Day 6
Big Trout
White Trout
Grassy Bay
McIntosh Creek
McIntosh Lake

Approx 11 miles paddling
1320 Meters Portaging

Woke to another perfect day. The lake was calm and there was just a slight breeze. The birds where chirping all around.

Started the fire to get breakfast and coffee going. It’s been fun cooking everything on the fire. I brought a stove and fuel but have not used them yet. I’ve come to realize that the most important things we needed for this trip are fire and water. Well the bug spray and nets has been a good thing too. It’s been hot on this trip and I’ve been amazed at how much water we have purified each day. I think yesterday went drank almost 6 liters not including the coffee water. We have been pumping about twice a day now.

We packed up the canoe and off we went towards White trout. The lake was calm so we tossed some lures out to troll on the way. This was another perfect day on the water.

We started to get close to the narrows between big trout and white trout when we spotted a campsite with other campers there. This is the 1st campsite other than ours that we have seen occupied since we left 6-days ago. We kept trolling and through the narrows with no luck so we gave up.

We had planned on stopping by the old McLaughlin farm depot to explore. So we started to head that way. The wind had picked up some and there was a little chop on the water.

We reached the depot site and hopped out to explore. The site had large clearings mixed with a few trees here and there plus wild flowers everywhere. We found all sorts of neat flowers. The bees where also finding the flowers you could hear the buzz. We spotted what looked like and old well and some timbers from what was a building at sometime. Next thing we saw was wild strawberries that are ripe. So we sat down and started to eat. Sweet and small but plentiful so we kept on eating.

I was worried some about bears since they too like berries. When then spotted some bear scat so I kept my eyes peeled. We kept on wondering in the field. I was climbing higher up the hill to get a better picture of the lake. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted something black. I ducted down and sure enough there was a bear also grazing in the berries. There was a small group of scrub trees somewhat blocking the bear seeing me. Matt was farther down the hill. I called out for him to duck down and get behind me. We walked farther up the hill using the slight cover of the small of bunch scrub trees. We finally got out in the open so Matt could see the bear. This was his 1st bear in the wild and my second. Wasn’t long before the bear spotted us, stood up on his hind legs for a better view then high tailed it too the woods. Matt and I where both really excited to have seen a bear in the wild like this and not in our camp. After the bear we got our picture and headed back down to the canoe.

Headed back out on white trout. On the opposite side of the lake was a large rock cliff that we paddled for. Farther down the lake we spotted another campsite that was occupied.

When we changed our travel plans the night before we planned on camping on white trout tonight near grassy bay and taking a hike up to the fire tower using the trail shown on the maps. We found a campsite on the end of the lake before grassy bay. We unloaded the canoe and had lunch. I was not real pleased with this campsite so I did not unpack or set up camp yet.

We hopped in the canoe and headed for the ranger cabin where the trail head was supposed to be. As we approached the ranger cabin we saw two guys loading gear on the dock. This would be the 1st people we talked with in 6-days. We found out they are waiting on the float plane to take them back home. They have been in the park for 10-days clearing the fallen trees and sprucing up the campsites. What was nice is that they where only about a day or two ahead of us. That explains why most of the campsites and portages had fresh saw dust from chainsaws. Must have been some pretty heavy storms over the winter since we spotted big trees down all over the park and on portages. When we asked about the fire tower trail, they advised us not to hike for the fire tower. The last person who tried they found lost a couple days later. I guess there is no marked or visible trail to the fire tower anymore. Bummer since we both wanted to go on a hike. Instead we filled some water bottles up with cold spring water from behind the cabin. Closest thing to ice cubes in a long time.

We headed back towards the campsite. On the way the back we watched the float plane take off with the rangers. It was early so we grabbed our plant books and headed for the swampy area to find plants.

We found many plants and watched little fish near the dense growth. As we where talking about how quick we paddle this far today. The wind was blowing at our backs for once today so we both decided to head back to camp load up our gear and head farther towards McIntosh lake.

Wouldn’t you know it? Soon as we started through grassy bay the wind shifted and started blowing in our faces again. We just kept on paddling. Grassy bay was a big marsh area with a path zig zagging though the lily pads and plants. Perfect area for moose. We spotted many birds, ducks and other wildlife along the way. Grassy bay narrowed down then we finally reached our 1st portage of the day.

We would have two slightley long portages before we would reach McIntosh lake so I rigged up my pads to try them out. I Helped Matt getting his backpack on. Which was getting lighter by the day since our food stash was dwindling. I threw my backpack on and tossed the canoe on my shoulders and started off. The 1st thing I noticed was I could stand straight up now without bending over. This helped to balance the canoe better. I was glad since the mosquitos seemed to always attack your elbows on the portages. So one hand would be shoeing them away. I made easy work of the portage without any pain in my shoulders. I wish I would have know this when we started.

We finished this poratge got back on the river and headed for the next portage. We got to the next portage and started out agian like we knew what we where doing.

We reached McIntosh and started looking for a campsite. It was late in the day we had paddled a pretty good distance today with a head wind most of the day so we are both tired and getting cranky. We started looking for campsites. Matt chose a campsite that I didn't like since it was completley out in the open and the wind was blowing. The firepit was at the waters edge with no trees. I made him get back in the canoe and look again. He was not happy with me. We paddled towards another site the wind was blowing and the lake was pretty choppy. Matt quit paddling so I ended up paddling some by myself. I stopped and decided to pump some water since our water bottles are about empty.

Matt seemed to wake up and we both started paddling till we found another island campsite that was not so exposed. This campsite was a much better site. We are both getting good at setting up camp and finding firewood.

Before you new it the fire was going and we started dinner. We have not sat in chairs with real backs all week so we both needed to support our backs. The logs used for seats at the camp made for some nice backrests. We both lounged around camp till sunset and watched the sunset again for another day.

Later that evening Matt made the last batch of Bannock we had