Last weekend Melissa and I celebrated our fifth year of marriage. I've never been able to understand how life can get better and better until now!
To celebrate, we went on a 20 mile canoe trip. The trip is a giant loop in the Swanson River canoe system, it is comprised of twenty five lakes and many miles of trails. As we get better gear, more stamina and more grit, we are able to get by on less and less, which means we no longer have to make two trips to get our canoe and all our gear from one lake to the next. Instead, I carry the canoe and Melissa carries ALL the camping gear.
Every trip we make is a training run for our big hunting trip this fall. This means that we are continually testing new gear (most of which is camouflauge) and deciding what we are willing to trust our lives to and what needs to be replaced of upgraded.
A favorite quick meal while in the woods is fresh trout. We catch small trout and cook them in foil on a small fire. I put together what I call foil packs containing spices folded into pre-cut aluminum foil. I also include matches, napkins and a plastic fork. These items fit neatly into a zip-lock bag. When things go right, we can be eating fish within 20 minutes of when they are caught.
All the camping in the system is "primitive" which means that we can camp wherever we want to. Some places have established camp sites and sometimes we have to make do with a semi-flat spot without too many bumps. This camp is on Lost lake and it is a very nice spot. Melissa is in charge of setting up the tent and getting the bedding ready, I gather fire wood and usually get dinner going. We have found that this arangement works well for us.
Last year we purchased this Old Town canoe. It weighs 20 pound less than the Coleman that we started with last year. It is also much more efficient and very fast.
This spot is on Camper's lake. We saw a black bear that allowed us to paddle to within pistol range, but was too small to warrant packing all the way out.
Next week we will tackle the upper Swanson River. This 17 mile stretch will require us to paddle/portage the first 13 lakes in the system before even getting to the creek. Then it's 17 miles of difficult passage to the point where we usually put in. We are working on a way to eliminate the tent and just sleep in the canoe covered by a tarp. More on that after our next adventure.
