2002_fall

“I’m going back up this fall, Ryan!” exclaimed Jeff, and with that, the Fall 2002 4DFCC trip got its start.

It was about 1:30 AM on July 5th, Jeff and I were the last two left from our July 4th party and we were sitting in the garage
talking. The previous canoe trip was brought up and Jeff made his proclamation. Not wanting Jeff to go alone, I decided
right then and there that I would go too. Art joined the trip a few days later, but initially Scotty was not going, so we started to
look around for a fourth. At one point we were up to eight, but in the end, Scotty decided the trip needed to have Stickman,
and Art’s dad and brother were to be Rookie 1 and Rookie 2.

We also decided to try to cut costs by taking as much equipment and supplies as we could and rent very little. We have since
acquired much more gear and more than likely will continue to do so.

So the original 4DFCC left from Des Moines around 4:30 PM on September 18th, we would meet up with Bruce and Jason in
Minneapolis and drive through the night to CBO. We arrived at Jason’s around 8:00 PM to find that Bruce was taking a nap,
he had come down with a cold a few days earlier and was trying to get as much rest as possible before we hit the woods. We
decided to let him sleep another hour or so before waking him. We were finally back on the road a little before 10:00 PM and
made it into CBO around 3:00 AM the next morning. We had called ahead to have them leave one of the bunkhouses open so
we could catch a little sleep in comfort before paddling out. Around 5:30 AM we were awakened by a powerful thunderstorm
rolling through, which made us glad we had decided to unpack the truck earlier and stow the gear in the
bunkhouse…everything was sure to be dry!

After a few hours of light sleep the alarms started going off, it was 7:00 AM. Slowly we crawled out of the bunks and made our
way down to the Cookshack where we had hearty breakfast of scrumptious pancakes and thick smoky bacon, all you could eat
for $4.50. Deb met us here and after a few jovial exchanges, headed to the office where we would meet up with her later.
After breakfast, we all headed over to the office, picked up some needed things, grabbed some packs and headed to the
bunkhouse to pack the gear. We did a little better this time, one pack per person, but we still had some extras that normally
wouldn’t go along, like 3 big chairs and a large dining fly! These, along with some extra fishing equipment would mean
double portaging, good thing we only had one! Of course, having only one portage is the reason we brought some of the
extras…

When we were all finally packed, we carried the bags down to the dock and went back to the office to settle our bill. The total
cost per person was very reasonable, depending on what was needed, or wanted, by each individual. I think the prices
ranged from just under $100 to around $150 for rentals, excluding any extra purchases. We once again rented the top-of-the
line Kevlar canoes, much easier to portage, some rented sleeping bags, sleeping pads, Crazy Creek canoe chairs, a few
packs, a food pack, and because they had none for purchase, a cooking utensil kit. I purchased a new 6 person nesting cook
kit with 6 plates and cups, and a new Coleman Powermax two burner stove, Art had purchased one earlier and we decided we
needed two. Jeff purchased a new pack and there were some other incidentals that everyone picked up. We had brought all
of our food with us and planned on catching fish, too. Oh yeah……we brought plenty of Tang again!

Down to the dock we went. While we picked out paddles and life vests, Carl from CBO carried down the canoes and put them
in the water. We quickly loaded the packs, hopped in, and were on our way. We had about a 45 minute row up Moose Lake to
the portage, then it would be a 175 rod portage into Wind Lake, and a 20 minute row to the first campsite. The row up Moose
was beautiful, a slight tail wind and the sun was out. We hit the first portage, and before anyone could say anything, Bruce
grabbed the food pack and took off. Well, it ended up that the food pack was the heaviest one we had, smallest, but
heaviest. The portage started out a little rough, we had some pretty good climbs, but finally at about half way, it leveled off
and actually was a little down hill from then on. At about the half way point Bruce had to take a little rest, that'll teach him to
just grab and go! Being a little thirsty, he decided to take a drink of water from one of his water bottles, too bad for him,
someone forgot to inform him that we had used one of his bottles for the Bailey’s Irish Cream. Since we couldn’t find the
Bailey’s in a plastic bottle, we had to improvise, as for Bruce; it really didn’t quench his thirst at all!

Once all the gear and canoes were packed across, we loaded up and headed into a slight wind to the first campsite on the
map. It was taken, and so was the one just to the north…we decided to keep rowing west to a site back a little in one of the
bays. We found it open, but it barely had space for one tent, let alone three! It also did not have a very nice landing, and I
really wanted to stay dry this trip. Back to the east, we had a few more sites we could check. Jason & I decided to go check
out a site to the north while Jeff & Bruce would head southwest to try to catch up to Art & Scotty as they had headed into a
different bay. We found the site to the north to be relatively flat and had adequate space for three tents. We tried to radio
the other canoes, but because of the terrain, were unable to reach them. Back into the canoe, we would have to row around
to the other side of point to try to radio them. By the time we got within radio range, both crews were well on their way to
another site that was well back in a larger bay. Jason & I decided to go ahead and just row over to them and check out the
other site. A half hour later, we were at the other site, it was open and wasn’t too bad. Rather than row all the way back, we
opted to stay here.

Finally, everything was unpacked and set up, the latrine was located, and it was only mid afternoon…time for some Tang!
After a few warm cocktails (the water temperature was around 55˚F), we decided to try some fishing. Jeff & Scotty were the
first to throw in their lines and we soon learned that the rocky incline where Jeff was standing should not be taken lightly, or
maybe it should? Jeff won the First-To-Get-Wet award. At first, we all thought he had on a very large fish, but his expletives
soon alerted us to the truth. Luckily, he only went in up to his thighs. Shortly thereafter, Jeff was seen around camp in his
now infamous shorts and knee high socks outfit.

Jason and Bruce hopped in a canoe to do some fishing while the rest of fished from shore. There was some discrepancy as
to who caught the first fish, as it was, Bruce landed a very nice minnow, almost 3 inches long, probably a record! Then Art
landed a small bass that we had to throw back due to season being closed on bass at the time. Deb back at CBO finally
settled the argument, with the ruling going something like this… Any fish caught counts, but a real man wouldn’t claim he
caught a minnow. As the fishing came to a close that evening, Bruce and Jason ended up catching two nice sized northern
pike that we cleaned, stuffed with spices & onions, wrapped in foil, and threw on top of the fire grate, they were very tasty!
We had also brought along a couple of marinated pork loins and some potatoes for roasting. Needless to say, we had a feast
that night! And not wanting anything to go to waste, I could be seen kneeling on the ground picking up, bite by bite, my
potato that had fallen and got stepped on. Finally, Scotty offered to split his potato with me rather than watch me perform my
best imitation of a bear scavenging our camp.

After dinner, it was time to train the rookies on how to hang the bear bag. Actually, Art and I had done the hard part while the
rookies were out catching fish, we had the rope and pulley system already in place and all the rooks had to do was tie on the
bear bag and hoist. Other than it was in an area that was almost inaccessible due to foliage, everything went smoothly.

The rest of the night was spent sitting around the fire telling jokes and stories. It was even highlighted by something rather
large splashing along the shore. Of course, everyone’s first thought was ‘Bear!’, but after some investigation, we concluded
it was nothing more than a beaver that had slapped its tail. Surprisingly, everyone was off to bed by 1:00 AM.

The next morning broke beautifully; the sun rose with very few clouds and everyone was up by 8:00 AM, beckoned by the
aroma of freshly brewed coffee. This morning’s menu would consist of bacon, scrambled eggs (www.eggstore.com), salsa
and tortillas, a very easy breakfast to prepare and clean up. This day was to be pretty uneventful, filled with fishing and
lounging around camp. We were able to land 6 pike and a bass before lunch, and several more pike in the afternoon. For a
mid afternoon snack, we dug out the instant add-water-only pudding (link to recipe coming) and tried all four flavors. Due to
the warm water temperature, the pudding did not set up quite as firm as planned, but still tasted great. It was about this time
that Rookie 1, Bruce, acquired his eventual nickname, Gilligan. It came about from a few factors, his hat, his usual silly
nature, and the fact that he is about the same age as Bob Denver. Dinnertime arrived with much anticipation; this would be
the first field test for my much hyped dehydrated spaghetti dinner. (link to recipe coming) Corn had been brought along as a
side dish, and was nothing more than can corn, drained and vacuum packed the day before we left, very simple to heat in the
bag. Well, the spaghetti passed all tests, ease to prepare…8, need to reconsider the packaging; hydration…10, noodles,
sauce and meat all perfect; and most important, flavor…10, from all the comments, I started to get the feeling they hadn’t
eaten for weeks!

The rest of the night was once again spent around the campfire, talking and playing a game that Art started that had no rules
except for the fact that we had to learn the rules as we went, he acted somewhat like the game moderator. After what must
have been an hour or so, everyone but Jason had figured out the rules, making him the loser. This prompted the question
from Bruce, “What did I spend all that money putting you through college for?” And so, Rookie 2 had earned what would
become his nickname…Einstein. Tonight would see everyone retire around midnight, listening to a strong wind blow through
the trees.

The final morning was once again glorious, and Art was up before the sun capturing many great shots of the sunrise and over
an hour of video as well! Finally we all crawled from our sleeping bags to a piping hot cup of Joe. Breakfast would be Cache
Lake biscuits and gravy, always a hit with the troops and a must for every trip. It was decided after breakfast to pack up camp
and start the trek back, we could take our time and fish along the way.

By the time we were all packed up and had triple checked the campsite to make sure we were leaving no trace, the wind
started to pick up out of the west. We hit the water heading east, the wind directly at our backs and picking up speed! All we
had to do was steer, the wind literally blew us across Wind Lake…I wonder how it got it’s name? Because of the wind, the
front man didn’t have to paddle and could concentrate solely on fishing. In the back, I had to do very little paddling and
minimal steering, which allowed me to throw out a line and troll. Unfortunately, we caught only one fish, a very nice bass
landed by Scotty that we had to release. In what seemed like no time at all, we were back at the portage. Everyone quickly
loaded up and packed gear overland to Moose Lake. Here is where we had the brief discussion of using the cell phone to
call CBO for a pickup, the reason being, we had to head almost directly back into the wind, the nice little 45 minute row we
had up would turn into the 2 hour row from hell… But, it was decided that we needed to row back in, completing the trip as
planned.

So all of the energy we saved coming across Wind, was to be used going down Moose. Luckily, if you could call it that, the
wind switched to the southwest, which allowed for us to take a direct route back to CBO into almost 2 foot waves. Had it
been a cross wind, we would have had to hug the shoreline and make a few angled darts across open water. Well, we all
made it back to CBO’s dock with no one getting wet, there were a few times when you had to look over at the shore to
reassure yourself that you were moving forward, but we eventually made it! As usual, we were greeted with a cold beer, a
treat even after only 2 ½ days in the wild. We quickly purchased a twelve pack and set to eliminating it one can at a time…it
didn’t take long! We unpacked all of the gear and sorted out our’s from CBO’s and packed it into the trucks. Then it was up
to the gift shop for souvenirs, some equipment re-supply, and…the paddles. CBO has mini paddles that we buy and each
member of the trek signs them, we put the date and trip name on each paddle, and every member takes a paddle home as a
memento. We bid our fond farewell’s to Deb & the Gang until next spring and reminded them that we would be more than
willing to man a booth for them at the Des Moines Sports Show in February, so you may have a chance to come meet us crazy
guys in person!

We then hit the road heading for Virginia and The Sawmill…