9-Day / 200km Solo Wilderness Trout Fishing Trip on the World's Biggest Lake

hey gorgeous [Music] okay [Applause] [Music] [Music] just took refuge in this little bay i'm kind of stuck already i'm on superior's schedule right now and for the next 10 probably days there's really no way to say what's going to happen but this is this is kind of what you don't want to happen here waves are up there's two three foot swells wind is up an onshore wind thick fog so it's pretty much the worst conditions for navigation so i'm just gonna wait it out i promised aaron i would be safe i have to come home to her you know there's no other alternative she's usually pretty cool about my trips but she was understandably anxious about this one so i owe it to her to play it safe so i'm here in the canoe on the water waiting it out not so bad the skies have cleared up and the sun has burnt off the fall now i can see islands in the distance and such which is all i need to navigate here that landform coming into view there is the sleeping giant what a sight [Applause] buckle down one of the small islands here middleburn island and i'm at a bit of a critical juncture i've got sleeping giant behind me at the end of the sibley peninsula it's on the north shore of lake superior here and over there in the far in the distance are the pops a nice little mountain range it's called the mountains hills at least and now i need to do a large crossing and conditions i feel like are safe for me to do that right now so i'm inclined to do it alternatively i could camp here see what happens this evening make the crossing in the evening or in the morning when it's likely to be calmest but got a tailwind the the rollers are pretty gentle so i feel like i can do this safely i'm just taking a moment here to really think it through i'm gonna give it a shot at least get out there a little bit and see how i feel i can always back pedal but i think this is my chance i got a nice tailwind the rollers are pretty gentle so this is it that island out there is about three kilometers almost away and that's my next point of refuge [Music] made it to the first island which is occupied by gulls they don't like me and i can camp on some islands over this way if need be daryl said you can camp there in a pinch or a carry-on just checking out the island it seemed like a worthwhile stop either way pretty unique an incredible view here it is tempting to camp but conditions seem even better over here that's the porphyry lighthouse over there it's quite a bit of history i'd like to visit you're allowed to i'm not sure it's in the cards based on the wind and my schedule so pretty thick bush in here not the best for camping i'm just gonna check the weather again looks like the weather's gonna be okay if i want to go across this is the sibley peninsula sleeping giant there that's where i launched that's where i am and then i just need to get across here and then i can camp in that red dot there if i like i almost went for a plunge but i'm in a dry suit so it doesn't really matter does it okay onward i don't want to camp here conditions seem perfectly reasonable let's keep her going so i'm heading for hard scrabble island over there great name there's a sailboat right by it another one there's actually quite a sailing and yachting culture here on the north shore superior which is pretty cool maybe if i'm lucky they'll invite me aboard for some cocktails and lobster speaking of lobster i have absolutely no meat in my food barrel any meat i want to eat on this trip i'm going to have to catch fish i some mean swells here but they're gentle they're not breaking over the canoe not cresting hardly at all so it's quite nice there's your big boy he's coming into horseshoe cove i think this will be home for tonight beginning to wonder if there was a campsite here but it is right here and it is really sweet just up in this clearing here there's a bench fire pit nice landing here on this pebble beach perfect and according to daryl and zach's guide book for this area supposed to be a little trail to take me over to a beach where i can get a sunset view the first order of business is getting out of this dry suit i'm eager to get it off but it was so great to have it for peace of mind and safety [Applause] [Music] oh that could have been a white knuckle paddle if i didn't have this insurance policy oh it feels good oh really nice just nowhere to hang a hammock really though here's that trail just 10 meters down the trail nice beaver lodge and there's some moose poop this trail is a really nice little x factor for this campsite and this should be a great place for sunset [Applause] yeah well because this is a coastal trip pack some luxuries a liter of red wine 6 30. just got to make dinner set up the hammock that's it for today fantastic day i feel accomplished for pushing through that and getting that big crossing done that's the biggest crossing of the trip so everything else should be more straightforward so anyway cheers oh yeah found a spot to sneak in the hammock here right beside the actual campsite perfect little view of this bay oh this is nice got a few souvenirs out of this fire pit to take home but not too bad there's a message from aaron i just sent her a text on mazzolio saying that i made it across got some old man's beard here which usually lights like gasoline but it's a little damp just slightly it'll go it'll go i said oh mosquito flew right into the flame awesome but yeah this oleo whatever it's worth to me which is a lot so useful out here it's worth just as much to earn at home so really such a great tool she can sleep easy tonight and i will too veggie chili lots of beans oh i needed that didn't stop for lunch so that tastes extra good hunger is the best seasoning there's a lot of history in this area first nations history going back thousands of years but an industrial history as well forestry fishing mining no idea what this is but it was right there still in strong shape built to last and the marina where i launched today silver eyelet was in the 70s and early 80s the most lucrative silver mine on earth now it's just full of nice little cabins right by the water saw a little notch in this stick so that the guy line can rest in there just get my tarp up a bit give me a better view there i've got everything done that i need to do for the evening and for a quick start tomorrow morning you can charred some firewood on the fire so it's you know charcoaly i'm gonna go check out the sun it's not gonna be sunset yet you have to stay pretty late this time of year to see the sunset so i'm just gonna see what i see at this point in time and hit the sack i want to get a good start tomorrow morning hopefully get some calm paddling and i'm sure i'll have lots of sunsets yet to come [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] quarter after five time get up i can hear waves splashing already so it must not be that calm [Applause] so today i want to make it to stanton island where there's supposed to be a nice view of the pops that little mountain range that's it that's my goal for the day and i want to fish yesterday with the the chop the heavy chop it wasn't safe to fish if you end up hooking up you're not focused on the waves and the winds so it just wasn't an option yesterday the fishing on this lake you never fish like superior it can be incredible it's a bit of a feast or famine scenario sometimes but generally the lake trout are pretty reliable and if not lake trout you can get coaster brookies which are huge the world record brook trout was caught not too far from here 14 and a half pounds 14 and a half pound brook trout you get steel head salmon if you're lucky or if you have a downrigger and the oldest fish the biggest fish in superior is not when i'll catch trolling it's just not how you would catch a lake sturgeon but they can grow to be over 200 pounds 100 years old seven feet long just monsters lurking in the depths in there the lake trout they're no slouch either they can get enormous in this lake so we'll see what i luck into one more can and these ones have been rolling rock i usually harp on the coors light bud light etc so for the sake of a biased unbiased argument there's a rolling rock time to get back into the dry suit i'm just going to do it halfway not the top and then if i get into some nastier water i'll just zip up the top too hot yesterday all right this beaver can move on with his life i'm moving on with mine my favorite time of the day camp chores are done full belly full day to look forward to [Applause] seven a.m decent start but uh i'm probably gonna have to start waking up just getting out faster because this is the nicest time to paddle on superior fantastic morning sleeping giant back there he's waking up i'm waking up poor free lighthouse is just over there and i would love to see it but i just don't have time to see it properly and with the nature of this trip there's so many islands channels and bays i cannot see everything so if i can't see it properly i'll wait i'll hopefully come back someday here with aaron it would be a special trip for us and then we can see that properly zach one of the authors of the guy book i've got he did a 50-day 750 or so kilometer trip through this area this is the lake superior national marine conservation area and i'm sure he didn't even see every little nook and cranny so i just have to pick my battles here cool fact about this conservation area it's the largest piece of protected fresh water on earth beautiful channel here between edward and porphyry island great way to start the day just had my first bite i was off before i could do anything i was filming those loons actually it's okay [Applause] there are the pops coming into view again [Applause] starting another open water crossing a little over two kilometers much calmer conditions than yesterday although i'm gonna do this up just in case it's like being born this guy just made an emergency landing here came out of nowhere and just crashed into me anyway you get sanctuary here as long as he wants or she that's magnet island over there go halfway through the crossing look behind me same view in front of me this is why i'm wearing a full dry suit latex gaskets water can't get in it's pretty buoyant not to mention i have the pfd on this would help me survive in in the event that i just lost my balance or something for one second that's all it would take if you don't have a dry suit and you want to swim to shore to survive you almost for sure won't make it unless you're a really good swimmer and you can close that distance in a few minutes i don't think many people could do that you'll die of hypothermia before you get there so i just want to stress the importance of of experience knowledge local knowledge specific specific to this lake but also gear gear that no knowledge can replace the average annual water temperature in superior is only four degrees celsius that's only a few degrees above freezing so it is really a lethal lake and gordon lightfoot's the wreck of the edmond fitzgerald he says sings the lake it is said never gives up her dead and there's a morbid truth to that because the coldness of the water doesn't allow bacteria to grow like it normally would so that bacteria decay it causes a body to bloat and float that doesn't happen here it's so cold the bacteria doesn't grow like it normally would and you can actually just sink to the bottom and be well preserved for many many years really a lake that deserves a ton of respect and pollution getting close to magnet island now despite what i said about superior i also say that it's one of the most magical places i've ever been to and it's my favorite lake in the world of any lake that i've seen hundreds and hundreds of lakes it's my favorite oh we got we got oh he's alive he's alive folks come aboard welcome so magnet island is called that because i guess it has some kind of magnetic disturbance and it can actually throw up a compass by 30 degrees came to shore to stretch my legs and surprisingly someone has been here already a moose interesting to see that all the way out here [Applause] porcupine no way i'm wondering what that was [Applause] just coming in here to have some lunch it's only the second or third porcupine i've ever seen on an island way out here cool hello [Applause] so awesome [Applause] that's as fast as i've ever seen a porcupine move [Applause] that was fantastic such a rare wildlife setting for me at least another good-sized crossing here two kilometers could have followed the shoreline but it's actually very shallow surprising for superior which is so deep and i couldn't even troll so i couldn't change my fishing lock out here nothing yet boat time been in disbelief i was expecting really good fishing on this trip but this is the third bite of the day and the first one that's actually been on long enough for me to do anything about it [Applause] looks like a laker yep oh my he's not tired yet nice little lake trout would be a good eater not right now i really want to get camp set up before the storm potentially rolls in there are thunderheads all over there and pretty dark clouds so that's my priority right now it's hugh island behind me and two kilometers of open water ahead of me is stanton island i guess we're all set up just heard the first grooms of thunder and pulling into camp right there perfect timing more thunder i'm a bit concerned about this site it's more tent oriented trees look thick so okay tarps up got a great view of the pops and hopefully a thunderstorm that would be cool nice little windshield from these trees if we get some driving rain i could help it's amazing how much these trees deflect the wind as soon as i step out here way stronger [Applause] i passed out for two or three hours only sprinkled unless i slept through more but still looking nasty that way it's just been it's been all around but i haven't gotten any of it yet so i'm hope i'm cooking dinner and hoping that it'll hold off while i do that beautiful beach site i'm really digging this spot amazing panoramic view right as i took my last flight at dinner started to rain perfect timing wow that was a close one dropped my bear spray and apparently the safety cap fell off it triggered sprayed up into the air a couple feet from my face and i lurched back before the cloud hit me so that could have been bad and i gotta find that safety cap because without it this thing is a time bomb i found it that's a relief without it this thing would not be really safe to carry thunder off in the distance it's always been an off and off in the distance but it's creating such an ambiance here with the swainson's thrush my favorite bird call and this view really off the charts i kind of want to go to bed early i might have a north headwind tomorrow and i'd like to get an early start to get the beat on that but i think i'm gonna have to stay up for sunset this is incredible i must have gotten some of the peppers or the bear spray on my hands and then touched my eye it must have been the traces to mount but man it burns i can't imagine what a cloud of that feels like oh watching it's almost making it worse it's just my left eye so at least for now you can see out of one eye oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] hey a rainbow wow what morning rainbow over the pops it was up at 5 00 a.m with the birds on the water just before 6 a.m just beat the buzzer at 5 59 a.m beautiful and calm the wind was picking up and just died so that was a relief rainbow's getting better and better i was looking for one all day yesterday with the showers and the sunshine and there it is wow oh man this moment is going to disappear just trying to soak it up it's turning into a double double rainbow folks best way to start any day lucky charms showers just started and oh my goodness we've got a triple rainbow one two three four there's a fourth rainbow no way hope that's visible that is unreal i know i'm being the double rainbow guy right now but that's four rainbows [Applause] oh my goodness what a morning we're on the other side i only see three but three is still a lot of rainbows [Applause] unbelievable have you ever seen a quadruple rainbow have you ever even heard of one have you seen a triple what did i just witness that was ridiculous [Music] i'm exploring sturgeon bay this morning i don't really know why it's like probably a 10 kilometer detour and no real notable features other than the mouth of the sturgeon river which is hardly a river at all on the map it's only shown as being a few kilometers long so [Applause] beautiful couple of sandhill cranes they're huge i saw this red head popping above the grass there and they took off before i could start the camera but beautiful there they are dead ahead [Laughter] massive birds whoa spider webs big spiderwebs i guess i can see why this is called a river it's not a long one it's uh kind of eerie probably almost never paddled and i mostly came in here for the hope of wildlife like moose and i got sand hill cranes so gladly take that so quiet still so having lunch on this little island it's got more of this big plant i wonder if it's devil's club which is something that's mentioned in the guidebook it's kind of unusual whatever it is it's just crawling with insects oh let me kind of swarm ya okay burrito mix is rehydrated got cheese hot sauce green onion in the wraps already i don't know if it's this island or these plants but it smells like poo it's not that appetizing but the burritos very good this archipelago is just incredible beautiful little islands and with this aqua marine water they look so tropical so alluring all of them make you want to camp on them until they smell like crew [Applause] sean just cast it out and it hit it immediately it's got some pretty decent fight to it most likely a laker probably a four plus pound laker maybe a bit bigger you can see it down there in this crystal clear water oh look at those bubbles oh oh we just got off oh wow yeah it was probably a five pound late trout pretty nice but nothing crazy just coming into south loon harbor now it's cluster of islands provides a really nice sheltered area for anchorage or for camping and it looks spectacular [Applause] so it looked like a campsite here pulled up on shore and i was wondering why there are chairs here and everything it's because this is a sauna believe it or not there's a network of saunas on lake superior wow it's actually like a log sauna everyone decent oh man oh it smells beautiful in here like an old cedar cabin oh that's so cool not really the sauna type but this is pretty neat even a mirror how do i look very cool moss chinking and then a camo door what a cool tradition it looks like they set up curtains to kind of conceal it it's interesting and i would camp here but it's a bit used for my liking on a wilderness trip this would be an amazing place to come with aaron going in the sauna alone count sounds kind of lonely and i have a campsite picked out for tonight on lasher island anyway so but what a spot i just love it here it's like being on lake superior but on an inland lake with no portage it's just sweet there used to be something here in loon harbor there's like an old crib underneath whatever these parts are for this maybe a spoiler i really don't know my machinery my 1950s machinery too those parts are just over there in that bay here's another one man like rock solid stuff back in the day and then this is a campsite here on this big slope which i just want to walk up to give you a perspective on loon harbor so because this whole trip is on the lake superior national marine conservation area as far as i know drones are not allowed to be flown in conservation areas so i'm just getting up as high as i can here this this harbor is enclosed by big islands then it's dotted with small islands all in the middle so just a beautiful spot i am planning to overcome that uh drone obstacle by hiking up one of ontario's highest points uh later in the trip so give you a better view of the whole area at that point notice some geese poop huh look at that little guy oh there they are there's some geese poop on the slope there they were tucked away but that one gosling just came running down the hill toward me jumped in the water started swimming toward me and i just thought better of it pretty amazing campsite here on this exposed rock someone must have gone ocd someday and organized all this firewood unless a storm blew it all up but i find that hard to imagine it's not even four o'clock but i've been up and at it since five and my wrist is done for the days this will do [Applause] huh should be a great dinner non-calzones rehydrated veggies pizza sauce hot sauce and some goat cheese that i had a bit of excess of [Music] [Applause] on the water at 5 45 this morning earliest start yet and i didn't eat breakfast so that's part of the reason why but i've got some granola on the go and the last of the goat cheese to eat up sean just started trolling my lure is bouncing off the rocks and usually that's a sign to reel in before you snag but i find it can be really triggering for fish tap on the bottom what is that it's a trout for sure that's what you'd expect here some kind of trout but lake trout yeah i think so yep [Applause] so [Applause] wow this one is really cool it looks like this little leg is holding up this entire little cliff this is absolutely amazing [Applause] ochan the island so worth this little detour this morning i could have head south to get here and i'm going north it's never worth it actually some little grasses and stuff growing on that rock but how does that survive millennia of waves and ice and storms that's incredible oh the best is yet to come from bashand island i thought i had seen the sea arch i had not i see it now oh man i love these mornings [Applause] wow oh my goodness the creepy thing is i can see like little pinholes of light through the rock looks like it could collapse in any second like this is quite an overhang see from the other side [Applause] and on the other side there's a good flower flowerpot rock there i thought yesterday morning would be impossible to top with that quadruple rainbow but this might have done it this is more like it two fish this morning another laker oh just popped off i was just reaching for the underwater camera if they're smaller if i'm not keeping them i'm just gonna film them underwater better for them oops hard hit heavy head shakes definitely some weight there oh yeah it feels pretty sturdy it's at least a four pound fish oh yeah nice thick good length like trout come here oh yeah probably a five pounder maybe even six [Applause] with my hands oh yeah it's a nice nice electric oh no stupid idiot oh well just imagine a lake trout the size double the size of the ones that i've got it's okay i can get more of those this trip shot at redemption here this one doesn't feel nearly so big though yep small lake trout let it pop off here underwater [Music] see this is much more what i was expecting i actually couldn't believe the tough bite another three pound laker i couldn't believe the tough bite the first two days it's the last thing i expected thank you all of them today on the husky jerk it's a jerkbait but i love trolling it troll it all the time trying to pop them off a little slack good eating perfect eating fish but still too early for me barbless hooks he uh sticks somehow interesting spot here on arthur island just so raw and harsh only small trees and some of them are probably quite old just can't get big no soil nice clefts across the channel here's a question for the geologists out there the rock here from afar it looks like it's got bird poop all over it but it's actually rocks embedded in it kind of easier to see here in the water when it's wet there's some quartz looking stuff some of it looks like geodes someone tell me is always changing here it's always dramatic so beautiful forest fire maybe 15 years ago i would estimate fish on hope it's a brookie you just have a feeling in this bay is that a pike nope oh oh yeah it's a brookie it's brookie it is a rocket oh boy oh my oh boy okay first rookie of the trip i thought i missed one earlier too ah cool not legal to keep though just turn so i'm not backlit the allowable size on superior for brookies is 53 centimeters that's huge it's like 20 22 23 24 inches something like that all right wet my hands nice beauty square tail red dots blue halos all right thank you thank you very much beautiful little fish i wonder if it's the logs in here there's a fair amount of debris woody debris under water maybe from the forest fires and i can see the brookies liking that this ua check this out it's always creepy going beneath these things but you have to remember they move in geologic time that won't collapse for probably millennia [Applause] i'm into shishi bay and i was planning on going right to the back of the bay which is about eight kilometers from here but the wind is against me and then it will be against me again coming out tomorrow so i'm just going to cut across the mouth of the bay and carry on just listen to the lake [Applause] it's been over two kilometers across shishi bay i promised erin i would wear the suit if i was doing a big crossing but it is brutally hot it's so hot with this suit on pretty choppy but not as bad as day one that was by far the least pleasant paddling this is fine picked up i'm pretty strong there once i started going with the wind i was flying very unusual rocks here like columns wow oh water island what an amazing place another spectacular island i shouldn't be surprised anymore but i am all right i'm turning away from otter island one more crossing and then i should be protected by the mainland from this north wind i think this is called sail rock just sitting out here like an iceberg [Applause] oh that's sweaty found camp for the day and i think it's my favorite yet got a nice little babbling brook massively wide view i can even see my old friends the pops over there this stoney beach and there's a lake a little ways that way and i was wondering about bushwhacking into it and there's actually it looks like there's a trail that might be fun to check out it's four o'clock so i probably have time to do that and there's actually places to hang the hammock which has been kind of a challenge it's been better for tents actually which is i don't say that too often yeah little trail and this is an interesting place to have a trail because this is wild remote you have to boat a long way even by motorboat to get here that trail petered out pretty quickly might have just been a game trail yep looks really shallow and it became a real tangle to get in here so forget it goes on beyond it could be deeper over there maybe it's a brook trout honey hole but i've got a pretty good lake where it came from there's my message going through to erin just checking in with her like i do every night on the zolio and checking the weather it's looking clear tomorrow and i don't know might rain in the future days but i was i was completely out of gas when i after i bushwhacked and i finally took a little rest i could hardly start again i think i got too much sun and i had trouble sleeping last night so feeling better after dinner looking forward to tomorrow i was wondering what that sound was earlier just a beaver [Applause] ah [Applause] [Applause] so [Applause] morning little beaver [Applause] 5 36 a.m new best time i leave in dawson creek and this cloud of mosquitoes behind and it was actually a former logging camp right there i was i felt like some of the trees looked planted just because they were too orderly and yeah i was reading the guidebook last night it said that yes it is called dawson's creek this little cave in there if you needed a shelter [Applause] no time to check that out though gotta get around this point to see sunrise [Music] [Music] wow i've never enjoyed mornings more on any trip day five those beavers were awesome last night beavers aren't usually that interesting you know you see them swimming and they splash their tail and they're gone but when you actually get to watch them pretty cool and i was just lying in the hammock and then heard these little cries and i was thinking what the heck is that if you've never heard a young beaver cry before it sounds a lot like a human baby or toddler it's weird mom and yeah if you're not expecting to hear a baby's voice in the wilderness it's pretty weird but i've heard it before and i should have known but it's been a while i ended up backtracking just a little bit to that dawson creek campsite just because the campsite here at sail rock it's like a gravel slope and there wasn't really good hammocking opportunities so i can't work out great that was probably my favorite so far either that or stanton bay stanton island now just looking at a big nest wondering if it could be an eagle and mama just came home or papa it's funny how uncool the eagles call is that's why they always use red-tailed hawks in movies [Applause] i think that's the juvie's head popping up there you can't tell on the little screen [Applause] water checking me out i was just thinking to myself how do otters know to not take a lure like they would chase as floundering fish they got the chance why do they never take the lure how do they know they're just that much smarter than a fish what do we got looks like a laker oh yeah just a laker that's fine three pound liquor or so just the norm not worth netting i was just reeling in and i paused and that's when i hit yeah another one i'm just gonna let it pop off here poor guy actually took it near the eye oh boy so he's a keeper brought this little bat just for this purpose if i needed the dispatch one quickly i think that fish was just took near the eye i don't want to rip that out that just for humane purposes that has to be a keeper and i was looking for a fish to keep today anyway so that's perfect and it's yeah a nice nice eating size for one perfect thank you thank you very much i also just cut a couple of the gills heart keeps pumping for a couple of minutes after it's dead and it just pumps some of the blood out through its gills and i just get it out of the flesh [Applause] another laker yes mind-boggling scenery in the spot just uh south of spar island i would love to stop here and clean that trout this massive beach here very long beach but i'm paddling on glass and i have to cross the nip again straight which is kind of a notorious passage so i think i'll continue and try and get that done and then once i'm across then i can have my fish reward that hilly region up there is plure island i had no idea it was so scenic [Applause] just like that wind picks up stiff breeze from the east just kicked up as predicted on the zolio which i keep here in my life jacket pocket it's also my sos beacon [Applause] and that was such good information to have and then it's going to turn south which is worse it'll be an onshore wind but just knowing that and getting myself to push this morning i haven't even eaten properly at all but it'll be worth it once i get to the other side safely out of the front of the south wind coming i'm at the start of the nipping straight about two kilometers to get across here reel in chops picking up but it's still perfectly reasonable about eighty percent of the way and in the lead of plural island now felt like a long haul but it was it was pretty straightforward the wind didn't kick up too badly oh good been on the go for five and a half hours now today just a couple handfuls of granola i have a real appetite for that fish can't wait i'm gonna have an appetizer i have some cheese and crackers about this 50 off went into the fridge for a while and it's been with me on this trip out of refrigeration for several days now so excellent maybe a little funky okay i found this big piece of timber down the beach drag it down here because it'll make a nice cutting board and [Applause] lay this guy up he's pretty stiff now rigo mortis i'd like to hold on to the fillet and then just pull it through the knife but i just cut my nails so it's kind of hard trying this new fish batter i saw it at the store said made in canada and i tried it lemon pepper flavor smells lemony oh um oh i can smell it from here okay good good good so so okay my first bite of meat on this trip phenomenal digging the lemon pepper [Music] seagulls taking on the eagle they both have an eye from the uh carpus carcass i'm shocked that the seagull actually won for now anyway i've been waiting so patiently i laid it on the rock for him and now that the eagles showed up he's just gobbling it down do you put that down your gullet oh ah gull it oh eating the fins yeah you might be too small for the carcass the eagle might get that oh eagle's coming back huh eagle took flight oh oh wow oh what have i done man the eagle has this eagle covered in every dimension except scrappiness oh he's just a wiry scrapper and he'll take on anyone [Laughter] oh one of them just pooped it's laying in the water right there that's close oh he's like choking on that intestine he's back some beautiful rocks on this beach on most beaches on superior but really nice quartz they look better even when they're wet just look at those jewels i remember the good old days when i was a kid and i thought i could get rich off of these it was a simpler time removing the trace of my fire pit just so it looks clean that's my idea of a short lunch right there delicious i wasn't being hounded by mosquitoes as i clean the fish which often in summer can make it so unpleasant and i got to share it with a couple of friends there goes that wimpy eagle [Applause] heading into floor island the archipelago south of it tons of islands they're just everywhere in the guidebook they talk about a bathtub rock being in this area and i'm assuming this is it pretty scuzzy though sure wouldn't bathe in it but i bet it's nice and warm beautiful paddling here in the floor archipelago but now there's a really cool feature it's like a very thin shallow narrow channel through more or less the middle of the island that's the main lake back out there and up along here there's a forest fire looks like it's not too old because there's no regrowth yet here's camp for tonight beautiful wide view of saint agnes island we'll get to that later and a really nice sheltered area to camp in here perfect for the hammock terrific campsite here got a lovely view but with a very cool breeze rolling in off the lake and i just checked the zolio and it's looking like pretty cool temperatures the next several days so i don't think it's going to be sunshine and double rainbows quadruple rainbows much longer but it's really the heat that kills me anyway like yesterday i sweat out my soul in the sweat lodge that is a dry suit on a hot day so cool temperatures will be fine five o'clock cheers almost done this book desert solitaire edward abbey it's aged extremely well it's over 50 years old but it's still edgy it's very good very fitting for today as well and there's one quote that really stands out here first that makes me think of superior gays not too long into the abyss lest the abyss gaze into the sometimes looking at it superior like an ocean when you have a wide open view of it kind of feels like that and next up i've got this [Music] [Applause] gorgeous sunrise over san diego's island this morning stiff breeze stiff headwind is already up it's uh 5 42. so i'm glad to be on the water early this could be a nasty one the sunrise just keeps getting better it would have been a nice one just to enjoy on the beach with the coffee or tea watch it come up slowly but i'm on superior schedule i'm crossing the blind channel now for saint agnes island [Applause] made it i'm very excited to be approaching san diego's island it's a massive island second largest on lake superior behind isle royale it's got lakes on it big lakes actually within it it's uh got one of the highest points of land in ontario in mount st nignus but the scenery that i've got on route to getting here is going to be tough to beat so we'll see what it brings it's getting quite choppy out there i just came onto this island for a breather that's mount st ignis over there looking all dark and serious [Applause] might be a short paddling day at this [Applause] rate [Applause] not a nice time to have the wreck of edmond fitzgerald stuck in your head either i was planning on going over there to talbot island but i the conditions just don't call for it so i'm crossing a kilometer and a half over to some islands closer to the mainland and then i'll get on the mainland and might have to set up camp had a brief chance to get the line in in the league of this island hooked into something it's fighting it was fighting pretty well another laker fighter oh just lost it pretty certain it was a laker small ish just normal anyway not wind band it's reasonable to power through it it's just uh not a lot of fun it's not like gender role gentle rollers while you're going up and then down it's like chop chop chop chop chop at the mouth of the brook river here pouring out crashing into the waves quite a nice spot and i found a new souvenir my my usual i've got quite a few of these oh there's uh it's half full [Applause] wow that's so cool another sea arc then duncan cove [Applause] and you can paddle right through it oh that's fun oh man that is awesome [Applause] i'm riding again i'm camping close by so i'll probably do it again tomorrow nice looking beach stopped for lunch here on this beach in duncan cove and while i was cooking up my penne i found this i think it's an agate agate rock and if it is it's the first one i've ever found there are geodes which look all like crystally but an a gate has these concentric rings so i think this could qualify it's small but i think it still counts that in focus [Applause] hopefully anyway i'm pretty stoked about that just hard to imagine the pressure of earth just creating that somehow in such a beautiful form fenney got parmesan and sriracha put in there and then i'm going to move on i'm not in love with this site nice little beach but aside from that so i'm just gonna go to the edge of this cove and try and camp on the point there there's supposed to be a campsite there as well hopefully i'll like that one better i don't think i'll get any further than that unless i get really lucky with the wind but i don't think it's led up at all it's me all business getting there absolutely no horsing around huh this laker actually got hooked on the bottom of the jaw on the outside i'm just gonna film them on the underwater let them pop off [Applause] coming around greed point it looks so tropical the shoreline looks like it's pure beach although it's probably all gravel and the little mountains look kind of like costa rica i want a pina colada [Applause] yeah i thought this point was gonna be a total war zone very shallow too so the waves can really lift up on it and they are but not that badly i'm able to paddle just fine and mount saint ignac it's just coming into view here and it's now lit by the sun backlit before it looks epic [Applause] so [Applause] wow what an amazing spot this rock is mind-boggling and it's pretty common here i'm protected behind a reasonably long point i don't really have it in me to go tackling whatever is around that point in terms of wind and waves so i'll camp here if i can find somewhere to actually hang the hammock a little exfoliation [Applause] i'll be killed uh i don't know a couple hours maybe even more in this spot beautiful spot i've enjoyed it i've got that wavy feeling in my head when you've been on the water with waves for too long it's kind of nice and i could conceivably camp here but i don't it's not great and i don't really want to scar this pristine site with a fire so found somewhere else i can go just down the shore and that'll do for tonight [Applause] took the canoe over to the camping spot the stuff's crying out because it ended up being a bit of a surf landing everything's drying out except for my souvenir from brook river but all as well sunny so dry ah all set up in the mark fantastic view [Applause] here's my impromptu washing machine i've got my shirts and pants shirt and pants in the net well with a few pebbles so it's not too light and doesn't go away on me and this net has a tether so i just latch it on the canoe here rinse cycle [Applause] [Music] on modern family there's an episode where cam and mitch talk about delaying gratification they have this bottle of really nice wine or champagne and they just never open it because it's too nice they don't want to enjoy it we'll enjoy that later at a better time more special time eventually they just give in and drink whatever they want this is my champagne this packaged meal of veggie pad thai i'm always bringing it on trips and i'm like no no i gotta save it gotta save it i bring it primarily for longer trips to just add some variety i can't make veggie pad thai out here it'd be hard anyway so [Applause] today is the end of the delay of [Applause] gratification oh it's still bubbling in there oh i can't show you or spill it out very nice tastes like the present need some sriracha though and if any meal companies want to send us some product to use i will pretend like i like it no matter what this is great though i've had it before once i'm hanging off of mountain ash tonight i don't think i've ever hung off of mountain ash and on the other side here well some fur and you can compare balsam fur to spruce right here this one is balsam fir this is spruce the balsam fur needles are flat out they stick apart from each other spruce needles they're just all over they're bristly spruce balsam fir very soft and malleable so [Applause] [Applause] [Music] on the water before six again woke up at like four just couldn't sleep so i'm out here conditions are pretty good we've pounded the shore all night despite the the wind seemed to die and now it's still settling down but pretty good paddling toward hope island crossing 700 meters or so halfway there and looking at talbot island which i think i mentioned yesterday wanting to get there has some really dramatic looking cliffs which are illuminated by the sunrise right now and those would have been great but there i've seen a lot of cliffs so it's not a big deal however there's also an old lighthouse on there called the lighthouse of doom after canadian confederation in 1867 the canadian government wanted a good network of lighthouses on the great lakes so that was built i think like a year after according to the guidebook the first lighthouse keeper came in and he died another one came in they died the third came in and they died so the government shut it down after that they decided that this lighthouse was not so important that it was worth the lives of its citizens but pretty crazy to have three straight lighthouse keepers pass yeah that's eerie but i wanted to check it out sean immediately as soon as i got my line in it was fighting initially none no fight for a little while now what are ya i like trout cool oh and it's got a sea lamprey on it oh come in let me get that off you [Applause] oh okay he's in the nut check this out sea lampreys came in invasively and they latched them on they latched themselves on to fish and just leave them out basically i think they detach before the host dies but oh just awful oh no way the lamprey detached on his own whoa [Applause] the lamprey is swimming around in there now trying to escape himself wow come here wet my hands for the trout [Applause] nice laker thank you not a bad scar on him from the lamprey so it probably hasn't been on for that long and look at this nasty little guy the bottom of their mouths is really gross i don't might be hard to get him to turn upside down but it's like a suction cup full of teeth his mouth there and honestly i don't know if this is an invasive lamprey or native so i'm not sure what to do with it look on my phone see if i have any offline resources for identifying it nasty it actually ugh i'm gonna pick it up oh it's so gross ew i don't want to let his mouth touch my hand to be honest latch onto me oh it's so slippery it is so slippery i don't think i really don't think it's a sea lamprey it's the grossest thing ever i can't pick it up it's too there that works with the rubber netting look at its mouth imagine having that latched on to you anyway i i did have some id and i don't think it is a sea lamprey i'm pretty sure it's not [Applause] so i'm gonna do what i'm gonna do either dispatch or release what would you do i'm not gonna record it because there's no pleasing to anybody so i had taken a photo of a fish id book and yeah they're chestnut lamprey silver northern brook american brook and sea lampreys along with american eels um but i'm pretty sure that was a silver lamprey not a sea lamprey beautiful here in armor harbor very tranquil very interesting place behind me it's a nation some guys i guess over a few beers decided to occupy that spot i don't know if it's like a squatter situation if they somehow acquired it but anyway they declared themselves a nation and they have their own anthem and flag apparently it makes for a pretty funny google search you gotta check that out nice gentle rollers today yesterday it was like chop chop chop chop like the canoeing equivalent to driving over a really rough bumpy road today is just like i like that heading into the bay where i plan to camp tonight do a hike this afternoon but the wicked headwinds just kicking up here i haven't been able to find the trailhead yet but before i do anything i need lunch and yay souvenirs aluminum foil my favorite souvenir [Applause] found the trailhead thanks this little beat up flag hike to mount san ignace saint ignace island is the largest island in the nmca region and also contains one of the highest points of land in ontario this peak mount st ignis is accessed by a little-known yet world-class hiking trail gaining 1265 feet in elevation over its five kilometer length the hike takes at least six hours return and is quite challenging here comes the rain so beautiful like it's really excited for this it's quite an adventure and kudos to whoever is maintaining this because this is a tough trail the guidebook described it as a dry riverbed but uh i guess that's seasonal maybe later in the summer it's dry it's pretty wet right now but it's nice beautiful cedars growing so straight like spruce i just did a big climb up what i thought was the trail i'm pretty sure i lost it i haven't seen a flag or a sawn piece of wood in a while also in a game trail probably wasted half an hour but got back to the trail and right at the right time check this out oh wow that's nice nice and cool this trail is no joke you gotta climb up this part right up the side of the waterfall oh this is a tough one beautiful though spectacular [Applause] wow oh what you can see from down there isn't even the whole falls i was wondering where the trail goes here it is i've seen lots of moose droppings on the trail let's open them i would see when it was pond found some moose bones out here ninety percent of the way there still almost 200 feet of elevation gain left and i'm getting close starting to get my first views there are some beautiful inland lakes on this island that one looks stunning oh so oh here it is the summit just when you think you got there before turns out i checked on my toppo that's not it wow that's phenomenal looks like it's raining over there oh i might be soaked pretty soon but i wouldn't hate it nice love finding those yeah here comes that rain what a hike my hat is off to whoever scouted cleared and has maintained this trail like it is it's a beast it's got to be the toughest trail i've ever done not to mention we're in the back half of june and the bugs are pretty thick came over to the west side of the peak really i just wanted to look back on where i'd been isn't it ironic isn't it ironic it's like red on your mouth significant day when it rains it rains you know and it's a beautiful thing i have virtually no time constraints now quit my job i'm camping as much as i want and before if i was taking my vacation time yeah i'd be pretty bummed but now it's just like another part of the journey isn't it ironic hey and look at that just cleared up a little so i could see the paps see everywhere i've been that lake down there is king lake it's an interior lake on this island i have no idea if there's a trail in i have to imagine someone has put one in if they put one up to this bloody mountain i'm getting a real gust of wind now this is so raw up here i'm not even hurry to leave actually unless it gets really nasty what a hard existence every tree the biggest tree is small i love this one in particular so beautifully this huge water body going right there that's the again straight that leads into nipping bay huge part of lake superior and then that's floor island right past a couple days ago you see the channel goes all the way there and then there's this big island in the distance splitting it that's where i was hoping it might pass but just seems to be picking up so i'm going to get down back down but totally worth it very happy i did this i needed it too my legs needed a stretch they've been sitting in the canoe no porch portages has a downside and it's like your legs are just all cramped up my only concern now is the scent on all these slippery wet rocks but i'm sure just cleared up a little to the west there are a bunch of the islands that i just came through and many more in there and beyond on a map it all looks pretty easy i'll just skip over that island in this island a big lake [Music] next up cross the moffat straight over to simpson island [Applause] 6 30 no one touched my stuff that's good gotta find camp hey just got the canoe loaded up and a rainbow materialized it looks so close there i could almost touch it beauty oh i see a double there's a devil coming on you know what that means i was going to cross the muffin straight just over there other side of this island if the wind gave me a chance but it's still up and i'm out of gas i have one meal and i've been going since 4 00 a.m so you know 15 hours so i'm going to stop here there's a nice cobble beach really nicely sheltered from the wind and waves by this little spit and get a tarp up it's looking like it's still rain it's on and off and get a good meal in excited for that [Applause] fire feels nice tonight it's pretty chilled soaked and that wind is is pretty chilly actually going back to the veggie curry tonight with rice and a generous portion [Applause] whoa looks good even dehydrated these potato chunks i love them they don't rehydrate that well but they're kind of chewy in a really good way [Applause] oh yeah super size there's a pretty neat little cave right in there [Applause] if i were a better youtuber i would sleep in there that sounds just awful [Applause] it's quite a tangle in the bush for the hammock too but found a couple spots that will work sleep anywhere tonight actually i'm just the most tired i've been old trip [Applause] hmm did you sleep in there it's got a good overhang protection from wind and driving rain but it's very uneven it'd be terrible i'm just gonna fake it for the thumbnail and extract still done just finished dinner you can see rain coming across the lake ran over here scrambling to get the tarp up and then i can take all the time in the world to set up my hammock oh yeah i'm just hearing it start feels like you cheated death when you just get ahead of the rain like this it's wonderful there very nice lofty pitch i can totally stand up in here lovely another early rise let myself sleep in until 5 30 though crossing the muppet straight so don't get it while it's calm all right conditions look pretty good some gentle rollers crashing into these rocks here coming across to simpson island another big one great conditions out here actually still the rollers but there's nothing for them to crash on this is my best required crossing conditions yet chichi bay was nasty day one across black bay was nasty nipping straight wind picked up so i am very happy for this reason i have to look out for these long bays and straights it's because wind and waves can really funnel through them so you could be paddling in reasonable conditions and then suddenly you're exposed in a straight and it's just a different day so this is really nice to get to cross it safely like this so i'm getting into the last couple days of this trip i think i'll finish it in nine days and i thought i'd be 10 to 12 but i wasn't i was never wind bound for a full day i make pretty good progress every day so i'm ahead of schedule which is kind of sad you know to end early but better to end on a high note than to draw it drag it out and just fizzle out another amazing spot arch too cave internet [Applause] tricky day for being in here so cool i missed those calm warnings very exposed paddling here on the south shore of simpson island rugged and beautiful though and conditions seem pretty good i've got a three kilometer crossing after simpson island and i'm going to dip my toe in the water go around this point and see what see what it's like because leave my chance to do it i checked the zolio and it looks pretty good tomorrow morning as well but who knows if it's good now that's that's in the bank so i'll take it if it is bear up there on the hill looking down at me hey buddy it's too wavy getting blown away so cool what an awesome vantage point to see c1 browsing on top of a cliff it's looking good three kilometers shouldn't feel like too much if these conditions hold on halfway there [Applause] after 2 p.m i'm just having my first real meal of the day sprinkle for breakfast on the go and this chili is going to go down really well on garlic bread mouth watering and i've got my very own picnic table it's a nice one too reasonably new usually campsite picnic tables are pretty dilapidated like that one over there glad i pushed through this morning while it's calm the wind's up now white capping out in that crossing i just passed out for like three hours and when i woke up it's probably not going to pick it up on the mic but there's something rooting around back in the woods hopefully it's not a bear that's habituated to this site there's a little table beside the picnic table and if it's a fish cleaning station you know bear could be used to getting some scraps here so that wouldn't be good hopefully it's nothing popcorn for dinner tonight it's just what i feel like getting the message from aaron contacted her to pick up tomorrow in ross port better than the movie theater put some salt and vinegar powder on there hmm my body's liking that might have needed some salt in my diet perfect evening for the last night here i'm just soaking it up looking like it'll be a good sunset it's almost nine o'clock and sun doesn't go down until 10 so still got some time but it's been a phenomenal trip just looking back on it as usual hasn't been what i expected at all i thought i'd be seeing moose i'd have constant fishing and i'd have really challenging weather and really none of those things happened the fishing was decent perfectly decent couldn't actually have my line in the water a lot of the time because there was just a chop and i didn't want to put myself in a compromising position especially in open water but still got as many as i needed and there's still tomorrow who knows what'll happen uh no moose but bear today a porcupine which is way rarer for me than a moose i never see porcupines it was a second or third porcupine i've ever seen so that was fantastic and then some great interactions with some of the more staple animals and birds we've got the sandhill cranes and amazing interactions with beavers actually beavers i saw at dawson's creek that was that was amazing i've never really seen beavers that well and the one beaver there was the baby crying and then the big one it had shoulders on it i was actually a little worried about it coming over it was look like an absolute tank and then the weather i didn't lose a single day to conditions i maybe called it early a couple of times but still made progress every day and that's why i'm ahead of schedule i'll finish in nine days it's it doesn't matter if you finish in nine ten eleven twelve days just uh it's about embracing whatever conditions you get on superior and if you get good conditions you keep going so there's no need to linger and drag it out it was perfect and i really want to say thank you to zach and daryl who published the guidebook for this route this area actually there are countless routes you could do i could do this route 10 more times and do it totally differently it's just amazing with all the islands and bays there's so much to see i left a lot on the table but i do plan to come back with erin someday because she would love this but these guys are real stewards of this area great conservationists they know this area so well and that really enhanced my trip so thank you guys very much cheers thanks for joining me and cheers to lake superior my favorite lake on earth just finished this fantastic book and edward abbey he passed in 1989 a year and a half after i was born makes you wonder what you might be able to leave behind for a place that you love let's make some pancakes got the pancake mix with some cinnamon mmm i love cinnamon dried blueberries and i'm pretty sure i'm forgetting something i meant to put in the pancakes but these would be good enough also got syrup of course make them nice and small easier to flip you want to have these all tripped there hasn't been time in the morning it's nice slow morning today slept into 6 30. and checking the weather i'm always ashamed of my bed head how is it today is it bad and it looks like the rain that was supposed to come this afternoon has pushed off into the night i've gotten so lucky with weather i've hardly had the fly on i'll trip the tarp over the hammock i think i had it the first night and then one other night because i've had the weather updates it's been awesome just knowing it's gonna be clear it was a fantastic final night and i'm looking forward to this final day sun's shining i'm gonna be fishing i'm heading for two bays to start off first is called old man's pocket and the second is called chummy's harbor so that's just excellent fine map making let's see if they have any fish map making is not for everyone it's a passion some cartographers would have just mailed it in and called it whatever oh just call it bear bay or something we already have 47 bear bays in this region i don't care but this person they put their heart and soul into the naming i respect that i'm now entering the old man's pocket who knows what i'll find spare change lint coupons for dentures perhaps even fish stay with me what do we got laker [Applause] oh he's in the net it's pretty small let's just let him pop off thank you the bacon the beacon of ahmandine is lit my lord gondor calls for aid and rohan willansa that's the battle island lighthouse about 150 years old i'd like to get out and check it out but i'm a bit worried about a wind and chop kicking up i gotta get back to my rendezvous point with aaron strange turbulence here it's like there's a difference of flow that's weird yeah there's a current here a bit of an eddy there strange last crossing of the trip the rain's just starting to come on i'll be in the car before long this is interesting i'm at another narrows and there's current here again like i said there's no tide on superior but there are sashas which i think is mostly based on differences in atmosph atmospheric pressure in the lake so you get more pressure somewhere else and it changes the the levels and creates shifts in the water so i'm assuming that's what's happening it's pretty cool almost in rossport now so i'll wrap this up here erin's going to be picking me up there she's my my shuttle thanks to her for doing that it was an incredible trip for me so many special moments the scenery on the north shore of superior there's really just nothing like it it's nothing quite the same as it and so many special moments porcupine i never see porcupines the bear some nice fish some nice trout mount saint agnes quadruple rainbow and the morning paddles just in general when they were really calm that i think was a highlight for me so thank you for joining me hope you enjoyed it on to the next one cheers are you i don't know it feels like maybe a brookie it's really uh it's crazy yeah probably brookie oh yeah right on nice to meet you yeah i like guys how'd you find that oh this is a nice speck sorry i might be ruining you no you're not you're adding to it you're gonna be in it nice back thanks buddy probably not legal though not quite no they're all outside what a crazy standard eh yeah over a half meter respect that's yeah this is the end of my trip actually i'm finishing up in rossport i've been out nine days started from silver island no way yeah it's been a great trip that's a good battle yes it was a good battle that was awesome pretty good weather how's your day going are you getting anything oh we just we literally just launched yeah are you from hey that was too funny run into some folks right as i'm getting close to the end of the trip with a fish on and it turned out to be the nicest fish of the trip and one of the biggest specs of my life hopefully i got a decent shot out of it i didn't have this camera set up so i just reached back for the gopro now another fish on just parting gifts from superior that one distinctly felt like a brookie it's fighting like crazy this one probably more likely a laker yeah it looks like it yeah another laker out nice little laker thanks buddy switched on right now i'll tell you what you just pulling into rossport aaron will be here any minute it just started to rain but you know what they say here's my ride world-class shuttling services for marine outfitters as always a fresh delivery of chips a couple brews and a perrier [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Lost Lakes

Views: 783,280

Rating: 4.8238597 out of 5

Keywords: lost lakes, camping, fishing, ontario, canada, bushcraft, backcountry angling ontario, winter, wilderness

Id: -5I60Uh4HWY

Length: 137min 0sec (8220 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 07 2021