First light seemed to be coming so I started the water boiling at 3:50. The rain had been absent but when I fired up the stove a brief shower returned. The snow had to be kicked away so that the tent could be rolled up. The lake was still rolling a little but the wind gave me a push the five miles down to the first portage. At the early hour of 6:30 the waves had grown to the point that I was glad to be heading into the small lakes that would lead me to Royd Lake.

About 10:00 a 400 meter portage put me on the shore of a very picturesque little lake. The lake is so small that if I don’t pause here I will miss it. Across the short span of water the shore is lichen covered rock with a sparse covering of Jack Pine.

At noon I had a desire for some fish and hashbrowns. I put up my tent fly to have a shelter from the light rain that was returning. I threw a rapalla out from shore but did not get any action so I put my old reliable back on. Yes, that would be the red and white Dardevle. The third cast went to an area just below a 50 foot wall of rock.

The retrieve had just begun when it came up against something solid. It seemed to be moving so I set the hook a few times. The drag would squeal but nothing gave from the other end. The fish then went straight down pulling line off the reel. I knew it was a big fish and thought of Lake Trout with the way it dove. In about five minutes I got it up and caught sight of what I thought was a big trout, from the broadness of the body in the dark waters.

There were more dives and runs before it finally came to the surface. Once it broke the surface I could see that it was a huge Northern. This was followed by more dives and runs. I knew I would be releasing it but it had to be landed first. After what seemed like twenty minutes I was able to cradle it in both arms and lay it on the wet moss for a picture and a measurement. I put the tape at his tail and laid it out going forward but the 36 inch tape ran out at the gills. Pulling the tape up to that point and going again gave me a total of 42 inches. I set him back in the water and worked him back and forth until he was strong enough to break free from my grasp and glide back to his dark kingdom.

I tried to catch a fish more sized for my frying pan but to no avail. A trip to the end of the rapids did not produce either. After having all that fish I ended up having Mac and Cheese for lunch. The rain had turned to a hard drizzle and with temperatures around 40 degrees I kept dry by staying under my rain fly. I wanted to get some more miles in but the rain continued all afternoon. During one of its pauses I was able to get the tent up and everything inside. It was a beautiful spot with that big rock face across the water and the rapids right along side. With the tent up I crawled into the warm bag and dozed off for a nap. When I awoke the rain had stopped for a while so I tried more fishing. When the mist returned I went back to the tent and fixed my supper under my little annex.

Tomorrow I have to move on whether it is raining or not. I had planned on taking extra time at Royd Lake to look for caribou but now that time has been used up. I need to maintain a pace of 13 miles a day to put me back on Onnie Lake the last night. Today I had traveled nine miles with 1455 meters of portage.

Thursday May 24

The birds were calling by 3:30 AM and I took that as a good omen. The mist was still hanging in the air when I pushed off at 5:15. The early morning was spent leisurely traveling through a string of long narrow lakes with moderately high rock walls. An area so nice that I know it will be included in a future trip. The sun spent the morning trying to burn through the mist but did not win the battle until near noon.

As I entered the north end of Royd Lake the skies were blue and the sun was hot. I stopped at the first sunny rock and took a bath, did laundry and laid my wet gear out to dry. Sitting here now in the baking sun it is hard to believe that yesterday I was walking on snow in the portages.

I need to pack up now and let the north breeze push me down through the islands of Royd Lake. The bugs are out with the warm sun so a breezy campsite will be a requirement. My stomach is still waiting for another fish fry so I will troll my lures as I go. The fishing has been unproductive but the scenic nature of the lake has made up for it. I am able to move along with little effort thanks to the wind. I looked hard for caribou as I drifted along but none were spotted. There were two men fishing from a canoe and I talked to them briefly before continuing my search for a good campsite. I settled for a spot in a shallow bay that had a great view but was a little short in the bug dispersing wind department. The sky is full of big fluffy clouds. I had another fishless supper and was half way through dessert when a brief shower forced me into the tent. After it had passed I took my pad outside and prepared sit back and finish my tea and Jello No Bake cookies and creme pie. That is when I noticed a 36 inch northern lying in the shallow water next to my campsite. I took a picture of it but did not get out a lure. Remember, I only fish to have an occasional fish fry and this fish was too big to keep.

Today I traveled 14 miles which keeps me ahead of schedule. Late tomorrow I will be entering a stretch of long portages and would like to get a few of them done to lighten the load the next day. There is a ten mile stretch that has four and a half miles of portage. My packs have lightened up a lot but it will still be challenging.

Friday May 25

A beautiful clear morning greeted me as I pushed off from shore. The sun was just peeking over the top of the trees in the east. A little later start than most mornings but the weather seems stable and Gammon Lake’s nine miles of open water should be completed before the wind gets too bad. I stopped and talked to Robert, one of the fishermen from yesterday, and was surprised to learn that one of their party of four was the man who’s story of a 30 day solo trip I had read on the Internet. They had flown in from Bisset and had a ten day trip of 110 miles back to there.

There was no tail wind to push me east on Gammon Lake and before long I was fighting my way into a stiff headwind. I pressed on hard so as not to get pinned on the big lake. When I arrived at the 30 meter portage into Upper Gammon Lake I stopped and took a nice break. There was a really nice falls/rapid there and a good spot to fish. I had a few get away before heading on. Above Upper Gammon Lake I traveled up a nice river and entered a small lake. The stream that I traveled east on from the lake really had a strong current and a lot of turns. It was such slow going that I finally had to get out my GPS and compare the UTM coordinates that it gave me to the topo map that I had brought along. It showed me that I still had not gone far enough to pick up the other stream that I had to travel. The intersection of those two streams had been put into the GPS before I left home so I just mounted the GPS in its bracket on the thwart and paddled on until it showed me at that spot. As I turned the corner my stream was coming in right there. It was a brush choked channel heading in the right direction but thanks to the GPS I knew that it was what I wanted. There was supposed to be portage around the first section but with the high water it would have been impossible to travel if I had spotted its start. Instead I forced my way up the winding and brushy creek. The current was so fast that the only way I could get around the corners was to paddle hard and bury the nose of my canoe in the marsh grass across the corner and then let the current push the rear of the canoe downstream to get me headed straight again. By watching the GPS moving map I was able to watch my progress going east. When it showed that I was past the end of the portage I had missed things did not improve at all. I had missed the 400 meter portage and was not going to miss the 600 meter portage that would take me out to the next lake and out of this mess. I forced my way on to the area below a rapids. After I put ashore I marked my position on the GPS to guarantee that no matter what it would lead me back to this spot. As I stepped through some brush I came upon the portage trail. I shouldered my pack and headed for the lake only to find the portage took me only around the rapids and back to the creek. Paddling down the creek again I spotted a blaze mark on a tree and a portage trail heading up a hill. This portage took me out to where the stream entered the lake. I do not know if I missed the real 600 meter portage or if the map was in error. I did know that I had spent a grueling three hours traveling one mile as the crow flies.

My day continued after some much needed rest and nourishment on a sunny rock in the lake preceding the 1000 meter portage. I had some Mac and Cheese to recharge my system and filtered quite a bit of water to mix with my Crystal Lite. The 1000 meter portage went through a burned area but by paying close attention I never got off the trail. That concerned me as I found myself returning for my second load and realized that I had no compass on my person. I wear one pinned to my life vest so I can always align my map properly but that was left at the end of the portage.

My camp for the night was on Prarrie Lake. A very flat area around the lake and recently burned. It is rather pretty because of its starkness. After setting up the tent and having some chocolate and more fluids I was recharged enough to try for a fish. My supper was Chili Mac and that gives you the fishing report The evening was beautiful and for the first time on the trip I stayed up past sundown. As I was preparing to go to bed I noticed clouds of mosquitos hanging in the air about 12 feet above the ground. Up in the air further the clouds looked green and ugly to the north. I got out some rope and tied my tent down securely and went to bed. The storm hit shortly after and started out mean but soon mellowed into a hard shower.