Saturday, August 18
Another mostly cloudy morning to start our last day. We’re not too far from the public access so there’s no rush in trying to pack up camp. After I’ve been up for a while and have had some coffee, I pack up the tarp and hammock before rousing the kids.
We’re having another quick start breakfast, oatmeal and hot cocoa if anybody wants it.
I have to say it – this kid, man. The whole trip he’s been nothing but cheerful and happy about just about everything that has come our way. Even being forced to sit on top of one of the packs in the canoe for hours on end while we’re traveling. He’s paddled occasionally, done lots of looking around at where we are, and has even started to follow along on the map once its been shown where on the map we are. Evie has done a good job of being tolerant of him too, as is the case with littler kids sometimes they’re so focused on entertaining themselves they don’t really get how they could be impacting others.
Packing up camp is slow, but somehow we’re still getting ready to leave at about the same time as the rest of the week… right around 10:30. Evie & Devin get some last casts in with Devin’s pole while I put the finishing touches on the bags and then float the boat.
As we’re getting ready to go, something funny happens – Devin drops his paddle, as he’s done a few times this trip, however this time the GoPro happens to capture the exact moment it’s slipped out of his hands and is bouncing in the lake blade down.
Our paddle out is fairly uneventful. We take advantage of our proximity to the camp on Fishhook Island as a chance to paddle the channel between Fishhook and the Island directly to the West which has a large suspension footbridge. They have a pretty big operation, whomever they are… On the main island there are several cabins plus lots of canoes and docks for other boats. Across the bridge there seems to be what appears to be a large dining hall or some other structure that is designed to resemble the profile of pine trees. Between the islands and the mainland there is strung underwater utility lines with signage warning boats to stay a certain distance away at places. Back home I’ll discover that the camp is called the Wilderness Canoe Base and is owned and operated by the Camp Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp, Inc.
45 minutes after we leave our campsite we land back at our starting point and the end of our trip, the Sea Gull Lake Public Access.
Miles Traveled – 1.6
Total trip mileage – 29.6
Lakes paddled – Sea Gull
Enjoyed every day of your trip from the comfort of my chair; thanks for sharing!
My cousin and I used to love englishman’s especially for the view. downside we had to go to the opposite bank to get sufficient firewood. the beach is great tho one year the water was high enough to come all the way to the shore. The first-year I puzzled why someone had put a log right at Waters edge and weighted down either end with big rocks. it finally dawned on me that it was a DIY boat ramp so that you could easily pull the boat out of the water with the stern safe from even the biggest incoming waves. Worked like a charm for my 17 foot Sea nymph with a 25 horsepower motor. Of course we had a canoe along 2 for fishing excursions. some of you may remember my cousin Paul rovelstad who for many years was a cameraman for Kare 11 in Minneapolis until he prematurely died a year ago from a heart attack. He was only 55, and it’s hard to imagine going back to Sag without him.
I think I would have enjoyed the campsite much better if I weren’t coming down with an illness…. It really knocked me out of my usual mindset I’m in when one a canoe trip. I probably would have been able to better handle the biting flies and bald hornets too! Islands are usually something I gravitate towards, I think it has something to do with the idea that it’s “yours” for the time you’re there, especially if it’s the only site on the island.