. The weather forecast was awful: 60-90% chance of rain on Saturday, 60% Sunday and thunder showers on Monday! But diehards we are, so we stuck to our plan to go. We went with Dan Rae and his son Nathanial, who are also crazy enough to set out with such a forecast.What a gorgeous weekend it turned out to be. We had a mild headwind canoeing out to the island, but we still did it in less than two hours. In fact there was no rain to speak of all day. The late evening was clear with a full moon over Mt. Bigelo, casting an incredible blue glow on the quiet wilderness. We sat around the fire until late just because it was so nice listening to loon calls and Canada geese honking.
The wind was quite strong in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and something about the position of our tent and a particular wind speed made for a vibration in our fly which sounded something like a small helicopter. A rather annoying helicopter at two in the morning!
Sunday was nice, and no rain. We had bacon and pancakes for breakfast, and tried some fishing. No luck, but Benjamin always says that he just likes to cast anyway! We took Dan and Nathanial to Schoolhouse island to show them the old school foundation.
That hulk of an old car to the right is one of many bits and pieces of old cars found in various locations around the wilderness, as this lake is actually a river which was dammed about 60 years ago and flooded the town of Flagstaff, now on the bottom of the lake. Some creative soul has turned this car part into a makeshift outhouse!
Dan and I both crashed Sunday afternoon, but were awoken to the sounds of our sons stomping their feet and yelling "Dad!" in a panicked kind of way. Upon exiting our tents rather quickly, we discovered the fire had spread to some pine needles and was being fanned by the wind. Nathanial's quick work with our water jug saved the day. Benjamin's only regret is that his boot laces melted!
With Monday threatening thunderstorms, I was a a little stressed about our return crossing, so we left bright and early with the storm clouds threatening at the far end of the lake. It started to rain just after we pushed off and we had a fair headwind on the return trip too! Fortunately, the wettest we got was running from the restaurant to the cars after we got back to Stratton for lunch.
It was a treat to have just the four of us at the site, and I appreciated the time we got to spend together just talking. Once again we're planning to make a return trip next year. Thanks, Benjamin, for a great weekend!
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