Remember that this is Connie and Steven's first-ever kayaking experience, and we have a big day planned. Even though we drove 20 miles to get here, we are still on Lake Kabetogama. That's the same lake where our motor home is parked. This is a big lake! It's a good thing we had a map and GPS, as we are headed towards Lost Lake.
It took some navigating, but we also found this grassy entrance into the Lost Bay Slu.
This is where the new kayak owners also got their first experience at portaging a boat. The trail was full of roots and rocks and poison ivy. With her sprained ankle, Denisa is having enough trouble just walking in such an environment. So she was worthless at carrying a boat. So Mark did double duty--carrying the back end of their boat and the front of ours.
It's a little suspicious that Denisa can't carry a boat, but she can stop to take pictures of these interesting flowers along the trail.
Carrying the back end of a boat means that you can't see the rocks and roots at your feet until you trip over them. After a quarter mile of that, the trio finally arrived at the end of the portage.
After rowing alongside Round Bear Island, we are now in Lost Bay. Notice that our friends have switched head gear. Steven is making some kind of fashion statement wearing Connie's beach hat, but he's enjoying the extra shade it provides.
Denisa loves berry picking on the trail. But we don't think she's ever found berries ready for the picking from a kayak.
This red raspberry bush was growing right out of the rocks, and at just the right height for a nice fruit snack break. She even shared her raspberry harvest with her friends.
Speaking of rocks, the rocky coastlines are beautiful. Lake Kabetogama is clear because it has a rock bottom. Many of the islands found in the lake, have rock cliffs.
By now it's after 3:00, and even with our raspberry snack we're getting hungry for lunch. There are over 500 islands scattered throughout Voyageurs National Park, and we randomly picked one to beach the boat on so we could eat lunch.
If you look carefully at the bushes in the picture above, you will see that our random little island just happens to host a bumper crop of wild blueberries.
We climbed up to the top of our little island, where the view of the watery scenery around was spectacular! You won't find a dinner view as good as this one in even the most expensive restaurant.
After we ate our picnic lunch, Denisa cajoled everyone into picking enough wild blueberries for a cobbler. The four of us filled two empty water bottles with fresh berries in little time.
While searching our little island for the best blueberry bushes, we also found a nest. The good-sized egg shells were still in the nest. We're hoping this is evidence that the baby birds hatched successfully rather than the nest was raided before they hatched.
We dubbed our favorite island of the day, "Blueberry Island" as we reloaded into our kayaks and rowed away.
It was a beautiful day in Voyageurs National Park, as we paddled by one lovely island after another as we made our way down Lost Bay.
We love the rocks and the water and the trees. The views from water level in a kayak are awesome, and we realize we have wandered into another of God's wonders here on Lake Kabetogama.
Tent campgrounds are spread throughout the islands of the park. Reservations can be made on-line for a camping site that includes a picnic table, fire ring, bear locker, and a private toilet. Day-use areas are also scattered around the park, and we stopped at this one. Behind a one-sided screen we found this toilet. It was a unique experience using a toilet that was in the middle of the woods without walls around you.
At the day-use stop, we traded boats with our friends for the rest of our journey. Our oars are a little longer, and our seats are a little more comfortable. They have been troopers to make such a long kayak trip on their first attempt, so we thought their backs might enjoy a different chair with more support.
We took some wildlife pictures as we made our way by kayak. This tiny frog was enjoying blueberry island as we loaded back into our kayaks.
We saw several eagles today, but most of them didn't want to be photographed. This guy was sitting close to the water's edge, eyeing the fishing options.
We also love to find the Minnesota state bird cruising the water. This lone loon wasn't calling out, but we have enjoyed listening to the loons at night from our campsite near the water.
Later, we would wash up our harvest of blueberries and admire them. This is around 6 cups, more than we will need for a blueberry crisp. We've seen these precious berries for sale at the local store for $14 per quart. We're pretty sure we picked $20 in berries today.
The four of us used most of those berries to bake up a blueberry crisp. It was a nice treat warm out of the oven with ice cream, and we had enough to share it with our next-door neighbors too.
So our first kayak trip at Voyageurs National Park was a great success. We paddled somewhere between six and eight miles. It's a form of exercise that Denisa's ankle will cooperate with, and we reaped the sweet rewards of the local blueberry crop. We have wandered into another wonder, and it's fun to share it with friends!
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