16 August 2012

Isaac lake

We set off from our camp at 6am, a quick cereal bar and packing up our tents then off to camp 23 for a scheduled porridge and coffee stop.

Due to our mammoth paddle yesterday, we have an easy day ahead and this is a great feeling. We are paddling along Isaac lake today.  The lake was officially named in 1936 after gold prospector George Isaac although had been known informally by that names for many years.  Presumably he had found gold in the area. The lake is vast a good 20-30km and has a range of vistas.

Along the circuit each campsite has a fire pit and there are wood stores, so we collected wood en route to camp 26 and unloaded this from our canoes.
In the wilderness, a camp fire really is a fantastic asset and everyone looks forward to sitting by the warmth of the fire after a cold wet day on the river. The campfire at Isaac lake was one of my favourites and with the view of the Wolverine mountains towering over us, it was the perfect opportunity to wallow in the peace of the wilderness and think about everything and nothing.
"Sometimes my camping trips are an excuse to satisfy the urge to sit and stare into the flames of a camp fire. There is life in a camp fire, and a primitive pleasure in watching it come alive". B, Mason

As we were relatively fresh from the paddle today it was easy to set up camp; we unpacked our wet tents from last night and pitched them to dry in the sun.  The weather here is unpredictable, one minute bright sunshine the next pouring with rain.


We had a couple of visitors today; a young moose and the ranger service.  The rangers said it was probably only a year and a half old.  It was very tall and walked up to us to see what we were doing then went off. Amazing!

We spent a lazy afternoon on the beach, reading, writing diaries and generally relaxing in preparation for tomorrow.  The rangers asked us to travel to campsite 38 at Sandy lake tomorrow, so we have a 25km journey, which will include the rapids! These will need to be negotiated carefully to prevent capsizing. 



I really missed my children today; I really want to bring them here to experience the ambiance of the place. I wrote their names on pebbles, rested them on some driftwood and took a photo of them with the impressive Wolverine mountains in the background so they knew I was thinking of them.




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