Day 1 -- May 25, 2001

We awake early to the sound of motorboats heading out on Fall Lake and army worms dropping on our tent but don't actually get up until about 7:00. Basil prepares breakfast -- cold cereal and oranges -- while the rest of us pack up our damp, worm covered tents. The mosquitoes are somewhat active this morning, just active enough to be a nuisance but not real bad. After everything's packed up, we pile back in the car and head back to Ely. First stop is the Ranger Station/Wolf Center to pick up our permit. Ours is only the 2nd car in the parking lot when we arrive. By the time we've watched the video, received instructions, and received our permit, there are several other adventurers.

After the Ranger Station, we head over to the IGA where Basil picks up last minute food items. Then, we head up the Echo Trail, past Fenske Lake, turn left, past the Y camp to the put in on the North Arm of Burntside Lake.

Burntside is a steely, angry gray as we pull into the landing and unload the canoes and the gear. After Bob moves the car to the other side of the road, we head out into the lake just as it starts raining at about 10:30. So much for seeing the moon last night. At least we have a north wind to help us as we head south across the large lake. Burntside is outside the BW so motorboats are allowed. Thankfully, we don't see many out today -- and the ones we do see are fishing boats sitting still in the water. At one point, I do hear a loud motor behind me and look over my shoulder to see a float plane roaring along only a few feet off the surface of the water. He roars on past us, only climbing when he's far down the lake.

About 1/2 way down the arm, we stop at the 2nd campsite for a break and a quick lunch. Then, we push on toward the Crab Lake portage.

The main body of the lake is very interesting with lots of islands, some of them occupied with buildings of various sizes. One cottage has a large propane tank outside and we wonder how it gets filled. Is the fuel delivered by boat or, is it filled in the winter when trucks can drive across the ice? Thanks to higher than normal snow falls and a late, wet spring, water levels are quite high. We spot a boat house with the water halfway up the doors. The water level is much higher than normal.

As we near the start of the portage, we come across another party -- a father and teenaged son in a single canoe -- coming the other way. "Are you going in or coming out?" they ask. "Going in" we reply. "Are you sure the portage is that way?" they ask. We check our maps and both Basil and I are sure we're heading the right way. The father and son turn around and head back with us, explaining that they did find a path but it was very rugged and had a lot of trees across it so they didn't think it was the portage. Their story doesn't jive with the reports I'd heard of a wide, fairly level, well maintained portage.

We arrive where the maps show the portage to be and, sure enough, there's a path there but, there's evidence that a backhoe has been used on this end of it and, not very far in, we encounter several trees down across the trail -- and it looks like some of them have been there for a long time. We recheck the maps and are thoroughly convinced that we're in the right place so, we doggedly start carrying our gear and our canoes westward toward Crab Lake.

This is a mile long portage so we take it "leap frog" fashion; carry gear and canoes part way along it, go back, pick up another load and take it to the same point until all gear has made it that far, then go on and create another drop point and repeat the procedure. The 4 of us have each been on several Boundary Waters trips (I'm probably the greenest of the group) and have our equipment packed neatly, 3 packs per canoe, and so don't have too much trouble -- except for maneuvering the canoes across, under, and over the deadfall. The father/son party however has a lot of loose fishing gear in their canoe. Instead of emptying the canoe and having one person carry it overhead, they try to leave their "froo froo" (Sharon's name for the loose items) in the canoe and try to carry it upright. They look like they're really struggling.

On our 2nd "leap" we come across a large sign facing the other direction and a trail coming in from the right. The sign basically tells us that we weren't really on the portage and were trespassing!!!! Now's a fine time to tell us! We should have been on that trail coming from the right!

Oh well, we're here now so, we move the rest of the gear up out of trespass territory and continue along the correct path. Somewhere along the way, we encounter another party heading the same direction. There are 4 permits a day at the Crab Lake and at least 3 of the parties are on the portage at the same time! Still, the portage is long enough that we get strung out enough so I doubt that we ever exceed the "more than 9 people" rule. It does get a bit confusing keeping track of which packs belong to which group though since we're all "leap frogging" and some of the packs are similar. This last party has 2 dogs with them, a Golden Retriever and a small terrier. They're running free and go up the trail with whomever is first at any particular time -- it doesn't matter to them which party the particular person is with. In total, I think they end up doing the portage about 10 times by the time they're done.

The portage trail is wet from the rain with deep puddles in places. About 1/2 way across, we encounter a shallow stream that needs to be crossed. Basil loads some gear into his canoe and, figuring that his feet are already soaked, walks the canoe across. The rest of us aren't quite so bold so we load the rest of the gear and all 3 of us in the other canoe and ferry across. With that much weight, we do have problems launching and landing though! While we're in the process of doing this, the party with the dogs are also crossing the stream. The retriever of course swims quite happily across the stream. The terrier sits nervously on the bank, temporarilly abandoned until the owners go back for him. Surprisingly, despite the amount of water, there are few bugs along the portage. Maybe it's due to the rain.

Finally, we reach Crab Lake -- ahead of all the other parties. It's been raining off and on for the whole trip so far and that doesn't change as we launch the canoes once again. We head up toward the main part of the lake and stop and check out the 2nd campsite we come to. It's on a point, receiving a lot of wind (key to keeping the bugs at bay), and has plenty of room for 3 tents so we decide to take it. Besides, there's a very picturesque island just off the point which will be wonderful for sunset shots. Talk about being an optimist!

We determine that there's room for 2 tents on the main, bottom level of the campsite, and room for another one on top of the bank at the back of the site. All of us like the looks of the upper site so, we draw straws (pine needles to be exact) to see who gets to sleep up there. I draw the short needle and get to choose the upper site!

Miracle of miracles, it stops raining long enough for us to set up camp. Just barely though and then it starts raining harder than ever. For a while, we watch as a canoe with 3 fisher people try their luck around the island off our campsite. They finally give up. Now that it's been raining a while, we discover that Bob's tent is set up right at the end of a large puddle. We reassess the room at the top of the hill and decide there's room for one more tent so, we help Bob move. Sharon's tent does not appear to be in any danger so we leave it where it is. Since there's not much else to do, given the weather, one by one, we each head to our respective tents. I'm sharing my Eureka Apex-2XT with Basil. I get in the tent first, take my now soaking wet pants off and climb into the sleeping bag. I start reading Olson's "The Singing Wilderness". I make it through 2 short chapters, can't keep my eyes open anymore and fall asleep.

About 5:00, Basil stirs and we get up. While he fixes supper (sorry, I can't even remember what it was now), a party of 4 people in 2 canoes paddles past our site. I yell "Are you having fun yet?". As they paddle past, they explain that they entered the previous Sunday, had rain everyday and are heading out. Sunday was the day the low first settled into the area -- talk about bad luck! They still have that mile long portage and the paddle across Burntside before they're done. I wonder what time it will be before they're done. We eat, clean up, and sit out by the lake for awhile. We don't even try to start a fire. Eventually, we all head back to our tents and to bed. Despite the nap, sleep comes very quickly.