Boundary Waters, Day 6

The sky was again overcast. We sat by the space heater in our sweats.

The gas "wood"stove

Chilly morning

 I saw Dave bailing our rowboat while we were having coffee. I hoped that it meant that the rain was over. Sadly, the rain started up again before we were done with breakfast. Maybe Dave bailed because it was going to rain a lot more, and he didn’t want the boat to sink.

We had scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast and packed a lunch and were on the road by 9:30, which is early for us. We were going to drive to Esther Lake, looking for wildlife. We take some version of this drive every year, and we didn’t want to be in the car a lot on Friday with the all-day drive coming up Saturday. Rain be damned, we were going. I put on my bargain rain suit from Gander Mountain's STORE CLOSING sale, pants included.

It was 51° when we left and never got warmer than 54°. It rained and rained. As we passed Swamper Lake, we both saw two dark objects that did not look familiar. Swamper Lake always has an uprooted tree that looks like a moose, but these were different.

“Did you see those two dark things?”

“Yes. Should we turn around?”

“Yes.”

We turned around and drove by more slowly. We discovered that we had each seen different things. I saw the objects to the left of the moose stump, and Jane saw them to the right. Neither proved to be a moose with her calf, and we had to drive all the way back to Bearskin Lake Road to turn around again.

We bumped along Greenwood Lake Road to Shoe Lake Road, splashing mud all over the car. We saw nothing but rain and dripping trees. “We haven’t even seen a robin,” Jane said. “We usually see robins at least.”

We turned south on Arrowhead Highway and east on Esther Lake Road. Unlike last year, we knew where we were going and avoided the detour to the gravel mine. We came around a bend, and there was a moose head peeking out from the shrubs.

Moose, first sighting

She was not shy. I followed the strategy of taking pictures at every opportunity, moving as close as possible between each one. I started with a shot through the windshield. I rolled down my window and stuck my head out. She didn’t move. Jane slowly drove forward as I snapped one picture after another. As a general rule, I don’t get out of the car to take pictures of large animals. I certainly didn’t want to surprise a moose. As Kate and I learned in Alaska, moose hate surprises.

Moose posing by the road

The moose strolled down the road a little way and posed again for a few more pictures. She then ambled up a steep hill of bare ground. We drove on.

Moose posing again before heading up the hill

We parked at the boat landing and had our picnic in the car, in the rain. A highly cooperative loon was in the bay. Once again, I started with a picture through the windshield, then got out of the car and slowly walked forward, snapping photos every few steps. This was the first time we’d gotten close to a loon this week. We hadn’t even heard loons much.

A loon in the rain (note raindrops on the water)

After lunch, I took a fishing pole to the dock so Jane could get a picture of me fishing in the rain. I cast exactly three times and didn’t get any strikes.

Fishing in my new rain suit in the rain

On our way back to the main road, not too far from Esther Lake, a roughed grouse flew up from the side of the road. We turned down the road toward Devilfish Lake campground, where we had not been before. A woodcock burst from the underbrush and showed us his characteristic profile as he made his escape. That was exciting! You don’t see woodcocks much.

The moose was still hanging out in the same place. We could see her tracks up and down the dirt hill.

And the moose on our way out

She changed her mind before she got to the top, probably because we drove off and left her alone.

That was the end of our wildlife sightings for the trip. A good day.

The rain let up. We discussed the Kadunce River trail but decided it would have to wait for our next trip. The tourist guide had specifically mentioned dry weather, which this was clearly not.

It was our last chance for Sydney’s. There was a huge puddle between the parking lot and the custard stand. “It’s okay,” I said to Jane, “We can swim from here.”

The puddle between us and Sydney's

 We ate inside again due to the cold weather. While there had been tons of gulls the day before, today there were tons of geese.

Canada geese on the beach in front of Sydney's. Note total absence of people.

We saw this pretty flower on the way back. It was like harebells (not to be confused with hair balls) only larger. Perhaps a cultivated variety.

Extra large harebells

As soon as we got back to the cabin, we turned the gas fireplace on to take off the chill. I baked the last four scones, mostly because the oven heated the cabin better than anything else. We finally saw a hummingbird at the flower boxes on the deck. It was a male, and he returned a couple of times during the evening.

We had the rest of the soup for supper. I made a fruit compote of the remaining peach, some blueberries, and cherries to have with the scones.

It was calm and dry at 7:30. Jane and I sat out on the deck until we got too cold. We went in and played games until bedtime.

8:26 p.m.: The sky looks a tiny bit clear