Tuesday, August 22, 2023 Entry day. Tow from Moose, PP, Birch, And Carp lakes We got up at 5 and gathered everything together to be at Piragis by 6 to make the 7:00 AM tow to PP. We planned to be the first at the ranger station door when they opened. Nope somebody beat us to it! Only one guy and then we were on our way The weather was heavy overcast with a forecast of rain and some wind. No sunshine was predicted. And none was seen. Took our departure photos and headed east on Birch lake into a stiff headwind. Wait a minute, I thought the prevailing wind was from the West! Of course there is the Murphy's law of canoe tripping and wind. "You will always be paddling into the wind" No problem as our first target was Carp lake. We were planning on taking it easy on our first day and most of the trip so no hurry.

I had been in touch with John Gault and he had his Galt Grounds Cafe set up on the BW side of Carp. I told him I would pass by on our way out if he was still there. He promised a nice camp and a hot cuppa coffee. After the Birch Carp portage I said let’s go get some coffee and out of the wind. (it was now blowing MORE briskly) The other Captain expressed some doubts and wanted to find a campsite before it rained. We had had some bad luck getting a good first night site on our last two trips and didn't want a repeat. I said it's just around the corner and not really out of the way. We don't have to stop long and I already told John that we would stop by. Besides I brought some coffee for him. I was supposed to meet him on the last trip up on Crooked but the stars didn't align and we didn’t stop at his camp. So off we paddle into the wind. We hung the right turn around the corner to get to the camp . When I looked back, the other canoe is hugging the left shoreline and heading towards Canada! Oh well, They’ll wait for us at the narrows. I had an island campsite in mind that wasn't on the Fisher and Mckenzie maps. Though I saw it on another map. I told them about before the trip and set as our target campsite for the first night. We had seen no one on the water today and I wasn’t too worried about it being occupied. We saw the BW camp with John's American flag so we hollered in for permission to land. Permission was granted and we secured to the shore. It was nice to meet you face to face John! I really expected an older, stouter gentleman. We chatted for a few minutes and I gave him the coffee. Talk about special delivery, Drive to the roasters then home, 45 minute drive to SFO airport, Redeye flight to Minneapolis and commuter to Duluth, Rent a car to get to Ely, rent a canoe, get a tow, then paddle the last 5.5 miles. I was rewarded with a small token of appreciation from John that I will keep for the memory. Of course, I brought my own pound of coffee to last me the trip. We said our goodbyes and headed into Canada. Where we found the other party on the shore. They didn’t go far and had to adjust the seat in the bow. They found a nice flat landing spot on the lee side shore and weren't there for long. Martin was a little anxious because of bad campsite availability of our first nights on the last two trips. The first year was a site rated -1 stars after a 11 AM start up to Knife, in the first Covid year. Then last year we were getting rained on while everything looked full on Fourtown and Boot. that was after triple portage of the Mudro to Fourtown way... with full food packs. Finally finding a pretty okay three star on Boot. We got to the wide part of Carp and saw that there were several sites available that would be acceptable. The wind had calmed down but was still threatening rain. But I wanted the island site that was highly rated and had no others nearby. The site referred to as 1L5 was open and ready for us to land there. We scoped it out and found it suitable for us. We needed one good tent pad and two nice hammock hangs. Which it had and more. Nice fire pit except for the widow maker near the pit leaning slightly towards it. We gave it a good push and it seemed pretty solid, so we didn't worry. Great view over the lake and good wind protection.

We set up camp and settled in. The wind abated some but the dark clouds remained. Rob and Mart set out to find some wood from the closest shoreline and I put my fishing rig together. I figured I would use the lure that I had good luck with last year. It caught a SM and a Pike from the shore at our camp on Iron. I went down to the shore where the wind was blowing around the point on the island. I immediately got some action and caught a few small fish, a SM and something else. Then BAM something hit hard and fought back! I worked it a while and got it to shore, keeping it away from trying to wrap around the boulders. It was a lake trout! Right from shore, in August! I wasn't expecting that. That makes it three of the Big Four that I've wanted to catch. Now I just need to get a Walleye. So that's three species on one lure. I'm just going to bring a bunch of those next year. I carefully released it as we had plenty of fresh food and didn't need more. it was pretty easy with the barbs crushed flat on the hook. I was shocked that fishing was so easy. In hindsight I thought we could have kept it for a breakfast of trout and eggs. While I was working the fish, the wood crew returned and got the fire going. We hung the tarp and got dinner going. Hamburger night. Fresh meat out of the cooler pack and plenty of extras. Hung out for a while then off to bed as it got dark. We were up from 5 AM and didn't get much sleep the night before.

Night on Carp Lake. First lake Trout People seen. 4 other canoes at PP. Maybe one group on the Carp portage. One other canoe fishing on Carp. And JG