15 August 2017, Tuesday

Slim to Little Loon to East Loon Bay to Little Indian Sioux River to Lower Pauness

Another warm sunny day begins. It’s almost too warm for the Boundary Waters. Once again we had the entire lake to ourselves last night. Once again we are on the water before 9 am. As we near the take out we pass two canoes, 6 humans, and one corgi who greets us with a single sharp woof. We find the take out.

As we are getting organized, two rather large fellows come across the portage from the opposite direction. They are out fishing for the day and are camped on Little Loon. This portage is 165 rods, but it feels longer with its slippery rocks and a few big step-offs for the canoe carrier. As usual, I go ahead to scout for obstacles. The put in at Little Loon Lake is beautiful: cedar grove, sandy shore with perfectly placed rocks for loading the canoe. On our second trip we flush a young snowshoe hare trying its best to be invisible next to the trail.

We are soon paddling south in the bright sunshine with nary a breeze. At noon we pull over to a campsite offering some shady pines as we eat our lunch. With all this water about, our salmon jerky seems an appropriate start. Soon we are back on the water. The puffy cumulus clouds are reflected in the lake’s glassy surface. I feel like I am paddling through sky instead of water, pushing East Loon Bay behind as we move southward.

Finally, we reach the rocky point marking the entrance to Little Indian Sioux River. As we paddle upstream, we enter a wide grassy marsh. There appear to be two paths forward. One is wide and veers right, the other is narrow and goes straight. I choose the wrong way and we find ourselves deeper in the marsh. A small deer looks up as if to ask what we are doing here. We turn to the left bank seeking the other channel and successfully push our way through the tall river grass.

This part of the paddle ends at Devil’s Cascade, a steep climb from the lower portion of Little Indian Sioux up to Lower Pauness Lake. We hope to hunker down on Lower Pauness for rainy Wednesday, but there are only two campsites. We return down the trail for our second load of gear and take a slight detour to an overlook of the river valley. As we reach the take out I spy another canoe heading up the river. We hustle back up the trail and soon are out on the lake. The nearest of the two campsites is unoccupied. The other has a tent perched on the rocks overlooking Lower Pauness. We are quite happy to claim our site.

First order of business we both enthusiastically agree, is a shampoo! We feel as if we have salt crystals growing from our hair. We then work on camp set up, cook dinner, hang the tarp and get extra water in to filter so we won’t have to go out in tomorrow’s rain.

The evening is growing dark and despite the breeze, the mosquitoes are hungry. There is a little mouse at my feet stealthily cleaning up our supper crumbs.