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July 2, 2015 - Manitou Lake to Shad Lake - 5 portages totalling 2825 m
It was cold last night. Too cold for July, but when we got up it was a beautiful day otherwise. The mosquitos were
still fierce, so we ate breakfast quickly, packed, and paddled out onto the open water for some relief. We passed a
family on a nearby campsite, but they remained the only humans we saw today until reaching our destination. Fassett
Creek was a fun challenge as it meandered through the swamp, with the beavers playing havoc. Several dams required
disembarking to haul the canoe up and over. The shortest portage of the day onto Shada Lake proved to be the most
difficult, as a beaver had built a dam thirty meters out, making a wet swampy mess to walk through to get to a place
where the boat could be dropped. We paddled out onto Shada and decided to have lunch on a little island in the middle
of the lake to get away from the bugs. The island was a mess due to a forest fie which had destroyed all the trees, but
there was a nice outcrop on the far side which gave us a windy, but bug free spot to relax for an hour. At one point a
gust of wind almost blew the canoe off the shore, but I managed to grab it just in time as Katja dove to grab the pieces
of our picnic that were also blowing away. I went for a quick swim before we packed up and paddled across to our last
portage of the day. This kilometer long carry went quickly until abot 200m from the end a fallen tree blocked the path.
I began lowering the canoe off of my head and then my foot puched through the ground to a hollow beneath some tree
roots. I fell on my face as my leg sunk up to its knee, the canoe landing on top of me, pinning my foot in the hole.
I struggled and realized that I was pretty stuck. I called out for Katharina, but she was too far back to hear. In my
awkward position with my face pinned in the mud, I managed to wriggle the backpack off of me, and then finally was able
to reach back and shift the canoe enough so I could extract my leg from the tomb. By the time Katja arrived, I had slid
the boat under the tree, and was lifting it back up onto my shoulders to get this damn portage done with. In the
commotion, I almost lost my lucky hat which had fallen off. Luckily I noticed it before going to far and ran back to
get it. Fassett Lake was quite beautiful and as we paddled towards the creek to Shad Lake three canoes emerged and we
said hello. At Shad, we found a nice campsite on a rocky point, with a good breeze that kept the bugs at bay. A swim
was contemplated, but the cool wind makes the idea less appealing than it would be on a normal July afternoon.
Damn beaver dams.
Approaching yet another damn dam.
Swamp whacking in a canoe.
Camping in the blueberries on Shad Lake.
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