Mutiny on Batchewan Bay 

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We were in the shade as the sun sat and the birch trees on the opposite shore glowed almost golden. I fished with Hugh that night and neither of us got anything but snags. Bob [I think] caught a fish because we baked it in the coals and then all 8 of us hovered over it with forks like vultures at a road kill.

We had 2 food bags and we were hanging them in a tree every night so the bears wouldn't get them. When we started the trip one weighed 60 pounds and the other weighed 40 pounds. 100 pounds of food sounds like a lot but it comes out to just 1 pound per person per day.

It can be a lot of trouble hanging 100 pounds of food We did a pretty mediocre job sometimes when we were on islands where bears are a lot less likely to go. Also the ranger told us bears would probably not be a problem this time of year since they have plenty of other food. But that night we wanted to do a little better job because this seemed more like bear country.

Before dark we located a spot in the woods where a stick had been placed between two trees, probably by previous campers. We threw the rope over the stick then went back and cooked dinner, etc. We came back after dark and tied the lighter bag to the rope. As we raised it we heard a slow crack and watched with the flashlights as the stick bounced gently up and down more like a taunt bungy than a stick. We actually started to raise the second bag when we realized there was no way that stick could hold both. If by some miracle we did get both bags up there, we figured we would find a wounded and very angry bear with 100 pounds of food on top of him in the morning.

So even though we really didn't want to, we trapsed through the woods for what seemed like forever trying to find another place. It was pretty hard going too. I think my shin is still scraped up from that. Eventually we found something that would do but was still marginal. A hungry bear could have had it. Fortunately, there were no hungry bears around that night.

For the 2nd day in a row, we woke up the next morning facing 3 portages, one of them very long. Today was also the day we would meet up with the second team. The plan was for us to grab 2 campsites at adjacent islands in Batchewan Bay as early in the day as possible so no one else would get them. The other group would not be arriving until 5 or 6pm. We really wanted to get those adjacent sites so there was pressure to push hard.

I believe Bob tried to do some trolling in the morning, much to his boat mate John's frustration who didn't want to drag or carry any fish. John told us later however, that he learned to occasionally smack the side of the canoe with a paddle to scare the fish away.

Joan and I got to the base of the long portage before everyone else and started carrying stuff over. I was really hoping it would be an easy one even though our best map indicated it would be long. We walked fairly steeply up a path but the path was wide and had easy footing. At the top was a small pond that I somehow mistook for the end of the portage, probably because I really wanted it to be the end. So we sat everything down and went running back to tell everyone what an easy portage it was.

Of course eveyone else knew as soon as they saw the little pond that it was not the end. A path led around the pond through some swampy stuff then up again through the woods. It deteriorated a great deal until it finally disappeared and you just had to walk up a creek. I had given everyone false hope.

It was actually one of the prettiest portages we did but it was hard to appreciate with a canoe on your head. Randy slipped with Das Boot and both he and the canoe came crashing down hard in the creek. It turns out he knows a lot of the same profanity I do. His back was really starting to hurt so Bob and I helped him carry the boat the rest of the way.

At the end of the portage we did not take a break for lunch as perhaps we should have. We had only a little paddling left and 1 short portage to Batchewan Bay so we pressed on.

Joan and I finished the last portage first and headed out for the islands of the rendevous. We saw the two islands and headed for the smaller one to the north. The rest of the group, about 200 yards behind us headed for the south island. We're not sure why but I guess our leadership is a little weak.

Anyway, Joan and I landed and set up camp on the north island and everyone else set up camp on the south island. This was okay since we wanted to reserve both campsites anyway. The islands were about 100 or 200 yards apart. We could see people on the other island walking around but we couldn't communicate except loud noises like my french horn.

We saw Bob and Hugh go out fishing after they got camp ready. With Bob and Hugh fishing and Joan and I on another island. The conditions for a mutiny were now perfect. The rest of the crew were tired and a little beat up from the day, especially Randy whose back still caused him a lot of pain.

The rest of this is hearsay, as I was not there. Apparently Uncle Clint was tired of portaging and paddling so much and figured out that we could stay on Batchewan Bay for the rest of the time (about a week) then leave in 1 day the way the second group was coming in. That would be just a few miles of paddling and only 1 more portage.

As I understand it, Uncle Clint was trying to get backers for his plan. He got a sympathetic ear from Randy, who was in pain from his back, and John and Katy seem to have said essentially, "If that's what the group decides, we'll do it."

On the north island we knew nothing about this. When Bob and Hugh returned, Uncle Clint confronted them. He said something like, "We've got a new plan. We've decided to stay."

Well, Uncle Clint's support was not quite so strong as he thought. Some discussion ensued and a thorough examination of the remaining days was made. When I paddled over for some cooking utensils later I saw a map laid out on the ground with little twigs marking all of the campsites for the rest of the trip.

It really did turn out that the rest of the trip would be far easier than what we had done so far. The longest of the remaining portages was only 200 meters while we had done 3 portages over 800 meters in the last few days. Also we would not have to paddle more than 8 or so miles on any given day and we would have 3 days in which we didn't have to paddle at all.

Also, as a compromise, we would stay in Batchewan Bay for an extra day, even though we expected it to be the most heavily used and least interesting lake in the trip. We needed the time to recover.

Joan and I returned to the north island and I got out my binoculars and focused on the point we expected the second group to round sometime late in the afternoon.

Next: Rendevous

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