July 13 (Sun) Steve, Betty and Don leave Boulder for Canada, stopping at night in Plentywood and Brabant along the way. We had nice weather for the portage and trip to the island on July 15 (Tuesday).
July 20 (Sunday) Betty and Steve clean/arrange cabin while Don boats to the landing to pickup Scott Bunker and Pat Doyle and Jimmy Buck.
Click on large photo to view first photo of 2008.2 which allows you to then click through all the photos or scroll through Thumbnails and click on small Thumbnail to go directly to the full sized version of that photo.
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Canola blooming in Saskatchewan.
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Wathaman Lake looking west from the Wathaman River bridge.
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Wathaman River looking east down river from the Wathaman River bridge.
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Betty and Don
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Steve carries supplies across the portage to the Spalding Lake landing. There must be a few mosquitoes in the air.
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Steve takes a brief break at the landing. Both the boat and canoe will get filled to the gunnels before the portaging is over.
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Steve at the landing. The water level is such that these conditions are as good as possible for loading. Lower water levels can make loading boats much more difficult (stuck on rocks) as does higher water levels (that flood the portage trails).
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Dancing Loon Island beach. There was a lot of rain in the area when Don was gone to Boulder.
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Steve got wet going down to the beach.
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Don rest in the snug cabin while it rains.
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Betty has a good book to read also.
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Don and Betty play cribbage and it appears Betty is winning big time.
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We encountered this mink swimming while motoring to the “Honey Hole” for some fishing.
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Mink are very strong swimmers. We occasionally observe mink diving into the water and returning with fish.
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Steve concentrates on his fishing.
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Betty is an excellent fisherman; a testimony to the training she received as a young girl from her father and grandfather.
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Steve snags a northern from our Walleye hole.
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Don gets into the act too. Note the small can on the seat next to Don. It contains cut-bait harvested from Walleye stomach.
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Don needs a shave, which is a pretty normal condition when he is in Canada.
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Young eagles in their nest on Eagle Island.
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Ground vegetation covers much of the forest floor on the island. It is especially diverse and dense on the island because there has been no fire there for over 200 years.
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Betty and Don check out a beach a couple miles west of the “Honey Hole” where an old structure was discovered several years ago.
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Betty and Steve at the same beach.
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A typical sunset from Dancing Loon Island, looking north, where the sun sets at this far north latitude.
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Inside the cabin great room.
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Stone wall in cabin.
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Betty in the kitchen.
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Mudroom workbench and storage.
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Electronics table for use of satellite internet, including Skype phone service.
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Loft
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Stone wall
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Master bedroom sleeping area with mosquito net.
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Master bedroom with Betty’s cot.
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Rear deck before a permanent roof structure. This semi-permanent tarp was used for several years and proved how convenient the rear deck work area would be.
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South deck with solar panels, looking toward the front deck.
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South deck with battery rack and thickness planer storage looking rear deck.
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South deck looking to the rear deck.