The Canoe Trip - Day 2

Watching the beauty of the stars, I didn't haul my butt to bed until 1:30 am - big mistake! At 5:30 am I was rudely woken by the howling of a cold (8 degrees that's 46 Fahrenheit) north wind . The wind was so strong I feared that my tent would be blown away and it was impossible to get back to sleep. So a tired Bob wandered about the camp site with nothing to do because the wind was so strong that it was impossible to launch the canoe let alone make any progress paddling into that headwind.

So wait it out I did and finally at 9 am the skies began to clear, the wind died and the temperature rose. It was a beautiful day and I managed to get across Ralph Brice Lake, a 450 meter portage to Little Trout Lake and lastly a 175 meter portage from Little Trout Lake into Little Queer Lake where I found a site near to the long portage I would undertake the next day. I must say that in looking at the map I don't see a Big Queer Lake so I resume the 'little' refers to the lake being just a little bit strange - though I'm not sure why.

Anyway, I set up camp at 4 pm and then went down for a wee nap. I was tired, my right leg was cramping and my back ached beyond belief. Things were not looking good for the next day's portage of 2.5 km.

At 6 pm I awoke feeling a bit better and decided to go fishing. I was about 0.75 km from my site when I heard from the near shoreline what sounded like two cats fighting. I remembered seeing something about the presence of bobcats in the park so I headed closer to shore for a better look. The animals making the noise came out of the bush onto the shoreline and I thought to myself - beavers? Did beavers make that sound when they were fighting? So I put on my glasses for a better look (all the while chastising myself for not having brought my camera along) and in a single instance (with my glasses now on) it became obvious what was going on. The two beavers turned out to be bear cubs and momma bear wandered onto the shore to have a look at me - who was now within 100 meters of her. We looked at each other for a long while and without knowing why - I slapped my paddle onto the water. This caused the bears to immediately bolt for the bush and the two cubs went up the nearest tree in lightening speed. I never did see what happened to the momma bear but I was filled with relief that I could scare them off so easily - after all there were only a few hundred meters from where I was camped.

Back at camp I brought in a new rule - no fire or first drink until I could spot the first star of the evening. Luckily I was facing south and at 9:36 pm the fire was struck and the whiskey poured. I sat on the rocks and yelled long into the night testing the echo factor. It was a pretty amazing location as I was able to produce 9 distinct echoes! But I did learn my lesson of the previous night and went to bed by 11:30 - after all tomorrow would bring the much dreaded 2.5 km portage.