2001/10 Namakan trip - Exploring Namakan |
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Exploring Namakan |
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The next day was sunny and warm but very windy, luckily blowing from behind the campsite. Our island was quite large, about two miles long, but we had it to ourselves. Well us and the animals. And The Bird. The Bird was a Canada Jay that would hop around the camp site like any bird, but would then go into a slow glide across the picnic table and make a grab for anything unsecured. “Watch out for The Bird!” was a frequent cry. It perched on Sandie’s head to get a better look at what she was eating. We were also sharing with a bald eagle and at least one owl, but they were no trouble.
We’d heard a lot of splashing the previous night, and we soon found evidence that the noise came from beavers. There were lots of fresh wood chips, including one full size birch that had been chewed half through, enough for it to be a deathtrap on a windy day. Hopefully the beavers return to finish the job or it falls down sometime during the winter.
Namakan has over a hundred islands, and we set off to explore the ones around us. Although we had a map
and compass, threading through the maze was far from easy. The islands are all much the same, a mass of granite, often sheer cliffs, partly covered by trees, and it’s hard to see where the channels are. We also found that some of the shallower channels were a mass of reeds, impossible for us to get through. The total effect though was just beautiful. As well as the green pines and spruce, we had bright yellow birch, red maple, and even redder oak and sumac, just a blaze of colour.
We found some cozy spots for meal breaks, out of the wind and soaking up the sunshine. It was quite choppy out in the wind but the kayak’s very stable. Just west of us looked to be dark and wet but we had sun most of the day. We saw loons and mergansers and pintails, but no people. Mergansers are like fast bowlers. They need about a 20 yard run to get started, feet pounding away on the water surface until they get enough speed for takeoff.
We were only a mile or two from Canada and it would have been very easy to accidentally cross the border into Ontario, so we kept an eye on compass and map. The border guards are not noted for their sense of humour.
Getting back to our island was a battle against the wind but we made it with enough time for a short swim and then a long search for firewood of the right age. Lots of green stuff and lots of rotten stuff but little in between. We resumed our battle with The Bird, but there was no sign of the mouse. Perhaps the owl got him. We spent a long evening eating 
around the fire gazing into the total dark around us. There was enough cloud to block both the starlight and the Northern Lights. That’s one of the problems with camping in October, about thirteen hours of darkness. Sandie fell in the dark and badly bruised a thumb, so paddling might be out for tomorrow. We heard howling later that night but it sounded more like coyotes than wolves, though there are a number of packs in the park. There was also some very noisy hooting from some happy-sounding owls.