Trip 1, Day 8, Leg 7 & 8
Trip Day: Tuesday, August 3rd
0544-61F/59F. Closed the windows and doors to keep it warm...ironic! This is hump day, the trip is half over. Had my regular coffee and cookies while I did my Bible study, read my tome on the Christian history of our Constitution, and prayed. Just finished the books of Job and Hebrews. Now move on to Psalms and James.
0806-67F/64F. Finished breakfast of Peanut Butter Chex with strawberries, and toast and peanut butter. Will get ready to depart.
0815-Solar is 69% with 21 watts of input.
0945-Leg 7 was 3.9 nm with an average speed of 6.5 kts. 68F/73F. Hazy with high thin clouds. Again, landed on a non-developed boat site on what I call "Johnson Peninsula". Nice site obviously used before by campers and boaters. Should be oriented to get most of the sun as it passes east to west. Will do my daily dishes and then explore the site more.
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| "Johnson Peninsula" (Click To Enlarge) |
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| NP Overview - Legs 7 & 8 (Click To Enlarge) |
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| Google Earth - Track for Leg 7 (Click To Enlarge) |
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| Navionics Leg 7 (Click To Enlarge) |
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| Avenza NP Map - Legs 7 & 8 (Click To Enlarge) |
1014-72F/76F. Dishes are done. It will be another hot day! Breeze is coming up similar to the last two days. It appears to be a quiet bay, no campgrounds, and no official boat sites. The regular channel is about a mile away. It should be quiet. (I found out otherwise!)
Some factoids: First six legs I traveled 24.7 nm and used 4.5 gallons of fuel averaging 5.5 mpg with an estimated range of 98.8 miles with my two 9 gallon tanks and running the engine at 2500-3000 RPM, under half throttle. (Adjustments were later made to range)
1124-Solar is 74% with 64 watts of input. Only 5% gain so far.
More boats came by and I had to re-tie the boat to prevent damage from wake. It is frustrating not being able to escape this boat traffic! 77F/82F. It will be a roaster today! Another strike against summer peak! Need something cold to drink. Had a cold beer ashore.
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| Pretty Young For This Late In The Season! (Click To Enlarge) |
1239-79F/82F. I couldn't take it anymore! Too much traffic and when they trolled by my stern so close I could throw a stone into their boat, that's it! I pulled the lines and went where I figured no one would go, up the shallow end of Johnson's Bay. Too weedy for fishermen and too shallow for the big houseboats. I was hoping to find a nice beach to tie up, but that was not to be. Instead, I anchored in shallow weeds in 4 feet of water. At least I will get good sun! Not the best swimming due to weeds. Solar is 77% with 97 watts input. Traveled .8 nm at an average of 6.5 kts.
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| GE - Leg 8 (Click To Enlarge) |
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| Navionics Leg 8 (Note: Check Out Overview & Avenza Maps Above For Related Info) (Click To Enlarge) |
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| Anchoring In Backwaters Of Upper Johnson's Bay (Click To Enlarge) |
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| Lots of Pond Life (Click To Enlarge) |
1311-80F/83F. Finished a boat lunch of apples, cheese, crackers, and nuts with white wine. Solar 78% at 70 watts. The haze and high clouds are blocking the effectiveness of the solar panels again today. Fortunately, a nice breeze is coming through the cabin, a benefit of being at anchor. No more boat noise and wake, thankfully!
1406-82F/85F. Worked on downloading and erasing content on my Osmo Action SD card, it was full! Forgot to check it before leaving home! It was filled up when I went down to the St. Croix River for the first boat test in May. I set up the Osmo Action as a bow camera to see the bow better from the helm. Unfortunately, it filled up all the card capacity. That problem is now cleared and the Osmo is now ready to use.
87F/89F. Wind switched to east (rain?) but upper sky is still smoky, not blue at all. Solar is 85% at 30 watts input. Took a nap, then made dinner. A grilled burger with chips and a cold beer. Need to decide if I want to jump into this weedy water or try my shower rig on the aft deck?
1710-1902-87F/83F. 86% solar. 1% less than yesterday, no gain! Very hot for this hour!
Set up the aft deck shower, but with no tent enclosure. I figured it was private enough in this location. Everything worked and I got my first hot shower of the trip! Felt great!
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| Hot Water Heater, Shower Hose, & Shower Pail (Pump is Charging) (Click To Enlarge) |
Drinking a lot of water and I don't think I brought enough? Eight degrees hotter at this hour than yesterday with no wind. Very unpleasant temps! On the plus side there have been very few bugs and mosquitos on this trip.
2058-81F/74F-Stayed outside to let the cabin cool. There is always a delay and it is still very hot! Good thing I did! Sun had set and I turned off the music so it was silent and then just watched for wildlife activity.
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| "Wolf Rock" (Approximately 200 Yards From Boat) (Click To Enlarge)
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At first only a flock of mallards passed near the opposite shore heading to the narrow entry to this upper portion of Johnson Bay. I turned my chair to face the narrows thinking it would be a good place for wildlife to cross. Within a couple of minutes, what I first thought was a coyote, jumped out on a big rock near shore and close to where the ducks were passing by. They were startled by the "coyote" but the animal did not pay them any attention. The rock was approximately 200 yards to my east.
All of a sudden the animal leaps into the water and begins to swiftly swim across the narrows. The swim was approximately 60 yards and I watched the wolf climb out and go up the slope into trees out of my sight.
As soon as the wolf was up the slope, another animal repeated the same action. The second wolf jumped out on the rock, hesitated briefly and repeated the same action. Jumping from the rock and swiftly swimming across the narrows and disappearing up into the woods. Of course I now knew I was looking at wolves, not a coyote. They were all grey, but since they were in summer coats they weren't as bulked up as I imagined.
No sooner had the previous wolf disappeared into the trees on the north side of the channel than a third wolf came out like clock work and repeats the same action. The wolf leaps onto the rock, hesitates and then leaps in and swims across exactly like the others.
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| South Side Of Chanel - Launching Spot (Click To Enlarge) |
They seemed very deliberate about the crossing, they did not swim across together, but clearly waited until the wolf ahead was across and up on shore before jumping into the water to cross. It was puzzling to me? I would have figured they would swim across together?
The first wolf looked in my direction after leaping onto the rock as I had my field glasses on the animal. But I observed no hurried action. Just a very deliberate and orderly crossing by three wolves.
Approximately 4-5 minutes after all the wolves were across I observed a smaller deer, perhaps a yearling, or a small doe, running at high speed away from the wolves location. The deer was traveling at light speed along the shore to the west, crashing through the woods in an effort to escape. Definitely afraid of something! However, I did not observe, or hear the wolves in pursuit. I thought the poor deer would die of a heart attack the way it was moving!
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| Perspective Looking West - Departing The Upper Bay (Click To Enlarge) |
NOTE: I have since talked to the Voyageurs NP wildlife staff who informed me this was likely the "Shoepack Lake" wolf pack, the largest of the known packs . Shoepack Lakes are located in the backcountry central to the Park (See NP Overview Map). The last known observation of this pack there were four wolves total, but it was up to seven in November 2020. I could have easily missed one of the wolves before the ducks I was watching brought my attention to where the wolves were crossing the channel. They do have GPS observations of wolves swimming across bodies of water but no in person observations. Apparently, my observation was unique in this regard.
For extensive information on wolves in Voyageurs NP, check out this web site:
For additional details on this particular wolf pack scroll down in the paper below until you find the information about the Shoepack Lake wolves. Pack ranges are shown on page 1, and details on the Shoepack wolves are on page 12.
Below is an interesting video of the Shoepack wolves and a neighboring pack which have bordering ranges.
Video: Shoepack Wolves And Another Bordering Pack
This place is remarkable in its silence! I'm practically in a swamp yet I hear absolutely no night sounds and it is near dark. In Florida, on the St. Johns River, the night noises would be deafening! Granted it would likely be noisier here in spring. When I went into the cabin there were still no mosquitos? It must be the dry year?
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| A Still, Sultry, Smoke Hazed Evening And Absolutely Quiet! (Click To Enlarge) |
I will lay on my bed and listen to my audio book until it cools down. Still 80F inside!
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