Sixty and Sunny

     Sixty and sunny sounds pretty good for an extended forecast.  Of course seventy and sunny sounds better but what can we expect, it is almost mid-September already.  The temperatures have been consistently September so far this month with almost 2.5 inches of rainfall accumulated.  The entire month of August we only received 2 inches so we’re happy to get some much needed rainfall.  It should help the water levels greatly and with a little luck we’ll be towing through the river once again.

     I took advantage of the recent rainfall and paddled Larch Creek on Sunday.  It was a beautiful day and I couldn’t stand not to be out paddling.  I took a solo canoe and headed over to the entry point for a few hours of paddling in the Boundary Waters. 

     There was plenty of water in the creek and it was easy to navigate.  Only four beaver dams stood between the entry point and Larch Lake, at times there have been more.  I love the twists, turns and tight corners of the creek and the anticipation of what I may see around the next corner.

     I tried my luck at catching a fish and was rewarded with a lone northern pike.  Trolling around the lake I ended up catching more weeds than anything else.  I didn’t mind as it gave me an excuse to paddle the entire shoreline and enjoy all of the new jack pines popping up since the Ham Lake Fire of 2007.

     It was a great day for a Boundary Waters day trip.  It would have made a perfect evening for camping in the Boundary Waters too, but I’ll take what I can get.  Hopefully I can get in some more paddling during this next stretch of sixty degree temperatures and sunny skies.