On Wednesday, June 19, 1996, Frank Watts, Don Bunker, Jack Schneider and Carroll Schneider prepare to leave Loveland, Colorado on an adventure to dancing Loon Island.

The primary objective for the trip, other than having a good time, was to transport and install the green metal roof that was carried north in the “Tank Trailer”.

Jack, Don and Frank are happy to be on the water.  The trailer spring broke as we arrived at Glendive, Montana.  A temporary fix was made by welding the frame to the axle, essentially eliminating the spring.  Don had difficulty getting cash to pay for the work.    At the Wathaman River portage, the metal roof sections were transferred from the trailer to the truck in order to move them the last 50 yards down the steep hill at the end of the track.   Unfortunately, the roof sections broke the rope holding them in the truck and they got a bit scuffed up as they slid out of the truck.  Don was shocked to find that his 14’ Lund boat was missing from the landing and we were unable to move the roof sections to the island at that time.

Jack, Don and Frank enjoy the trip to the island.  Frank was of course hungry and was eating his favorite licorice candy the entire boat trip.  The wind picked up before we arrived and we took on some spray during the last part of the trip.  It was fairly dark when we arrived at the island and had a “skinny” bite to eat, tents set up and into our sleeping bags.  Next morning Don discovered his 14’ Lund stashed next to the 17’ Lund.  Since the weather was calm, we made a trip back to the landing to pick up the metal roof.

Jack caught a small northern as Carroll jigs for a walleye.  When we went to the Campbell River to fish, we found my 15” Grumman canoe beached near the entrance.  I was not yet aware that it was “missing”.  Back at the island Don noticed for the first time a bullet hole in the 16’ Lund gunwale.  Obviously a rifle had been placed against a seat and accidentally discharged.  The bullet pierced the gunwale on its way out of the boat.  Don was not too pleased with the careless treatment of his boats by the fellows who “barrowed” them last fall.

Carroll and Jack enjoy the comfort of the cook tent.  Jack brushes his teeth.

The roof got installed first on the Northeast side.  The rope was used to help move around the roof.  Don seemed to have the best non-skid shoes and could easily negotiate around the roof with no other aid as long as it was totally dry.  We were lucky no one fell off the roof.

Hopefully, the roof will last longer than its 50 year rating, but it does require occasional touching up with paint the spots that got scuffed in transit.

Carroll’s tent stayed dry under the green tarps.

Dick Berreth arrived one night with his grandson, Nathan.  Jack had been out after dark fishing nearby for northern, while everyone else were in their sleeping bags.  The light he lit in the cook tent served as a beacon for Dick who was still a couple miles from the island.  Don had sent Dick copies of the map of Spalding Lake, with each sheet covering about 4 miles.  Don goofed and left out of the package, one 4 mile section of map.  When Dick got to that section of the lake, what he was seeing did not match the map.  He kept traveling on in the same general direction and after four miles, the map and what he was seeing started to match again.  Nice going Don!!

Nathan, Dick, Don and Frank after working on the roof.

Frank, Dick, Nathan, Carroll and Don relax in the cook tent.

Don, Dick, Jack, Carroll and Nathan.

The all important “John”.  Note white Labrador Tea bushes in bloom.  At night, they seem to glow.

Frank enjoys catching a nice walleye at the “Honey-Hole”.

Don and Jack while motoring in the Campbell River.

Nice strings of walleye, along with a couple Northerns or “Jacks” as the local Canadians call them.

Smoke in the air from distant forest fires frequently results in spectacular sun sets.

From the loft looking to the front of the cabin, the log truss work was a joy to look at.

We left the island on July 1 and took this last picture of Carroll, Jack, Frank and Don with their beards  at Jack’s home back in Loveland, Colorado the next day.

At 4 PM on Thursday, July 12, Don and Jay prepare to leave Jay’s farm in Don’s Sentra.  According to our plan, Jay will drive back to Colorado in the Sentra and Don will catch a ride home with his next guest, Court Spicer.  We drove straight through and arrived at LaRonge early in the afternoon.  Don paid his taxes in the required “cash only” fashion.  After arriving at the landing at 8 PM, three portage trips were made over the dry but buggy trail before bedding down for the night.  At 6:30 AM we made four more trips, covered with nets and repellant and got underway by 9:30 AM.  The water was calm and we had a delightful shirt sleeve trip across the lake, arriving at the island at 1:10 PM and started to get things straightened out.

Don enjoys a great pancake breakfast after a great nights sleep that started at 7:30 PM last night.  The boat left on the beach was full of water and had to be drained.  Our radio phone had somehow been tampered with and we were miraculously able to get all the wires correctly attached and the unit operating.  The next week was spent installing new tar paper and the steel roof on the Southeast side of the cabin.  Enough fishing was done to keep Walleyes on the menu.

This shows the view back toward the landing 25 miles to the southwest.  The rain hood on the stove pipe was missing because it didn’t fit and required some modification work.  Getting the metal roof completed was a major milestone.  Don could finally agree to Jay’s request to build a “crows nest” near the top of the island.

Jay paddles the sports canoe to the beach after he and Don had gone to the mainland and cut saplings for the construction of the crows nest.

Jay takes in the spectacular view from what would become one of his favorite haunts.

Would you say that Jay looks happy with the newly completed “crows nest”?  Visiting Indians took one look and exclaimed “What for?”  Jay knew “what for”.

A view to the Southwest toward the landing from the crows nest.  Not too shabby!!

More saplings were gathered for building railings.

Don took Jay to the landing on August 1 to return to Boulder driving Don’s Sentra.  Court Spicer arrived at the Wathaman landing about 45 minutes after Jay had left and we had an easy portage and boat ride to the island.

Court got comfortably settled with his tent under some awnings.

Court helped Don with railing post and assorted other task.

Time is always allocated to fishing and keeping walleyes on the table.  Court shows off a  nice one here.

While fishing at the Honey-Hole” one day, Don caught 38 straight Walleyes on 38 cast.  Court caught a fish on every lure in his box except one very ratty looking jig.  We decided it should be buried at sea for poor performance.

Court picks blue berries on the Esker Portage.

Court stands on the esker with Dancing Loon Island in the upper left corner.  These eskers resemble over-sized railway beds but were in fact formed along the route of rivers flowing under glaciers and resulted when debris accumulated along the ice tunnel formed by the river.

Don’s nephews, David and Mark Bunker, along with David’s son Mat, arrived on August 10 for a weeks stay.  Don met them at the landing to ferry them to the island.  David has his pickup parked and locked at the end of the 4-wheel track.

This is a view of the portage trail near where the trucks get unloaded.

Don returns up the trail for another load.

The boats have been loaded and Don rows the boats out into water deep enough to run the motors.  We had an easy trip to the island with clear calm weather.

Don, Mark, David and Mat unload the boats and the new arrivals prepare to settle into newly erected tents on the island.

Don has started to install the deck.

Don and Dave went swimming in the lake.  It was a great way to bath and the water this year was uncommonly warm.

Dave, Mat, Don and Mark enjoy the visitors first walleye meal of the trip.

Dave helps Don with the decking.  He also constructed a heavy duty short ladder for climbing up to the deck.  It served us well until it was replaced by the front steps in 2000

Mark and Mat found many blue berries at the Esker Portage.

Mat, David and Mark on top of the esker with Dancing Loon Island in the far distance.

Mat, David, Don and Mark stand on a carpet of Reindeer Moss while on the Esker Portage trail.  There are always interesting wildlife things to see on this hike.

This is looking at the point that separates the two lobes of Esker Lake.

Don with a walleye at the “Honey-Hole”

Mat shows off a lunker that was definitely a keeper.

Gord Hardlott, Joe Roberts and Bill Cook? arrive on a moose hunting trip.  This was my first meeting with Joe.  He and Gord’s wife (Isabelle) share a common grandfather, Isaiah Roberts, who along with his wife is shown in a documentary video by the University of Saskatchewan building the last bark canoe in Stanley Mission.  We had marked the water pipe route up the hill for our water tank with bright orange tape.  Joe asked what the marking were for as we showed then our water tank and new crows nest.  Joe asked “Do you get lost easy?”

Don is touching up the scratches on the roof with some green paint.

The rain hood and spark arrestor are now installed on the stove pipe as well as three lightning rods on top the ridge line.  A copper wire runs down both the front and back sides of the cabin to loops of copper wire and stakes buried in the soil for a ground.  The lightning rods were purchased at an antique shop in Clear Lake, Iowa.

This photo shows some of the roof detail.  Rain gutters are still missing as was the front door.  Plastic covered the missing Mud Room windows.  It all comes together in slow motion!

Don fillets a walleye at the fish cleaning station near the beach.  Note the red gut bucket and the white bucket of water for first rinse of the fish and hands.

Getting a flat deck to walk on is exciting.

It almost looks like a cabin.  Don risked life and limb up a wobbly ladder against a very skinny tree to get this photo.  Many years later, after digital camera were common,  a guest discovered a much better way to get a picture from this perspective.  Attach the camera to a long sapling, set the time exposure and elevate the sapling into the air and repeat as long as it takes to get the shot you want.

Big Dave in the 16’ Lund.

Big Dave, Mat and Mark at the “Honey-Hole”.

Big Dave, Mat and Mark at the “Honey-Hole”.  While Dave was motoring across the front of the rapids from the other side, the current almost swept them down the rapids.  Don was watching from another boat and could only hold his breath and pray.  Fortunately, he got the boat pointing up the rapids at the last minute and a wide open throttle snatched them from the rapids.

The cook tent has had its tarp removed and all the gear hidden in preparation for the winter.

Getting the cabin closed at the end of the season is not quite but almost as much work as opening up in the spring.  Fortunately, most of the containers are empty on the way out and this day was clear with a following wind.

Getting the train of boats all lined up and properly trimmed for the trip across the lake always takes a certain amount of trial and error.  It is not uncommon to have to move heavy items around in a boat or even into a different boat before the boats all track in a straight line.

Don, Dave and Court crossing the big water .  Don has a coat to protect from the spray, not the cold,

Don stands next to Court’s truck with the sports canoe being tied down for the trip home.  Court had had difficulties with his Chevy Blazer on the way up.  His “service engine” light had come on and he was having trouble getting up hills with a rough sounding engine.  That sounded pretty familiar to Don and he suspected a clogged fuel filter.  Don installed a new fuel filter at the Napa store in LaRonge and Court thought Don was a real gear-head when the “”service engine” light went out and the engine ran smooth and strong.  NOT!