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Trey and I woke up a little before 7am to the sound of thunderstorms and light rain. At 8am it is still raining a little and the thunder has been nearly continuous for an hour. I looked on the weather map and didn’t see storm clouds over Little Tupper where Kathryn, Eric and the rest of the gang are camping.

I spent 3 hours of pasture mowing. I finished the front half and started on the back. It is hotter than heck out there. Rome is reporting 91 degrees. The indoor gauges say it is almost 80 in the house and it feels cool. Humidity is 75%. We will have to have thunderstorms this afternoon. There is just too much moisture and too much heat. I had a bagel in a Ziploc bag on the dining room table and Trey stole and ate while I was nice enough to leave him inside.

Well that was interesting. We got a light rain about 2:30 yesterday so I figured I was done mowing. 10 minutes later a HUGE thunderstorm blew threw. High winds, violent rain, hail the size of large raisins. A couple of deck plants got shredded and several tomatoes knocked off their plants. The temperature dropped 20 degrees from 80 to 60! About 30 minutes later another storm comes through – it couldn’t rain any harder – and the power gets knocked out. For the rest of the afternoon I do little jobs – fold laundry, glue the black power ranger, and read a book – the whole book. There is constant rumbling thunder and fire whistles through out the rest of the afternoon/evening.

At 7:30pm there is still no power so I fire up the generator and run it for 90 minutes to ensure the refrigerator and freezer are OK. Trey and I go feed the fish and he is feeling bouncy now that he slept all day and the temperatures are cooler.

I can watch TV and use the lights off the generator so it was a normal evening – but there is nothing good on TV – so I start another book. I used the 6 million candlepower flashlight that Ed gave me to navigate around in the dark. I woke up at 2:45am and found the power back on.

I got up at 6:30am and reset clocks, made some tea, turned on computers, glued the other leg on Black Power Ranger. I loaded up and departed for Omaha.

My neighbor decided to transform the wet ground in the pasture just south of our house into a pond.  I guess one can never have too many ponds.  This is the result of three days of bull dozer work.  It will be interesting to see it develop over the next year. I am sure we will have (more) geese next year. Eric has already questioned him about what type of fish will be in the pond.

Skip and Bob and I had planned a return canoe trip to Spanish River, Ontario. When one of our canoe partners was unable to participate we decided to change our plans. Instead of a river trip involving some Class II white water we decided to go to Algonquin Park and do a loop trip through several lakes. This would permit me to use my Kevlar Wenonah Prism Solo canoe.

We researched several trips and settled on a long river/lake trip that featured 10 portages including one of 9,000 meters. We thought the extensive portages would ensure a sense of remoteness. We selected a trip from Opeongo Lake to Proulx Lake to the Crow River to Big Crow Lake, continuing on Crow River to Lake Lavielle to Dickson Lake and finally the 9000 meter portage back to Opeongo Lake.

Opeongo is Algonquin’s largest lake and when the winds are strong Opeongo can be impassable in a canoe. Following our 6 hour drive we elected to take the 2pm water taxi across Opeongo arriving at the portage to Proulx Lake. Proulx Lake is reached via a 1400 m portage from Opeongo Lake. The portage begins with a sharp climb up a knoll between two swampy areas, then levels out and gradually descends to Proulx Lake. We carried most of our gear across the portage and returned to bring our canoes across using the canoe cart.

We spent the 1st night on a heavily used campsite on windy peninsula populated by many, many red squirrels. The wind abated as the night went on and it got cool at night. We saw eagles and heard loons through out the night. The next morning was a special sunrise through the mist.

Day Two we left Proulx Lake via the northern section of the lake which merges with the meandering oxbows of the Crow River. We arrived on Big Crow Lake to waves showing whitecaps. Big Crow Lake is quite scenic and was an obvious place for us to break for lunch. There is an abandoned ranger’s cabin near the southernmost tip of the lake which can be rented. From behind the cabin a steep trail leads to the top of the high granite bluff overlooking the narrows between Little and Big Crow Lakes. The hike to the top took about 15-20 minutes. The view over the hills and lakes to the north was well worth the climb.

Leaving Big Crow Lake was a little dicey as the winds and waves had continued to increase. We paddled quartering up wind well above our destination, executed a quick turn and paddle-surfed quartering back down wind into the Crow River. The tandem canoe took a little water and at times I had to stop paddling my solo and merely rudder to re-gain directional control. All’s well that ends well, but we gained a healthy respect for big lake wind and waves.

There were three portages along the Crow River: a 240 m portage, a 350 m portage and finally a 1200 m portage through a white pine forest on a good trail. As we double carried the portages we were joined by a young couple who had been tailing just behind us most of the day. They were headed for a campsite at Crow Bay, but as the day was wearing on it was obvious they weren’t going to make it, so we extended an invitation for Stewart and Angela to join us on our reserved site along the Crow River.

That night we all shared a hearty meal of chicken, potatoes, and onions superbly cooked by Bob and due to our extra guest we, for once, weren’t arguing over who had to eat more. We turned in early on a warm evening. The next morning we arose at 6:30 as Stewart and Angela were departing – bound for Dickson Lake (a long haul). We had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and heard a wolf howl followed by 3 sharp barks.

Going downstream there were four short portages ranging from 100-203 meters that were uneventful except for a mistimed launching by Skip & Bob that caused everything to go swimming. Coming into Crow Bay we paused on a large rock on the southern shore of the bay for a lunch of flat bread and peanut butter/jelly. About 2pm we pulled into Lake and camped on a beautiful site at the entrance to the lake from Crow Bay are superb. After a cleansing swim we set up tents and a rain tarp to ward off the threatening thunder clouds. After dinner we attempted field repair on my water filter which seemed to have an inoperable footer valve. With our repairs to no avail I pumped water using my thumb to seal off the exit on each pump.

The rain moved through around 9pm and we sat under the tarp. We placed our collapsible water bucket under the eaves of the tarp and captured ~2 gallons of water by daybreak. With a break in the rain we scooted for the tents and a good night’s sleep.

The next morning we aired out our tents and got a later start. In fact, too late as the NW wind was picking up on Lake Lavielle. Paddling on the main lake was dicey and we crept around the shoreline going point to point. We were greatly relieved to escape Lake Lavielle and pull around the corner into Hardy Bay and be out of the wind. Leaving Lavielle we made a short 90 meter into Dickson Lake where we had a late lunch on an island.

At this point we were spooked enough by the wind that the thought of our return paddle on Opeongo Lake was a concern. It was suggested that we check out the 5.3 km portage from Dickson Lake to Bonfield Lake which is akin to going to the animal pound to “just look” at the puppies. The next thing we knew we had talked ourselves into doing the portage starting at 2pm.

Commonly, people who single carry the portage accomplish it in ~ 2 hours. We had been double carrying our portages, but were hoping to utilize the canoe cart along a cart trail. The thought was that we could carry our packs and load up the canoes with the excess and move along the cart trail. Unfortunately the canoe cart did not perform when fully loaded – a situation we did not test at home. With empty or lightly loaded canoes the cart could be moved along at hiking speed. So we were resigned to double carrying and committed to the longer cart trail. At 9pm we finished our last load and set up our tents using our head lamps. We snacked on beef jerky and trail mix and chugged the last of our water. Sleep that night was uncomfortable as we were sticky from our exertions. The next morning I arose early and took a quick swim.

Crossing over to Opeongo Lake was a short 300 meter portage. In taking to boaters we were informed the weather called for thunderstorms and winds of 50mph. We set up camp along the shore, made our wind breaks and lounged around swimming, playing cards, and snacking. We never received the thunderstorms, the wind died down at evening and we were rewarded with a gorgeous sunset. However, seeing the waves during the day we decided to make an early start the next day in order to paddle out on calm waters.

We arose at 5:29 and by 5:55am we were paddling for the south end of Opeongo Lake arriving there 3 hours later.

The trip was nice. Algonquin is close (~6 hours). Algonquin’s permit system ensures there are available campsites and the permit monies are used for campsite & trail maintenance. I was surprised at the number of canoeists doing this trip, despite the portages. We are thinking that a return trip in September might be a little less busy.

Pictures are at http://www.theswirl.org/trips/2007Algonquin/Algonquin.html

Monday night Eric had Trevor sleep over at the house - their 1st.

Last night we picked the last of of our peas.  I can’t remember having them this late in the year.  Usually I hurry to get them into the ground as early as possible.  This year I staggered the plantings (3 rows) and we have been eating peas from late June until now.  Last week we harvested bumper yields of yellow wax beans and green beans and froze 20 packages for winter consumption.  My late planting of cucumbers is just starting to yield.  But the pumpkins are overtaking everything!  I finally remembered to plant some pumpkins for Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns and they are overgrowing everything.  Clearly I will need to find an alternative plot for them next year.

From right to left: three rows of peas, yellow wax beans, green beans, cucumbers, PUMPKINS, somewhere buried in the pumpkins are three tomato plants.  In the background are the asparagus and rhubarb plants.