Lost with Mike
  • Scoot
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    • The South >
      • Merchant's Millpond State Park, NC
      • BRP and a visit to Charlotte, NC
      • South Carolina and Back on my GS (2011)
      • Jaw-ja Trip #1 - Visiting my Nephew
      • Jaw-ja Trip #2 - Cousin's Wedding
      • "You rode 1300 miles for BBQ?!?" (2010)
    • Canada (eh) >
      • 2012 - Beards to Canada >
        • Day 1: Arlington, VA > Arlington, VT
        • Day 1-2 (Continued) Back to VA!!!
        • Day 3: Newburyport, NH > Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 4: Loafing around "The Neck"
        • Day 5: Sandy Cove, NS to Antigonish, NS
        • Day 6: Antigonish, NS to Meat Cove, NS
        • Day 7: Meat Cove, NS to Port Aux Basques, NFL
        • Day 8: Port Aux Basques to Port Saunders
        • Day 9: Port Saunders to Big Brook
        • Day 10: Big Brook, NL to Trans Lab Hwy
        • Day 11: Trans Lab Hwy to Pinware River
        • Day 12: Pinware River, LAB to Norris Point, NL
        • Day 13: Norris Point to Blue Beach
        • Day 14: Blue Beach, NL to Port Aux Basques Ferry
        • Day 15: Sydney, NS to Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 16: Chillin on the Digby Neck
        • Day 17: Sandy Cove, NS to No. Sandwich, NH
        • Day 18: Sandiwch, NH to Arlington, VA (Home)
      • Algonquin Park 2013 >
        • Day 1: Home to New York
        • Day 2: Chataugay State Forest to Brent, ON
        • Day 3: Brent, ON to Nipissing River Portage at Nadine Lake
        • Day 4: Nipissing River @ Nadine Lake Portage to first island in Red Pine Bay
        • Day 5: Red Pine Bay to Hogan’s Lake
        • Day 6: Hogan’s Lake to Catfish Lake
        • Day 7: Catfish Lake to Cedar Lake to Fredonia, NY
        • Day 8: Fredonia, NY to Brookville, PA
        • Day 9: Brookville, PA to Alexandria, VA
      • Think I'll ride to Montreal this weekend...
      • Ontario on a Whim
    • Maryland >
      • How to Hit a Tree, By ME!
      • Ruckus Stealth Camping in MD
      • Ruck'n around Southern MD
      • White's Ferry and some Maryland Backroads
      • 1000mi right near da' beach (2010)
    • New York >
      • Cornell, Niagara Falls and PA Coal Country (2012)
      • Finger Lakes trip to NY (2011)
      • New York City Trip (2011)
    • Pennsylvania >
      • Early Spring in PA
      • Michaux Camping
      • From a Wedding to "Where-da-fugawi?"
      • Pennsylvania Leaf Peeping (2012)
      • First Big Trip to PA (2010)
    • Virginia >
      • From the Mountains to the Sea in Ol' Virginny'
      • What the Fog? (Northern Neck, VA - 2013)
      • Uncle Bucks Ride to Eat and Snowy SNP
      • Charlottesville Area Ride
      • Serious Helmet Time in VA (2011)
      • Ruck'n Across Virginia (2010)
      • Impromptu Camping with 'DC Rider' (2010)
    • West Virginia >
      • Rella-Vous and Skippii Rescue
      • New River Gorge Ghost Town Exploration (2011)
      • Five States from Laurel Fork (Spring 2013)
      • A Little Dirt, A Little Clouds, A lotta Fun, WV (2012)
      • GS and an NSX? (2012)
      • Seneca Rocks Camping Two-Up (2011)
      • Panniers Only Club at Seneca Rocks, WV (2010)
      • Laurel Fork Fall 2010 on the Honda Ruckus 50cc (2010)
      • Dog Days Rally and Rella's Gift (2010)
      • Pops and Richmonders in WV (2010)
      • Rocket Boys (2010)
      • New River Gorge and Rella's (2010)
    • Cross Country 2009 >
      • Trip Preparation
      • Day 1: (Sept 3, 2010)
      • Day 2: (Sept 4, 2010)
      • Day 3: (Sept 5, 2010)
      • Day 4: (Sept 6, 2010)
      • Day 5: (Sept 7, 2010)
      • Day 6: (Sept 8, 2010)
      • Day 7: (Sept 9, 2010)
      • Day 8: (Sept 10, 2010)
      • Day 9: (Sept 11, 2010)
      • Day 10: (Sept 12, 2010)
      • Day 11: (Sept 13, 2010)
      • Day 12: (Sept 14, 2010)
      • Day 13: (Sept 15, 2010)
      • Day 14: (Sept 16, 2010)
      • Day 15: (Sept 17, 2010)
      • Day 16: (Sept 18, 2010)
      • Day 17: (Sept 19, 2010)
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Day 4: Nipissing River @ Nadine Lake to first island in Red Pine Bay

The sun brightened the atmosphere enough to waken me from my soft frozen slumber. I opened the bag up to discover I was up before the sun. I stretched, yawned and crawled out of the warm shelter to put on cold pants and amble over to the bear bag hung a hundred meters from camp near the poor spring.
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Dropping the food bag in camp, I looked up to see the Nipissing River Valley encased in a hearty thick frost, an uncanny white, my first frost this year.
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I hastily made a fire and began to pack as unzipping and synthetic stuffing noises emitted from Mat’s frost-encrusted tent. My gear was dry but it took me awhile to stuff it all away on Day 1.

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I was still getting accustomed to packing for this trip in two bags which was a bit different than my normal hiking. One pack had to be much heavier with a combination of both our gear while the lighter pack (mine) was carried by whoever was portaging the canoe at the time. We’d switch off packs to facilitate the single portage method which seemed to work well for us both. We made coffee by the ashy fire while blowing on the wet wood.

Beard attempted to stretch out his legs and back
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The sun rose and slowly backed off the frost in a colorful golden line arcing eastward to the river. P1110302.JPG

We packed, loaded the now familiar kevlar canoe, and eased into the tea colored river. The fog and mist of cool air over warmer water made visibility poor when pointing into the sun and beautiful when the sun was to our backs. Fortunately few boulders or sunken logs, remains from the logging past of the park, posed hazards in this section of river that morning.

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Spirits were high as the cloudless sky grew to a beautiful azure blue lighting the smooth portions of water in the same color. Wood ducks scattered away as we meandered around curves in the Nipissing shifting from soul warming sunshine to frigid blue hues of the shaded down where temps were easily 20 F cooler and frost still hanging on. After 5k of paddling upstream, we came to the first of a series of portages for the morning. At 980m, I carried the canoe and now lightened pack up a mountain and back down.

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The verdant trail dripped with morning dew and wet my pant legs. I found the canoe yolk quite uncomfortable digging into my meatless shoulders.

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Matt later gave me some good advice on a more comfortable technique. After another short paddle we came to a 1900m portage which Matt carried canoe and I, the pack. It was nearly uphill the whole way which dragged on and offset the serene beauty and natural pace with grit teeth grunts, sweat and cursing.

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After a much needed snack at Re-Mo-Na Lake, we quickly passed to Whisky Jack Lake and some short portage to Robinson Lake, the approach to which led us into a shallow and clear nirvana of an inlet.

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The clear water gave a wonderful view of the waves on the sandy bottom, many aquatic plants, tadpoles and frogs swimming past.

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The 1200m ortage to Burntroot Lake was an okay carry for me with mostly downhill slopes and passing a pretty marsh on the right. The trail through the marsh was raised on a wooden decked boardwalk almost a foot wide. At one place the slippery and algae covered surface banked at an offset angle leading Matt to slip and literally “Take a knee” with the heavy pack for 15 seconds until he recovered balance and the strength to stand back up. No whisky was spilled in this journey.

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At Burnt Root Lake, I snacked and we promptly paddled to a nearby inlet out of the wind to bathe.
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My first cleaning since home on Saturday morning. It felt refreshing...especially when the wind blew over the water! I still smell a little. Matt had a lunch of Edam cheese and pepperoni while I sat shirtless on a rock drying in the sun while making a cup of coffee. It was the best of times. Our next few hours were spent paddling into a 15 mph heading down Burntroot Lake. The white capped waves kept mostly to our bow.
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The most memorable sight was a moose cow and calf appear on the shoreline of distant “Anchor Island” (as marked on the map) and slip into the lake. Their trajectory was to cross ours but their pace was much swifter than our own and they swiftly swam nearly 1 km to the eastern shore of Burntroot Lake.
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They climbed out of the chilly water, the spray visible as they shook off in the sun, then disappeared into the campsite on that point. It would have been an interesting day in camp watching a moose swim directly at you!

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We rounded the bend in the lake and came across our first encounter with a canoe. The two middle aged fisherman were heavily loaded but had caught an impressive 2+ ft fish they called “Little”. We told them of our loop, to which they remarked “Oh the big tour, eh?”. Paddling into Red Pine Bay, the medium sized island appeared into view and we beached on the rocky shore around 4:45. WE explored the small trails and corners of the island before making camp.
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I took the canoe back to land and broke down some dead 20 ft pine trees, loaded them into the canoe and brought home the bounty.
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With an hour of light left, we made curried cashew chicken (mine fortified with tuna) then crawled up to the lookout rock for sunset.
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A canoe, perhaps the same fisherman we saw earlier, floated past lazily trolling a line out the back. We were quiet as they passed, through assuredly they knew we were sitting up there. You just develop that “feeling” out there when you are getting to be one with the landscape.
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The sun sank below the distant trees so we repositioned and took pictures at another corner of the island rewarded with two or three separate sunsets depending on where we stood. The canoe came back into view and made for some nice shots of the sunset with the canoe in the water.
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Darkness encroached and the fire and impressive windbreak rock made for a warm backdrop to stories, map examination and panning.
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The whole day passed without a cloud in the sky, not a sad moment. Nobody died. Life is great here. Tomorrow we paddle!

Darn food bag ate my glove!
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A nice pipe before bed.
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  • Scoot
  • Paddle
  • Pedal
  • Moto
    • The South >
      • Merchant's Millpond State Park, NC
      • BRP and a visit to Charlotte, NC
      • South Carolina and Back on my GS (2011)
      • Jaw-ja Trip #1 - Visiting my Nephew
      • Jaw-ja Trip #2 - Cousin's Wedding
      • "You rode 1300 miles for BBQ?!?" (2010)
    • Canada (eh) >
      • 2012 - Beards to Canada >
        • Day 1: Arlington, VA > Arlington, VT
        • Day 1-2 (Continued) Back to VA!!!
        • Day 3: Newburyport, NH > Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 4: Loafing around "The Neck"
        • Day 5: Sandy Cove, NS to Antigonish, NS
        • Day 6: Antigonish, NS to Meat Cove, NS
        • Day 7: Meat Cove, NS to Port Aux Basques, NFL
        • Day 8: Port Aux Basques to Port Saunders
        • Day 9: Port Saunders to Big Brook
        • Day 10: Big Brook, NL to Trans Lab Hwy
        • Day 11: Trans Lab Hwy to Pinware River
        • Day 12: Pinware River, LAB to Norris Point, NL
        • Day 13: Norris Point to Blue Beach
        • Day 14: Blue Beach, NL to Port Aux Basques Ferry
        • Day 15: Sydney, NS to Sandy Cove, NS
        • Day 16: Chillin on the Digby Neck
        • Day 17: Sandy Cove, NS to No. Sandwich, NH
        • Day 18: Sandiwch, NH to Arlington, VA (Home)
      • Algonquin Park 2013 >
        • Day 1: Home to New York
        • Day 2: Chataugay State Forest to Brent, ON
        • Day 3: Brent, ON to Nipissing River Portage at Nadine Lake
        • Day 4: Nipissing River @ Nadine Lake Portage to first island in Red Pine Bay
        • Day 5: Red Pine Bay to Hogan’s Lake
        • Day 6: Hogan’s Lake to Catfish Lake
        • Day 7: Catfish Lake to Cedar Lake to Fredonia, NY
        • Day 8: Fredonia, NY to Brookville, PA
        • Day 9: Brookville, PA to Alexandria, VA
      • Think I'll ride to Montreal this weekend...
      • Ontario on a Whim
    • Maryland >
      • How to Hit a Tree, By ME!
      • Ruckus Stealth Camping in MD
      • Ruck'n around Southern MD
      • White's Ferry and some Maryland Backroads
      • 1000mi right near da' beach (2010)
    • New York >
      • Cornell, Niagara Falls and PA Coal Country (2012)
      • Finger Lakes trip to NY (2011)
      • New York City Trip (2011)
    • Pennsylvania >
      • Early Spring in PA
      • Michaux Camping
      • From a Wedding to "Where-da-fugawi?"
      • Pennsylvania Leaf Peeping (2012)
      • First Big Trip to PA (2010)
    • Virginia >
      • From the Mountains to the Sea in Ol' Virginny'
      • What the Fog? (Northern Neck, VA - 2013)
      • Uncle Bucks Ride to Eat and Snowy SNP
      • Charlottesville Area Ride
      • Serious Helmet Time in VA (2011)
      • Ruck'n Across Virginia (2010)
      • Impromptu Camping with 'DC Rider' (2010)
    • West Virginia >
      • Rella-Vous and Skippii Rescue
      • New River Gorge Ghost Town Exploration (2011)
      • Five States from Laurel Fork (Spring 2013)
      • A Little Dirt, A Little Clouds, A lotta Fun, WV (2012)
      • GS and an NSX? (2012)
      • Seneca Rocks Camping Two-Up (2011)
      • Panniers Only Club at Seneca Rocks, WV (2010)
      • Laurel Fork Fall 2010 on the Honda Ruckus 50cc (2010)
      • Dog Days Rally and Rella's Gift (2010)
      • Pops and Richmonders in WV (2010)
      • Rocket Boys (2010)
      • New River Gorge and Rella's (2010)
    • Cross Country 2009 >
      • Trip Preparation
      • Day 1: (Sept 3, 2010)
      • Day 2: (Sept 4, 2010)
      • Day 3: (Sept 5, 2010)
      • Day 4: (Sept 6, 2010)
      • Day 5: (Sept 7, 2010)
      • Day 6: (Sept 8, 2010)
      • Day 7: (Sept 9, 2010)
      • Day 8: (Sept 10, 2010)
      • Day 9: (Sept 11, 2010)
      • Day 10: (Sept 12, 2010)
      • Day 11: (Sept 13, 2010)
      • Day 12: (Sept 14, 2010)
      • Day 13: (Sept 15, 2010)
      • Day 14: (Sept 16, 2010)
      • Day 15: (Sept 17, 2010)
      • Day 16: (Sept 18, 2010)
      • Day 17: (Sept 19, 2010)
  • Photos
  • Articles