Pay Doyle’s Toyota 4-Runner on the gravel road north of LaRonge. Pat Doyle, Jimmy Buck and Scott Bunker were high school buddies (also had a band and still get together to jam several times a year) and have come to Canada several times
Scott on the Wathaman River bridge looking west at Wathaman Lake.
Pat on the Wathaman River bridge.
Wathaman River looking downstream from the Wathaman River bridge.
Wathaman Lake as seen looking west from the Wathaman River bridge.
Don starts to load the boats for the trip to Dancing Loon Island.
Jimmy and Pat at the landing as Don adjust a boat seat.
Portage trail in a dry condition. When wet, waterproof boots are a necessity.
Pat and Jimmy load the boats with gear.
Canoe loaded and ready to get underway. Normally heavy items like cans of gasoline and LP bottles are loaded in the rear of the canoe in order to get it to tow correctly.
Don working the boat to get underway. Note the motor in an “up” position because of shallow water. If the wind is blowing hard toward the landing, getting into deep water can be a real challenge, especially with several boats in tow.
Nice to look at but a pain if you must go through them because they get tangled in the propeller and make it ineffective. This require tilting the motor and manually removing all the tangled vegetation.
The Indians frequently block the end of the portage trail with their boats and moving them can be a real pain.
Don, leaving Spalding Lake landing.
Don is now comfortably underway.
Don and Jimmy on the way to the island.
A mirror surface makes the trip to the island a sheer pleasure.
Don is passing the seven mile narrows. The dark spot on the shore edge (left of Don’s hat) is the remains of an Indian duck blind.
Pat and Jimmy enjoy the trip across the lake.
Pat with Dancing Loon Island in the distance.
Jimmy with a Walleye caught at the “Honey Hole”.
Scott pulls out his fish by gripping on the jig bait, much easier than landing a Northern.
Scott is happy with his Walleye.
Scott holding a stringer full of supper.
Don and Scott with the “Honey Hole” in the background.
This is a merganser duck that nest near the cabin and is a frequent visitor, often landing on widow sills and pecking on the window.
A patch of Reindeer Moss. Primary food for reindeers.
Peeled logs in front of the cabin. These were used to construct a roof over the rear deck.
Resting rock along the trail to the cabin.
A May fly that hatch during a week or so and who end up floating on the lake, triggering white fish to rise to the surface and eat them.
Sand beach at the island.
Privy near the waterfront beach. The white container holds lime for control of odor from the open pit.
Sphagnum moss found in abundance on the forest floor. A footprint would probably be 12 inches deep, so it it quite fragile.
The band saw resides permanently under this green tarp.
Interesting “moss” hanging from the trees
Pat with an eating size Walleye at the “Honey Hole”.
Pat with a stringer of Walleyes.
Jimmy is happy with the stringer of Walleyes.
Jimmy and Pat with Walleyes.
From the Crow’s Nest a view of the lake looking back toward the landing 26 miles away. The horizon is 8 miles away.
Pat enjoys the Crow’s Nest.
From the Crow’s Nest looking at the sun set over the north shore.
From the Crow’s Nest a view of the lake looking back toward the landing 26 miles away. The horizon is 8 miles away.
Steve runs the 10 HP on the canoe, a tricky maneuver.
Steve displays his newly caught Walleye.
Steve removes his lure using a “Brontosaurus” gadget, as we call it.
Scott displays his Walleye.
Steve caught another Northern.
This is a big Northern alongside the boat. Getting a big fish like this into the boat is the hardest task in catching this kind of fish. All types of accidents can happen if the correct process is not followed.
Scott and Steve did a good job getting this fish safely into the canoe. Fishing from a canoe make the whole process even more hazardous.
Now Scott has another Walleye.
Scott shows off his “Golden Brown” pancake, the preferred breakfast.
Steve prepares the boats for the pending storm. Batteries and gas cans need to be placed on a seat in case the boat gets flooded by rain. A submerged battery is usually ruined for good and is not easily replaced.
Jimmy points to where the storm is coming from as Pat and Scott look on.
The lake starts to respond to the increasing wind.
The wall cloud approaches.
Betty points to the storm clouds.
Pat takes down the flags to save them from unnecessary wear and tear from the anticipated high wind.
While walking along the trail Betty, was struck on the arm by a tree blown down by the wind. No broken bones, she is a tough lady.
Don struggles getting down the Colorado State flag.
Jimmy watches the clouds.
Clouds rolling across the sky.
Jimmy, Don, Betty and Pat on the deck watching the cloud display.
Steve and Betty wonder why we didn’t get any rain out of all those clouds.
Don with a small “snake”.
Jimmy and a small Northern caught in Northern Bay.
Scott has a fish on while Steve watches on.
Steve motors the canoe into Northern Bay entrance channel.
Steve seems to know where the Walleyes are located.
This Walleye has a scar from a prior encounter with a larger fish, undoubtedly a Northern Pike.
Canoe parked in Northern Bay.
Mirror calm water at sunset.
Scott and Pat taking advantage of the calm water for a canoe trip around the island.
Sun set from the “Crows Net”.
From the Crow’s Nest a view of the lake looking back toward the landing, 26 miles over the horizon (which was 8 miles away).
Sunset streaks from the “Crows Nest”.
Steve back fishing in Northern Bay.
Scott with his MONSTER Northern.
Steve reels in a Northern.
Steve is quite good at running the canoe with an oversized 10 HP motor, definitely not recommended for a novice boater.
Scott helps Pat with his Northern caught off Indian Island.
Jimmy caught a Northern in Northern Bay.
Jimmy holds a sapling he plans to make into a fishing pole, just to see if he can do it.
Jimmy holds his future home-made fishing pole as he stands on rock in Northern Bay.
Don seems happy resting in the cabin. He got a little too much sun fishing today.
A mink fishing at the “Honey Hole”. They occasionally dive into the deep channel there and return with a Walleye. We once saw a mink with a fish newly caught get into a fight with another mink trying to take it from him.
Back at the landing, Pat holds the stringer of Walleye caught for dinner. Normally, one small fish per person is adequate but some guest eat considerably more. Dick Berreth once watched his uncle eat 8 Walleye.
Steve on the Campbell River as far upstream as you can go with a boat.
It is a very pretty spot, but not good fishing so far.
Steve with a Northern at the mouth of the Campbell River, a spot we often fish.
Jimmy is working on his custom made fishing pole. Note the reel, which was made from a discarded fishing line spool.
Jimmy doesn’t slow down his fish pole work, except for the pending supper.
Betty is cooking a late supper. Note the time on the clock.
All the boats are ready for fishing.
Trail from beach toward cabin.
Trail a bit further on. There is a fork in the trail just beyond this picture.
Next segment of trail to cabin.
Next segment of trail to cabin. Resting rock is on the left.
Last section of trail to cabin.
Jimmy catches a Northern with his home made fishing pole. Is this a testimony to his ingenuity or the abundance of fish? Probably both.
Scott and Steve fishing from the canoe in Northern Bay.
Jimmy trolls with his home made gear while Don stays traditional.
Jimmy gets another Northern.
Steve has a fish on as Scott watches.
Jimmy and Scott motoring in the Campbell River.
Pat resting while boating on the Campbell River.
Jimmy while motoring on the Campbell River.
Don while motoring on the Campbell River.
Queen Anne’s Lace grows along the sheltered shallows everywhere. It is a very beautiful flower, especially from close up. It is quite intricate in its design, not at all shown in this photo.
Rare high ground along the Campbell River. Most of the shore along this river is swampy for 50 yards or more on both sides, making travel on foot nearly impossible.
More Campbell River scenery.
Many water lilies grow in the river.
Satellite dish (for Internet) on the front deck. Solar cells charge the cabin batteries to power lights and electronics.
Cooler shed, a catch-all storage area. The rope is attached to a trap door that swings up to reveal our auxiliary cold storage. Full water bottles freeze over the winter and stay frozen into August, making a good place to refrigerate extra food like eggs, bacon, butter etc. It isn’t as handy as the refrigerators we now have in the cabin, but” back in the day” it was all we had, and was considered a real luxury.
A-frame entrance to the island from the landing beach.
Back porch awning. For several years at the closing of the cabin it would be rolled up and left hanging down the rear cabin wall. It really demonstrated how nice it would be to have a permanent deck covering.
The “chopping block” that was finished “too nice” to use for wood chopping is now a rather heavy book stand.
From the “Crow’s Nest” looking down the ladder to the forest floor.
Some type of white fungus growing up through the sphagnum moss.
Black Spruce cones. Squirrels eat these cones as evidenced by small piles of the cone “leaves” found throughout the forest floor on rocks and fallen trees
North shore as seen from the “Welcome Sign”.
Typical forest floor that has not been burned for 100s of years.
Rocks are normally covered with lichen. Rock Tripe lichen is edible but is this Rock Tripe??
Steve is on the hunt for his next shot.
Pretty greens of an unknown variety.
Scott surrounded by Labrador Tea.
Smile, Steve is taking your picture.
Something has altered this area of the forest floor. Could it be an old tent site? Not by us.
North Island (directly north of Dancing Loon Island) as seen from the “Crow’s Nest”.
Scott aims at a bug with his deadly spring powered pistol. Kids of all ages find it fun.
The sun setting through smoky clouds.
A little smoke in the air produces these bright red/orange colors.
It is hard not to take many pictures of this strange colored sun.
Another picture of the colored sun.
Last photo of the colored sun.
Steve, Scott and Jimmy going fishing again.
Scott with some smoke in the air.
Island north of Eagle Island that was camped on in 1991.
One eagle seems to be missing. (This photo is out of sequence)
Eagle parent keeps watch as we approach the eagle nest.
Eagle nest with Jimmy, Pat and Steve.
Looking west from south side of Eagle Island.
Loons are found all over the lake, usually in pairs.
Water lily flower which resembles a tulip when out of the water.
Jimmy, Pat and Steve leaving Eagle Island.
Scott in the loft with his favorite pillow.
