Monday, May 28, 2012

A light drizzle fell as we prepared breakfast.

Pancakes with the last of our bacon on the side.

Since there would be no portaging involved? In our pre-trip planning we thought it would be possible to make it to Eddy falls on a day trip. The weather being what it was, we scrapped that idea right away this morning. Still, we were hopeful of making it out to Thunder Point and, of course, the Isle of Pines & Ribbon Rock.

Shortly after breakfast the drizzle had stopped & there was very little trace of any wind. We packed things up and headed for the Isle of Pines in two canoes.

Even if a person had no prior knowledge. If they passed by the Isle of Pines in the springtime? The presence of the blooming lilacs around the perimeter of the main island would immediately indicate that it is a unique, special place. And, for my money. If there is a more pleasingly aromatic scent in the realm of botanical fragrances? I have yet to run across it.

I like to think that the lilacs were an unintentional final lasting salvo by Dorothy in her longstanding battle with the Forest Service. They may have removed the cabins. But the lilacs stand as sort of a symbol of Dorothy thumbing her nose at the Forest Service from here ever after.

As we rounded the northern shore there before us, in all it's glory, lies the very object which Vickies' mind had been transfixed since last fall.

Anyone who has actually been to the Isle of Pines & seen the Ribbon Rock first hand, might be surprised to learn that it was not always located here. It was, in fact, brought to Dorothy as a birthday present. There is a great story about how the Ribbon Rock came to rest at the Isle of Pines in the book, "Dorothy Molter, the Root Beer Lady" by Sarah Guy-Levar & Terri Schocke.

The following is an excerpt taken from that book: - One of the most memorable instances of mischief involved a unique birthday present for Dorothy. On the Canadien shoreline, just a short distance from the resort, there was a large boulder that consisted of a banded iron formation. It's beautiful ribbons of magnetite, jasper and chert made it quite a sight to see. It was unlike the other rocks present in the area, and was probably carried to that location by a glacier ten thousand years before. Dorothy had always admired the rock, so the boys (her nephews Jay & Steve) decided to bring it to her for her birthday.

There was one slight problem. As the boulder consisted largely of magnetite, it was heavy, about three hundred and fifty pounds per cubic foot. The rock was at least four feet square. At a minimum, it weighed twelve hundred pounds. The boys were undeterred. Using a pry bar they lifted the rock up, inch-by-inch, shoving small rocks underneath to create a large crevasse. Then they stood the boat on edge and rolled the rock into the boat with a shove. Steve explained what happened next, "It rolled in beautifully, except it was too far back in the boat and the boat sank!" This meant they had to start over. They managed to move the rock toward the center of the boat, and they positioned two guys in the front of the boat, for counterbalance. After bailing like madmen, they were able to float the boat and began heading for Dorothy's camp. Because of all the holes they'd put in the boat, they had to bail all the way back. They just made it back to the camp, when Dorothy confronted them. Steve still remembers her standing there with her hands on her hips crying out, "What did you do to my boat?!"[paragraph break]

Realizing the heartfelt intention of the gift, Dorothy forgave them, but got her revenge by making them move and turn the rock a few times until it was placed just so. Fortunately there happened to be a group of tourists around to help them in the process.

As for our crew. Not fully realizing the significance of this location, the girls were less than enthralled by Ribbon Rock. "That's it?!" "It's just a big rock!" Aurora took this attitude to the extreme for her first visit to Ribbon Rock.

Everyone kinda did their own thing while exploring the Isle of Pines. Hannah & Morgan found some top notch skipping rocks that kept them entertained. Ross & Vickie wandered down the myriad of trails. But, it was Megan who stumbled onto something of a find.

Presumably it was a cap from one of the bottles of rootbeer that Dorothy made. If nothing else? It was a cool keepsake & momento of the trip.

It was still overcast but, still no wind or rain. So we paddled east down the lake to Thunder Point. Before the ascent, we stopped to rest at the landing & fed Aurora, change her diaper etc.

Obviously the climb up is quite steep. But, there are always neat things to see when walking through the forest.

As we worked our way towards the summit, a stunning phenomenon was occurring right before our eyes. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.....The sun was actually beginning to pop out!!!!

Once on top we enjoyed the incredible vista.

I had read a few threads on bwca.com about archaeological sites (ancient Indian workshops) here on Thunder Point. So while everyone headed back down, Ross & I poked around a bit further.

An unfortunate consequence of the sun being out, was that the wind had picked up as well. Out on the lake there were some decent waves coming down the lake from the west. Normally, without Aurora along, we probably wouldn't have given them a second look. There was some deliberation about our course of action. I determined the narrowest point to cross was straight south from our present position. So, to maintain the closest proximity to shore before commiting to the traverse across, I initially headed west. Then a short distance out from shore spun around & headed SE into the South Arm a bit. At this point, still near shore, we swung around yet again and paddled in a SW direction quartering the waves as we targeted the campsite on the point.

To many people, our over thinking of the situation may have been overkill? But, if something did happen we wanted to make sure that we had covered all the bases beforehand. And, we discussed what to do if something did happen. No doubt our Pine lake experience last year showed us how fast weather can come up, & greatly influenced our strategy.

Well, I'm happy to report that we made it across without incident. Since the campsite on the point was occupied, we paddled past into the bay to the lee side of the small island just SW of there to catch our breath. While resting we noticed a loon on it's nest.

Wanting to minimize our disruption, we continued paddling over to the large point straight west before getting out to take a short break.

This was a great open spot, & looked like it was a campsite at one time. I think everyone was grateful to be able to finally be able to absorb some of the suns heat & energy?

The western winds persisted as we headed back towards camp. Kept it close to shore most of the way. Encountered a wide variety of waterfowl along the way. Some with young ones in tow. Once we reach the Robbins islands area, we figured to use the islands as wind breaks until we made it to the western edge of the lake. Speaking of breaks....we decided to stop at the Isle of Pines again.

The sky had almost completely opened up by now and basking in the sun was a heavenly delight. Funny how everyones mood was instantly transformed. Even heard a few laughs.

Aurora was even awake for this visit & seemed to enjoy herself immensely. The record early thaw this year meant that the water temperature, even in Knife lake, was already tolerable.

The wind had completely died down. So we paddled off for camp. For the most part everyone had done an admirable job of keeping things from getting soaked. But, once back in camp everyone took this opportunity to dry things out completely. I finally got to spend some time in the hammock with Aurora.

The girls even waded out in the lake to clean up a bit. There was alot of big talk but, I don't think anyone made it in past their equator?

Chicken fajitas for supper. Afterwards I did a brief bit of exploration. There was a trail running up a rise to the north. There was a nice view of the bay at the top. Could also see the camp to the north across the bay. Looked like the berries were gonna do alright as well.

Ross & Megan decided to head over to Portage lake & check that area out. Even though the sun was still out, a good soaking rain began to fall just as they reached the portage. They toughed it out. I guess by now we had all grown somewhat immune to the rain? :)

For awhile it looked like the sun wanted to stay out. But, the rain persisted on & off for the better part of the evening. At least we had gotten everything completely dried out before the latest soakings.