What Is In That Tree?....Oh, Wow!!

The sun was up but still behind the trees, leaving us in the chill of the crisp morning air. We looked across the marsh grasses to the sunny side of Ishkuday Lake in hopes of seeing a moose on the otherside; maybe even yesterday's moose. But no luck. The shrews were not to be seen this morning either. At least the cold was keeping the mosquitoes away too.

I went down to the shoreline to see what was stirring there this morning.  I was pleased to find a Grey Tree Frog hanging out on the branches there. (Yes, I know, the Grey Tree Frog is actually green. I suppose it gets its name from the colour of its belly). It is not all that common for me to see one of these on my hiking trips.

Today would be our last full day of hiking on this trip and tonight would be our last night sleeping in the park. I was already wishing it could last longer. We would be hiking roughly 6 km today. We decided that we would stop and have breakfast at the old, abandoned,  train trestle. 

By the time we got packed up and were on our way, it was starting to warm up. It was a nice, sunny, easy, walk. We took a moment to stop at what we considered to be the real "lookout", which was not far from the abandoned train trestle. Now that we had come full circle, I could make out where we had camped, on the second night at Islet Lake, from here. It was just to the left of the point (which from here looks like an island). 

At the bottom of the old train trestle was the remnants of the last of a logging run. They were all jammed together as a reminder of the history of this place. We reached the top of the trestle just moments before a gentleman and his dog reached it. We sat and talked with him there for a bit before continuing on our way.

From here on out we were back on what used to be the old railway track. The rest of the way was flat after that. Muddy, but flat. 

   When we got to the portage between Hot Lake and Rain Lake, we met a couple of guys just starting their hike in. I think they said that they were headed to Weed Lake so they had a long way to go yet. One of them had a little fishing rod with him. They asked us questions about how the trail was and what we used for filtering water. When we told them that it got pretty muddy up ahead, one guy turned to the other and said "See, I told you we should have gone canoeing!"  These guys were clearly new to backpacking and didn't have a water filtration system with them. Their plan was to just boil their water (which is fine, but can be a bit of a chore to wait for it to boil and then wait for it to cool again). One of the two was much less happy to be backpacking than the other. I hope by the end of their trip he comes to love it as much as we do. It would be a shame if he didn't. 
   About another kilometer or so later we stopped for a break and a snack at the side of the trail. I was so busy noticing things like chipmunks and caterpillars that I didn't notice that I had sat on the root of a pine tree and sat in a whole bunch of pine sap. By the time we got up to go there was a large patch of it on the seat of my pants and it had soaked right through and was sticking to my butt. When we got to the camp and I was finally able to take them off, it was like ripping a large band-aid off my butt. 

About 20 minutes later we arrived at our campsite. It was located at the bottom of a large hill. We were happy to find that we were the first ones here and that we got first dibs. ​It may be down a hill, but that just made it more private. 

As I got to the bottom of the hill and the site opened up in front of us, I was very happy with what I saw. This site was much nicer than the other site on Rain Lake. It was beautiful here! There is a big pine tree right in the middle of the site. The site reminded me of a scene out of a Winnie The Pooh book. I felt I was in the 100 Acre Woods. 

Posted way up high on the trunk of this beautiful tree was a sign.

The sign said that this site was reserved for backpackers only (which was us). I guess that they have had problems with canoers camping here in the past. I could see why they would want to. It is a beautiful spot. 

We set up our tent in the dappled shade of the beautiful tree. 

Then we found the path to the lake. We had this whole section of Rain Lake all to ourselves! The trail cuts through a part of the lake which makes a division from the larger part of the lake. It was almost as though this was an entirely different lake. And there was no one on it but us. 

The water was so clear and it didn't take long before I was in there swimming. The water was nice and warm. I stayed in there swimming for a very long time. This was the best swimming hole of the entire trip!  While I was in there, I took my pine sap covered pants in with me and washed them. I used hand sanitizer mostly and a little bit of soap. I had to wash it a couple times but by the time I was done, the sap was pretty much gone. I will probably run them one more time through the washing machine when I get home just to be sure. 

The other nice thing about this site was the location of the thunder box. You did have to cross a little foot bridge to get to it which I thought might be a bit of a hazard if you need to go in the middle of the night. But, during the day it was perfectly fine. 

The thunder box itself was a bit of an older one, but it was clean and free of spiders. The nicest part about this thunder box was that it was the most private one we have had the whole trip. Every other thunder box was visible to anyone walking down the trail (except the one on Weed Lake) and you just hoped that no one came along while you were sitting there. Not this one! Full privacy here! 

At some point Heather reminded me that we had to go and see if our stash of canned peaches and pears were still where we left them. I told her that I would go and get them and so I left her at the site and I went on my quest for the canned fruit. It wasn't that far away. I had stashed them in the old, abandoned, logging camp only about a 5 minute walk down the trail. It just meant that I had to climb back up the hill to get to the trail again. A little toad was also making the climb up the hill to the trail. 

When I got to where I had stashed the cans of fruit, I pulled away the moss and saw that they were still there. The roots of the tree had provided excellent cover for them. 

I pulled them out and checked them over. They were still in great condition. We were looking forward to eating these with our supper. When you have traveled in the bush for over a week and have not had any fruit in that time, a couple cans of peaches and pears are a real treasure! 

When I got back to the site it was about time for lunch. We didn't eat the peaches and pears for lunch. We saved them until supper time. While we sat and ate I looked over at the root of the big tree and all of a sudden a little head popped up for a second and looked at me. Then is disappeared again. I kept watching the spot and the head popped up again. It kept doing this. It was a little sparrow watching me. Every time I turned my head or made a slight move it would duck back down behind the root. It was so cute. It was like this bird was playing peek-a-boo or something. I had never seen anything quite like it. Birds usually just fly away. They don't duck and hide like that. 

After a bit, he moved away from the root and was a little more out in the open. But even then, every time I made a slight move he would duck and flatten himself down onto the ground instead of flying away. He was very entertaining to watch. After about 15 minutes of this "you can't see me!" game he did eventually fly away. 

I took some time to look around the site a bit more. Over near some drift wood was an area where you could see some larger fish swimming around. They were not huge, just maybe 6 or 7 inches long. But they were bigger than the minnows we usually see near the shoreline. The water was so clear that it was easy to see them. 

Heather called me over to show me an unusual beetle that had perched on the edge of her pot. It was a Northern Pine Sawyer Beetle. You don't see those around too often. You see the dark longhorn beetles often enough, but not the ones with this colouring so much. 

Heather and I decided that we would both do our own thing for awhile. Just at the top of the hill where the trail is, there is an entrance to a portage that leads to Little Mc Creaney Lake. Heather decided to take a walk down there while I decided to explore around the site some more. I was interested in checking out the portage too, but I wanted to get photos of birds which is easier to do when you are alone. So I figured I would just go by myself later. 

There were so many unusual things to see in this park. It was a new adventure every day. I came across a strange looking fly. It's markings were very similar to that of a wasp, but its eyes were striped like that of a deer fly. I had never seen one of these flies before.  I found out later that it was called a  Bald-faced Hornet Fly. 

   After awhile, Heather came back and said that she had heard something large in the bush down the portage but didn't see anything. Of course both of us immediately thought back to the moose that we had seen on the trail yesterday. So, I figured that I would take my turn going down the portage and see what I could see.
     The portage is fairly wide and flat and easy to travel on. I quietly made my way down the trail and tried my best to get some good pictures of birds. One robin was particularly cooperative with me. 

The Golden-crowned Kinglets were not as cooperative, but I did manage to get one decent picture. 

This whole time it was so quiet and peaceful that it felt like I was the only one around for miles. I loved that feeling.  The portage follows along the edge of Rain Lake for a bit until eventually you get to the end and it starts heading into the woods. Then on the right there is a bit of a marshy area that can be seen through the trees. 

There were White-faced Meadowhawk Dragonflies zipping around from place to place in this area. 

   Then I stopped still. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something through the trees. I crept in closer to get a better look. There was a Blue Heron standing in some water doing a little fishing. I stood there and watched him for a few minutes trying to be as quiet as I could. 
   But then the quiet was broken. Not by me, but by some people coming down the portage. My illusion of being by myself was shattered as I heard them coming my way. The heron heard them too and decided to fly away.  I couldn't see them yet, but I figured that I may as well just turn around and head back now. Besides I had no idea how far it was to the end of the portage.

I walked back for a little bit and I could hear the people getting closer. I turned to my right because I was going to look back to see if I could see them yet.  I froze. There in a tree less than 10 feet away from me at eye level was an animal looking right at me.  I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a Pine Marten! Oh wow! He froze too. Then he started growling at me. That had me a little concerned. I wondered how well they could jump and if it had any intentions of jumping from the tree right on to me. He was that close that it would be entirely possible. 

Fortunately, the people coming down the portage were getting closer and were making enough noise that the Pine Marten noticed them too and his attention was drawn away from me and over to them. That's when he decided that with reinforcements coming that it might be best if he started climbing higher into the tree. And that is what he did. 

Soon, three women carrying a white canoe came into view. They saw me standing under the tree with my camera in hand and asked me what I was taking pictures of. I told them that I thought it was a Pine Marten and I pointed him out to them. Naturally, they got out their cameras too and we all started to take pictures. By this time I am sure that the Marten was just wishing that we would go away so that he could go back to doing whatever it is he was doing in the first place. One person at the base of the tree he might have been able to deal with but he was not having anything to do with 4 people at the base of his tree. So he just sat there waiting for us to leave.

Once we got our pictures, we obliged the poor thing and left. I thanked the ladies for helping me with the pictures (They had shown me the best spot to get a clear picture. Otherwise, my pictures would have been dark and with too many branches in the way).Then they went on ahead with their canoe and I followed leisurely behind them. 

When I got back to camp I told Heather all about the Pine Marten. She  told me that it was a 2 km long portage so, had I gone to the very end I would have traveled an extra 4 km that day. It was good that I turned around where I had.  

Heather and I set about making supper. As we sat eating our cans of peaches and pears we watched a couple of squirrels chase each other around. 

A little chipmunk was running around too but he was much more shy than the squirrels were. 

When it was close to sunset, we didn't see much in the way of colours on our section of the lake. We figured that we would go up the hill and cross over the trail to the other side of the lake to see if the sunset looked any better there. We saw fishing boats and canoes coming ashore for the night, but we didn't see a whole lot of colours with the sinking sun. The clouds in the sky still looked pretty though.  Again we were disappointed in the sunset. So, we headed back to our site. 

We were surprised to find that back at our campsite (which is only about a 2 minute walk away) the sky was filled with the pinks and purples of the sunset. The difference in the sky in such a short walk was amazing! The beauty of the colourful clouds reflected in the still, clear waters of the lake. It was so lovely. 
​

Just before it got dark we built a fire and put our food up into the tree. 

Heather made a make-shift lantern using her bottle of water and he small flashlight, She had seen it online before and had wanted to try it. It works pretty good! 

   Out on the other side of the lake I saw a flash. It was lightning. I stood up and told Heather what I saw and she looked too. There it was again. Another flash of lightning. A storm was on the horizon and heading straight for us. there was no thunder or rain yet, but it was sure to follow. Heather went about getting the tarp put up over the tent while I held the flashlight. We hadn't needed a tarp over the tent for days but we weren't taking any chances tonight. 
   As I stood there holding the light I could hear the sound of hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes. I said "Heather.... we are going to have a problem! Listen!" She stopped and heard it too. She started working faster on the tarp. We were about to get assaulted by a mass of mosquitoes and we wanted to be able to jump into the tent and protect ourselves from them.
   Then all of a sudden the noise from the mosquitoes stopped. Not a sound. And no mosquito to be found anywhere. It was the strangest thing. 
   When Heather was done with the tarp and everything was put away, we decided to stand down by the lake and watch the storm come in. There was still no rain or thunder yet. As we stood there we saw two very black clouds come towards us. They were large but not so large that you couldn't see the stars in the sky all the way around them. When they were directly over our head we thought for sure we would get rained on. But nope. Not a drop. And still the lightning was putting on an amazing display on the other side of the lake. 
   We stood there so long that we decided to get our chairs and sit by the shore to watch. We sat watching for about an hour. It was almost as though the storm was sitting suspended at that end of the lake. The lightning never came any closer to us. Eventually it looked like it started to move ever so slowly to the right of us. We got tired of waiting for the storm to reach us and so we decided to just go to bed. It had been an amazing light show. Even as we crawled into the tent there was still no rain and no thunder. 

(** The photo of the lightning was not taken by me. My camera would not pick up the lightning at all. This photo was taken by  György Károly Tóth (username: Zajcsik) from Pixabay and looks very much like what we saw that night,**)

The rain and thunder did eventually come, but not until 6:30 in the morning. It wasn't a bad storm like we had expected but it was still a good thing that Heather had put the tarp up. The tarp created a dry perimeter around the tent where we were able to sit and eat breakfast and pack up our stuff while staying relatively dry. 

We were in no rush to leave today. Actually, we wanted to drag the trip out as long as we could because we were not looking forward to going back to civilization. By the time we were ready to go it had stopped raining. As we climbed the hill from our campsite back up to the trail I could see a woodpecker and other birds looking for their breakfast. 

A hawk flew above our heads looking for its breakfast too. 

   We got to the parking lot just before noon. They have a cute little log cabin mail box where you can leave your expired permits and any comments you may have. 
   It had been a fantastic trip with a number of "once in a lifetime" experiences. Although we would have loved to stay even longer, some burgers and fries were calling our names at the local chip truck on the way back to town. But I am sure that we will be back one day, even if it is just for a one or two night stay.