The Rogue

A beautiful day, a boat that's been dry far too long, friends eager to get outside...only one choice when you have a springtime trifecta. You load up the vehicles and head to the river.

I know I heard this Chick-a-dee say, "well, there you are, we've missed you." I've missed you too little bird.

"Follow us, we know where the fun is."

I've only seen mink twice on the Rogue, but perhaps that's an indication I need to paddle it more often. He wasn't the least bit shy with us. In fact, B stayed behind to take pictures and said the little guy kept popping out of his hole as if he were playing. I see a downed Sycamore in the background, one of my favorite trees because of the bark.

That's a heckuva tree for the beaver to be dropping, and it won't be fun to try to get around once it's in the water. Maybe they've become bored and won't drop it after all.

Yep, that's a very pleasant start to the new paddling season. Next up?

But wait, I had the oldest grandson say he didn't want to come along. What!?! I need to have a face-to-face with that child because I know he loves the outdoors. Must they grow up?

Lake Superior Redo

I'm sure I must have mentioned once or twice that I think of Grand Marais as my home away from home. Well, my 8 days on Lake Superior a week ago were clearly not enough since I turned right around and went back up there this past Friday to go paddling not 30 miles east of Grand Marais. Never mind that it's a 7 hour drive from where I live. It was my first time paddling a U.P. river and so worth the travel time. Right, and that cold rainy summer we've been having? Not so much in the U.P. The temperature was in the 70's every day. Perfect for paddling in the cold tea-colored waters of the Two Hearted River.

Mind you, there was only a tinge of color last week, but judging by the vibrant colors on the leaves and berries and the peculiar seed pods I found, it appears that Lady Autumn is wasting no time in leaving her mark.

Saturday evening my friends and I watched a beautiful sunset in the west from atop the dunes only to turn around and find a nearly full moon rising in the east. Come on! How perfect is that?

This giant rock was our put-in on Saturday for paddling the lower portion of the river and our take-out on Sunday when we explored the upper portions. That would be Brent executing a fine maneuver around the rock.

Oh, and lest I forget, 11 portages of which several included treks up and over and through the woods made for four tired, but smiling paddlers.

I am a conqueror of the Two Hearted! And if you ask me if I want to go again this weekend, my answer would be a resounding YES!

I simply can not get enough of this.

I've been busy.

My new boat came in and it required paddling. That's all I'm gonna say.






How many turtles are in this above picture??

Blue Elephant Island

The name has been changed to protect the location of the island. It is now forever to be referred to as Blue Elephant Island. Oh, there's a story as to how it got it's name, but that's best told by the 5 y/o who named it and he's not here. You may remember that my family makes up stories about everything so trust me when I say the island's new name is very appropriate.

We arrived last Friday evening with plenty of daylight left to get in an exploratory paddle and even a hike, although we did walk back to camp by moonlight.

My kids will tell you that I'm not a fan of marshmallows cooked after dark, that I prefer to cook them during the day. Yeah, and I still have no idea how Sir S's marshmallow ended up stuck to my butt, and my arm, and my chair, and my hair. Yep, cook those gooey things during the day I say.

We slept well, but it got darned cold, probably mid-30's, so I was pleasantly surprised when this little guy agreed to leave his cozy sleeping bag before dawn to jump in the canoe for a sunrise paddle. He wasn't even awake but was nodding his head like crazy when I asked if he was ready to get up. Dressed quickly, jumped in the boats and we were off. I'm not sure he's ever seen a sunrise, but boy did he like the canoe. We had eagles flying overhead; an osprey passed us on the river; there were loons, 'honking birds', turtles and a few fish. And one muskrat. We spotted an aerie too. The sunrise was beautiful.

Look at these great reflections. Lots of cool things to see when you watch the sunrise from the water.

This might have been the highlight of Sir S's weekend, when he got to paddle the kayak by himself. Not to worry, I'm the one on the camera and we were right there helping him along. Ok, we were helping when we weren't laughing because everything was too big for him and he went in circles more than he went straight, but with a well positioned bump or two (or a few more) we managed to all get across the lake and back to our camp.

And being a boy he had some serious exploring of the shore to do. You know, rocks to throw, shells to pick up, sticks to poke in the sand, and all that leads up to a very wet boy. Here's his very own drying spot. It turned out to be the place he put everything he was using. There's even a slingshot hanging from the branch. Alex, you'll recognize that slingshot from our many trips to the river.

A quiet moment by himself.

It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Do you think he got up rather early?