Daily Trip Log Reports

August 3: day 23
Today is fish day. Everything we did or saw seems to have involved fish.

The kids spent about 10 hours on the water fishing. They've landed well over 50 pike each, ranging in size from some not much larger than the lure - they're using to some really big monsters. Kyle got the biggest one today, it must have weighed 30 to 40 pounds and took him almost an hour to land. The 10 lb test line he was using didn't offer much safety margin and he'd removed the barbs from his hook to make it easier to release fish once he'd caught them, so he was quite pleased with himself.

 

The one wolf who visited us often. He's watching Brendan catch minnows in a pond near our campsite. Brendan doesn't know the wolf is watching and the wolf doesn't know we're watching.  See More Photos!

The rapids upstream from the lake we're camped on seem to take quite a toll on fish as there are a lot of dead ones being washed up. The abundant supply of food from dead fish is one of the reasons there's so much wildlife on this lake.

While we were sleeping, a dead fish washed up on one of the small sandbars very close to our campsite. When I got out of the tent in the morning, there were some eagles, gulls and ravens gathered around waiting their turn to dine on the carcass. I set up my camera on a tripod with a big telephoto lens and watched to see what would happen. When one of the eagles landed to eat some of the fish, the smaller birds scattered. It wasn't long however before the ravens came back. I was amazed at how cheeky they are. They seem to have a strategy for ganging up on the eagles to steal a meal. One of the ravens would go behind the eagle actually pull on the eagle's tail feathers to distract it while the others would scoop up some scraps.

Across the lake, I could see the same white wolf we'd seen the previous days. It looked beautiful walking along the shore against the backdrop of the dark green forest and golden sand dunes. The early morning sun cast a golden spell on the scene which was reflected in the water.

Later that morning, we saw the white wolf make a dash out into the water towards one of the little gravel islands on that side of the lake. A gathering of gulls and ravens scattered at the wolf's approach. Looking through the long telephoto lens, we could see the wolf scoop up a fish that had attracted the birds. The wolf had to swim back to shore with the fish in it's mouth and the extra weight made it hard to swim. It was quite comical watching the wolf trying to keep it's tail out of the water in an effort to counterbalance the weight of the fish.

We sorted through our gear later in the day to organize it for departure in the Beaver. There was some adjustment of our food pack to make sure our last meals would be pleasant and memorable. In just a few more days, we'll be leaving the dunes behind us. Seems like it was only yesterday that we began our journey.

 August 4: day 24

Today, the boys want me to go fishing with them. By now they've figured out where all the good fishing holes are and they want to share the experience with me. After breakfast and the morning chores are done, we head out to a nearby sand bar - the kids and I in one canoe while Debra heads out alone in the other canoe to explore.

Not long after we've caught our first few fish, Debra gives a shout to look down the lake. There on a small island is a fairly large black bear. Debra paddles closer to investigate while the boys and I continue fishing. I keep a wary eye on the bear.

After the bear finishes on the island, he swims ashore near an area where some fishermen had stopped for a shore lunch some time ago. Brendan and I had paddle past the spot and had noticed a little garbage and a forgotten jacket left hanging in a tree. The bear wandered over to this spot and sniffed around for a bit. Instead of leaving at the smell of humans, the bear took the coat off the tree and began rubbing his scent all over it once it was on the ground. This caused me some concern, so I got the boys in the canoe and we paddled over to see what the bear would do when it saw people.

Thankfully, the bear took off into the bush once it saw us. The bear showed enough fear of people that we're not overly worried, but we'll be taking some extra precautions the next few nights until the plane picks us up.

While Debra and Kyle went out for a paddle, Brendan and I stayed back to make some lunch. Before we even got started, a wolf wandered along the shore right behind our little island home. The wolf seemed in no hurry and I had the opportunity to get some nice shots with the long telephoto lens. Brendan enjoyed looking through the lens whenever I wasn't shooting. The wolf spent at least 15 minutes near the shore behind us. Brendan thought the wolf sighting was "even more cool than fishing". That's high praise from this lad.

Later in the evening, before retiring for bed, we try out our wolf howls to see if any are nearby. We're delighted to get back a chorus of howls from three different directions. The sound of wolves howling in the calm air of a clear northern night adds so much to the wilderness experience for us.