems to be getting smaller fish on that small bait??

Don is weighing another fish, not the one that Tom caught in the prior photo.  This is only a 5 ponder.

Looking up the base of the rapids.  We fish just to the left of this in the back water.  In 1994 Jeromy caught his 20 pound northern from the shore next to the tree on the left.

From the same spot as the prior photo, this looks toward the southwest down the length of the Interim Lake.  At the far end of this water, there is another rapids that flows into Greenbush Lake.  On Canadian maps, both these rapids and the Interim Lake are labeled as Wilson rapids.  Doubling up rapids with a single name is common practice in northern Canada.

Tom and Hidayat still at the Intrim Lake.

Many dead trees have these odd growths on them.

Bear Berries on the Esker Portage.

Tom and Hidayat hiking along the top of the esker.

Don, Steve and Hidayat among some new growth spruce.

Reindeer Moss.

Looking back along the esker at Dancing Loon Island on the left, Indian Island in the middle and North island on the right.

Don, Steve and Hidayat.

Hidayat and Grandpa still on the esker game trail.

Reindeer Moss.

Tom further along the trail.

Tom and Hidayat near the end of the trail.  The north end of Esker Lake is to the right.

Wolf scat, very typical and often found on this game trail.

This is the very end of the trail we normally hike.  This is where the muskeg and beaver ponds that feed water into Esker Lake start.

Don rest as Steve takes pictures.

Dragon fly.

Hidayat and Steve.

Hidayat.

Another no-name tree growth.

This looks like a submarine in the lake???

OOhps, it was just Steve having a swim.

Definitely Steve.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Northern Lights.

Don, Tom and Hidayat are emptying a jug of gasoline into a more manageable container.  Managing the gasoline supply is a very big part of keeping the summer plans on schedule.

Steve tries his turn at shooting the carbine.

Don prepares for a shot while Tom and Hidayat watch.

Tom takes aim.

Hidayat has a go at it.

Bear Trap.

Cores left over from sawing siding slabs.  Here they are  temporarily stored in the old cook shack.

Deserted cook shack.

Saw mill.

Don makes notes in his log for the year.

Moose antlers.  As antler carving has become a profitable business in this area. Moose racks have become increasingly scarce since a local carver can turn one into a $2000 art object.  So the cabins along the Churchill River have just about been stripped of their moose antlers.

Hidayat.

The cabin looking north.

The cabin from “salt-Lick point”, looking north.

The cabin from the entrance to Northern Bay, again looking north.

From the middle of the channel between the south side of Dancing Loon Island and the mainland, just east of salt-Lick point.

Shore bird on the north side of Dancing Loon Island.

Shore bird on the north side of Dancing Loon Island.

Shore bird on the north side of Dancing Loon Island.

Water pump.

Shore bird on the north side of Dancing Loon Island.

Lesser Yellow Legs on the north side of Dancing Loon Island.

Sunset.

Tom out for an evening paddle.

Hidayat helps paddle the canoe.  Looking at the back-side of dancing Loon Island.

The sun sets off the front (southwest) side of Dancing Loon Island.

Reflecting sky at sunset.

We left the island on July 29.  Don backs the truck down to the portage trail head for loading.

Leaving the parking area at the portage trailhead.

Don drives the truck to the first hill on the way out.  This photo does not show much of a hill, but in a subsequent year, Don mistakenly did not have the Suburban in 4-wheel drive and could not make it up this hill.  As he was in the process of spinning his wheels into a “stuck” position, Jay asked Don if the truck was in 4-wheel drive.  Don thought, “What a stupid question”.  He looked down at the dash and OOHPS, he was in 2 wheel drive.  Once in 4-wheel drive the Suburban easily crawled ouy of its hole and up the slope.  Dumb!!  Dumb!!

This as an easy part of the trail.

Tom approaches the hardest part of the trail. 

Tom shows the hardest part of the trail.

Don goes very slowly here.  These rocks, when wet can be the source of a lot of tire spinning and require just the right amount of “rocking” to make it over them without too much bouncing.

Off the highway south of LaRonge we spotted cub bear picking berries.

He didn’t seem to have learned to fear the traffic.

All this bear wanted was food.

Nice bear, where is Momma?

Maybe I should go back towards the woods abit.

Tom and Hidayat as we approach Glacier National Park where we we taking Tom to join the rest of his family on a vacation.

Steve and Hidayat at Glacier.  Don “reloaded” in Boulder and then left Boulder on August 5 with Harry Menton.  No photos survived that trip.  Dick Berreth arrived at the island on August 7, with his grandson Nathanial who ended up giving Harry and Don nasty colds.  Harry got sick relatively soon but Don waited for his cold to develop into a full pneumonia case while back in Clear Lake, Iowa, closing up that cabin They left the island on August 13, along with Harry.  Don was alone on the island until August 24 when he went to the landing to pick up Frank Watts and Bob Wilshek.

Bob looks up the Churchill River at the Otter rapids bridge.

Frank Watts also looks at the Churchill River.

Frank’s dog “Blue” guards Frank’s tent.  Blue is an interesting Labrador that hates water and has blue eyes, hence the name.

Bob is next to the old cook tent, taking pictures.

Bob displays some walleyes destined for the table.  Note that the upper right fish is minus its belly meat.  We sometimes use the belly meat of a fresh walleye as “cut bait” to enhance the number of fish that are caught.  The exit from the lake was fairly normal but I think it was not Frank’s favorite time.  He has since avoided being a visitor at the last of the season and stuck with closing-the-cabin chores.