We climbed the portage and tossed the boat into Crocodile. It's been a couple of years since I'd been here, but it doesn't seem as though much has changed. Earlier, we'd seen a lot of evidence of the July 99 blowdown on our short trip down East Bearskin. Much of the north shore had been entirely stripped of trees. Yet, here just a short distance to the south on Crocodile, there was no evidence of damage.

Our first priority was to find a campsite. There are only three on the lake. The first one is just a short half-mile paddle east of the portage. We pulled in only to find it taken by a father and two early teen boys. They reported that they had been there a couple of days. The fishing had been good the first day but had slowed down since. They were staying another night. We turned and headed east down the lake again.

Here's a photo that shows how the boat is trimmed for travel as we head down the lake. Note that we always try to keep the packs below the level of the gunwales. The food barrel (the grey barrel up front) is strapped to a packframe and lies on the floor of the canoe just ahead and slightly under the portage yoke. The green pack just ahead of me is a #4 CCS canoe pack that also lays flat on the floor. The yellow Sports Pouch is an inflatable camera case that I use to protect my Sony DSC-S50 digital camera. It has a zip-loc type closure which is double-sealed with velcro. Theoretically, if we should dump, the camera in it's case would float high and dry. I've never tested that, but my camera and/or video recorder have made it through many a rainstorm in this case.

If this was an area I was unfamiliar with I'd have the map tucked in between the thwart and the pack, right next to that thwart compass where I could keep a constant eye on it.

The contraption strapped to the right side of the thwart is a mesh anchor bag. Put a rock in the bag, close it up, and presto...an anchor.

Look ahead on the gunwale in the front of the boat. You'll see a length of grey foam pipe insulation on either gunwale. It provides a little padding for the bowperson's legs. The padding probably weighs a couple of ounces and is well worth it.

The yoke is a Spring Creek seat-yoke. I like it, it's much better than the wood-and-pads standard yokes. Note also how the design allows for something a little bulky to still fit under the yoke.

You can see the handle of the spare paddle in the lower corner of the photo. It's strapped in alongside and under the seat and stays there. I never remove it. If I ever need it it'll be there....

One more note. What you see is all there is: one food pack (barrel) and one #4 pack. Even though this trip is only three days I've found there is enough room in two packs for everything two people will need for a week or more. With two packs; and with everything packed inside those two packs, single portaging is a breeze. At a portage, the paddles are wedged in the frame of the canoe, lifejackets are either worn or strapped to a pack, and water bottles are stuffed inside a flap. Fishing rods are carried in your hands and away you go!

The remaining two campsites on Crocodile are in the far east end of the lake. As we moved down the lake we experienced that rarest of BW phnomenons...THE TAILWIND. The winds picked up to about 15 mph and pushed us along. However, a few furtive glances over the shoulder revealed the source of all that windy energy....rainclouds coming in from the west! Hope there's an empty campsite in the east end...

We cleared the old beaver dam in the narrows and started searching the shoreline for the sites. Though the map showed two sites, the last time we were here we could find only one. The other had become overgrown. Or had it been removed or closed? We soon came upon a young family camped at the first site. Mom, Dad, two small kids. We chatted as we drifted past. They had caught some fish, the weather had been pretty good, kids were having a good time, etc. My memory told me this was the lost site! It was apparently seeing some new life and renewed use. Knowing the other site had to be just ahead, we pushed on. There it was, empty. We hit the shore just as it started sprinkling.

We set up the tarp and unloaded gear under it. Here's a photo of the way I've been setting up my tarp. Start by tying it off on each corner so that the front of the tarp is just even with and above the firegrate. Tie the rear low and the front high. To form a ridgeline for drainage, run another line UNDER the tarp from a low tie-off point in the rear to a high tie-off point in the front. The method produces a stable tarp and will shed water like a duck.

Here's a shot of the tarp rigging from the front. It was up and rigged just before the REAL rain hit....

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