Ellen woke up pretty early to heed nature’s call and noticed the sky was red. As we all know: “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.” The wind also had picked up. We knew that we had some large water to cross so we broke camp early, ate a quick cold breakfast and headed out. Once out of the narrow section, we saw that the wind was from the south. Since we would be paddling mostly north today, we looked forward to having the wind at our backs; a rare thing indeed! However, for the time being, we were paddling west, tacking into the wind at times to avoid having the waves be parallel to the boat.
Midmorning, we stopped at a sheltered sandy beach to have some hot tea and a snack and study the maps again. After this second breakfast, we took the obligatory picture with the canoe and paddles. Around the next corner, we would enter a wide section of the Caribou River and head to the northwest. The wind following the river channel was strong at our backs, the waves were building, and we were giddy watching the shoreline go by so fast!
Entering Smoothrock Lake meant big water so we plotted a course near the eastern shore, placing the wind at our left rear as we paddled toward a long sandy but very exposed beach. We rode the waves in on the approach. On shore we noticed what looked like bear tracks and caribou tracks.
Leaving this sandy beach, we paddled straight out into the headwind and targeted a chain of islands which would provide some shelter as we continued west across Smoothrock Lake.
One more course change and we were again headed due north up Outlet Bay. With a strong wind at our backs again the miles flew by! Eventually we realized that we had not had lunch yet and it was already 2:45 pm. We landed in a sheltered cover and made tasty wraps with summer sausage, cheese, and mustard.
Our goal was an island campsite at the north end of Outlet Bay right before a long portage around some waterfalls. We figured we might stay two nights at this island so we could fish and explore the falls. After a twenty mile day, we landed at the island and it started to downpour. We sat under the tarp and waited it out and then later Jeff cut and split fire wood so Ellen could cook dinner. It was pizza night! In between rain drops Ellen cooked three small small pizzas in a skillet over the fire.
After dinner, Ellen journaled the day’s travels and Jeff enjoyed his evening ration of scotch whiskey and a toasted marshmallow s’more. We sat by the fire and watched the sunset. We were in no hurry to go to bed as we had decided that it was a rest day the next day.
Late in the evening we woke up to some very strong winds. The tent was shaking and the tarp was straining against the wind gusts. We got out of the tent and lowered the tarp to prevent the wind from taking it. What a day!
Journeys with Jeff and Ellen 