Hidayat, Don and Jeff on May 31, 2004, the day before leaving to Canada
That contraption, below Don’s left hand and attached to the spare tire is a welded rebar box which will be filled with rocks and used to anchor the water inlet pipe off Dancing Loon Island in Canada.
There is no spare room left in the truck, as usual, only a small space for Jeff to sit in the second seat.
Jeff just learned that Hidayat will not be sitting on his lap, but he will have to abandon that seat at Brabant after we fill our gas cans and stow them there. On the way to the landing, he will share the front seat with Hidayat, not exactly a roomy situation.
Hidayat contemplates sharing the front seat with Jeff from Brabant to the landing and wonders how uncomfortable it might be.
On second thought, Jeff is a really great cousin, so it will be OK.
Hey Grandpa, get the show on the road, I am ready for some fun!!
Oh darn, it is a two day drive to Brabant.
Hidayat, Don and Jeff are prepared to leave Boulder. Notice the red gasoline cans on top of the truck. These eventually got filled in Brabant and then carried to the landing in Jeff’s back seat area, while Jeff and Hidayat “share” the front seat for 70 miles.
Don prepares for the 1403 mile drive, while Hidayat talks with Jeff, concealed in his back seat cubby hole. The story of the events between this photo and the next photo follows:
Tuesday, June 1, we left Boulder and drove to Sidney, Mt where we ate supper and then drove on to Plentywood, Montana. where we spent the night.
We gassed the truck in LaRonge and arrived at Brabant at 7:45PM where we filled the gas jugs we had been carrying empty on top of the truck. They filled up the spot where Jeff had been riding for two days. I called Betty that night from their guest phone and we spent the night there in cabin #5.
We left Brabant at 6 AM with Hidayat and Jeff sharing the front passenger seat until we arrived at the WathamanRiverBridge. Portaging started at 8:20 AM and we got underway at 3PM. No ice was encountered until we passed the halfway point to the island. We first spotted the flow of ice north of LowIsland. It narrowed to a point as it touched LowIsland and appeared to be well broken into smaller chunks of 3' x3' size. I tried to keep my normal track and ploughed into the ice, hoping to get through the 200 yards of ice to the clear water beyond. This did not work. As we pushed through the ice it would close in behind us and make our towed boat and canoe plough through it again. We ran out of power to do all that plowing and I had to turn around to exit the ice. This was a rather dicey maneuver and was less than a thing of beauty. The ice was, however, very sparse close in to LowIsland so I left my comfortable track and reentered the ice very close to shore, going very slowly and having the boys staring into the water looking for rocks. We managed to push through the sparse ice and miss any rocks and emerged into open water at the northeast end of LowIsland.
Surely we could make it to the island now since no ice could be seen ahead of us, plus the DNR officer had told me a few days earlier that Spalding was free of ice. A mile further down the lake as we moved into the open part of the big water, just north of Ice Island we saw the bad news. A low dark line stretched across the lake about one mile ahead of us. We continued forward, hoping an open lead could be found to the island but no such thing was even close to being there. It was a solid line of ice, north shore to south shore, very reminiscent to what I saw in 1994.
We turned around and went back to IceIsland. The boats were mostly unloaded, tied up in a small finger of a cove on the east side of the island close to where we planned to tent. Our gear was covered with tarps and we made a camp for who knows how long.
Fortunately, my first encounter with ice in 1994 had prompted me to carry an emergency camping bucket with minimal food but more importantly, a cooking kit, dishes and silverware. The sports canoe was pulled up onto the flat shelf rock next to our camp for local use during our stay on the island and the tent erected on a reasonably flat rock. Its was quite handy but very much exposed to wind and rain. Of course, we thought we wouldn't be there too long so scratching out a spot in the trees seemed unnecessary. WRONG!!
On Friday we went fishing in the CaldwellRiver inlet where we managed to lose an anchor and catch a few small Northerns. That night we called Julie to let her know our situation. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were spent mostly on the island in the tent, Jeff and Hidayat playing an Army game while Don read books. Sunday and Monday the weather was rainy and windy plus the tent showed signs of leaking and we wished we were back in the woods. Meals were cooked over a wood fire between the canoe and tent, no flat surfaces or chairs to make it civilized, very much roughing it.
On Tuesday, June 8, there was a very significant astronomical event that I had been waiting for, the transit of Venus across the Sun. This event happens only every122 years, then in 8 years then 122 years and so forth. There is much history associated with these events, including scientific expeditions to Churchill on Hudson's Bay and Captain Cook's voyages to the South Pacific both to make accurate measurements that would allow scientist to calculate an accurate distance of the sun from the earth. None of these or other expeditions were very successful from an accuracy point of view.
Transits of Venus across the disk of the Sun are among the rarest of planetary alignments. Indeed, only six such events have occurred since the invention of the telescope (1631, 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874 and 1882). The next two transits of Venus will occur on 2004 June 08 and 2012 June 06.
The principal events occurring during a transit are characterized by contacts. The event begins with contact 1 which is the instant when the planet's disk is externally tangent with the Sun. The entire disk of the Venus is first seen at contact 2 when the planet is internally tangent with the Sun. During the next several hours, Venus gradually traverses the solar disk at a relative angular rate of approximately 4 arc-min/hr. At contact 3, the planet reaches the opposite limb and is once again internally tangent with the Sun. The transit ends at contact 4 when the planet's limb is externally tangent to the Sun. Contacts I and II define the phase called ingress while contacts III and IV are known as egress. Greatest transit is the instant of minimum angular separation between Venus and the Sun as seen from Earth's geocenter.
Don got up at 4 AM for the start of the transit. He had felt luck to be able to see the event from northern Canada because it would not be seen in the lower latitudes of Colorado. Cloud cover prevented viewing the event from IceIsland too; nothing seemed to be going right.
The strong Northwest wind had pushed the ice away from the north shore, creating a narrow opening for as far as I could see. Maybe this was going to be a good day after all and we might get to the island. I was aware that a change in wind direction could close this opening rather quickly, but I decided to gamble in an attempt to see how far the lead could take me. There was no need to wake the boys so I took off in the empty 16' boat and in 25 minutes found myself approaching DancingLoonIsland. The west tip of the island was still gripped in ice, but the lead allowed me to land on the beach.
Knowing the tenuous nature of the ice situation, I immediately returned to IceIsland, telling the boys it was noon and time to get up. After they were dressed, they became aware of the very early hour but forgave Grandpa when they learned we might be able to get to the island if we hurried our departure from IceIsland and the wind direction did not change. Our luck held and we arrived at dancing LoonIsland at 8:15AM with the west tip of the island still locked in a solid sheet of ice.
The rest of the day was spent moving gear from the boats to the cabin or under the pavilion cover. The pavilion cache was opened and gear stored. Our refrigerator was transported to the cabin, fired up and filled with fresh supplies.
Jeff and Hidayat stand on the pile of logs they have just harvested and hauled to the island for construction. The next job is to peel the bark off. And carry the logs up to the cabin. Over the years, several thousand logs have made this trip.
The daily activity for the rest of the trip is shown next. It is fairly typical of the work routine we had this year.
Wednesday, June 9 we emptied the crypt, set up the water pump, moved the hot water heater from hiding, set the stool, installed all the drain plugs, broke and repaired the water filter housings, set the stool and pumped water to the 210 gallon tank on the hill. The jointer, saw and generator were set up ready for action. The weather had turned pleasant, sunny with a light breeze, a good day for working outside.
Thursday, June 10 was spent emptying crates from the crypt, setting up the kitchen and washing dishes. I instructed the boys on how to operate the 10 HP outboard engine and we retrieved the 18HP engine plus two boat seats from a mainland hiding spot. Fishing was good and we put 4 walleye into the fish box for supper. The sky was partly cloudy all day with a gentle breeze.
Friday, June 11 was overcast with a medium breeze. The day was spend straightening out the cabin and especially the mud room, organizing all the tools. The 4 wheel dolly for holding the cement bags was assembled and more water pumped. Unfortunately, the fish were missing from the fish box when we went to fillet them for supper; they escaped from a new hole in the fish box. This resulted in plan B hamburgers for supper and a new job of fixing the fish box being added to our long list of things to do next. After supper, Hidayat talked with Steve on the phone. That night it turned very cold.
Saturday, June 12 was again overcast and breezy. We emptied more crates and chests, arranged gear and assembled the solar panel mounting frame for the roof. Phone calls were made to Shirley in ClearLake and then to Betty in Boulder, getting updated on Betty’s travel plans for the summer.
Sunday June 13 was clear and calm. The 15’ canoe was retrieved from hiding and the hole in the fish box repaired with new chicken wire. Flat rocks were gathered from the shore and delivered next to the cabin. Our new solar panel was installed with its custom bracket on top the roof and the power cables hooked up to the batteries and into the cabin. Now we were electrified. The backdoor screen and hardware was installed to hopefully cut down on mosquitoes that we knew were only a few days away from coming. A new storage rack for stove tools was mounted on the back of the air tight stove.
Later in the day we went fishing at the honey hole where Hidayat managed to catch the largest walleye at 3 ¾ pounds. The wind did a 180 degree shift on us and we decided it was time to go home before a storm caught up with us. A late dinner for fish, potatoes and onion rings was enjoyed by all, our best meal yet.
Monday, June 14 was mostly clear and calm all day long. My sleep was interrupted by pain and numbness in my ankle. We tried fishing in NorthernBay and off the end of IndianIsland with night crawlers and jigs. Both spots were not very productive so we returned to the island to start repair of the saw pavilion that had collapsed over the winter. The wood scrap box was assembled and many mosquito openings around log beams were closed with foam. Fire wood was cut, split, hauled and stacked under the cabin.
Tuesday, June 15 was clear but a bit windy. We had breakfast done by 8:30 AM and were off to the mainland to cut logs for construction of the back deck. By 4:30PM we had cut and limbed 25 logs and had towed them to the beach where we hauled them up to the skinning area by the large saw horses. The weather started acting up, getting very warm at 11PM, then the temperature suddenly nose dived.
Wednesday, June 16 started out with heavy cloud cover and 33 degrees. Snow was falling by7 AM, then sleet, then the largest snow flakes I have ever seen. They were as big around as a poker chips and they floated down to the ground in the fashion of maple leaves, wafting side to side in no great rush to strike the ground. The boys were out for their morning run and seemed amused at the large round flakes dropping on their thin t-shirts. It seemed the perfect morning for a big fire and a late breakfast. The morning was spent reading by that fire. Later I trimmed the back screen door so it closed properly and got started digging the rear deck storage hiding crypt. This project was to build a hiding spot under the rear deck to hold the refrigerator, water heater and generator, all items that were currently a real “pain” to hide and retrieve. It was the biggest project of the summer, consuming many, many hours of hard work and while finished as planned, turned out to be worse than worthless. I managed to prove once again that not all my ideas turn out well. The boys got started on skinning the logs brought in yesterday.
Thursday, June 17 was mostly clear with a slight breeze. The boys worked at skinning logs all day while Don dug in the new crypt hole. Digging is not a good description of the effort; it is more a matter of pulling out rocks of sundry sizes, hoping the next rock is not bed rock. You could only dig as far as the permafrost had thawed, then you had to wait for the ice to thaw a few more inches deep. We fished the rapids with night crawlers and caught lots of walleye.
Friday, June 18 dawned clear with a brisk wind. We ventured to the mainland to cut 9 logs required to rebuild the saw pavilion. They were brought back to the island, skinned and set in the ground as post to hold up the new saw pavilion.
Saturday, June 19 started out clear and windy but turned cloudy and much calmer. You may wonder why I frequently give a weather report. When you work outside, the weather becomes much more important than what we are used to in our urban lives. Cutting trees, skinning them, digging holes fishing or boating are all done quite differently as dictated by the weather. Today we set out ant poison and sprayed under the cabin with Rod’s high powered spray. Bark was distributed on the trail. Four large logs were cut from the island, trimmed and hauled to build the pavilion frame. Work was done on building the pavilion. A large heavy tarp was hauled from under the cabin to be used as the top of the pavilion. There was a heavy rain and hail in the evening.
Sunday, June 20 was overcast, windy and occasional rain. The five large logs were skinned and nailed into place on the pavilion and the tarp installed. Now we have a sturdy, dry spot for the saw and for general storage.
Monday, June 21 was overcast, windy and cold. The boys dug the gasoline storage pit and arranged the wood slab pile. Braces were installed on the saw pavilion and guy lines secured to the tarp, now the pavilion job is completely done. At 4 PM we went fishing even though the water was quite rough. On our way, we dumped off old fish guts at bear beach then stopped at the mainland to look for our lost tape measure which was happily found waiting for us. Fishing was slow; Hidayat caught 3, Don 1 and Jeff 0. We moved three of Joseph Clark’s fishing buoys from the main channel to his camp beach to avoid a season of dodging them when going fishing.
Tuesday, June 22 was partly cloudy with sleet, snow and finally clear sky. The boys dug in the crypt hole. Don worked at moving the pavilion tarp toward the lake to cover the newly planned storage space. Boys foamed more log cracks at the cabin and then picked up the mess around the pavilion and log skinning area.
Wednesday, June 23 was overcast, spiting snow and sleet and 35 degrees. We worked on the saw, fixing a broken gas line, elevator mechanism and put on a new blade. Thirty logs were sawed and the lumber carried to the cabin.
Thursday, June 24 was overcast, windy and 35 degrees at 7:30AM. The boys continue to run laps on the trail up to the water tank and back down to the old cook shack; it is about ¼ mile round trip with 1/3 of it up hill and over very rough ground. We were off to the mainland by 9:30 to cut and limb 23 more logs. These logs will be used to make slabs for covering the inside of the cabin front walls. They were towed to the island and 10 got skinned. The day was rounded out digging in the crypt hole. That evening we had a long talk about the power of a good attitude toward getting a tough job done. They young men certainly have demonstrated the ability to tackle and finish tough jobs.
Friday, June 25 was overcast, calm and 45 degrees with the sun trying to peek through the clouds but never made it. The boys peeled logs while Don cleaned up the cabin and did some washing. Later we went fishing and it continued to be poor, which we attributed to the very high water level. We played cribbage and assembled the wood box, making a new mess in the cabin.
Saturday, June 26 was clear, calm and 48 degrees. We sawed lumber until 4 PM when we went fishing. Again the fishing was poor; we only caught 2 walleye. Tonight we had a steak dinner.
Sunday, June 27 was clear and calm all day with the temperature hitting 80 degrees in the afternoon. Where has this weather been? The slabs we have been sawing were carried to the cabin, laid out in the sun and sprayed with Clorox. The source of our ants was found to be in the kitchen/bathroom walls and they were killed with heavy spraying. We finished the day digging in the crypt hole and had an early supper.
Monday, June 28 was clear, calm and 60 degrees in the morning. After the boys ran laps and had breakfast we tried fishing in the morning. Again very poor and we were “skunked”. The rest of the day was spent sawing lumber and hauling it up to the cabin. Preparations were started for leaving the island which we did on Wednesday, June 30.
Jeff holds a full sheet of bark he carefully removed. Normally, the bark is taken off in strips and with much less deliberation. Trees will frequently be partially dead and this makes peeling almost impossible so now we check how easily the bark peels prior to cutting down the tree.
Thumbs up is a favorite pose when you are having fun.
Jeff got acquainted with the chainsaw this summer.
Jeff stands with a pick next to the gasoline storage cache the boys dug this summer. The cache will hold 8-5 gallon gas cans that I try to keep as a reserve on the island at the end of the season. The 5-gallon cans are easier to handle that the 55 gallon drum of past years.
Well, if Jeff can hide in the pit, then so can Hidayat.
Hidayat holds his large sheet of bark. Black Spruce bark can be used to construct canoes but it was never used if birch bark was available.
Hidayat got quite good at felling trees with the chain saw.
Hidayat strikes his happy pose while standing in the gasoline pit with a shovel and hard hat.
Hidayat likes to imagine himself as a great ninja warrior, except ninjas didn’t use brooms did they??
Hidayat signals his happiness with a big “thumbs up”. Would this happiness be from the pristine surroundings or the MP3 player on his lap??
Hidayat did learn to enjoy Don’s old time music. He and Jeff frequently pantomimed the songs and gave stellar performances of the like of Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.
Not to be out done, Jeff performed his own version of the old masters.
Betty and I left Boulder for Canada on Saturday, July 10. I had most of the week before leaving to pack and repack the Suburban and that resulted in the truck being loaded to the ultimate extent. We had the usual picnic lunch at the rest stop 30 miles north of Douglas, Wyoming and supper was a fast food stop in Sidney, Montana. We stayed at the only hotel in Plentywood, Montana, just 20 miles south of the Canadian border. Our crossing of the border was at this port-of-entry at Regway.
Sunday, we had a leisurely trip north through southern Saskatchewan. Our usual picnic lunch was at a roadside park north of Regina, along highway 2. The yellow rape fields were in full bloom but the blue flax fields were just starting to flower eliminated the possibility of photographing the two contrasting colored fields in bloom side by side with the distinctive demarcation line between the two fields stretching off to the horizon.
Rape seed is so hardy that no weeds grow in the fields where it is planted.
Most fields go on from horizon to horizon, with few buildings, fences or trees.
Grain elevators dot the landscape and always indicate the presence of a rail line or siding.
As you travel north, the fields increasingly are sprinkled with marshy low spots and ponds. The contrasting shades of green are striking.
Further north, fields of peas appear occasionally.
Hardy Canadian Thistles can survive only in the ditches.
The peas are in full white bloom.
There was a quick stop in LaRonge to fill up on gas, buy the groceries we had not brought with us because they had been refused entry into Canada in recent years (eggs, potatoes, beef) plus a stop at he local Subway shop for supper and a sandwich for the next day. We then pressed on to Brabant Lake and an overnight stay at cabin #5, our usual fare.
After a cold cereal breakfast, we were off by 7 AM on the final 70 mile leg of gravel road to the Wathaman River. By 8:50 AM we were at the bridge and ready to start down the 1/2 mile of 4 wheel drive "trail". This is where you really wonder if all that compact loading of your truck will allow enough ground clearance to successfully make it over all the protruding boulders you are about to crawl over. By going very slow (2 MPH), we traversed the 4-wheel trail without mishap and arrived at the clearing where the portage trail begins.
The first order of business was to retrieve the sports canoe, 10 HP outboard motor, gas cans and battery from where I had hidden them when coming out the end of the first trip in June. The 14' Lund, left at the landing was overturned and also launched in preparation for loading. Using the sports canoe and 10 HP motor, we motored down the river 2 miles to Two Mile Island where the 16' Lund and 30 HP motor had been stashed. The spare 18 HP motor was retrieved from hiding and the 16' Lund was readied for return to the landing. I tested the soil on two mile island to determine if I would be able to bury a motor storage box. Unfortunately, all I found was solid rock covered with a very thin layer of moss. The testing I had done in June was valid and not the result of permafrost as I had hoped. We were back at the landing by 11AM and we started to load up all the boats. By 12 Noon, the canoe was loaded with 8 full 25 pound LP tanks and 8- 5 gallon jugs of gasoline. This required 9 portage trips alone and had me pretty well worn-out by then. However, we had a lot of gear still tucked away in the densely packed truck.
The day had started out cloudy but became partly cloudy but without any breeze. It became very hot and I was happy to have a big, full water bottle. About mid-afternoon that bottle ran dry and I switched to Mountain Dew, but it is not nearly as thirst quenching as water. The caffeine probably kept me going. I made at least 40 round trips across the portage with increasing disgust with myself for doing such a good job of truck packing. Betty was a big help but her knee was getting sore, so she made fewer and lighter trips. The heat made it difficult for her to keep her mosquito net hat on all the time and the penalty for that was torment via the local healthy mosquito population.
The portaging continued until 5:45 PM when I moved the truck into a long-term parking spot and removed the forgotten lawn chair from the roof. The high water (about 2" below the June 29 level) allowed loading of the 14' and 16' Lund boats from Clarke's log pier and the sports canoe from the shore. This saved us a lot of time and effort and considering my poor judgment in overloading the truck, it was very welcome. We had all the tow ropes attached and the boats pointed in the proper direction and combined with the high water, and calm wind, we had a very easy departure at 6 PM. The upside down boat on the left and the two boats in the background belong to the Indians who commercially fish the lake in the Fall.
Fortunately, all the boats were properly trimmed as initially loaded and the GPS showed we were making 6.9 MPH with an ETA at Dancing Loon Island of 9:30 PM. The air temperature was delightful , cooler than at the portage and the breeze created by our movement cooled us down and eventually dried my sweat soaked clothing without creating a chill.
The first tank of gasoline (which already had been used to get us to and back from 2 mile island) ran out about 1/2 mile before reaching the halfway point and I switched to a second tank of gas, making it clear that, that tank would get us to our destination without having to retrieve a third tank left in the 14' Lund.
About 7 miles from Dancing Loon Island, the 30 HP motor suddenly stopped. It wasn't the familiar missing, coughing of a motor running out of gas. It was a new, sickening sound that instantaneously recalled previous motor problems crossing the lake and their attending difficulties.
My initial reaction was to try re-starting the engine. It started immediately, then chugged to a rapid halt just as quickly. Instinctively I looked over the transom to the propeller and there found the problem, bright blue rope wrapped around the propeller like a bunch of fish line.. It was Joseph Clarke's fish net anchor that had been lost or left on purpose, something that I had seen many times through the years.
On the first trip, we had removed two of these rigs and relocated them to the water in front of Joseph's camp. Usually, these rigs are identified with a white Styrofoam float and can thus be avoided. This time, there was no float and the loose anchor rope had floated loose and found my propeller. What a relief! This looked like a problem that can be overcome rather easily.
The motor would not tilt up because of the security lock I had put on to safeguard it while it was left unattended for 12 days behind 2 mile island at the end of trip #1. Fortunately, the truck keys with the motor lock key were in my pocket. The lock was quickly removed and the motor tilted up and locked in that position. There must have been 25 or 30 wraps of blue rope on the propeller and since the rope is at least 3/16" thick, it was much easier to remove than fish line. I pulled up the rock anchor only to find that it was attached to a second anchor rock by another long line. I normally just relocate the hazards to a neutral spot, but this time I just cut the rocks loose and kept the ropes, a small payment for the trouble they caused.
The motor started immediately and fortunately, no damage was done to the drive train by the jammed propeller. We were underway again, loosing 15 minutes with the incident. During this pause, the light west wind suddenly shifted to a south wind of 6 MPH. My initial thoughts were of the many times Mother Nature had decided to create a challenging ending to my trip across the lake with rough water or driving rain. This time it didn't happen and we reached our island at 9:40 PM.
The pier had been pushed off it's perpendicular position to the beach and was resting in a useless 45 degree angle to the beach. The 16' Lund, while stored right side up at 2 mile island was completely dry when we found it and was clear evidence that there had been no rain while I was away to Boulder, the pier now showed graphically that there had been a terrific wind during that time to move the pier this way. Betty had on her rubber knee high boots and quickly straightened out the pier so the 16' and 14' Lund boats could be landed.
By this time, the canoe had floated behind the fish box and could not be landed. The water was too deep to get to it with my knee-high boots, so I just wadded out to it anyway and redirected the canoe to the beach. Water filled my boots but actually felt rather refreshing. On shore, I removed the boots and poured out the water but before the night was over, those wet boots were a real nuisance.
Betty relaxes on our trip to Dancing Loon Island. Most items destined for the cabin were temporarily placed under the saw pavilion. Four of the LP tanks were placed on the beach and the pile of 30" x 48" siding lumber (intended for the motor storage box) placed on top to make an "off the ground" storage platform on the beach for items to be left overnight before getting them up to the cabin. Eventually, that pile of goods was covered by a new tarp and held in place with 5 gallon gas cans at the corners. By 11:30 PM things were either in the cabin, covered by a tarp on the beach or under the saw pavilion and covered with a tarp.
Betty's cot was assembled and located in the mud room with a mosquito net over it. I made my bed in the master bedroom using new sheets from home. Falling to sleep immediately was not a problem.
This is what sunset looks like at 9:45 PM. Betty's cot was assembled and located in the mud room with a mosquito net over it. I made my bed in the master bedroom using new sheets from home. Falling to sleep immediately was not a problem. It had been a hot, long 9 hour portage and I probably survived the ordeal only because of all the Mountain Dew consumed at the portage.
Next day, Tuesday, July 13, the crypt was emptied and the kitchen put back into working shape. Many items were carries up to the cabin from the beach and saw pavilion. Considering the hard day we had the day prior, we did really well. Next day, after a big breakfast of, bacon, eggs and pancakes, Betty washed the accumulated dishes and several pairs of my dirty Suphose. I spent much of the day arranging the tools in the work bench area and putting a plug on the new lantern we had brought in. I also replaced the bear-torn screen while Betty finished organizing the food to fit her methodology. That afternoon we motored to the rapids to fish for walleye. The fish were hungry, obviously through with their late spawning and eager to make up for lost feeding time. We had several doubles and the fish seemed eager to bite on anything. We quickly had 4 fish on the stringer for eating and then it was "catch and release" time.
I cleaned the fish and we had a great fish supper. Now we hade a couple fish in the refrigerator ready for the next meal. That night, Betty had a bad mosquito experience. In some mysterious way, mosquitoes got under her netting and pestered her all night long. She finally put her arm out from under her sleeping bag. hoping they would attach it rather than her head. She had many dead mosquitoes on her arm by morning but also a lot of itching bites. I had been bothered by mosquitoes during the night but not as severely.
Next day, the work priority shifted for checking for where the mosquitoes were coming from. During the first trip I thought all the little cracks and crannies had been plugged by the boys, using spray foam insulation. A few small openings were found, but no obvious breach that would account for the many mosquitoes of the previous night. It is always hard to know when the "last" hole has been plugged. In order to insure that Betty's mosquito problem was not caused by critters coming up through cracks in the floor, we moved her cot to the front room on to the large rug. We also shifted strategies and burned a bit of mosquito coil each night at bed time and that solved our problem.
The mosquito event did focus me to finish installing the trim on the mud room windows that required a lot of temporary crack plugging. Unfortunately, I could not find the miter saw. Was it stolen? That is always my first paranoid reaction, but experience has taught me that the problem is much more likely that I have hidden the lost item but am unable to recall doing it and where the hiding location is. After a couple frustrating hot hours, it came to me in a blinding flash. I had put the saw in the third trunk in the stack of trunks in the master bed room. Sure enough, there it was. How many times a week do I go through this drill? Way too many!!!
The several trips to the saw pavilion, searching for the miter saw did provide many opportunities to carry gear stored there up to the cabin, so not all that time was wasted. Man, that Suburban really does hold a lot of stuff. The four flags got raised and I mixed 12 gallons of new outboard motor gasoline. The 8 5-gallon cans of gasoline stashed in the woods a couple weeks earlier were retrieved. Our gasoline stock on the island stood at an impressive 128 gallons, but my gasoline plan showed that it would be depleted by the end of the summer.
We went fishing for Northern across the lake and Betty kept me busy removing snakes from her line. I often wonder if she enjoys this activity because of catching the fish or watching me tangle with the critters once they are in the boat. Some time was spent straightening out all the new collection of blue rope.
Next morning the lake filled with a smoky smog. The warm 80 degree weather was encouraging forest fires somewhere to the north. I installed the new hot water heater blanket recently brought from home. Several empty bags were stowed in the loft and two pads retrieved from the loft. I straightened out the clothes in my bedroom and we pumped a new supply of water into the tank. Window screen trim and staining work took up much of the day.
Saturday, July 17. The sky was filled with an orange tinted smog and the temperature continued at 80 degrees. I continued working on mudroom window trim and screen work, after which we went Northern fishing again.
Trail down to beach from cabin.
Don continues work on cache that will be under the new deck planned for the rear of the cabin.
Eventually this hole got about 12 inched deeper before hitting solid rocks that ended the digging. A trench was dug away from the hole and a drainpipe added to drain away the expected accumulation of melting water. Unfortunately, the drain outlet froze the next winter and the hole filled with water and ice, making it totally useless. A good idea that didn’t work the way it was planned.
The white ground cover is Reindeer Moss, the primary food for caribou. The green to the right is Labrador Tea, the predominant ground cover at that latitude.. The Indians women used it as a birth control medicine.
Don with walleye at the “honey hole”.
Smoke from forest fires create spectacular sunsets.
Don and Betty leave the island on July 24 and drive to LaRonge where they spend the night at the Harbour Inn. Next morning Don takes Betty to the airport and kills time waiting for Tom, Mary, Jamie, Josie and Andy Bunker to arrive for their stay at the island. Next morning they eat breakfast at the LaRonge Motel, buy some food and then continue north to Missinippi where they rent two canoes for their planned camping trip to the island. Unfortunately, bad weather pinned them down on 4 mile island for several days of playing cards. On the forth day, Don is worried about their not yet arriving at the cabin and in the morning he backtracked across the lake looking for the “lost” campers. They are found paddling away at mile 7 and it was decided a tow to the island would be in order.
We fished, had a scavenger hunt and worked on many different birch bark crafts. Tom dug in the new cache hole in the rear and helped with other jobs. We all left for the landing on August 4. Don returned alone to the island and built the storage box for the new cache. On August 12 Don went to the landing to pickup Jim and David Bunker plus Rod Ury who were planning on a 10 day stay.
Jim and David pose with a walleye at the “honey hole”.
David and Don on the way fishing.
Rod Ury and David with a northern caught at the “honey hole”.
Jim and Don show how easy it is to get a double at the “honey hole”.
David and Don are resting on a rock at the far end of the Interim Lake, waiting to be picked up in the boat by Jim and Rod. We had all hiked across the portage from the Interim Lake to Green Bush Lake.
Jim caught a nice northern.
Rod has a nice string of walleye for taking back to Nebraska.
Rod with the walleyes at the cleaning station. David, Jim and Rod left the island on August 21, when Don took them to the landing and picked up Jay and Duke Niebur.
Jay and Duke encountered the this moose (just right of the first power pole) on their way north of Brabant.
The lake end of the portage shows the water level has continues to drop and is now about normal, barely allowing boats access to the end of the log pier.
Duke and Don are ready to load up and leave for the island. The water is shallow enough to require wading out to the boats. When loaded, the boats would be grounded next to the pier.
We were graced with a rainbow as we approached Dancing Loon Islasnd.
Duke and Jay in the rear of the cabin with the newly constructed deck in front of them
Jay catches a rest at the rear of the cabin.
Duke stands where the new cache is located under the rear deck.
Duke stands on loose rear deck boards.
Jay stands where the new steps will be located.
Don and Duke work constructing the new rear deck stairs.
Duke and Don install clear plastic over the lake end of the saw pavilion storage area.
Jay and the children of Gregory Clarke standing in the crow’s nest.
Gregory Clarke and his wife wonder about the safety of their kids. Gregory declined an offer to climb to the crow’s nest.
Duke and Don are checking the shallows for minnows as Gregory and his family prepares to leave the island. When they leave the lake, they don’t return back to the landing as we do, rather they descend the Wilson Rapids into Green Bush Lake and then descend the Scott Rapids into Reilly Lake. They then enter Reindeer Lake and travel 120 miles south across very big water to their home at Southend. This is a rather adventuresome trip, especially with your family and no spare motor.
The Gregory Clarke family prepares to leave the island. In past years, Gregory had circled the island but never stopped. He had become the annual mystery visitor. This year the mystery was solves when they stopped to visit.
The Clarke’s live in Southend, about 60 air miles south of the island. Some times they boat down the Wathaman River into Reindeer Lake and then cross the lake to their home, a very long, dangerous boat trip passing down 3 rough rapids.
Duke holds a walleye he just caught that will become the evening meal.
Duke demonstrated his artistic touch with a bunch of Walleye fillets destined for the freezer and a trip home. Note the patch of skin in the fillets that is required by the Saskatchewan fishing laws for legal transport of fish. Supposedly, this is so the game wardens can determine what type of fish you are carrying.
The plaque at the mouth of the Campbell River is a good two feet above the water level.
In later years the plaque will be well under water.
About a mile up the Campbell River, as far as you can get by boat.
Jay and Duke with more Walleyes destined for Colorado. We left the island for the season on September 1.
Don and Duke are dressed for the rainy trip out at the end of the season. Normally the load is rather light going out and explains why the canoe is riding on the 14’ Lind instead of being loaded down. It is faster to carry the canoe than to tow it. Again it was a rainy trip out and we didn’t get to Brabant until after they were closed. Don would go no further down the road, after his running off the road last year in a similar late night situation. Jay and Duke managed to locate some Indian employees working in the garage and got them to open cabin #5 for us. What a welcome alternative to sleeping in the crowded truck all night. The next day, in LaRonge, Duke switched to Don’s truck for the ride back to Boulder. Jay was taking a couple days to visit his daughter Sabra and her husband David in Montana.
