Saturday, August 01, 2009
Check in at Anderson’s Outfitters for our tow to Bottle Portage Quetico entry point at 6:15 AM. They have three Tow boats loaded and ready to go. There is a group from Tipton, IA loading up into one of the tow boats. It is obvious their group leader is a spry elderly woman. She is barking out orders and jumping in and out of the boat better than most 40 year olds. I am impressed with how good of shape she is in. Turns out this is her 53rd year of making trips into the Boundary Waters for her and her husband (who apparantly is not allowed to talk) (just kidding if you are reading this).
We end up sharing a tow boat with a group form Cincinatti, OH area. There is a fellow who looks a little younger than Sara and I who is chattering like a little kid with excitement to get going on the trip. He tells us how good the fishing has been each year and how he thinks about these trips all year long. It is refreshing to see someone else with the same illness I have.

We make it through Canadian Customs and stop at the Native Reservation to visit the Ranger station picking up our permits. By 11:00 am the Cincy group is getting dropped off at Brewer Rapids. By now Lac La Croix is whipped up into a frenzy. Many times the entire bow of the tow boat disappears under the splash of the huge waves we encounter. As we unload the Cincy group our Tow driver, Mark Anderson, discusses my trip options with me. We tell him we are headed to Darky Lake today then Suzanette. He tells us even though it is technically against the rules he would feel safer dropping us off at Brewer too. With our itinerary the wind would be at our back most of day going from Brewer to Darky. Today he says he is more concerned with safety that the rules---so I head his advice and unload at Brewer too. We take our time letting the other group get way ahead of us so we are not in each others way.

We don’t see the other group until we hit the “long Haul” portage. Some call it the “Gratton Death March”. The majority of the portage is actually quite easy, but the beginning and the end rise sharply---giving you the feeling you are going straight up and down. I normally single portage, but after climbing the first hill with the food pack and the canoe I switched to the leap frog method due to fatigue. We easily pass the other group as they are in base camp mode, but I am quite impressed with their efficiency for how loaded down they were. One member of the group did stumble on the descent while carrying his canoe---right after telling me he had fallen about 15 years ago almost in the exact same spot. I am close enough to grab his canoe and steady it keeping it form banging into the rocks. He is tough, he gets up and steadies himself, refusing any further help, and makes it the rest of the way down.
I have to brag a little. My wife Sara was the only woman on the portage that day, she was carrying as heavy as a pack as anyone, yet she was the ONLY person to perform the portage in one trip without resting.
We shove off and bid farewells to the Cincy group and head through Wickstead to Darky. Mark’s guess was correct, the wind was terrible but it pushed us across Wickstead almost all the way. Both Wickstead and Darky are deserted. We make camp on the northern island on Darky by 3:00 and have the entire lake to ourselves. We entertained thoughts of moving on to William, but the site is so nice and we already have the lake to ourselves we decide to enjoy Darky’s solitude. I fish a little when I go out to get some water away from shore catching a few smallies. It is still pretty windy so we don’t stay out too long---too much work.
I make a fire and grill up a couple of 8 oz. New York Strip steaks, supplemented with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and a Merlot to wash it down.