Whenever I woke during that night I listened intently for the rain. Most of the time, it was a steady light rain, but sometimes it seemed to have stopped, and the noise on the rain fly seemed to be coming from drops falling off the tree branches above our tent. When I finally crawled out of the tent, the rain had almost stopped, but low clouds still raced over the lake and did not seem to promise any improvement. We got coffee going and a good fire. This was supposed to be our by-day, for a little R&R. I had my doubts on the benefits of this if this was to be another wet day, but the weather forecast had promised a change for the better. So we stayed put and hoped for the best.
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| From 2009_52_BWCA Finally drying out at Long Island Lake Camp |
As the boys emerged one by one from their tents, humid and a little chilled, we began to dry some clothing items by the fire. A solid stack of pancakes and bacon provided a good base for the day and lo and behold, by about 10:00 AM we saw the first breaks in the clouds. By 11:00 it was easy to see the end of the front with blue sky a few miles west and by noon we were bathed in warm sunshine. The spiderweb of ropes holding up our two tarps filled up with sleeping bags and various clothing items and fair-weather activities were being planned for the remainder of the day.
Jack and James were eager to get a move on a little fishing expedition to a small rocky island a couple hundred meters from our campsite. John joined them for this. Colin attempted to strike out on his own but was thwarted by some ill winds coming from the wrong direction. He ended up joining Jim and was deposited at the island as well. But the fish weren't biting, neither for the guys on the island nor for me, trying m luck from shore with the fly rod and a woolly bugger.
Before long, Jack and James and Jim, John and Colin tried their luck paddling around the larger island just south of our site. Interesting fact about this island: it must have burnt during the Famine Lake Fire. While the distance from the mainland south of Long Island Lake was much larger, the fire jumped from there to the island, but not the 50m to our shore.
Dave and I went for a swim, Mellie couldn't stand being left behind and followed. Dave coaxed her to swim to the rocky outpost from where the boys had been fishing earlier today while I continued to the island with the campsite which had been vacated by a group earlier today. From afar it had looked like a better site, but closer inspection revealed that none of the tent sites were level and that the large rocky surface was falling rather too steeply to the lake. I am glad we had the site we ended up getting rather than this one. I left, heading to pick up Dave and Mellie, swimming by yet a third island to check out the potential for diving, since it had some steep cliffs. Unfortunately, there were rocks near the surface all along the shore. When I got to Dave, Mellie was besides herself with excitement over seeing me. We jumped in and swam back to our site. Mellie surprised me with how fast she can swim now, mch faster than I, doing the breast stroke. I have to teach her to pull a human, then she can pull me, like she does already on skis.
I got a little chilled during my swim and put on layers to warm up. In the meantime we heard the fishing party return. I had some fun throwing a ball right in front of Jack and James' canoe just before they came into view, startling them with an explosive emergence of a big black dog, out of nowhere. Our anglers had been unsuccessful. Everyone claimed to have had some bites, but I wonder whether those were some snares in the weeds or rocks. It was not a good fishing day, with the recent passing of a cold front.
It was time for dinner preparations, Jim was making chicken enchiladas with all the trimmings, including fresh peppers! Good thing we did not have to rely on our luck catching fish since Jim had been able round up the elusive foil-sealed chicken at no other place than Menards, practically by accident, as this is a lumber yard and not a grocery store. Dinner was delicious, I vote this the best food of the trip! Everyone gobbled up their portions and went back for seconds. Another meal with full stomachs and no leftovers! As night fell, we took out marshmallows, Hershey bars and Graham crackers for the obligatory s'more dessert.
The starry sky was just incredible that night helped greatly by the new moon and the absence of any haze. Jim involved the boys in a deeply philosophical discussion about eternity, infinity and beyond. He has such a great way to engage them and makes them feel at easy while challenging them to share their views. Some of the boys were clearly uncomfortable with that, but Colin boldly proclaimed his beliefs, as usual on the top of his lungs. After the boys finally turned in, the dads sat by the water enjoying a spot of brandy with their own astro-philosophical musings. I saw probably five shooting stars during that time.
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