Our First Canoe Trip of 2019 - 4 Days in the Sylvania Wilderness

There is nothing like a long, cold winter to make us ache for the warmer, carefree days of summer. Finally, the weather had become right for a canoe trip. With a song in our hearts we loaded up the car and headed north for a four day family trip to the Sylvania Wilderness in the Ottawa National Forest of Upper Michigan. As we drove it began to rain. We talked about the weather, the way people headed into the wilderness tend to do. Our goal for the day, to make it to camp without thunderstorms, and without our everything becoming entirely drenched.


The forecast called for thunderstorms, and we heard a low and distant rumble. We paddled in the sometimes light rain, down and around Crooked Lake. We admired distant swans, but it was the call of the loon that felt like a call from an old friend, and seeing loons close up felt like a visit with them. When we arrived to the portage from Crooked Lake to Mountain Lake we started our first portage of 2019. Who gets out first? Do we approach front first, or paddled in sideways? It's amazing the way old habits and routines are forgotten over winter.

Video: Part 1 of our Trip

Loon!

The portage from Crooked Lake to Mountain Lake is a short 13 rods (a rod is a canoe length, 16.5 feet). Up a very small hill and down the other side to put in on an easy, gentle-entry landing. Much to our surprise, we got the the top of the little hill there it was. The lake nearly spilled over the top of the hill and down towards Crooked Lake. The farmers further south in Wisconsin had been speaking of high water, and we found high water even here in the U.P. As we paddled across Mountain Lake towards our campsite we noticed the water on the island also looked high, with trees at the edges of the island under water.

High water in the Sylvania Wilderness

We camped at Lynx 1 campsite for 2 nights. Typically in late May the Sylvania Wilderness swarms with mosquitoes. This May little flies plagued us and mosquitoes were minimal. It rained on and off for the remainder of the first day. We heard thunder rumble in the distance but experienced only cold rain. We made pizza and did our best to stay dry. In the end, while it did rain quite a lot, and thunder did pass overhead, we spent the wettest of it huddled under the tarp. The inside of our tent stayed dry and our rain suits and tarp took good care of the rest.

Making pizza in camp

The next morning we woke to drizzle and fog, which cleared up with the sun rise. Then, we enjoyed a sunny day in camp. Not warm enough for a swim, but warm enough to shake off the wet cold before  night returned bringing with it more cool weather. An eagle across the lake really put on a show (see this at the link for the part 3 video below). I watched it fly, swim, catch fish, and fight with a smaller bird.

The sun dried up the wet weather

Our daughter, now a tween, let us know how very much she missed WiFi and her friends (can be seen in our part 2 video at the link below). She played games on an old cell phone and dug through the food barrel for treats. To entertain her, I came up with the idea of having a photography contest and she loved it! This became the highlight of the day...along with the homemade beef stroganoff I had dehydrated. Beef stroganoff makes for a lovely camp meal, and is one of the few our whole family can agree upon.

Video - Part 2 of our Trip

A beautiful paddle moving from Mountain Lake to High Lake

The third morning we packed up and headed over to High Lake for our third night of camping at Bobcat campsite.  We paddled to the end of Mountain Lake and portaged 96 Rods to East Bear Lake. We paddled to the 40 Rod portage into West Bear Lake, and then paddled over to the 97 Rod portage into Kerr Lake. When we got across the portage we were greeted by the sound of thousands of frogs singing in unison. Ah yes, with froggy mating season on Kerr Lake was on (can be seen on the part 3 video, link below). We paddled over to the 38 Rod portage into High Lake. Once across High lake, we set up camp on a very buggy Bobcat Campsite.

Froggy mating season

By now we were very hungry, so after we set camp I prepared one of my family's favorite camp meals - loaded baked potato soup (by Iadho) with bacon bits and cheesy garlic biscuits. Ams and I wandered the campsite, and climbed the steep hill behind camp just to see what might be up there. We sat by the lake, had some snacks, and watched night fall. After a sound sleep, we woke to another cold morning. It rained on and off as we packed and prepared to paddle out.

Video: Part 3 of our Trip

Our family getting ready to leave campsite and head home on day 4

We paddled High Lake to the short but wet and muddy 22 Rod portage over to Crooked Lake. We paddled in the rain over to the landing on Crooked Lake and said our goodbyes to the Sylvania Wilderness. I couldn't help but leave with the feeling that our short four day holiday weekend did not provide enough time. We had finally fallen into step with the rhythm with life in the backcountry, and it was time to leave. I left longing for our next backcountry adventure to begin.

That's all for now. Let's get outdoors and keep our wild places wild!

Trip Map