Triplogs / Triplog#33 / Days 2&3
IN via Cart Trail - White Partridge L - Little Dickson L - Dickson L - Little Dickson L - White Partridge L - Out via Cart Trail
Day 2 (May 7)
It was a cool morning, as we packed up and made our way to Little Dickson Lake
Another phrase for 'laziness' is the term; "highly disorganized and hung-over", and that's exactly what we were as a group, as we lurched and staggered on our way to Little Dickson Lake. Two lakes and two portages, that's all we had to do that day, and how long did it take us to do? Four, five hours maybe?Naw...we were really lazy that day. SEVEN hours, was the recorded time it took us to get to Little Dickson!
How can I describe it? The "Sundassa" portage(2,685m), is MY nemesis. For me it is the one portage which I'll never understand. I think I can sum it up though in one paragraph;
Of all the portages I've ever done, this is the only one, where I've come to the end of the trail, and I feel no pleasure at all, no reward, no sense of relief, just resignation, of the fact that, one day I'll have to do it all over again(Return Trip). That is really daunting to the human spirit.
After the silly 7 hour trek, Bo found time to nap on Little Dickson Lake
Mike & I had Steak & Spuds for dinner on our first night on Little Dickson Lake
I wasn't the only member of our party to curse that portage, for somehow it was dubbed the portage of "pain and trickery". The trail, although not mountainous, or swampy, had one element that remained constant throughout it's length; Rough. It is a rough and long trail. About the halfway mark, we came upon the beaver dam, you have to traverse across the dam, to continue along the trail. The crossing is only dangerous if you happen to lose your footing and fall down the embankment on one side...other than that it's a oozy and trippy affair. Falling the other way is perhaps safer, although one might wish they were dead, for you'd be swimming in beaver dung. Fortunately for everyone, no one tripped or fell, and we all made it across safely. Here in one's and two's we had lunch. I took off, and made it to Little Dickson first, anxious to get the portage behind us. I finished and headed back to the dam for my second carry. Perhaps we had lost time on that portage due to my laziness in parking my ass for 45min, to film our party crossing the beaver dam. It was fun ,and hope to have some footage to share with everyone in the future.
If I remember correctly, we landed at our campsite on Little Dickson Lake just after 4:30 p.m. No one did any fishing that day. We were all tired, set-up camp, and relaxed. By 7:30 pm, Master Bo was snoozing by the fire, and by 8 pm, Bo woke up, to the scent of steak that was sizzling up a storm on the fire. The weather was overcast for the most part, and the temperature somewhere around 8 °C. There wasn't a drop of wind as we settled down shortly before 9 pm to eat and relax around the evening fire.
It was overcast, but calm as we set-up camp,
on Little Disckon Lake
Day 3 (May 8)
We were up before 7am, and it was a beautiful May morning, sunny and crisp. Derek, and Mike were making breakie, while David and myself practised at being lazy. It was a lazy day, where all members went and did their own thing. Mike & I went off out for a few hours to explore the lake, fishing while paddling around. We had no luck and ended up in a bay at the west end of the lake, where we were able to portage a few meters to the east side of the lake, and within sight of our campsite. Mike and I gathered some wood for a fire. I found some sizeable dead cedar logs and threw them into the water...Mike rigged up a towline, and off we went back to camp with some high quality cedar for the fire. We arrived back at camp around 11 am.
Waking up to our first morning on Little Dickson Lake: Heaven!
By 2pm, Mike was losing the battle to become the next King of Laziness; off he went solo in his canoe. It was a marvellous day for a paddle, winds near dead calm, with warm sunshine. When Mike came back, he grabbed me and we went out to fish a little bit. Both of us were beginning to think that we just didn't have it in us, as even the fish proved to be lazier than us, we didn't catch anything. By 5 pm , Bo & Sheila returned with a few Speckled trout. Grill baskets were broken out, as the fish was grilled over the fire, and distributed around to everyone; when Bo & Sheila caught fish, everyone wins!
Some of the scenery on Little Dickson Lake
Mike out for a solo in his Swift Kippawa
Bo & Sheila retired early, before 10 pm, the rest of us stayed up, it was a fantastic night to watch the stars. I broke out some rye, and Dogbyte broke out some scotch(The pricey stuff). By 11pm we were by the shore's edge, feeling really good, and howling for wolves, no answer, however we did see an Iridium flare, which was really cool to see, it was the first time most of us had ever seen one. By midnight, the night's booze rations were gone, and it was time to hit the hay. David slept outside that night. I don't know if Derek, booted him out, or he took it upon himself to sleep outside. No matter, David, set-up his tarp and slept under it for the remainder of our stay on Little Dickson Lake. David's set-up actually looked quite comfortable.
A nice sized Speckled trout ready for eating!
Sheila enjoying her evening by the fire