Boundary Waters Part 5

We woke up the next morning and I decided that I had had enough of the Boundary Waters. Time ticks quite slowly there and I had seen everything I wanted to see and experienced more than enough and I was ready for a regular bed and a hot shower. Don't get me wrong; I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I'm definitely going again. We had a wonderful five days together and had wonderful conversation.  But when you've had enough, it's time to go. My whole body was sore from sleeping in primitive conditions and paddling across lakes. Five days is too long. I don't know how these guys, like Chet and his friends, go for 6 or 7 days at a time. What do you do all day?! I would do a three day weekend next time. Luckily, this guy didn't protest too much and we packed up camp.

We fished our way back to Snowbank Lake, which would be the final lake we would have to travel across. While we were still on Lake Disappointment, I was half-heartedly fishing, kind of bored, dreaming of home and my bed and the kids and trying to drown out the bird who was still calling, when something happened that I never thought would happen.

To be continued.

Ok just kidding, I'm not going to stretch this out any longer.

I got a bite.

Not a snag or a rock or a twig. It was an actual fish.

And a big mamma.

I handed my rod back to Chet who got to do all of the dirty work to pull it out of the water. I wasn't strong enough to pull it in. I'm basically the incredible hulk but this fish was too big for me to pull out of the water. 

It took quite a while to get this guy to come into the boat. For whatever reason, he was kind of skeptical of us. I don't know if it was the fact that we hadn't had a decent shower in a few days or that we were humans at the top of the food chain, but regardless, it was a struggle. Chet was almost falling out of the boat, he was so excited. All this fishing and finally, a fish! No more practice fishing!

It was a 32 inch northern pike. Isn't she a beauty? You have to hold it closer to the camera so it looks bigger. That's a trick someone taught us. It was the biggest fish I ever caught. The only other kind of fish I've ever caught are sunnies and none were 32 inches. It was too late to fillet it and cook it up so we set him free but that didn't matter. We caught a fish! It was a team effort, like much of our week had been and we high-fived like dorks. No apologizes; we are dorks. (Our kids agree; one time Avery apologized to a friend who was riding with us home from church. "My parents are kind of weird so just get used to it.") The cold weather had put a damper on the fishing for most of the week and of course as the weather warmed, we were leaving and the fish were biting.

The next portage to Parent Lake was kind of wretched but it was pretty at least. Chet sent me ahead with my pack and he carried the canoe. He caught up to me before I got to the end.

"You walk fast!" I said to him, who still had the canoe over his head.
"I even talked to those people." he said, referring to a couple I had passed along the way.
"Well, I must be really slow then if you got a conversation in and you still caught up to me." I said. I suppose he talks fast so I guess it's possible.

Two parents at Parent Lake. How darling. Chet dropped his line in the water again after we started paddling while I complained of boredom and he suddenly started catching fish left and right. There were actually fish in this lake! The kind that swim around and bite lures and jigs and bait.

I felt kind of bad for him as he had fished all week and had nothing biting and now on our way out, there are too many to keep up with and I wanted to leave. I debated back and forth in my head if I should be a nice wife and let him stay or be a mean wife and tell him we need to go. I think I'm usually a nice wife so I decided to use my mean wife card, and I told him that we really should go. He didn't even complain because he is so nice. That, or he didn't want to deal with the wrath of an over-tired, sore and hungry wife. Especially the hungry part. (Once, I made him drive on the shoulder to get to the next exit during stop and go traffic because I was starving and I needed food. He obeyed once he realized I wasn't kidding around.) A lot of times, I have to apologize for the things I said while I was hungry.

This was the portage from Parent Lake to Snowbank. Straight up, or straight down, depending on which way you are coming. You are carrying your packs and your canoe on this, mind you. You need to calculate each step to avoid rolling an ankle. The trail was muddy and had some massive puddles that required some rocket science to skitter across without getting your feet wet. Where were Carrie and Mike when I needed them?

We finally made it to Snowbank, our last lake of our journey. I had bad memories of Snowbank from the way in and as we loaded the canoe, we said our goodbye's to each other in case we didn't make it out alive this time. The water was choppy, even though it doesn't seem like it from this picture, so we planned our route before pushing off from the bank to avoid the biggest waves and wind gusts.

We were pedal to the metal getting across that beast of a lake. It was brutal. The wind kept changing directions and you have to stay in the right direction of the wind or else it will push you right over. The waves kept coming up and over the front of the canoe and the only thing to do is paddle faster so you can get to shore more quickly. Now I can see why people pay for a tow across this lake. I think we will next time.

We came around the final bend and saw the canoe landing. I yelled out in praise and told the canoe landing that it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. We were exhausted, sunburnt and ready for civilization.

We returned the canoe to the outfitter and made it out of the no cell service area as fast as we could. I was anxious to see how the kids were doing and my phone went off like crazy once we came near a cell tower. The kids were doing great, my sister relayed, and it was a big sigh of relief. I've never left my kids for that long without access to a phone.

We decided we were going to hotel it for the night instead of driving home and that was the best decision I think we made that whole trip. I slept a solid 10 hours (haven't done that since I was a teenager probably!) and had a hot shower as well as a Double Cheeseburger from McDonald's. It was so unbelievably delicious and I didn't even need to start a fire or light my camp stove to make it. Someone just handed it to me after I gave them some money. It is a great operation they have going on, if you ask me.

We swung by the Virginia mines on the way out of town and they are absolutely a sight to see. This picture doesn't do justice. Just off of the main drag is what's called Mineview in the Sky. It's a little gift shop with amazing views of five of the mines on the Iron Range.

The front tire of this beast kind of has issues. 

We made it home in one piece to happy kids, a clean house and the best news is, we still like each other!

A big thank you to our babysitters for filling in for us while we were away and dealing with our charming children. Avery had hurt her knee on the trampoline and new RN grad Ashley made her a faux brace out of fabric to soothe her aching knee. Avery marveled to me how it made such a difference! It healed her knee! Milo had diarrhea and proudly showed Hannah his 100 poops.

Piper said she didn't miss us and kept on biking. Tucker still has the same wiggly tooth he had before we left. (Hopefully the tooth fairy remembers when it falls out this time.) Ruby immediately brought me her No David book when she woke up from her nap and read it to me. (We change the name David to Ruby and it fits her to a T.)

And Henry just kept on being cute and I couldn't put him down all evening. I still can't, five days later. I'm enjoying him before he gets all squirmy and starts crawling all over the place. For now, he just sits and lays his head on my chest and smiles and claps his hands like the perfect baby he is.