Boundary Waters/Quetico Fall Trip for 2008

August 29th - September 7th, 2008
This page was last updated on: December 23, 2022
The entire crew at the Cache Bay ranger station. Back Row: Gadget, Kristen, Dan S. and Dave B. Front Row: GeoFisher and Chms.
GadgetMan and Kristen, getting ready to leave Hook Island. Kristen was a little aprehensive about crossing the "BIG" water. BUT she was fine, and Cache Bay..........THIS time was not a problem.
Dan S. and Chms, crossing Cache Bay. It is NEVER this calm. The past few trips, we've been really LUCKY with Cache Bay. The wind going in was pretty calm. Imagine THAT.
The "CREW" on the upper side of Dead Mans portage. Yes, we're resting on the portage, but we're comtemplating our NEXT move. You cannot tell from this pic, but the weather was getting UGLY, and we were in a SERIOUS discussion with regards to camping or pushing foward.
Ugly clouds.......These blew past, and we were OK, but had this been a problem we would have taken one of the island sites on upper Saganagons. Again, the weather passed, and we paddled on.
The north side of Bald Rock Falls. We took the campsite west of the falls. It is supposed to be a GREAT site, but I've seen much better in the park. In fact, this site was really below par. Maybe it is because it is overused. I don't know.
Chms and GadgetMan at Bald Rock Falls.
Kristen and GadgetMan at Bald Rock Falls. This was the end of day 1.
This is our Day 1 SUB-PAR campsite at Bald Rock Falls. Normally, we'd stop a little earlier and setup camp to grill the MONSTER STEAKS. THIS time, NOT. Concerns of a fireban caused me to leave them at home, only to NOT have a fireban.
GadgetMan, cooking some CARDBOARD in his jetboil. I prefer REAL food to Freeze Dried, as some of the pictures below will show. On this trip, we cooked, baked, had cornbread, etc, etc. Just LIKE HOME.
GadgetMan........solo fishing at our Bald Rock Falls campsite. On this trip, Gadget and Kristen, and Dave B, and I rented Boundary Waters Kevlar canoes. I liked mine so much......I purchased it, and brought it HOME. They really are a FANTASTIC canoe. The best for fishing I've ever used.
Our campsite on McEwen Lake. This campsite used to be one of my favorites. BUT erosion, overuse and TP BOMBS have ruined this site. Someone DESTROYED the sitting logs, and tore down the 5 star firepit. AND the dug in tentpads are eroding away. This is probably my LAST time using this site.
Dave B. with a decent Northern. I was amazed by the lack of northerns on this trip. All in all the fishing was pretty good. No walleye, NO Lakers, and very few Northerns. We did catch an average of 30 or 40 smallies a day though, and THAT was much better than expected.
GadgetMan and Kristen. I really believe they had a GREAT time. And I wonder if Kristen ever figured out that this was a "MAJOR" test. I think she passed.
Geo and Dave B, making a pancake breakfast on McEwen lake. We had pancakes for 3 or 4 breakfasts. I REALLY like eating good up there, and if everyone pitches in on EVERYTHING else, it sure makes camp like easier. EVERYONE on this trip pitched in, and camplife was GREAT.
Chms, doing some solo fishing before dark. We've caught fish right off the campsite in the past, but not this time. We also didn't catch lakers off the campsite like in the past, but I assume this is because this is the first time I've been here in the fall, and our patterns were all wrong.
Dan S........Shaving. I've never shaved up there, but to each his own. BUT it is a GOOD pic.
GadgetMan, with his latest gadget. This is a Big Agnes Copper Spur 3, with the groundcloth. I'll tell you what. It looks GREAT, packs light, and seems to handle the elements pretty good. WE had MONSTER wind, and it came through with flying colors. Time will tell if it is a GOOD Quetico tent.
Kristen with one of her first smallies.......EVER. She ended up catching quite a few, and up to this point of the trip, had caught the largest smallie. Dan S. ended up catching one larger, but she caught some decent smallies.
Dave B., with a decent smallie from McEwen. As I stated earlier, we managed to catch about 30 a day. We did have some days were it was REALLY tough. There were a couple where we should have been windbound, but we went fishing anyways. All in all a GOOD fishing trip.
Kristen battling a decent smallie. This was probably the best day of the trip, but it quickly turned ugly, with a STRONG south wind whipping up the lake quite quickly.
A real nice stringer of smallies. Kristen and GadgetMan caught these. We ate like Kings. All fish were blackened, baked, or fried. We used fry magic, KFC frymix, and some stuff Kristen whipped up. All were good, but Kristens kicked it up a notch. It was pretty good stuff.
You can tell a little from the waves on the lake that the wind was getting UGLY. Dave B, and I were getting a little worried, because We KNEW just how bad it was getting. A few minutes after we arrived at camp, Chms and Dan S. did. While it was not the worse I'd seen it was right up there.
Kristen took this GREAT pic on their way out of the park on Tuesday. What a spectacular view. These are the things that continue to bring me to the park. OK......the fishing does also, but I really enjoy the beauty of the area.
This was taken while we were daytripping to Glacier Lake. Glacier was OK, but the fish were rather small. We did manage some decent northerns. Anyone know if there are Lakers in there. We tried, but didn't catch any. In fact NO lakers on this trip.........NONE.
Baking some banana bread in the reflector oven. This is an Old Scout oven, and it worked like a charm. I baked apple cinnamon bread, banana bread, corn bread, and 4 cheese b biscuits. AND all turned out GREAT.
Dan S. and Dave B., kicking back. This trip was not a HARD trip by any means. We ate good, fished 6-8 hours a day, and sat around the fire. This was a GREAT trip, one of my best.
Chms.........does it look cold. I think it was turning cold, and the fishing was proving it. While we caught fish every day, by weeks end, it was getting really tough.
Dan, at our McEwen campsite. We had a lot of "issues" with wind on this site, and setting up a tarp was kind of tough. We never needed it for rain, but it was really useful when we were cooking. Without the tarp, it was pretty hard.
Dave B, on the way back to Saganagons from McEwen. This was taken in front of Bald Rock Falls.
The final 4 at Bald rock Falls, Dave B, Chms, Geo, and Dan S. Dave and Kristen had left a couple days earlier. We learned later that they had an interesting time paddling cache bay with the MONSTER wind.
Canoes on the south side of the portage at Bald Rock Falls.
GeoFisher cleaning some smallies. I have NO problem catching and CLEANING smallies for dinner. I know some have issues with it, but we were unable to catch walleyes or lakers, and I hate cleaning Northerns. SIMPLE. And smallies taste just as good.
Geo, prepping the fire for baking. Like I said earlier, we used a reflector oven, and baked 4 or 5 different times. The oven breaks down pretty easily, stores in the bottom of my vittles vault, and only weighs about 1 lb. NOT bad, and the results are pretty dang good.
I took some aluminum foil, and made makeshift cookiesheet. I then was able to make some monster drop biscuits, which came out pretty good. We made 2 batches of these biscuits. The oven will go on all trips were the guys agree to take time to use it.
Dan S. and Dave B, enjoying some coffee or cocoa, or BOTH. We ended up mixing coffee and cocoa, to make cafe mocha........Not BAD.
Dan............shaving again.
GeoFisher with a decent smallie.
Dan S. with a REALLY decent smallie. This was the biggest fish of the trip. Normally, I'd not keep this, but it was put on a stringer, brought back to camp, and would NOT have made it. We cleaned it, and had it for dinner. I dont' feel BAD at all about it. It was a legal fish.............
Another FANTASTIC picture. Again, taken by Kristen, I think. Maybe Not.
Dave B, and Geo at Silver Falls. Dave is a GREAT fishing and camping partner, and I'd invite him on ANY trip in the future. I knew that from the first time I met him. The trip we took last year with the girls SEALED the deal. I only wish we can get the kids together again.
Chms and Dan S. at Silver Falls. Like Dave B, I've been on many trips with John, and 3 or 4 with Dan. I'd go with either on ANY trip. I think group dynamics is the most important aspect of any trip. If everyone gets along, the trip will be GREAT. If not, everyone suffers. THIS GROUP WAS GREAT.
The Final 4 at Silver Falls.
Dan taking care of some wood chores at our final campsite on First Bay. We had 4 campsites on this trip. More than normal, but NOT too bad. I think I'm going to do an even easier trip next fall. I'd like to only have 2 campsites, or better yet one site.
Going through the food cache, to see what is left. NOT much. Normally, I have 2 extra meals, just in case.........this time, we ATE everything. Only a few breakfast and snack things left over. NOT bad.
Making Dessert. This is a cheesecake. We had desserts 3 or 4 nights. The other nights, I baked sweetbreads. We had NO issues with food, like we EVER do.
Breaking camp, getting ready to head home. Like I said earlier, this was a FANTASTIC trip. Everyone go along GREAT. Everyone pitched in and handled camp chores. THAT always makes camplife much better.
Loading up the final day. I always am ready to leave, and see my family, but this trip was different, it seemed like it went WAY TOO FAST. Maybe I will need to add a couple days to the next trip. Fall trips are the BEST. GREAT Weather, decent fishing, and usually NO BUGS.