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Jun 4, 2009 - Biggar Lake to North Tea Lake - 3 portages totaling 470 m
As I sat in the early morning fog, a female moose came to our campsite. She did not notice me at first, but then
suddenly stopped and looked as I snapped a couple pictures in the dim light. She then ran off into the woods. The fog
lifted revealing a gorgeous day. It even warmed up slowly. A wind hindered progress slightly as we made our way west
on Biggar Lake. After about an hour of paddling, we reached the first of a series of three portages. Each was short
and well maintained, so we got across them all in very short order. The second one skirted around a neat waterfall.
After a snack of nuts and dried fruit, we paddled out onto North Tea Lake. Now the wind was against us, and much
stronger, so progress was slow. We kept close to the shore and used small land features as shelter whenever possible.
At one point we saw something very strange in the water. At first it looked like a rock, but as we apporached, it was
pink and kind of fleshy looking. It turned out to be the arse end of a male moose, the entire carcass was floating face
down in the water. We decided not to refill our water bottles at this moment. As we got out on the lake, it began to
get very rough. We battled on towards a cluster of islands that I figured would provide some shelter from the wind.
There was a campsite with a nice sunny rock so we decided to stop for a break as we were pretty tired from the last
couple hours of paddling. We ate some lunch and then relaxed for a while in the warm sunshine. A couple canoes passed
by at one point, the first people that we have seen since last Sunday. The campsite was fairly nice so we decided to
stay here for the night instead of moving on to Manitou Lake as planned. We will go there tomorrow instead. I went for
another brief swim and then dried in the warm sun. Explored the island, which did not take too long as it is only about
200m across. There is another empty campsite on the far side. Katja cooked a Thai noodle supper which was quite tasty,
and I attempted to bake another loaf of bread in the fire. It did not turn out too well; somewhat burnt on the outside
and doughy on the inside. I am sure it will taste fine tomorrow with cheese when we are hungry in the afternoon. We
have two days left to go. Food stores are good. We could perhaps go three days without going hungry. Coffee stores
on the other hand are almost out. Tomorrow morning will begin rationing of the coffee :-(. This is hopefully a
reminder for the next time to pack more coffee than I think will be needed (or look how much coffee my partner brings
to ensure she does not steal my personal stores!). As we sat warming ourselves arouhnd the camp fire, Katharina heard a
noise behind us. I joked that maybe it was the killer squirell of the island, but it turned out to be a moose, soaking
wet from a swim to the island, who then started to eat the raspberry bushes around our campsite. She did not seem to
mind us watching, so we got lots of pictures. Even as we started moving around and making noise, she still ignores us
as she eats. Looks up once in a while to make sure we are not a threat and then continues on. We have gotten
bored of watching her and started to just go about our normal routine. In fact, she is standing ten meters behind me as
I write this. We are really communing with nature tonight!
Waterfall on Hornbeam Lake.
Buggy campsite.
Making bread.
The visit from the moose.
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