Friday May 21, 2010
I had a good nights rest and in the morning I woke up and began fidgeting with gear again. Jim Rowan came out to the back end of the parking lot, away from the cars, and set up a camp stove for cooking hot water for coffee. On the walkway of the bunkhouse, Tom had set out some granola bars, fruit, breakfast cereal and powdered milk. We were having a cold breakfast.
I had mentioned to Jeff that I was still agonizing over gear. He said that I was in the Bounday Waters now, and that I shouldn’t be agonizing over anything. I said that the moment I wouldn’t be agonizing over gear would be the moment when we are in the canoes paddling away from the canoe launch. He smiled. I ate some granola bars and some bananas and went back to the van for one last look at the gear. I had the disadvantage that my gear had to last me up to a week, where everybody else only needed gear for the weekend. If they made a gear mistake it would only hurt them for a couple days.
After we got done with breakfast, Tom had us all head down the hill to pick up the Trail Crew Gear. We went down to the Summer Help apartment, where the Forest Service had left the gear. Actually, I’m not sure who brought the gear to that location. Everyone needed a hard hat, paddle and a life jacket. Then Tom started sorting through the Bow Saws, Cross Cut Saws, Lopers and Scythes. Evidently, there was another Trail Crew that would be using part of the gear. And sure enough, the other Trail Crew arrived. It was the Al Ringer Trail Crew of 4 people who were going to be working around Topper Lake.
At any rate, while all this was going on I snuck down to the Rockwood Lodge and bought a tall metal mug. It had come to my attention during breakfast that I had nothing to drink from. So, I talked with Lynn some more, and then scampered back to haul trail gear up the hill. Tom had seemed to be preoccupied with the other Trail Crew. Finally, Tom made it back to the bunkhouses. I got my camera mounted on my hiking stick, and we did a timed photo of the trail crew, so I could be in the picture. Then we were off.
We drove down the Gunflint Trail for a couple miles, then turned down a gravel road. I’m glad Tom was leading the caravan, because it seemed like a labrynth of roads going to the West Bearskin Lake boat landing. We final made it to the boat landing and everyone was pulling out gear from there cars, But Tom said we needed 8 people with paddles and life jackets to walk down to Camp Menogyn and get the canoes. It wasn’t a very long walk, maybe 200 yards. In the emails previous to the trip, it made it sound like we were getting the canoes from a private launch at the Camp. But the Canoes were stashed in some thick woods next to the shoreline, I would hardly call it a launch. In fact, Walli and I were having trouble getting our canoe maneuvered in the trees to the shore. It took some extra gymnastics.
On the walk down to Menogyn, Walli and I decided to be boat partners. She is an experienced kayaker, and I haven’t been canoeing seriously for several years. So I let her take the back end of the canoe where the steering is done. We canoed back to the real canoe launch and started packing up. Walli and I were packed up fairly fast, We took our own personal gear along with some Duluth Packs of Trail Crew Gear and also some Trail Crew Equipment. We headed out on the lake, just to get away from all the activity at the launch. But we lurked around the launch just in case we needed to haul some more gear.
Soon it was decided that the remaining boats could handle all the rest of the gear. Plus, Illona would be riding in the middle of one of the canoes, because we had a odd number of people. Tom and Jeff were leading the way to the portage, Walli and I followed, and the other two boats were a ways back. We canoed past a penisula and into the most western bay of the lake.
As reached the portage, we immediately began to unload everything out of the canoe. Then other two canoes made it to the portage, and we started carrying gear to the next lake, which is Duncan Lake. Walli and I carried the canoe for a ways, then I decided that I could handle the canoe all by myself. The canoes were made of Kevlar, so they are not as heavy as other canoes. Maybe it was 60 to 70 lbs. There was a hill in the middle of the portage, but it wasn’t very steep. I just concentrated on looking for obstacles on the trail, such as rocks and tree roots, so I wouldn’t stumble and fall. I made it over to the Duncan Lake landing without any bad incidents. Then I headed back for some more gear.
The portage was about 4 or 5 football fields long, and I noticed a trail intersection with the portage. Later on, after I looked at the map at the campsite, I realized that it was actually the Cariboo Rock Trail that intersects the portage. The Trail didn’t looked very wide. But it did look like a trail, rather than an animal path.
We all got packed up and headed out on Duncan Lake. The plan was to cross the lake and camp at the middle campsite of the 3 campsites on the western side of Duncan Lake. The northern most campsite on the western side of Duncan Lake, was deemed to be too small for a trail crew of 9 people. That would be the Campsite closest to Stairway Falls and Stairway Portage. Tom and Jeff were leading the way, and they made it over to the campsite to find that it was full. Walli and I stopped paddling, and decided to wait to see if a campsite could be found. Tom and Jeff checked out the southern campsite on the Western side of Duncan Lake, and it was full, too. I thought that we might have to pile into the campsite that was deemed too small. But then Tom pointed his paddle to a campsite on the eastern side of the lake, and we started paddling towards it. Walli wanted us to paddle over to a campsite that looked nice on the South side of the lake, But another canoe had make it to the campsite that Tom was pointing at and it was open. So we had found our campsite. We did a lot of extra paddling considering the campsite we eventually settled at was the campsite closest to the portage.
It’s a nice big campsite, with plenty of spots for tents. The women, Illona and Walli decided they would share a tent, But everyone else had their own tent. I set up my tent at a fairly bumpy spot just up from the water. The Campsite was on a little peninsula, with a little swampy bay to the south. Everyone had set up their tents, two of which were actually hammocks. I hung up my two bear bags away from the campsite down near the little bay to the south of the campsite.
Then Tom said that we should eat lunch, before we head out to do trail crew work. It was getting to be around 11 or so, and it sounded like a good idea. So we ate lunch, but I can’t remember what it was. Maybe it was sandwiches using lunchmeat. At any rate, we finished lunch, and I got my daypack ready, with my water bottle, work boots, snacks, and some other items. Walli and I were intentionally the first canoe off to the Stairway Portage.
Walli wanted to stop and check out the northern campsite that was deemed too small for our trail crew. It was on the way as we headed for the Stairway portage. So we paddled north and the lake starts getting more narrow. But it still pretty wide at the northern campsite where we stopped. I did think it was too small for our trail crew, with only two tent pad areas, but Walli seemed to think we could have fit in there, especially since two people had hammocks. But it was a moot point now, because we were all set up at the other site.
Then we head down the northern stretch of the lake where it is really narrow. I had a hard time seeing the landing, but when we got near the end of the lake, there it was to the left. So we all piled in at the landing, and hauled our canoes onto the shore. There was this nice rock that was around 10 feet long and 2 feet high, which made the perfect spot to change into work boots.
After we all had changed into work boots, Tom gathered us together and talked to us on how he wanted the trail cleared. He wanted it cleared 6 feet wide to meet National Trail Standards. He also talked about the tools and the best way to use them..
Then we started hiking. We hiked down the portage, then turned right onto the Border Route and crossed the bridge just above Stairway Falls, After the bridge is the rocky area where I put my gear last year. Then you start heading up a hill, where a gigantic pine tree has fallen. But the tree is still alive because the top of it is still green. Nevertheless, it is a sad sight to see such a majestic tree that has fallen.
Up we hiked until we found a fantastic overlook of Rose Lake. Some of us stopped to take photos while others continued on. I took photos of Walli and Illona, and Walli did a shot of me holding up my lopers. We headed on, and soon Walli remembered that see forgot her lopers back at the overlook, so she went back for them.
Soon I caught up to the rest of the trail crew, and we were heading up a big ascent. It was painful. The Trail was thickety in parts, and we were wondering why we couldn’t just start clearing right there. But Tom said we needed to start where the other Trail Crew from Rose Lake had previously left off. So we kept going up, and it was really tiring.
We had past over several deadfalls and had also went by the Notch Log, when Tom stopped and told the Cross Cut Crew of Jeff and Jim that they could start cross cutting the deadfalls. The Notch Log was a deadfall that was too big to be cut, so a previous Trail Crew had just cut a notch in it, to make it easier to get across. Around the Notch Log the trail was flat for a ways, then there was a big uphill section. After that there were a couple small uphill sections, then we reached the spot where the other Trail Crew had stopped. After we reached that point I walked back a ways on the trail and started working on what I call the Z section. It’s a little uphill spot where there is a rock face. You hike to the left to get to the top of the rock face, then once on top you turn right and hike along the rock face, then take a sharp left away from the rock face.
I was working with a lopers and a small bow saw. I thought we should spread out, so that’s why I walked back a ways. I remember that Walli was working on the trail a ways up from me, and Paul was working on the trail a ways down from me. I cleared the area on top of the rock face, then headed down and cleared on the way. Soon I was down next to the rock face.
It took me a while to get the hang of using the lopers. The lopers worked on trees that were two inches wide or less. If it was a bigger tree, the loppers wouldn’t make it through, and you’d have to try making another cut on it. I found the lopers pretty labor intensive. You had to open up the lopers all the way, try to find the base of the tree, then push the handles back together. The handles were about two feet long. I found out that the best way to use the lopers was to kneel on the ground. That way it was easier to find the base of the trees. I would basically knee down and cut several trees in an area, then I would stand up and throw the trees off the trail. I would leave the trees that were bigger than 2 inches, then I would come back with the bow saw and cut them.
I was working on my section of the trail for over an hour. Eventually, Tom Suter, Illona, Dick, and Martin, who had been working on the farthest section of the trail up from me, past me by and started working on the trail somewhere down from me. The only person that was up the trail from me was Walli. Soon, I reached the point where Paul had cleared the Trail. So, it was time for me to move down the trail. Walli was moving down the trail, too. At this point she seemed to take on the role of clean up person. She would clean up stuff that other people had missed.
We all kept working on the trail, but it was a fairly hot day for May in the Boundary Waters. I was getting to the point where I felt a little dehydrated. I had brought only one liter of water in my nalgene bottle, plus I had eaten my snacks. At about 2 pm in the afternoon, I asked Tom Suter if anybody had brought a Water Filter. He said that he did.
I said that I had run out of water, and if it was alright that I went down to Stairway Falls and fill up everyone’s water bottle. He said that would be alright. So I collected 5 or 6 water bottles and headed down the hill.
Tom had told me to ask the Cross Cut Crew of Jeff and Jim to come up the hill because there was a bunch of stuff up here to cross cut. Well, I started down the hill. I kept going and going. I didn’t see the cross cut crew anywhere. I seen where they had done some work, but I didn’t see them.. Finally I made it down to the overlook which is an eight mile above Stairway Falls and Jeff was sprawled out upon the overlook resting and Jim was sitting on a log with his shirt off looking rather beat. I told them that Tom had wanted them to go to the top for some cross cut work. But Jeff said they would do it the first thing in the morning.
I gathered their water bottles and headed for Stairway Falls. I got down there rather quickly after the overlook. There is a nice little section of rocky rapids right below the trail bridge and right above the falls. It seemed like the perfect spot for filling water bottles. So I sat on a rock next to the rapids and started pumping. It took me quite a while to fill up my nalgene water bottle. That’s because I kept drinking it. I must have drank at least a full liter, and I decided I better start filling up other people’s water bottles. So, I started working on them.
While I was pumping, two young men, I think there names were Shawn and Brandon, came up to the rock ledge on the other side of the rapids. I chatted with them, took their photo and told them about my website. Since they were on the other side of the rapids, up on a ledge, I wasn’t able to give them one of my cards.
Also, when I was pumping, I saw that Jeff and Jim had made it down near the Falls and was working on a downed tree. Water pumping seemed to be going fairly slow, and I wanted to start hiking back to the top so those crew members could have water. So, I decided not to fill Jeff’s and Jim’s Water Bottles, and started up the hill. I went over and told them that I really needed to start hiking back up, and I was wondering if they could fill their own water bottles. They agreed, so I left them the water filter, and I was off.
Again, I would be challenged by the uphill sections going up from Stairway Falls. Luckily, I was freshly re-hydrated, or else I would have had a much worse time of it. Finally, I had made it up to where I met some crew members. The said that we were stopping for the day. It was right before a big uphill stretch, so I was glad that I didn’t have to walk up it. At the top of the big uphill stretch, Tom was stashing a bunch of tools in a big clear plastic bag. It was no use hauling them down, just to haul them back up in the morning.
I gave everybody back there filled water bottle, and I felt kinda bad because I made it there right when we were quitting. But, Dick said he really needed the water. So I felt good that I made the trip. I was also glad that the Cross Cut Crew had not come up the hill with me, just to find out that we were shutting down for the day. We headed back down the trail. Some of the lower areas seemed more thickety than what we were working on up above. Instead of small trees, there was some type of long stemmed brushy plants, In some spots they had taken over the trail.
We headed down past Stairway Fall and traveled on Stairway portage back to the Duncan Lake landing. Several people sat on the rock at the landing to change into there boating shoes. And soon, we were off. Walli and I were taking it easy paddling. We were just trying to rest and enjoy the ride. Soon the other 3 boats were way out in front of us by around 2 or 3 football fields, but we didn’t care. There was really no rush to get back. We just leisurely paddled. On the way back, I came up with a new plan for my backpacking trip. I had asked Walli if she thought we would do any Trail Crew work on Sunday Morning. She thought the Trail Crew would just be heading out, and there would be no trail crew work.
In that case, then why should I make someone paddle me back to Stairway Portage on Sunday morning, and why should I have to walk up that big bluff east of Stairway Falls on Sunday morning. What I could do is take my backpacking gear with me on Saturday, then when Tom says that we are finished for the day, I’ll change into my backpacking clothes and start hiking east towards the Rose Lake campsites, and the Trail Crew will head west towards Stairway Falls and go back to their campsite on Duncan Lake. I figured this plan may save everyone a little pain.
When we got back to the campsite, Jeff had taken of his shirt and shoes and was headed into the lake for a swim. He went in the water and the two ladies, Illona and Walli also went swimming. Martin took a dip over in the little cove to the south of the campsite.
I wanted to take a dip, but I didn’t have any shorts. So after Jeff, Illona and Walli had cleared out of the area, I decided to take a dip in my underwear. They were the extended brief type underwear, so they kinda look like swimming trunks anyway. I walked in to about waist deep water, and it was really cold. I really didn’t want to go all the way into the water, but I splashed some water onto my upper body. At one point, I almost fell when stepping on slippery rock, so my body would have been dunked in then, but I managed to stay upright. The whole bottom of the lake is covered with bread box sized rocks.
After my swim, everyone was lounging around the campsite. Several people were sitting around the campfire area, and they had started a small campfire. Again, this campsite had the usual forest service cast iron grate, which I always like to dry my boots and socks on. But, that wouldn’t be needed today, my boots were perfectly dry.
Tom had brought up a bucket of water from the lake and set it next to a log at the campfire area, and he was pumping water from it using a water filter. Meanwhile, Jeff had a different water purification system. It had a bag that you fill up with water from the lake, then you hang the bag from a tree and the water goes down a hose through a water filter. It is gravity fed with no pumping. This bag system suddenly got real popular with the crew members. I explained to Jeff that I was using the Aqua Pills for my backpacking trip, but now the Aqua Pills say that they take 4 hours to completely purify the water. Jeff was a little concerned, especially with all the heat. We discussed perhaps me using his water bag system for my backpacking trip.
Tom started getting the cooking area ready. He had a two burner stove, which he had set on the ground, a large pot which he would be cooking some chicken breasts in. He started cooking, and everyone else was relaxing around the fire. I think Illona got some French Bread rounded up, and we started cooking it on the wood coals in the fire place. Meanwhile, Martin had set up two boxes of wine, so people could have an after dinner drink. I pumped up all my platypus bags full of water, and also my nalgene bottle using the pump that Tom had previously been using with the bucket of water.
After I finished filling my water containers, I went over to my tent and grabbed my voice recorder. I wanted to do a profile of every person on the Trail Crew for my website. So I asked everyone to say stuff about themselves into the Voice Recorder. Some of the Stuff they could say is where they are from. who their family members are, what school did they attend and what job they have. We had quite a diverse group of people. Dick is a newly retired IT specialist for an airline, Paul is a financial advisor, Walli is a paralegal and Illona is a silversmith. All of the Trail Crew Members profiles are listed on my website.
I was under the impression that Tom thought too many cooks would spoil the soup, so to speak. He was patiently working on cooking the chicken. Jeff went over to check on things and started helping Tom. It was a long wait, but the meal was done. And it was worth it. It was Chicken Breasts cooked in some yellow sauce, plus French Bread. I devoured it, and really enjoyed it. Some of the other people were partaking in the wine, but I told them that I wasn’t very much of a wine person. I took a small sip of wine, and confirmed that I really don’t like it. If it was beer, it would be a different story.
After Supper, Walli volunteered to do the dishes and was heating up some water. Tom was relaxing in the camp chair he brought. I asked him whether we would be doing any trail work on Sunday, and he said no, we would just be canoeing back to the boat landing on West Bearskin Lake. I told him I was thinking about taking my backpacking gear with me when we are Trail Clearing the next day (Saturday). And when we were finished Trail Clearing, I would start backpacking east. He said that would be okay. Now that Tom wasn’t busy cooking, I had him say his profile on my voice recorder.
Tom is a quiet leader. He really knows what he’s doing and leads by example. I thought maybe he was quiet was because he was concentrating on making the trip a success. This was the first trip where he actually is the Crew Leader. He had been on many other Trail Clearing Trips, since he started doing them in 2002, but this was the first where he was the Crew Leader. But Tom was very prepared for this trip. For instance, he had taken the water filter with him when we were out working on the trail. I would rather have a quiet leader who was prepared and knowledgeable than someone who is a smooth talker and not prepared.
We all talked around the fire as it grew dark. I decided it was time for me to go to bed, so I said goodnight and retreated to my tent. I tucked myself in my tent, laid inside my sleeping bag and did my voice report of the day’s activities using the voice recorder. At the end of the voice report I said that I was really beat, and I wondered if it would affect my ability to go backpacking.