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10/20/16

#BWCA 2016 Seagull Lake Palisades Part 8

10/20/2016
One of the great sightings on Alpine Lake was the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. We were really tired after our big day and we were sitting around the campfire at night and decided to hit the hay early since we had one of the biggest portage of our trip the next morning, 101 rods over to Seagull Lake. While we were sitting there with the flames dying out we noticed lights in the sky that looked like smoke or fog with flashlights flickering off them. We went out on our little point at the campsite and it looks like ghosts hanging low in the sky.

The next morning was super cold and we could see our breath so it must have been somewhere in the 40s. Our Columbia Omni Heat tights and shirts were exactly what we needed while getting packed up at camp. When you are active and as your body heat warms up it is reflected back to your skin to feel warm. To me, wearing an Omni heat shirt is equivalent to wearing a sweatshirt - but without the bulkiness. We changed into our Columbia Omni Freeze Zero shirts for the portage and the paddle across Seagull Lake.

All that hard work the previous days got us in shape for the uphill climb across the hump to Seagull. I actually lost 6 lbs those few days - probably from not drinking beer! LOL :) but I'm going to say it was from all the walking and paddling. When we got to Seagull we were so thankful that we upgraded our canoe to the lightweight Kevlar Wenonah canoe that only weighed 42 lbs (instead of the 70 lb tub royalex we had the year before). Once you got practiced portaging the canoe, it wasn't that hard. We still didn't carry packs and canoe on the same trip so we had to double back.

 
When we were in our planning session with the Voyaguer Canoe Outfitter staff we asked their opinion of our proposed route and if there were any highlights or cool trails we would be going by and Matt mentioned that we could climb up on top of the Palisades on Seagull Lake. He explained how there is a rocky little landing straight under that is a very steep climb up to the top. So we marked it on our map and you can see in the center of this picture above, there is a dark shadowy area in the center which is the path to the top of the palisades. You have to be a mountain goat to climb it but its worth it. Be careful.  
 
Here is the rocky landing where we left our canoe to climb up to the top of the palisades on Seagull Lake.
Our view from the top of the rock. You can see the whole lake and all the islands we navigated to get to this point. Next year I want to bring by big Nikon camera and have DH stay in the canoe and get a picture of me up on the rock. I've seen people post that shot on instagram (follow me: Frugalapolis) and it's spectacular.


We finally made it across the lake and to our final portage through the campsite and on to Seagull River to the outfitters.

Here's a cute bench a camper made with a warning "Don't Burn". I guess the campground has different rules than the BWCA - no camp furniture making allowed. The BWCA has a simple motto for all -"Leave No Trace".
 


In case you're just joining our adventure, please visit the previous excerpts of our trip at the links below https://goo.gl/photos/35Mj9spf1XEVTTm88

How to Pack Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
 
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