common loon – Richard Rathe's Reflections

BWCA Canoe & Hiking Trip 2023

This year’s trip was a return to a familiar locale…

Duncan and Rose Lakes!

*BWCA Route Map, Source USGS (Click to Enlarge*)

Video with Loons and Beavers

Complete Photo Gallery

Day 1 (Portage to Duncan Lake)

We started at Bearskin Lake and paddled across to the Duncan Lake Portage.

After exploring options on the north shore of Duncan we decided to stay on the campsite closest to the portage on the south shore (conveniently vacated by the prior group as we waited).

Overall this was a great site and not affected by blowdowns like the others we looked at. It had a nice fire area, lots of big trees, adequate tentsites, and a small pebble beach. (4/5 rating)

I’ve been a Hammock Camper for the past ten years. This was the first trip where I used an Underquilt and it performed very well. On the warmer nights (50s) I barely needed a sleeping bag. Going to bed felt like entering a warm bath!

After setting up camp, we had Happy Hour and veggie burgers for dinner!

The smoke haze from the Canadian Forest Fires gave us a very red sunset that night.

Day 2 (Canoe to Rose Lake)

The next morning we were treated to the largest gathering of Loons I’ve ever seen! We counted nine in all. It started with three or four calling and others flying in over about twenty minutes. Then they socialized and fished together for at least an hour. I called it the Loon equivalent of a breakfast club!

We read that at this time of year Loons are after fish called Cisco or lake herring. These are very oily and help the birds fatten up before they fly a thousand miles to the ocean for the winter.

We paddled down the long eastern arm of the lake to the famous “Staircase Portage” to Rose Lake.

We consolidated into one canoe to cruise around Rose. We saw where Ross and I camped during the The Boys 40th Birthday Trip back in 1996.

We stopped by Rose Falls to have lunch before heading up the stairs and back to Duncan.

Day 3 (Caribou Rock Trail, 4.3 Miles)

The next day we decided to hike on the nearby Caribou Rock Trail. This would ultimately take us to Rose Lake, but we did not go that far. Afterwards we read this is one of the “most difficult trails in Minnesota!”

That night we recovered with an elaborate taco meal prepared by Ross.

Day 4 (Rose Lake Cliffs, 6.5 Miles)

Our final full day was a mix of canoeing and hiking the Border Route Trail to the Cliffs over Rose Lake. It was difficult at times, but the view once we got there was worth it!

Way down on the lake we noticed two large white birds. These turned out to be a pair of [Trumpeter?] Swans! At the top I was able to take a photo through the binoculars with my phone.

Day 5 (Return to Civilization)

The next day was pretty simple. We broke camp early because the day was going to be hot (high 80s). When we later drove through Duluth the dash thermometer said it was 101!

Knots of Note

Bear Rope Hitch

We saw this one on a video about bear ropes. It is somewhat counter-intuitive as you get started and may require two people if the rope is heavily loaded. The first loop eliminates the need to “wrap the tree” with a long rope. The second vertical loop locks under the taught working end. As a slip knot it is extremely easy to untie so you can add one or two half-hitches for more security when needed.

Soft Shackle

These are referred to “Aussie Bowlines”. They are specifically used to secure a loaded line to a sail or other object. The cinch cords shown here already have stopper knots on their ends so it is easy to “shackle” them to the hammock strap.

Treehugger Hitch (or Tree-Hook Knot)

This is an idea I’ve been incubating for some time as a non-destructive “place anywhere” alternative to nails in trees or breaking branches to hang things on. Shown here is my first successful field test! It is tied using a short stick or similar object found locally.

Starting with the middle of the rope, wrap the tree at least twice and tie loosely with a reef (square) knot.
Catch the lower loop with the stick and add turns to partially tighten the loops.
Tie the upper end of the stick as tightly as possible in front of the reef knot.
Adjust everything to use the resulting hook to best advantage.
The excess rope will just hang down out of the way.

It performed well holding about ten pounds of equipment and it even let me hang up my hat! The main flaws with this implementation are the stretch in the second reef knot and the tendency for the loops to converge, allowing the hook to turn sideways. I plan to address these in the next version.

Once perfected this bit of knot-craft should help eliminate the need for nails in trees!

The Book of Birds 1849

The Book of Birds; Intended for the Amusement and Instruction of Young People, that’s some title! We discovered this book in our “attic” during a major cleaning. Turns out it is over 170 years old… pre-Civil War!

Below is a limited sampling of historically significant pages that contain many surprising (and perhaps inaccurate) facts. Alas the “Elegant Plates” mentioned on the title page appear to be missing. Also missing is any mention of smaller birds such as wrens and warblers?!

Sad to say the Great Auk was near extinction (by human hands) at the time this book was written. The book says it “is frequently seen” but this is unlikely. For Europeans it was the original penguin. In other words penguins were named after the auk and not the other way around! [Pinguinus impennis is the correct classification, Alca is the genus for the related Razorbill.]

The Common Loon is now classified as Gavia immer. They can (according to the book) predict approaching tempests. Their pelts and feathers were also popular with various native peoples for ceremonial clothing, but “They are never eaten.“

The book actually cites Lewis & Clark (!) to say Condors inhabit the “Rocky Mountains“. It goes on to say it is doubtful the bird “assaults infants” but a group may attack and maim a “young bull“.

Modern books refer to this bird as the Carolina Parakeet, now extinct. Apparently it originally ranged as far north as New York and Wisconsin, and as far west as Colorado! No more, how sad…

Apostle Islands 2021

We recently went for a quick trip to Stockton Island in my friend’s new boat. Stockton has the huge advantage of partially sheltered bays with places to tie up the boat. [Full Gallery]

We made an amphibious landing to offload our gear and then moored the boat about a mile away at the pier (seen in the distance above). I pitched my hammock tent right on the beach between mature white and red pines. The level of Lake Superior had recently gone down so there was a more normal amount of beach exposed.

The highlight of this trip came early, as we took a short walk away from the visitors center and came upon this magnificent orchid, the Pink Lady’s Slipper!

“In order to survive and reproduce, Pink Lady’s Slipper interacts with a fungus in the soil. Generally, orchid seeds do not have food supplies inside them… The lady’s slipper seeds require threads of fungus to break open and attach to the seed. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients. When the lady’s slipper plant is older… the fungus will extract nutrients from its roots. This mutually beneficial relationship between the orchid and the fungus is known as “symbiosis” and is typical of almost all orchid species.
Pink lady’s slipper takes many years to go from seed to mature plants. Pink lady’s slippers can live to be twenty years old or more…”
www.fs.fed.us

“These plants require bees for pollination. Bees are lured into the flower pouch through the front slit, attracted by the flower’s bright color and sweet scent. Once inside, the bees find no reward, and discover that they are trapped, with only one point of escape. Inside the pouch, there are hairs that lead to a pair of exit openings, one beneath each pollen mass. The bee must pass under the stigma, so if it bears any pollen from a visit to another flower, it will be deposited before picking up a fresh load on the way out.”

There is a reason I’ve never seen one of these flowers before—June is bug season in the north woods. Campers avoid that month. For this trip the breeze from the lake kept the bugs at bay on the beach, but they were pretty aggressive back in the woods.

There were other plants in bloom but it was obviously the end of the season for most…

The nearby campsites were empty so we had a pleasant evening of good food, good drink, & good company!

For our second day we moved around the corner to Quarry Bay near the site of an old brownstone quarry.

Note the bear locker in the photo above. Much easier than putting the food up in a tree!

I pitched my hammock lower and more securely because thunderstorms were predicted (and came) during the night.

We visited the quarry, which is very impressive but hard to photograph through the trees.

I found another tiny orchid along the trail…

We also saw some critters…

The next day started windy but it abated somewhat as we made our way back to port in Bayfield. We saw a traditional commercial fishing boat along the way.

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