October is here and another season is over.  All trips can be challenging and this year was a particularly long season.  And in the same sense, we are already yearning for next spring.  We would like to thank all 2009 clients for another memorable season.

 This season had some great memories that will last a lifetime… like Don Schilling and I catching fish after fish, day after day.  We remember when Josh Stefko snapped his paddle in the middle of a horrific storm.  And we can’t forget Austin “the pike-slayer” Tapley hooking his first Northern capsizing his canoe, his Dad and their equipment… but still catching that Northern.  Its memories like this that we cherish and we are honored to be a part of.  When we think about these times, we start to dream about next year’s trips and what they might bring.

We would like everyone to know that we have already started booking trips in May, June and July.  Anybody interested in filling the available spots should contact us by November 1st.

Plan your trips well in advance.  If you wish to enter the permit lottery system, contact us immediately.  We will go over your options and submit an application between Nov. 1st and January 15^th.  The deadline is 5pm on Jan. 14^th.

Please call 734-664-0353 or email us at info@gowildernessjourney.com

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The Stefko Trip

This newsletter will feature a Wilderness Journey trip with the Stefko’s.  This group was comprised of John, the father, who has much experience in the outdoors and has paddled in Canada along with his son, Josh, who is 18 years old and who is also an experienced outdoorsman.

This trip would test us all.  You see not all trips are sunshine and blue skies.  As it turns out, we wouldn’t see blues skies for at least 5 days.

We entered the Little Indian Sioux River by 6:30 AM. It was 60 degrees with rainy and windy weather. We battled across lakes and portages all the way to our destination: Hustler Lake.  However, when we were crossing Lynx Lake in very windy conditions, 4 hours into the trip, I hear John yell that we have a problem.   I looked at them in the middle of the lake.  They were in a torrential rain and wind. I see Josh holding his paddle; a blade in one hand and the shaft in the other hand. Josh’s paddle couldn’t stand the strain and it snapped in two. When we reach the portage, Josh a future mechanical engineer, started to fix the paddle with a branch he found. Before we knew it, the paddle was fixed and it was better than before.  It lasted the whole rest of the trip and I gave it to Josh when the trip was over.

When we reached the campsite, we quickly set up the tarp and tents then I started to prepare a meal. When this was all done, we hit the lake during a lull in the weather and to my surprise the fish were still biting.  I thought with the low front the fishing would have died… but I was wrong. We were getting Smallies and some small Northerns. We were tired and cold so we warmed up next to one of our many campfires and then hit the tents.

The second day we woke to the same lousy weather.  Josh had a thermometer and all week it was in the 50’s. We went fishing and the cold front had finally hit the fish.  It was a tough day. I did manage to get a 25” Northern for lunch. When the evening came we were having one of our many campfires.  I was telling them a story when I said “there’s a deer in the camp!” They looked at me like, “what’s the punch line?” I repeated myself then they turned and saw a respectable buck standing 20 yards from us eating.  We were all shocked that the buck not only didn’t care about us but it ate for over 20 minutes and posed for a photo-op.  When the sun fell we enjoyed a campfire when we heard the faint howling of a pack of wolves way off in the distance.  Soon after, we all slowly disappeared to our shelters dreaming of good weather.

 When I woke the next day to see the weather had not changed, I asked John and Josh if they were interested in moving a little farther into the park.  They both rose to the challenge. There was no reason to stay on the same lake if the fishing is going to be bad due to the weather. So we were heading up to Lady Boot Bay on Lac La Croix.  It was an ambitious route but with these two I knew we could do it. We would travel in the cold rain but luckily the wind was tapering off a bit. As we made our way to Lady Boot Bay.  We stopped at Bridle Veil Falls on Ge be-on-quet Lake.  This was a new area I was not familiar with.  I was very impressed at the beauty of the falls. We had a quick lunch and made it to our destination by 7:00 PM.

This is a 4 star campsite with beautiful cliffs on one side and a bay on the other. Once we set up camp I started dinner and we enjoyed again one of our many campfires and slept like babies.

As I woke the next morning, I peeked out the tent in hopes of good weather but once again I was disappointed. It’s still cloudy but it is getting warmer …a good sign I hope. We head out in hopes of getting some fish and it is picking up but not like it should be.  John and Josh are fishing the bays and catching some Northerns and Josh catches a 16” Smallie.  I am concentrating on the islands where I catch about 30 Smallies and a couple of small Northerns.  Most of the Smallies are between 15 and 19 inches. As this day progresses, the weather improves which was great for our morale. After I woke from a nap John asked me if we can cut our last day of travel shorter by leaving tomorrow and staying at a lake that is 4 hours from the exit point. I am totally flexible and I agree.

As we are doing our camp chores Josh comes over and wants me to look at a hole that was dug up on the shore.  When we arrive it looks like some sort of animal was pilfering a turtle nest.  It ate a couple of eggs but there were still some eggs in the nest so we covered it up and hoped for the best.

I am up early this next day and on the agenda is moving camp to Lake Agnes and hitting the Lac La Croix pictographs on the way. The winds are much better, it’s warmer and no sign of rain. A great travel day! We stop at the picto’s and as usual the men are happy with this little part of B.W.C.A history.  We are at our campsite within 4 hours. We set up camp and take a much needed rest.  This being our last full day before we head out, we all sit around camp relaxing and reading books. We see some more brave wildlife:  a snow shoe hare comes into camp and eats the local cuisine while we watch. The sky clears up and the sun shines down on us.  After the last few days of harsh weather, it’s no wonder that the civilizations of the past saw the sun as a GOD. This last evening we were treated to what the B.W.C.A. is known for: spectacular sunsets.

We went to sleep early this day and hope the weather holds up for our last day of travel.

The last morning we wake to fog but it looks like it’s going to burn off and be a beautiful day. Camp is broke down in record fashion and we are on our way by 7:00 AM.  We aren’t on the water for ½ hour when we see a deer and an otter comes over and checks us out too. We are out by 11:00 AM and in Ely by 1:00 PM.

The Stefko’s approached this trip a very positive way… the right way.  Just because the weather is terrible doesn’t mean you should let it dictate your trip.

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Ramsey Dowgiallo