Adventure Into the Canadian Wilderness Part IV

 Into the Steel River

Duluth packs and gear stowed and ready to go.

 On the morning of our fourth day in the canoe, we had an easy two hour paddle, completing our long paddle  up Steel Lake, to the first of several portages leading into Aster Lake. Aster Lake formed the apogee of our long circular route. We initially found the river to be smooth sailing . From that point we would turn south and begin thankfully to run the Steel River. We initially found the river to be smooth sailing with only a few minor rapids. If the water had been higher, with sweepers and log jams, it would have been dangerous or have required many more slogging portages. Lower and with rocks and boulders to be avoided, the river would have been too "technical," i.e. crashes into hidden boulders and wading and dragging the canoe would have been the order of the day. As Goldilocks once said it was just right and so was the steel River

Upper Steel River

It was a big relief to be able to follow the strong current thru easy chutes and minor rapids. We had little paddling to do other than some steering and avoiding the occasional rock.

An easy rapids

 At one of the first rapids, where we could see straight ahead to the very end, a duck appeared. I wasn’t into birding then, so I’m not sure what kind it was, possibly some kind of merganser. He would be at the head of the rapids and then dive underwater. His reappearance several hundred yards downstream amazed us at first. This little guy seemed to be leading the way as he repeated this performance several times. The idea was, if this little duck could make it ... so could we!

We sailed thru without a scratch. The scenery was stunning with rocky bluffs and the forest for a backdrop.We liked to set up camp by mid-afternoon as that gave us time to catch our supper and relax around a campfire.

About that time, we found a flat area about twenty feet above the rocky shoreline. It was covered with moss and lichens and looked especially soft and comfortable. This proved to be a big mistake. In our tent, that night, we found ourselves being bitten by a mysterious insect we couldn’t see. "No-seeums" they are called. No-see-um ... yep, you sure can feel-um even if you can't see-um! Apparently we had disturbed their home in the moss. Our only alternative was to spend the night out of harms way, our heads buried in our sleeping bags. Not good as it was too warm and stuffy.

The next morning we began our second day on the Steel River confident we could handle any more challenges. At the crack of dawn it was foggy as usual. The rapids we did encounter would best be described as Class II technical. We checked them out carefully, decided our route and with only the occasional "eddy turn," had no difficulty negotiating them. In those few cases, where we were uncertain as to advisability of running the rapids, we chose to portage. The thought of wet sleeping bags and clothes was not appealing.  And yes we did some fishing along the way. 

Troutbirder eyeing a walleyed pike for supper.....

To be continued...............