Matt's Lake Superior Kayak Circumnavigation Journal

Willow River, Pukaskwa NP to Cave Harbor, Pukaskwa NP: Daily miles 7.2, Total miles 652.3

Today feels very unproductive. We slept in because the calm period that should accompany the morning hours never came, just more wind and waves. When we emerged from our protected cover at about 10:30AM  we found a driving south wind and 4-6 foot waves.  Our muscles, tired from the big miles yesterday, were not pleased withe the effort it took to make forward progress.  After 1.5 miles at about half our usual pace we found had had enough  and ducked into the mouth of the Willow River for some rest. Upon arrival we found 10 other kayakers, twice as many as we have seen the entire trip.  It was weird to talk to the other paddlers and their conversations lulled us into a lazy afternoon. By 4:30PM it was time to either move or set up camp.  We ate dinner and headed out onto the lake.  The waves had settled but the wind was increasing.  We eked out some slow, tiring miles, catching some rest in the lee of a few small islands.  We wanted to go further but our energy and the waning daylight forced us to the shore.  We pulled out on a small sand beach and set up camp.  We ate a second dinner to try to satisfy our insatiable appetites but are still going to bed hungry.  The short miles and brief time on the lake belie the amount of effort put forth today. We could have gone further but it just isn’t worth it.  Hopefully the wind will die down or switch to a more favorable direction but if I have learned anything from this trip it will probably get worse.

Matt | Uncategorized | 07 21st, 2009 | No Comments »

Sturdee Cove to Willow River, Pukaskwa NP: Daily miles 30.0, Total miles 645.1

No moose last night, but it did get very cold – almost down to freezing. I woke up at one point and the thermometer on my watch read 35.7 degrees F. The day dawned with a mix of sun and fog but I wasn’t there to greet it. I slept in until after 9 am and the last of the fog was burning off when I climbed out of the tent. The paddling was amazing when we hit the water with almost no wind and glass calm water. The miles flew by almost effortlessly with some of the best scenery I have seen up here. Today’s joyfulness nearly erased the strife of the last few weeks. We ate lunch on the sand beach at the mouth of the Pic River and then headed to register at the headquarters of Pukaskwa National Park.  It was a pain to register since their system isn’t really designed for someone just passing through and it was a little pricey at 70 dollars for 3 days in the backcountry. As we left the park office the wind and waves picked up and the joyfulness of the mornings paddle turned to utilitarianism.  We paddled along looking for a campsite but found only rock cliffs.  I was getting really tired after a long day with little rest and was getting really hungry. Eventually we found a little spot tucked up in a tiny cove, completely protected by giant rocks that stand at it’s mouth.  It was a a little tough landing but the site is worth it.  It is one of the coolest places we have camped.  We hurried to eat some dinner, Lipton Alfredo with precooked bacon, and climbed around the rocks taking some pictures before heading for the tent at about 9PM. I am really tired but happy to get a nice day and cover some miles after weeks of bad weather and crummy attitudes.  I hope we get more days like today but the weather forecast is calling for five days of wind and rain. Seems about right.

Matt | Uncategorized | 07 20th, 2009 | No Comments »

Ney’s Provincial Park to Sturdee Cove: Daily miles 21.7, Total Miles 615.1

I didn’t sleep well last night and it really played heavy on today’s emotion. Hannah also didn’t sleep well, and rather than make her get up with me at 8 am I let her sleep until almost 11 am while I tinkered around camp and listened to the weather. Both the lake and the weather were great with sunshine, light wind, and very little wave action. We hit the lake at about noon, a little later than I would have liked, but it was probably better to rest up. Paddling around the Coldwell Peninsula was beautiful. Big cliffs rising up out of the forest and nice shoreline with lots of little bays and coves. The rest of the miles passed in a similar fashion with great scenery but mindless paddling. The stress of 40+ days together under some of the most trying conditions finally wore on Hannah and I and the day’s paddle ended with a series of arguments and some hostility. It was inevitable that we would eventually have a blow up, and I am sure it is not the last. The constant stress, fatigue, ad discomfort magnify all of the petty gripes in our relationship and build up until they explode. After getting to camp on a nice sand beach, we made one of the best meals we have had, Pad Thai, and talked over the day. I know that this trip will continue to test our relationship, and it’s reassuring to know that no matter how bad each day is we can always work it out and go to bed feeling good. The mosquitoes are absolutely terrible on this beach with hundreds of them resting on the tent’s mesh. I am waiting to try to shoot a few night photos when the sun finally settles, but I don’t want to go out into the swarm. There are lots of moose tracks in the sand and I hope one wanders out here.

Matt | Uncategorized | 07 19th, 2009 | No Comments »

Neys Provincial Park, ONT to Neys Provincial Park, ONT: Daily miles 0.0, Total miles 593.4

The morning dawned bringing rain and finding Hannah and I totally lacking motivation. We had decided to do our laundry before we left, but we found it hard to even get out of the tent in the rain. Eventually the rain stopped and we gathered our clothes, mustering the energy to walk up to the washers. After the clothes had been washed and through one round of drying, we found them still wet, but we didn’t have any more change for the dryer. We had to walk around asking everyone if we could break our 2 dollar coin for two loonies. Eventually we did and got back to our laundry. During the course of all this we met Judy, who also happened to be struggling with the under-powered dryer. We got to talking about the trip and how her husband had just taken up kayaking. Eventually her husband, Bill, came in and we had a nice talk. We returned to our site at about 1 pm discussing whether or not we should move on or call this one a rest day, deciding we should at least get a few miles in for the day since the weather wasn’t too bad. As we ate our lunch and talked about packing up Bill walked up and looked over our boats and invited us to dinner. This officially killed our motivation and we decided to stay – it didn’t take much arm twisting. We decided to get the site for another night and were about to grab our money when a car pulled up and asked if we were going because he had just rented the site. We scrambled to move our stuff and Hannah took off to get us a site. She lucked out and got the next site down so that we didn’t have to move too far. I took another shower and relaxed until 6 pm when we left for dinner. Dinner was great. Good food, Chinese, and great conversation. It was so nice to have real conversations with other people who are enjoying life in the outdoors. It is really the great social interactions that are keeping this trip fun. The scenery, while still beautiful, becomes less special as you see it day after day and the paddling loses its novelty quickly, but meeting new and interesting people and seeing how they react to our trip has yet to lose its appeal. We got back to the park at about 8 pm and watched the sun set before retiring to the tent. I feel a little bad about not moving on a decent day, but it was so nice I can’t complain. The rain is falling outside the tent now and my motivation is renewed, at least for now.

Matt | Uncategorized | 07 18th, 2009 | No Comments »

Victoria Bay, ONT to Neys Provincial Park, ONT: Daily miles 32.0, Total miles 593.4

Today sucked. The surf never relented overnight and we climbed out of the tent with anger and disappointment at the prospect of being stuck there indefinitely.  We decided that rather than sit and watch another day go by we would carry our boats and gear across the point to a calmer bay on the other side. It was a tremendous pain.  Between Hannah’s damaged hands, my sore shoulder and kayaks not really being designed to portage the adventure was arduous.   By the end my shoulder was screaming and I undone all of the good two days of rest had caused.  I was tired and unmotivated and I hadn’t even paddled a stroke yet.  We hit the water about 11AM to variable winds and choppy seas.  The shoreline was rugged and we weren’t able to land for the first twelve miles.  The sky alternated between sunshine, rain and large threatening storm clouds.  It gave the day a very chaotic feeling which matched the way I was feeling after the last three or so days.  We eventually stopped on a beach for lunch but the bugs and rain forced us to cut it short and we were back in the boats right after eating having barely rested.  The last half of the day felt like it would never end.  The weather kept getting worse with heavier rain and stronger wind that seemed to always in our faces.  The miles wore on and we wore down.  It was cold, wet, hard and I couldn’t escape it.  I was miserable.  The last few miles into the harbor broke our spirits and difficult surf landing on a shallow sandy beach nearly broke me.  We pulled up on the beach and went looking for a campsite at the Provincial Park. It took another two miles of searching to find the office. Along the way I had to see people sitting around, warm and comfortable, in their RVs. They grilled delicious things and watched TV while I was tired and cold.  It didn’t seem quite fair that I hard to get here and yet had no comforts to enjoy.  It made me question some e of the choices I had regarding what I do for “leisure”. When we finally found the office everyone was really nice and helpful and renewed my faith in adventure. We carried our gear up to our campsite and ended the day much like it began; carrying everything we own a long way. We got showers and are back in the tent, or what I have decided to refer to as “My summer home on the lake”.

Matt | Uncategorized | 07 17th, 2009 | No Comments »