Episode Transcript
[0:00:20 – 0:00:25] Adam: Flying V. You guys got a pass mark?
[0:00:27 – 0:00:30] Erik: I don’t think those guys look like they have R-A-B-C’s.
[0:00:30 – 0:00:32] Adam: They’re circling back.
[0:00:32 – 0:00:33] Adam: They are circling back.
[0:00:33 – 0:00:34] Adam: Larry forgot his R-A-B-C.
[0:00:34 – 0:00:35] Adam: They’re circling back.
[0:00:36 – 0:00:37] Erik: One of them has a DUI.
[0:00:37 – 0:00:39] Adam: We’re getting set back, boys.
[0:00:40 – 0:00:42] Adam: We’re going to rent cabins at gunpoint.
[0:01:15 – 0:01:29] Erik: Hello everybody and welcome to Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast brought to you by Clearwater Historic Lodge and Canoe Outfitters.
[0:01:29 – 0:01:30] Erik: I am Eric.
[0:01:30 – 0:01:31] Erik: I’m Adam.
[0:01:31 – 0:01:32] Erik: Joined as always.
[0:01:33 – 0:01:33] Adam: I’m still here.
[0:01:33 – 0:01:34] Erik: It’s been a while.
[0:01:34 – 0:01:36] Erik: We haven’t seen each other for a spell.
[0:01:36 – 0:01:37] Erik: Yeah, what have you been up to?
[0:01:37 – 0:01:39] Erik: You know, just hanging out.
[0:01:40 – 0:01:50] Adam: It’s a fine, cold, and misty day here in the North Country, and also the new Father John Misty album came out today, so very fitting.
[0:01:50 – 0:01:50] Adam: Misty.
[0:01:50 – 0:01:51] Erik: Double Misty.
[0:01:51 – 0:01:57] Adam: I got up at 12.01 a.m. and listened to it, and I’ve been up since just listening to that and watching the mist fall.
[0:01:58 – 0:01:58] Adam: Pretty good stuff.
[0:01:59 – 0:02:00] Adam: Check it out.
[0:02:01 – 0:02:04] Adam: We’re also brought to you this week by…
[0:02:05 – 0:02:08] Erik: Bauhaus Brew Labs short pants.
[0:02:08 – 0:02:18] Erik: This is a lemon shandy, which does not really fit the day.
[0:02:19 – 0:02:21] Erik: Cool, misty, cloudy.
[0:02:21 – 0:02:24] Adam: You can wear short pants even on a cool day, a misty day.
[0:02:24 – 0:02:26] Adam: Short pants is fine to let the mist on your lower leg.
[0:02:28 – 0:02:29] Adam: That was a good one.
[0:02:30 – 0:02:32] Erik: I am wearing long pants, as are you.
[0:02:32 – 0:02:33] Erik: I’m also wearing long sleeves.
[0:02:34 – 0:02:35] Adam: I’m wearing a frigging coat.
[0:02:36 – 0:02:37] Erik: As is my preference.
[0:02:37 – 0:02:41] Erik: Long sleeves, long pants is my preferred.
[0:02:41 – 0:02:42] Adam: Yeah, this is my kind of weather.
[0:02:46 – 0:02:47] Erik: Yeah, preferred weather here.
[0:02:48 – 0:02:49] Adam: Living the dream.
[0:02:49 – 0:02:50] Adam: Thank you, Ballhouse.
[0:02:50 – 0:02:51] Adam: That was a really good one.
[0:02:51 – 0:02:52] Adam: Call us up.
[0:02:52 – 0:02:55] Adam: Let’s make this deal permanent.
[0:02:55 – 0:02:56] Adam: Hashtag sponsored.
[0:02:58 – 0:02:59] Erik: Hashtag sponsorships.
[0:02:59 – 0:03:02] Adam: So this week on Tumble Home episode 020.
[0:03:02 – 0:03:03] Adam: Wow.
[0:03:04 – 0:03:08] Adam: We are talking one of our very close by lakes here, Mountain Lake.
[0:03:08 – 0:03:09] Adam: It’s a big one.
[0:03:09 – 0:03:10] Adam: It’s on the border.
[0:03:10 – 0:03:17] Adam: One of the best fishing lakes I’ve ever been on, especially for lake trout in late May or early June, which it is.
[0:03:17 – 0:03:22] Adam: And we’ll be heading out there after we record and hopefully getting some field audio for you.
[0:03:23 – 0:03:23] Erik: Yep.
[0:03:23 – 0:03:27] Adam: Um, so me going over, uh, general lake description, how to get there.
[0:03:27 – 0:03:32] Adam: Um, you know, the portages, the campsites, the fishing, of course.
[0:03:33 – 0:03:35] Adam: Um, I, any other stories when we may come to.
[0:03:36 – 0:03:40] Adam: Before we get to that, though, I saw something.
[0:03:40 – 0:03:41] Adam: We were watching Antiques Roadshow.
[0:03:41 – 0:03:44] Adam: This has nothing to do with Mountain Lake, but I have to bring this up.
[0:03:44 – 0:03:44] Adam: That’s fine.
[0:03:44 – 0:03:48] Adam: I’ve been thinking about it all week, and I’m sure we’ll find a way to tie it in.
[0:03:48 – 0:03:49] Adam: We always do.
[0:03:49 – 0:03:50] Adam: Yes.
[0:03:50 – 0:03:51] Adam: Do you watch Antiques Roadshow ever?
[0:03:52 – 0:03:52] Erik: Yeah.
[0:03:52 – 0:03:54] Adam: Yeah, you can stream them.
[0:03:54 – 0:03:55] Erik: Well, I’m not that hardcore.
[0:03:55 – 0:03:55] Erik: No.
[0:03:56 – 0:03:59] Adam: I don’t have a TV, so that’s the only way we can watch it.
[0:03:59 – 0:04:02] Adam: But you usually stream like one or two episodes live and then
[0:04:02 – 0:04:08] Adam: Every week you can check in, they have a new episode up that you can, without having to be some sort of membership or whatever.
[0:04:08 – 0:04:15] Erik: Yeah, I lived in Duluth for one winter where the TV in the house that I was renting basically just had your basic channels.
[0:04:15 – 0:04:16] Erik: Yeah.
[0:04:16 – 0:04:18] Erik: And so I watched a lot of PBS.
[0:04:18 – 0:04:29] Adam: Yeah, I think of the house we just bought, there is like a over-the-air antenna up on the roof, and if I can figure out a way to get one of those digital, whatever, the digital converter things, I bet I can get over-the-air up there.
[0:04:29 – 0:04:34] Adam: We’re close enough to the shore where we might be able to pull it from Duluth.
[0:04:34 – 0:04:36] Adam: Hell, we might be able to get some fun stuff from the CBC.
[0:04:36 – 0:04:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:04:38 – 0:04:40] Adam: So, anyways, we were watching that the other day.
[0:04:40 – 0:04:42] Adam: I think it was Albuquerque Hour 2.
[0:04:42 – 0:04:43] Adam: You can fact check me on that.
[0:04:44 – 0:04:44] Adam: I don’t care.
[0:04:45 – 0:04:49] Adam: So, usually they save the really big item for the end of the show.
[0:04:49 – 0:04:51] Adam: And you’re always like, what’s it going to be?
[0:04:51 – 0:04:58] Adam: And then this guy shows up with this crazy oil pen doodle of an abstract looking person with a crown.
[0:04:59 – 0:05:01] Adam: And the judge’s face lights up.
[0:05:01 – 0:05:04] Adam: You can always tell when it’s going to be good because you can just watch the judges.
[0:05:05 – 0:05:06] Adam: Whoever brought it in doesn’t know the…
[0:05:07 – 0:05:08] Adam: what they’ve actually got.
[0:05:09 – 0:05:17] Adam: And so it was a Jean-Michel Basquiat oil stick drawing, like black and white, maybe a poster size.
[0:05:17 – 0:05:18] Erik: Yeah.
[0:05:18 – 0:05:19] Adam: Pretty good size.
[0:05:19 – 0:05:25] Adam: But anyways, $400,000 for this drawing.
[0:05:25 – 0:05:28] Adam: I go, holy moly, that’s a holy moly hot dog.
[0:05:29 – 0:05:31] Adam: That is a nice amount of money for a drawing.
[0:05:31 – 0:05:35] Adam: I should really stop wasting my time on podcasts and start getting into oil stick drawings.
[0:05:38 – 0:05:39] Adam: So it got me thinking, though.
[0:05:39 – 0:05:42] Adam: I’d never really heard of Basquiat.
[0:05:43 – 0:05:46] Adam: He’s an American artist, was prolific in the early 1980s.
[0:05:46 – 0:05:49] Adam: I was doing a little research on him.
[0:05:49 – 0:06:01] Adam: And last year, March of 2017, he broke the record for an American artist for the sale of one piece of art at an auction at Sotheby’s in New York City.
[0:06:02 – 0:06:06] Adam: Um, so I just told you a drawing on antiques roadshow went for 400,000.
[0:06:06 – 0:06:08] Adam: Are you familiar with John Michelle at all?
[0:06:08 – 0:06:08] Erik: No, I’m not.
[0:06:09 – 0:06:11] Erik: I’m not even familiar with oil stick drawing.
[0:06:11 – 0:06:11] Adam: Yeah.
[0:06:11 – 0:06:12] Erik: What is it?
[0:06:12 – 0:06:14] Adam: What’s kind of like, um, crayon.
[0:06:14 – 0:06:14] Adam: Yeah.
[0:06:14 – 0:06:17] Adam: Like I have those fancy crayons are called like pastels basically.
[0:06:17 – 0:06:23] Adam: I think it’s just a big version of that, but he mainly works in, um, oil, oil sticks and spray paint.
[0:06:23 – 0:06:27] Adam: He was a former, he started out his life as a graffiti artist.
[0:06:27 – 0:06:27] Erik: Is he alive?
[0:06:27 – 0:06:27] Erik: Yeah.
[0:06:28 – 0:06:28] Adam: No longer, no.
[0:06:28 – 0:06:30] Erik: Well, that’s why it’s as expensive as it is.
[0:06:30 – 0:06:34] Adam: Yeah, but still, $400,000 for an oil stick drawing is a lot.
[0:06:34 – 0:06:36] Adam: So you’ve got that for just a drawing.
[0:06:36 – 0:06:41] Adam: So this painting, I looked it up, and it’s like the size of the side of your house.
[0:06:41 – 0:06:45] Adam: It’s a huge oil on canvas with spray paint as the medium.
[0:06:45 – 0:06:47] Erik: Just spray paint?
[0:06:47 – 0:06:56] Adam: 1982, Untitled is the name of the piece, and it was bought at auction by a Japanese businessman who has bought a few of his other works, I found out, but…
[0:06:57 – 0:06:59] Adam: Anyways, it broke the record for an American artist.
[0:07:00 – 0:07:01] Adam: What do you think that piece sold for?
[0:07:04 – 0:07:10] Erik: Ten times the amount as the one that was in the roadshow.
[0:07:11 – 0:07:12] Erik: So $4 million.
[0:07:13 – 0:07:15] Erik: No, way higher than that.
[0:07:15 – 0:07:17] Erik: If it broke records, I’m going to say $400 million.
[0:07:17 – 0:07:18] Adam: Well, that’s a little high.
[0:07:20 – 0:07:22] Adam: But now you’re thinking in the correct terms.
[0:07:22 – 0:07:23] Adam: $100 million.
[0:07:24 – 0:07:27] Adam: Yeah, it was $110 million for this painting.
[0:07:28 – 0:07:29] Adam: And I love this painting.
[0:07:30 – 0:07:35] Adam: I actually switched it to my desktop, my wallpaper, my work computer.
[0:07:35 – 0:07:36] Erik: What is it, like abstract?
[0:07:36 – 0:07:37] Adam: It’s pretty abstract.
[0:07:37 – 0:07:42] Adam: It kind of looks like a big, like, crazy skull man face.
[0:07:43 – 0:07:47] Adam: And then over, like, just a series of other media behind it, it’s very abstract.
[0:07:47 – 0:07:49] Adam: There’s, like, a tic-tac-toe game.
[0:07:49 – 0:07:59] Adam: going on in the background and just really haphazardly throwing together but it’s got this energy to it that is incredible and you can see that the man has talent and
[0:08:00 – 0:08:05] Adam: Anyways, it just got me thinking, like, I was pretty surprised that I’d never even heard of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
[0:08:06 – 0:08:13] Adam: And just fun to, like, kind of – I really watch Antiques Roadshow, too, so I’m kind of surprised I had not heard of him or his work before.
[0:08:14 – 0:08:17] Adam: But $110 million for one painting.
[0:08:18 – 0:08:20] Adam: And, you know, he did – I was looking into it.
[0:08:20 – 0:08:24] Adam: He did sell some stuff early in life, but never anything in the $110 million category.
[0:08:24 – 0:08:24] Adam: When did he –
[0:08:29 – 0:08:31] Adam: So he was working.
[0:08:31 – 0:08:32] Adam: He died at like age 36.
[0:08:32 – 0:08:36] Adam: Like he was, like I’m older than he was at this point when he died.
[0:08:36 – 0:08:39] Erik: Not to be completely cynical, but that’s part of it.
[0:08:40 – 0:08:40] Erik: Yeah.
[0:08:40 – 0:08:40] Adam: That helps.
[0:08:41 – 0:08:41] Adam: Yeah.
[0:08:41 – 0:08:42] Adam: Drug overdose in 88.
[0:08:42 – 0:08:45] Adam: He took a, well, I don’t know.
[0:08:45 – 0:08:46] Adam: He died from that.
[0:08:46 – 0:08:47] Erik: So 88.
[0:08:47 – 0:08:47] Erik: Okay.
[0:08:47 – 0:08:52] Adam: But yeah, from what I was reading, like 81 to 83 was his most prolific period.
[0:08:52 – 0:08:55] Adam: And the work from that period is really desirable.
[0:08:55 – 0:08:55] Adam: Yeah.
[0:08:56 – 0:08:58] Adam: and almost impossible to come by.
[0:08:58 – 0:09:05] Adam: So anytime one comes up for auction now, he’s established a new plateau and ceiling for himself and other American artists that has not been previously touched.
[0:09:06 – 0:09:09] Adam: The record, we’ll have a second part to this question.
[0:09:10 – 0:09:12] Adam: What artist do you think he broke the record by?
[0:09:13 – 0:09:14] Adam: I’m not sure I worded that correctly.
[0:09:15 – 0:09:16] Erik: Who’s the previous record holder?
[0:09:16 – 0:09:18] Adam: Yeah, who previously owned the record before?
[0:09:18 – 0:09:19] Erik: Jackson Pollock?
[0:09:19 – 0:09:22] Adam: No, I think he was third highest, but it was a Warhol.
[0:09:22 – 0:09:27] Adam: There’s apparently a Warhol that sold for like $105 million previously.
[0:09:27 – 0:09:40] Erik: Well, there’s a book that I read last year by Chuck Klosterman, who usually talks about real – and it is still in that main vein, but he explores some of the issues that we’re –
[0:09:41 – 0:10:09] Erik: getting way off topic on but still very interesting I don’t care this is interesting it’s like who is like what gets remembered from you know a hundred years ago versus a thousand years ago versus ten years ago and some of those factors that you were mentioning like you know how long they were alive yeah you know what what media they were in play huge factors but at the end of the day he basically boiled it down to saying that it’s completely random yes some of the people that get remembered are
[0:10:09 – 0:10:11] Erik: are the ones that shouldn’t get remembered.
[0:10:11 – 0:10:13] Adam: And the people that should be remembered never are.
[0:10:13 – 0:10:14] Erik: Right, exactly.
[0:10:14 – 0:10:36] Erik: So in a way, it’s kind of a really sad book, but it also is, there’s a lot of interesting, you know, he goes back just to the earliest, the earliest, not the earliest, the early 20th century, and 99% of the most famous, they were world famous musicians, you know, big band, jazz artists,
[0:10:37 – 0:10:37] Erik: World famous.
[0:10:38 – 0:10:40] Erik: One or two of them are even mentioned anymore.
[0:10:40 – 0:10:40] Erik: Yeah.
[0:10:40 – 0:10:46] Erik: Where they were basically on the minds of most of the people in the United States, at least.
[0:10:46 – 0:10:47] Erik: And they’re not even remembered at all.
[0:10:48 – 0:10:52] Erik: And so you just think like 100 years from now, what is it going to be?
[0:10:52 – 0:10:54] Erik: It’s usually boiled down to one or two artists.
[0:10:54 – 0:10:56] Adam: Yeah, like it’s probably not going to be Baski.
[0:10:57 – 0:10:58] Erik: Well, just in general.
[0:10:58 – 0:11:01] Adam: It’s not going to be Warhol and it’s not going to be Jackson Pollock even.
[0:11:01 – 0:11:04] Adam: But then I also, here’s another fun one that I just heard.
[0:11:04 – 0:11:05] Adam: I’m going to double you up.
[0:11:05 – 0:11:05] Erik: All right.
[0:11:05 – 0:11:06] Adam: Quick one.
[0:11:06 – 0:11:06] Adam: Quick one.
[0:11:06 – 0:11:08] Adam: And then we’ll get to Mountain.
[0:11:08 – 0:11:16] Adam: I heard that this Korean K-pop band BTS is now the number one album on the charts.
[0:11:16 – 0:11:16] Adam: Yeah.
[0:11:16 – 0:11:18] Adam: the first time a Korean act has ever done this.
[0:11:19 – 0:11:24] Adam: But they were also just to amplify how much and to demonstrate how much their influence is on social media.
[0:11:25 – 0:11:35] Adam: They said their Twitter account had more follows, retweets, and reposts than both the current president and Justin Bieber combined in the last year.
[0:11:35 – 0:11:36] Adam: I’ve never heard of them.
[0:11:36 – 0:11:37] Adam: BTS.
[0:11:37 – 0:11:39] Adam: No, our president.
[0:11:39 – 0:11:39] Erik: Our president.
[0:11:40 – 0:11:40] Adam: Wow.
[0:11:40 – 0:11:41] Adam: El Presidente.
[0:11:42 – 0:11:56] Adam: that’s crazy yeah so uh yeah like but will BTS be remembered 10 years from now I don’t know I’ve never heard of them I think if anything the way things are going people are going to be forgotten quicker and quicker hopefully
[0:11:58 – 0:12:01] Adam: But anyways, Mountain Lake will not be forgotten.
[0:12:01 – 0:12:02] Adam: No.
[0:12:02 – 0:12:11] Adam: And in 10 years’ time, in 1,000 years’ time, the value of any trip or experience on Mountain Lake will always increase in cost.
[0:12:11 – 0:12:22] Adam: You can take a doodle you’ve drawn with oil marker and spray paint on Mountain Lake from the overlook and take that to Antiques Roadshow Duluth in 100 years, and it’s going to be worth a lot.
[0:12:22 – 0:12:29] Erik: And unless there are drastic changes, the experiences gained and gathered while visiting the lake will always remain the same.
[0:12:29 – 0:12:29] Erik: Yeah.
[0:12:30 – 0:12:32] Erik: What’s the first thing you think of when you think of Mountain Lake?
[0:12:32 – 0:12:33] Adam: It’s a long one.
[0:12:33 – 0:12:35] Adam: Man, I’ve been in some waves out there.
[0:12:35 – 0:12:40] Adam: It’s been a lake where sometimes you can paddle down it and you feel like you’re done in an hour.
[0:12:40 – 0:12:44] Adam: And I’ve been out there paddling on it where you feel like it takes you a half a day to get down that lake.
[0:12:45 – 0:12:46] Adam: It’s a big lake.
[0:12:47 – 0:12:49] Adam: And also the fishing.
[0:12:49 – 0:12:49] Adam: Yeah.
[0:12:50 – 0:12:50] Adam: Yes.
[0:12:50 – 0:12:52] Adam: And which is what we’re going to try and do later today.
[0:12:52 – 0:12:53] Adam: Um, you know.
[0:12:53 – 0:12:54] Erik: That’s basically it for me too.
[0:12:55 – 0:12:56] Erik: It’s a big water.
[0:12:57 – 0:12:57] Adam: It’s big water.
[0:12:58 – 0:12:59] Adam: It’s intimidating water.
[0:12:59 – 0:13:12] Adam: It can be, um, both savage and tranquil and the fishing can be out of this world if you hit it on the right day, especially at the end of May or early June, which is where we’re going to attempt today.
[0:13:12 – 0:13:12] Adam: Yep.
[0:13:12 – 0:13:16] Adam: Um, it can be, it can be an instant limit of lake trout.
[0:13:16 – 0:13:16] Adam: Um.
[0:13:17 – 0:13:19] Erik: It can also be, oh, the 12-inch bass you want.
[0:13:19 – 0:13:22] Adam: Yeah, it might be you get there a little too late and you’re just into a bunch of little bass.
[0:13:22 – 0:13:28] Adam: But either way, the vast scale of this lake, that never changes.
[0:13:29 – 0:13:29] Adam: No.
[0:13:30 – 0:13:30] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:13:30 – 0:13:34] Adam: The last time we were out there trying to do the full length of it, we got to it and it was glass calm.
[0:13:34 – 0:13:36] Adam: And I think that picture…
[0:13:37 – 0:13:45] Adam: Of like walking in knee deep into this like perfectly still and glass calm mountain from the east end facing down to the west.
[0:13:45 – 0:13:49] Adam: And just knowing that it’s going to be a nice tranquil paddle down that lake.
[0:13:49 – 0:13:50] Adam: That’s what I remember.
[0:13:50 – 0:13:53] Adam: And that’s always the image I have in my head of it.
[0:13:53 – 0:13:55] Adam: It’s a lake I’ve spent a lot of time on.
[0:13:55 – 0:13:55] Adam: You have too.
[0:13:56 – 0:13:56] Adam: Yeah.
[0:13:56 – 0:13:58] Adam: There’s some big overlooks you can check out on it.
[0:13:58 – 0:14:03] Erik: That’s a rare occurrence when you get that perfect reflection of the clouds in the sky on the lake water.
[0:14:03 – 0:14:07] Adam: I’ve also come down to it where it’s literally white caps and you know you’re in for a real fight.
[0:14:07 – 0:14:07] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:07 – 0:14:14] Erik: Well, we had that trip finishing up the Clearwater Loop one year where we had to stop at campsites a couple of times just to rest the arms.
[0:14:15 – 0:14:15] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:16 – 0:14:24] Erik: Because there’s two big, like, bays that face the northwest on the Canadian side, and they just funnel those northwest winds in.
[0:14:25 – 0:14:25] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:25 – 0:14:27] Erik: It’s brutal out there sometimes.
[0:14:27 – 0:14:28] Erik: Be careful, for sure.
[0:14:28 – 0:14:34] Adam: There is a boat launch on the Ontario side that you can get to with a little highway over to Thunder Bay.
[0:14:34 – 0:14:36] Adam: So you could see motorboats out there.
[0:14:36 – 0:14:36] Adam: I have.
[0:14:37 – 0:14:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:14:37 – 0:14:38] Adam: Not very often.
[0:14:38 – 0:14:40] Erik: Especially in the spring, they’re out there for lake trout.
[0:14:40 – 0:14:41] Adam: Yeah, they’re doing it, too.
[0:14:41 – 0:14:41] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:14:42 – 0:14:43] Erik: But they’re just little fishing boats.
[0:14:43 – 0:14:44] Erik: They’re never really intrusive.
[0:14:44 – 0:14:51] Adam: You know, there’s no, like, cabins on it like you see on, like, Arrow Lake or even Gunflint, some of the other comparables.
[0:14:51 – 0:14:51] Adam: Yeah.
[0:14:51 – 0:14:56] Adam: I guess, you know, Moose Lake is kind of similar, a little bit farther over.
[0:14:56 – 0:14:56] Adam: Yeah.
[0:14:56 – 0:15:03] Adam: But, yeah, yeah, there’s some really monster water out there and a lot of reefs, too.
[0:15:03 – 0:15:07] Adam: I would say that it’s one of the reefiest lakes I’ve ever seen.
[0:15:08 – 0:15:36] Adam: pretty reefy question mark yeah um yeah i mean you look at the surrounding terrain and it’s just these cliffs and craziness and then you got these like underwater reefs that are sunken islands and sunken islands that sneak out on you you’re paddling and it looks like you’re in 100 feet of water and all of a sudden there’s a boulder three feet below your canoe kind of spooky but it does get deep too it’s not like poplar where it’s not so little sunken islands but it doesn’t get more than 50 feet deep i mean it gets down to almost 150 feet this is a very deep lake and um
[0:15:37 – 0:15:45] Adam: Really, if you’ve got an hour to kill and good internet, go check this lake out on Google Earth or Google Maps just on satellite setting.
[0:15:46 – 0:15:49] Adam: Just zoom in and out and check out some of the reefs out here.
[0:15:49 – 0:15:53] Adam: It’s just mind-blowing, some of the stuff you’ll see, especially off of Campsite 3 and 4.
[0:15:54 – 0:15:58] Adam: When you get down to that end, boy, that would be holy moly.
[0:15:58 – 0:15:59] Adam: Nice structure down there.
[0:15:59 – 0:16:01] Adam: We won’t be going all the way down there today.
[0:16:01 – 0:16:02] Adam: We’ll just stick down to the western end.
[0:16:02 – 0:16:04] Adam: There’s some really easy stuff to get to that
[0:16:05 – 0:16:11] Adam: Should produce plenty of fish for us today, but, man, there’s some really cool lakes, some reefs to look at on this lake.
[0:16:12 – 0:16:16] Erik: Yeah, the most common way people get in here is from the Clearwater entry point, which is 62.
[0:16:17 – 0:16:18] Adam: The Mountain Portage.
[0:16:18 – 0:16:19] Adam: It should be named.
[0:16:19 – 0:16:21] Erik: It should be just called the Mountain Portage.
[0:16:21 – 0:16:24] Erik: It’s from Clearwater over the mountain, about 80, 90 rods.
[0:16:25 – 0:16:29] Adam: 45 up, 45 down, and you cross the border out on exactly 45.
[0:16:29 – 0:16:29] Adam: Basically.
[0:16:29 – 0:16:31] Adam: The exact halfway point.
[0:16:31 – 0:16:31] Erik: Yeah.
[0:16:31 – 0:16:34] Erik: You can also access Mountain from the east side.
[0:16:34 – 0:16:52] Erik: This is the connoisseur’s way in, and that is from the entry point 70, North Fowl, which is one of those entry permits that is like somebody walks in on a Saturday in July, and they want to just get an overnight permit.
[0:16:53 – 0:16:56] Erik: Everything’s gone, but there’ll be like a Morgan and then North Fowl.
[0:16:57 – 0:17:12] Erik: It’s like, well, you want to drive an hour and a half over to the McFarland and Little John entry and then also have to paddle down the Royal River up south and then north foul to enter in at Moose where you technically would be entering in.
[0:17:13 – 0:17:14] Erik: But you can get in there from there.
[0:17:15 – 0:17:21] Erik: And then from the west, Wattop and Rove with a either Duncan or Daniels permit, you could get into Mountain.
[0:17:21 – 0:17:21] Adam: Right.
[0:17:21 – 0:17:24] Adam: I’ve done that actually through a Daniels permit.
[0:17:24 – 0:17:25] Adam: Mm-hmm.
[0:17:25 – 0:17:38] Adam: Uh, we came in, we just fished the, fished the pants off of Daniel’s all morning and then take that modified long portage into the Wattop system there and then busted over and I think we ended up on the first campsite on my own that night.
[0:17:38 – 0:17:38] Erik: Yeah.
[0:17:39 – 0:17:44] Adam: Hoping to try and get out for some lake trout, but that was another one of those trips where you finally got there and that’s a lot of day.
[0:17:44 – 0:17:47] Adam: So we ended up just getting into camp and basically shutting it down.
[0:17:47 – 0:17:47] Adam: Yep.
[0:17:48 – 0:17:51] Adam: Um, so yeah, Wattop and that’s a named portage, I guess, the Wattop portage.
[0:17:51 – 0:17:52] Erik: The Wattop portage, about 90 rods.
[0:17:52 – 0:17:53] Erik: Yeah.
[0:17:54 – 0:18:19] Erik: yeah and then uh and the east end you’ve got the it’s a about another 90 rod portage into lesser cherry this is the i think it is the lesser i think that’s the greater cherry no the greater cherry is from moose up to whatever that little cherry pond is and then cherry back down the mountain is the lesser cherry partage yeah and that’s uh about 90 but yeah the stretch down by moose mountain there
[0:18:20 – 0:18:26] Erik: Yep, the stretch between the east end of Mountain and Moose, those three portages, those will slow you down.
[0:18:27 – 0:18:28] Erik: Those are some rugged portages.
[0:18:28 – 0:18:31] Adam: They are a lot of loose rock.
[0:18:32 – 0:18:32] Erik: Landings are tough.
[0:18:33 – 0:18:38] Erik: It’s just rugged country terrain in there that really doesn’t get used very often.
[0:18:38 – 0:18:39] Adam: A lot of people going through there.
[0:18:40 – 0:18:43] Adam: I think a lot of people are just going out to Mountain and base camping and fishing.
[0:18:43 – 0:18:44] Erik: We’ll talk about Moose at some point.
[0:18:45 – 0:18:49] Adam: Yeah, Moose will be a Connoisseur’s episode for season three, maybe.
[0:18:49 – 0:18:50] Erik: Yeah.
[0:18:50 – 0:18:51] Erik: Deep cut.
[0:18:51 – 0:18:51] Erik: The lost episode.
[0:18:52 – 0:18:52] Erik: Moose Lake.
[0:18:53 – 0:18:54] Erik: So that’s how you get there.
[0:18:54 – 0:18:58] Erik: Those are some of the portages in and out of the lake.
[0:18:58 – 0:18:59] Erik: Yeah.
[0:18:59 – 0:19:03] Adam: Or you could take the boat launch from the Canadian highway.
[0:19:05 – 0:19:07] Adam: Coming out of the Thunder Bay there, it wouldn’t take you very long to get up there.
[0:19:08 – 0:19:10] Erik: Yeah, I mean, what do you think in terms of popularity?
[0:19:10 – 0:19:12] Erik: I would put it at a medium.
[0:19:12 – 0:19:13] Adam: It’s medium popular.
[0:19:13 – 0:19:13] Adam: It’s not crazy.
[0:19:13 – 0:19:15] Adam: I mean, it’s pretty easy to get to off of Clearwater.
[0:19:16 – 0:19:17] Adam: The fishing is sure an attractor.
[0:19:18 – 0:19:19] Adam: This time of year, it’s very popular.
[0:19:19 – 0:19:21] Erik: Yeah, it definitely drops off.
[0:19:22 – 0:19:24] Adam: You know, you get a lot of people trying to go to Pemmican, too.
[0:19:24 – 0:19:28] Adam: It’s kind of like a kind of sewers, Brook Trout Lake up there off of Campsite 5.
[0:19:28 – 0:19:29] Erik: Yeah.
[0:19:29 – 0:19:30] Adam: And so you get a lot of people going for that.
[0:19:30 – 0:19:32] Adam: You get a lot of people that are.
[0:19:32 – 0:19:33] Erik: You don’t talk about Pemmican.
[0:19:34 – 0:19:36] Adam: Um, you know, just for the views there.
[0:19:36 – 0:19:37] Erik: It’s just, it’s just a pretty lake.
[0:19:37 – 0:19:38] Erik: Don’t fish it.
[0:19:38 – 0:19:39] Adam: It’s hard to get to.
[0:19:39 – 0:19:50] Adam: So, you know, but, uh, yeah, most of the year medium, uh, just, it’s a beautifully, uh, place to go to, but like this time of year, I’d say it’s pretty, um, pretty popular this time of year.
[0:19:51 – 0:19:53] Adam: Just the fishing usually is out of this world.
[0:19:54 – 0:19:57] Erik: Canadian side and American side, campsites are going to be pretty full.
[0:19:58 – 0:20:06] Erik: But it’s nowhere near the popularity of some of the lakes off of Poplar or Caribou off of Clearwater, which is popular all year long.
[0:20:07 – 0:20:10] Erik: You can almost always guarantee you’ll find a campsite out there.
[0:20:10 – 0:20:10] Erik: Yeah.
[0:20:11 – 0:20:17] Erik: But at the same time, it has, I would say, lesser than average quality campsites.
[0:20:17 – 0:20:19] Adam: None of them are outstanding campsites.
[0:20:19 – 0:20:22] Erik: There’s one on the lake that I would put up there and that’s a nice site.
[0:20:22 – 0:20:25] Erik: All the other ones are going to be serviceable.
[0:20:25 – 0:20:34] Erik: And there’s a couple that are just, this is, you know, and not to get into geology too much running joke.
[0:20:34 – 0:20:43] Erik: We will have the geologist wife on at some point, but the, I think the limiting factor to the campsites on mountain is that they are all on the South shore.
[0:20:43 – 0:20:46] Erik: If you look at all the other campsites in the Vento unit.
[0:20:46 – 0:20:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:20:46 – 0:20:48] Erik: You’re going to see that they’re all on the north side.
[0:20:48 – 0:20:49] Adam: Can’t do it here.
[0:20:49 – 0:20:51] Adam: I mean, there are some campsites on the north side.
[0:20:51 – 0:20:55] Adam: If you have your RABC, maybe you can venture to try in some of those.
[0:20:56 – 0:21:00] Adam: But yeah, everything on the south side, you’re featuring very steep, very steep shorelines.
[0:21:00 – 0:21:02] Erik: They’re really like cramped.
[0:21:02 – 0:21:03] Adam: They’re kind of pickled in there.
[0:21:03 – 0:21:04] Erik: Yeah.
[0:21:04 – 0:21:15] Erik: They do the best with what’s available, but they end up basically, instead of the campsite kind of extending towards the back, towards the land, away from the lake, they kind of just run parallel.
[0:21:15 – 0:21:22] Adam: They kind of crawl along the shoreline a little bit, and it’s usually the landings can be a little tricky, but they’re all pretty decent.
[0:21:22 – 0:21:24] Adam: I mean, there’s no junk sites on here.
[0:21:24 – 0:21:25] Erik: There’s no junk sites.
[0:21:25 – 0:21:26] Erik: No, not at all.
[0:21:26 – 0:21:27] Adam: But they’re all pretty good, and-
[0:21:28 – 0:21:35] Adam: I would prefer to do Mountain Lake unless we’re like what we’re doing today is just going up for a day trip and just doing a little fishing.
[0:21:35 – 0:21:39] Adam: If I was going to try and camp it, I’d like to do it as far as the, as part of the Northern Clearwater loop.
[0:21:40 – 0:21:40] Erik: Yes.
[0:21:40 – 0:21:41] Adam: Which I’m not sure a lot of people are doing.
[0:21:42 – 0:21:48] Adam: And then, so the other people that are going to camp up there are kind of just doing it as an out and back, like a dead ender where you just go up through Clearwater and then back.
[0:21:49 – 0:21:50] Adam: The same way you came?
[0:21:50 – 0:21:56] Erik: I think that’s why Moose is so quiet because it’s either we’re going up to Moose or we’re going up to Mountain and then we’re coming back.
[0:21:56 – 0:22:00] Erik: Or if we’re doing the Clearwater Loop, they’re doing the pikes down to John and then back around on Pine.
[0:22:00 – 0:22:01] Adam: Right, yeah.
[0:22:01 – 0:22:06] Adam: I mean, there’s not like a loop you can do through it without it being a really extensive trip.
[0:22:06 – 0:22:07] Adam: For sure.
[0:22:07 – 0:22:10] Adam: So that kind of knocks its popularity back just by the…
[0:22:11 – 0:22:16] Adam: The aspect of its, you know, the totality of the difficult nature of that trip.
[0:22:16 – 0:22:16] Adam: Wow.
[0:22:16 – 0:22:18] Adam: I just strung together a couple there.
[0:22:18 – 0:22:18] Erik: Yeah.
[0:22:18 – 0:22:19] Adam: I think I just got a little dizzy.
[0:22:19 – 0:22:20] Erik: Yeah.
[0:22:20 – 0:22:22] Erik: I think I am also a little dizzy.
[0:22:22 – 0:22:27] Erik: And maybe upon listening back to that, we might have to insert some bleeps because those are words that are way beyond our understanding.
[0:22:27 – 0:22:28] Adam: Quit bleeping me.
[0:22:28 – 0:22:29] Adam: Don’t censor me.
[0:22:29 – 0:22:33] Erik: So let’s run down the campsite reviews here, give you an idea of what we’re working with.
[0:22:35 – 0:22:45] Adam: okay so i’ve we’re starting from the west as we always do so number one will be uh out of the bay coming from the portage from clearwater you got to go
[0:22:46 – 0:22:47] Adam: actually quite a bit down the lake.
[0:22:47 – 0:22:58] Adam: You’d think maybe it’s right there, but the way that shoreline keeps bending around to the east from there, it actually takes you a while to get to that first one.
[0:22:58 – 0:23:02] Adam: But it is the only campsite I’ve actually – that’s not true.
[0:23:02 – 0:23:03] Adam: I’ve stayed here twice.
[0:23:04 – 0:23:06] Adam: I’ve also stayed on five that one time.
[0:23:06 – 0:23:08] Erik: That was your first experience with a hammock?
[0:23:08 – 0:23:11] Adam: That was the first night I ever spent night in hammock, N-I-H.
[0:23:11 – 0:23:11] Adam: Right.
[0:23:12 – 0:23:15] Adam: uh, was on number five, but I’ve stayed on number one, uh, twice.
[0:23:16 – 0:23:29] Adam: Uh, one of them was with, uh, my good friend, uh, Tyler Raider, uh, when we came out of Wattop and then, uh, way back in the day with my old buddy, Captain Mike, we stayed there, um, caught some smallmouth bass right there.
[0:23:29 – 0:23:31] Adam: I think both times from camp, but, uh,
[0:23:31 – 0:23:33] Adam: Nothing wrong with number one.
[0:23:33 – 0:23:35] Adam: You got kind of a multi-pronged approach.
[0:23:35 – 0:23:37] Adam: You got two different landings you can hit.
[0:23:37 – 0:23:42] Adam: And it is kind of on a little bit of a point with some nice rocks you could stand and cast from.
[0:23:43 – 0:23:45] Adam: And the fire grade is not bad.
[0:23:45 – 0:23:47] Adam: Let’s look at the ratings here.
[0:23:47 – 0:23:49] Adam: The landing you get to see, there is like two options.
[0:23:49 – 0:23:51] Adam: Neither of them are great.
[0:23:51 – 0:23:52] Adam: Yeah.
[0:23:52 – 0:23:57] Adam: But depending on the wind, at least, then you can kind of play whichever one you want or whichever way you’re coming from.
[0:23:58 – 0:24:00] Adam: You got some options there, but they’re not amazing.
[0:24:02 – 0:24:03] Adam: Just get your feet in the water.
[0:24:03 – 0:24:03] Adam: You’ll be fine.
[0:24:04 – 0:24:07] Adam: The fire grate’s pretty charming, and you have a nice view to the north.
[0:24:09 – 0:24:12] Adam: Yeah, you’re pretty close down to the water there.
[0:24:12 – 0:24:13] Adam: We gave the fire grate a B+.
[0:24:13 – 0:24:15] Adam: That’s fair, I believe.
[0:24:15 – 0:24:17] Adam: And we’re calling it at three tent pads.
[0:24:18 – 0:24:21] Adam: There will be ample opportunities for hammocks in here.
[0:24:22 – 0:24:23] Adam: Yes.
[0:24:23 – 0:24:30] Adam: You know, and this will probably be one of the more popular sites just because it’s the closest one to the Clearwater portage coming in.
[0:24:31 – 0:24:32] Adam: And also the Wata Portage.
[0:24:32 – 0:24:37] Adam: So anybody coming out of either of those ends is going to probably just stop here, especially with the huge lake ahead of them.
[0:24:39 – 0:24:41] Adam: You know, and it’s definitely okay.
[0:24:42 – 0:24:42] Adam: What do you call it?
[0:24:43 – 0:24:45] Adam: A little bit under a mile from Clearwater, it gets the most use.
[0:24:46 – 0:24:46] Adam: Yeah.
[0:24:48 – 0:24:49] Adam: Yeah, pretty flat, faces the lake.
[0:24:49 – 0:24:50] Adam: You can’t ask for much more there.
[0:24:51 – 0:25:02] Adam: I mean, as far as mountain campsites go, this one got an overall grade of a B, and I feel like that’s pretty much in line with the rest of the campsites on the lake, perhaps save for one.
[0:25:02 – 0:25:03] Adam: Nice campsite, though.
[0:25:03 – 0:25:04] Adam: I liked it a lot.
[0:25:05 – 0:25:06] Adam: Yeah, moving on to two here.
[0:25:07 – 0:25:08] Adam: It’s got a big pine, it looks like.
[0:25:08 – 0:25:13] Erik: Yeah, campsite number two, moving from west to east.
[0:25:13 – 0:25:16] Erik: Again, most of the sites on Mountain have this issue.
[0:25:16 – 0:25:20] Erik: A little cramped right up on the water.
[0:25:20 – 0:25:23] Erik: It’s not going to be expansive back up into the woods just because of the terrain.
[0:25:24 – 0:25:25] Erik: Two tent pads.
[0:25:25 – 0:25:26] Erik: It’s got a real nice landing.
[0:25:27 – 0:25:34] Erik: If the water’s up, it might be a little tougher, but for the most part, you’ve got pretty much a gradual drop-off.
[0:25:34 – 0:25:35] Adam: This one’s pretty nice.
[0:25:35 – 0:25:39] Erik: Not necessarily a sand beach, but kind of a gravelly, rocky beach.
[0:25:40 – 0:25:42] Erik: Not going to do too much damage to the canoe.
[0:25:42 – 0:25:46] Erik: It’s got a huge white pine.
[0:25:46 – 0:25:51] Erik: That’s the easiest way to find this one is just look for the huge white pine with like a trident top.
[0:25:51 – 0:25:54] Adam: There’s nothing around it that’s even close to the size of this.
[0:25:54 – 0:25:56] Adam: So you can see it from a long ways off.
[0:25:56 – 0:26:00] Erik: Yeah, it’s got a nice fire-grade area right down on the water.
[0:26:01 – 0:26:02] Erik: Yeah, this is a really nice site.
[0:26:02 – 0:26:07] Adam: All the spots on mountain are going to be— I would say it’s definitely worth it to try and push past the first one and go for this one.
[0:26:07 – 0:26:12] Adam: If you’re just trying to get on that end of the lake, this one’s definitely better than the first one.
[0:26:12 – 0:26:13] Adam: They’re both okay, though.
[0:26:13 – 0:26:15] Erik: The only thing is this one’s just a little smaller.
[0:26:15 – 0:26:15] Erik: Yeah.
[0:26:15 – 0:26:17] Erik: But overall, I think it’s a better site.
[0:26:17 – 0:26:18] Erik: For sure.
[0:26:18 – 0:26:20] Erik: Especially— Got a nice landing there.
[0:26:20 – 0:26:20] Erik: Yeah.
[0:26:20 – 0:26:24] Erik: especially if you want to just get a little bit down past where you’re probably going to be seeing a few more people.
[0:26:25 – 0:26:27] Erik: But yeah, overall, B+.
[0:26:28 – 0:26:35] Erik: And it’s got a really, like I said, huge, really cool, interesting white pine.
[0:26:35 – 0:26:42] Erik: Moving down to campsite number three, which according to my review and just in my experience, I think it’s the best site on the lake.
[0:26:43 – 0:26:44] Adam: I’ve stopped here for like a snack.
[0:26:45 – 0:26:49] Adam: I don’t think, I’ve definitely not camped here, but this is the nicest site on the lake.
[0:26:50 – 0:26:53] Adam: We gave, we got four tent pads.
[0:26:53 – 0:26:54] Adam: Huge.
[0:26:54 – 0:26:55] Adam: The landing is a B.
[0:26:55 – 0:26:57] Adam: The fire grade is a B plus.
[0:26:58 – 0:27:01] Adam: And we have an overall grade here of A minus.
[0:27:02 – 0:27:04] Adam: So, yeah, you’re not going to find any other A’s on Mountain.
[0:27:05 – 0:27:08] Adam: Yeah, got a really nice-looking fire grate here.
[0:27:09 – 0:27:10] Adam: Beautiful rocks out in front of it.
[0:27:11 – 0:27:12] Adam: It’s got that front landing.
[0:27:12 – 0:27:15] Adam: Yeah, it’s got a little bit of a natural stairway.
[0:27:15 – 0:27:19] Adam: And then, yeah, there is kind of a little bit of a back bay on it, which you can also land into.
[0:27:19 – 0:27:23] Adam: So another one of those multi-landings.
[0:27:23 – 0:27:27] Adam: Largest accommodations for sleeping options for both tents and hammocks.
[0:27:28 – 0:27:29] Adam: Very nice landing, and…
[0:27:30 – 0:27:34] Adam: Um, the interior of the campsite is also nice and protected from the wind on a windy day.
[0:27:34 – 0:27:38] Erik: And it’s close to those, uh, sunken islands and reefs you were talking about.
[0:27:38 – 0:27:38] Erik: It is, yeah.
[0:27:38 – 0:27:43] Adam: And like, if I was going to go in there and just do a base camp trip in a mountain, I would definitely be going for number three.
[0:27:43 – 0:27:44] Adam: And then you’re right.
[0:27:44 – 0:27:51] Adam: Like, if you look at the Google, uh, imagery of this lake, you’ll see all these like crazy reefs just to the east from here.
[0:27:51 – 0:27:55] Adam: Uh, just incredible, uh, fishing potential down there.
[0:27:55 – 0:27:56] Adam: Like you could, uh…
[0:27:57 – 0:28:08] Adam: If you wanted to do a trip to limit out on Lakers, just get this site at the end of May, between Memorial Day and like the beginning, first week of June here, like right where we’re at now on the day we’re recording this.
[0:28:09 – 0:28:12] Adam: Whoever’s camped on this site, I’m betting has eaten lake trout for dinner.
[0:28:12 – 0:28:12] Erik: Probably.
[0:28:14 – 0:28:22] Adam: And then campsite four is pretty close to this whole reef structure and sunken island thing we’re looking at, but it’s not a very good site.
[0:28:22 – 0:28:23] Erik: No, it’s not.
[0:28:23 – 0:28:26] Erik: None of the campsites on this one are as laughable as Winchell 11.
[0:28:26 – 0:28:30] Adam: There’s no whipped sites or no Winchell 11s.
[0:28:31 – 0:28:55] Erik: nothing about this is really great kind of a jumbled like medium-sized boulder landing c-minus yeah c-minus fire great i mean it’s just kind of right there nothing big in there right on a slanty hill uh just overall c-minus it’s rustic it’s uneven you know if you happen to miss the landing don’t worry you’re probably better off
[0:28:55 – 0:29:18] Adam: off um moving on campsite five five is not getting a whole lot better grades uh they got three tent pads here the landing the fire grate and overall it’s getting a c for its grade yeah boy that seating area is about as pathetic as i’ve seen it’s literally like one log on another log kind of just set next to the fire grate
[0:29:18 – 0:29:24] Erik: This is the site that we stayed at where we cooked up that lake trout we picked up on moose.
[0:29:25 – 0:29:25] Adam: Is this the one?
[0:29:25 – 0:29:26] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:29:26 – 0:29:26] Adam: Is this five?
[0:29:26 – 0:29:27] Erik: Yeah, it’s five.
[0:29:27 – 0:29:32] Adam: Oh, and that’s got that little trail up to that other lake up there.
[0:29:32 – 0:29:34] Erik: Yeah, that lake where it’s really pretty to go up and just take pictures.
[0:29:35 – 0:29:38] Adam: There’s a good spot to go look for otters up there and nice sunsets.
[0:29:38 – 0:29:39] Adam: Very nice otter.
[0:29:39 – 0:29:41] Adam: I can’t even think of the name of that little lake up there.
[0:29:41 – 0:29:42] Erik: I don’t remember anymore.
[0:29:42 – 0:29:50] Adam: Anyways, the tent pads are nice and flat, and they do sit on a bit of a steep hill in a trench, so watch those floods if it’s raining.
[0:29:50 – 0:29:51] Adam: Yeah.
[0:29:51 – 0:29:56] Adam: This is the first site I ever stayed at in a hammock, so I think it should get an auto bump up from C to B.
[0:29:57 – 0:30:21] Adam: just to do uh the it’s a first time hammock badge and if anybody out there is hammocking for the first time try this one try this it’s a good place to get over your fear of uh writhing yeah but uh yeah it’s pretty junky and i think when we stay there it looked like somebody had built like a real crappy lean-to oh yeah out of wet moss and sticks in there it’s like what kind of hermit was living here all winter blair witch shelter yeah
[0:30:21 – 0:30:46] Adam: but it was not haunted as far as we knew and yeah we did eat a big lake trout on this uh site it was so like we ran on a tin foil like the tail was like sticking out the end it was a real desperate situation but we managed to make that work um as a team effort for cooking there was a lot of us there was five of us out there and we ate that whole we did eat the whole fish but it was we were stuffing our faces so good spot to stuff your face with a lake trout and uh
[0:30:47 – 0:30:50] Erik: That was the trip we were coming around that point on Moose, and I called it.
[0:30:50 – 0:30:53] Erik: I’m like, I’m picking up a Laker as we make this little bend on Moose.
[0:30:54 – 0:30:54] Erik: You did.
[0:30:54 – 0:30:55] Erik: The X-Rap.
[0:30:55 – 0:30:56] Erik: The Hot Steel.
[0:30:56 – 0:30:57] Erik: Hot Steel X-Rap.
[0:30:57 – 0:31:00] Erik: Hot Steel X-Rap, and I was fighting that thing for about 10 minutes.
[0:31:00 – 0:31:00] Erik: It’s so cold.
[0:31:00 – 0:31:01] Adam: It’s hot.
[0:31:01 – 0:31:01] Erik: Yep.
[0:31:02 – 0:31:02] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:02 – 0:31:05] Erik: Marla, the little husky was sitting there watching.
[0:31:06 – 0:31:07] Erik: What the heck’s going on?
[0:31:07 – 0:31:11] Adam: I think if I had my old camera, I had video of that fish being landed.
[0:31:11 – 0:31:11] Adam: Oh, wow.
[0:31:11 – 0:31:12] Adam: But I don’t.
[0:31:12 – 0:31:15] Adam: It’s in the garbage because old cameras never last.
[0:31:15 – 0:31:16] Erik: Yep.
[0:31:16 – 0:31:20] Adam: Like campsite six, one tent pad, sea landing.
[0:31:21 – 0:31:21] Adam: Ugh.
[0:31:21 – 0:31:46] Adam: yeah the fire grade’s not that bad really it’s like i think this picture that’s a classic low fire grade picture makes it look like it’s more flat than it is like this is on like a 40 degree angle what’s the grade on the fire grade here d d d plus and a d plus overall for campsite six another small slanted campsite difficult to find clearly it gets little use and would be tough to accommodate more than a few people
[0:31:47 – 0:31:53] Adam: Yeah, this one’s like if you’re just making your way down the lake and you don’t think you’re going to get all the way to Moose and you’ve got to stop, then stop here.
[0:31:53 – 0:31:54] Adam: It’s not a big deal.
[0:31:55 – 0:31:56] Erik: Yeah, this is, I think, the worst site on the lake.
[0:31:56 – 0:31:58] Adam: Yeah, 6 is definitely the worst site.
[0:31:59 – 0:32:00] Erik: But I like Seven.
[0:32:00 – 0:32:02] Adam: Seven has a big pine tree, too.
[0:32:02 – 0:32:04] Adam: It’s the only other one with a decent pine tree in the camp.
[0:32:04 – 0:32:09] Erik: Although it is not right down on the water, it doesn’t have that classic boundary water feel.
[0:32:09 – 0:32:11] Adam: Is this one not quite where it says it is on the map, too?
[0:32:11 – 0:32:12] Adam: This one’s a little bit off.
[0:32:12 – 0:32:13] Adam: I remember we had trouble finding this one.
[0:32:13 – 0:32:15] Erik: This is the first one where we were trying to look for it.
[0:32:15 – 0:32:18] Adam: It’s got an impressive amount of rocks stacked around the fire grate there.
[0:32:18 – 0:32:19] Adam: That’s nice.
[0:32:19 – 0:32:23] Adam: Somebody’s kind of got a little table set up with a nice flat rock next to it.
[0:32:23 – 0:32:27] Adam: That’s always appreciated for setting up your press for the coffee in the morning.
[0:32:27 – 0:32:27] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:32:27 – 0:32:33] Adam: And this one’s kind of right in the shadow of Moose Mountain here at the end of the lake on the very eastern end.
[0:32:34 – 0:32:37] Erik: Yeah, and sea landing, C plus fire grade, B overall.
[0:32:37 – 0:32:41] Erik: But, you know, the comments that I made on it I think still hold true.
[0:32:41 – 0:32:47] Erik: And, you know, yeah, on paper, this is probably a subpar campsite.
[0:32:47 – 0:32:52] Erik: It’s got a small fire grade rocky landing, two spread out tent pads.
[0:32:53 – 0:32:54] Erik: But the unique layout of it…
[0:32:55 – 0:32:55] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:55 – 0:32:56] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:56 – 0:32:56] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:15 – 0:33:22] Erik: So it’s more of a, like I said, in the review, more of a feeling than on paper.
[0:33:22 – 0:33:28] Erik: It probably is a subpar campsite because of just the straight up features.
[0:33:28 – 0:33:30] Adam: It’s got a nice ambiance to it.
[0:33:30 – 0:33:31] Erik: It’s a really cool site.
[0:33:31 – 0:33:33] Erik: You don’t find many that are like this.
[0:33:33 – 0:33:38] Erik: And that’s the same reason that I really like Moose is there’s a couple of campsites on Moose that are like this too.
[0:33:38 – 0:33:38] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:40 – 0:33:40] Erik: That’s the campsites.
[0:33:41 – 0:33:43] Adam: No, it’s a really nice lake to get to.
[0:33:44 – 0:33:45] Adam: It’s not hard to get to it.
[0:33:45 – 0:33:47] Adam: And you get seven good campsite options.
[0:33:47 – 0:33:53] Adam: I guess six good campsite options and, you know, seven total campsites.
[0:33:53 – 0:33:57] Adam: So really what brings people up to this lake the most is the fishing.
[0:33:58 – 0:34:01] Adam: And, yeah, you got the access from Canada.
[0:34:01 – 0:34:02] Adam: Not going to get used a ton.
[0:34:03 – 0:34:04] Adam: They got better lakes to go to, I guess.
[0:34:05 – 0:34:08] Adam: But you do see Canadians out there and…
[0:34:09 – 0:34:12] Adam: It’s something I always try and get to every year in the beginning of the season.
[0:34:12 – 0:34:14] Adam: It’s always kind of a tradition.
[0:34:14 – 0:34:15] Erik: Nice ritual to make.
[0:34:15 – 0:34:15] Erik: Yeah.
[0:34:16 – 0:34:17] Adam: So I’m really excited to get out there this afternoon.
[0:34:19 – 0:34:21] Adam: What do we got for numbers on this thing?
[0:34:21 – 0:34:24] Erik: These are some of the craziest lake trout numbers I’ve ever seen.
[0:34:25 – 0:34:26] Erik: And it makes sense.
[0:34:28 – 0:34:28] Erik: We joke.
[0:34:28 – 0:34:30] Erik: Sometimes we call it the grocery store.
[0:34:30 – 0:34:30] Erik: Yes, we do.
[0:34:30 – 0:34:32] Erik: Because you can go out there and…
[0:34:33 – 0:34:49] Erik: basically get your the amount of work that you put in to get out there sometimes you catch your limit in the in less amount of time than it took to get out there like okay well now what do we do paddle all the way down there and back from here it’s i mean that’s nine miles of total paddling probably with the fishing paddling in there and then
[0:34:49 – 0:34:53] Adam: You can get out there and get your limit before you get out of the first bay sometimes.
[0:34:53 – 0:34:54] Adam: I’ve had that happen.
[0:34:54 – 0:34:54] Erik: Yeah, for sure.
[0:34:54 – 0:34:56] Adam: You’re out there and you’re like, I’m going to have a nice afternoon.
[0:34:56 – 0:34:57] Adam: Oh, Colin.
[0:34:57 – 0:34:58] Adam: Oh, all right.
[0:34:58 – 0:34:59] Adam: I guess I’m going back.
[0:34:59 – 0:34:59] Adam: I got my limit.
[0:35:00 – 0:35:01] Erik: Trolling over Don Sleep’s old boat.
[0:35:01 – 0:35:06] Adam: Yeah, the old boat down there in the first bay is just a natural habitat.
[0:35:06 – 0:35:06] Adam: Yeah.
[0:35:07 – 0:35:09] Adam: But yeah, it’s listing a ton of lake trout in here.
[0:35:09 – 0:35:13] Adam: A lot, just an insane amount from 15 to 19 up to 20.
[0:35:14 – 0:35:19] Adam: And then, yeah, there’s one from 40 to 44 inches that was sampled.
[0:35:19 – 0:35:20] Adam: That’s nuts.
[0:35:20 – 0:35:24] Erik: 57 netted from 15 to 19 inches.
[0:35:24 – 0:35:26] Adam: That’s a lot of fish in that range.
[0:35:26 – 0:35:28] Erik: Which is about what we, you know, that’s what you catch.
[0:35:29 – 0:35:33] Adam: That’s what you always catch in there is that 15 to 20 inches basically is just abundant.
[0:35:33 – 0:35:36] Adam: And you can just go in there this time of year and throw a spoon.
[0:35:37 – 0:36:00] Adam: anywhere you can see the bottom and you’re probably in a good spot so and then yeah if you get on some of the even just normal shorelines and then if you can find some of those reefs oof yeah holy moly that’s where you might run into one of those uh 44 inchers so uh looks like they’re using both deep and shallow nets in september and they were really nailing them so 2010 reasonable
[0:36:01 – 0:36:03] Adam: Yeah, they’re pretty abundant, though.
[0:36:03 – 0:36:11] Adam: I mean, if anybody, like, if somebody came up here and was like, you’ve got to take me to a spot where we’re going to guarantee catch a lake trout or my puppy’s going to die, where are you going?
[0:36:11 – 0:36:12] Adam: Like, we’re going to Mountain.
[0:36:12 – 0:36:13] Adam: No questions asked.
[0:36:13 – 0:36:17] Adam: It’s a lake I feel comfortable that we can always catch fish, especially this time of year.
[0:36:17 – 0:36:20] Erik: And we talked about it in the fishing opener episode.
[0:36:20 – 0:36:21] Erik: Yeah.
[0:36:21 – 0:36:29] Erik: The reverence, the respect, just the aura that I put on the lake trout, specifically the lake trout in Mountain.
[0:36:30 – 0:36:33] Erik: They’re just, I mean, something about them.
[0:36:33 – 0:36:33] Erik: They’re native.
[0:36:34 – 0:36:38] Erik: That’s where the DNR used to harvest the strain to repopulate and restock other lakes.
[0:36:39 – 0:36:39] Erik: Yeah.
[0:36:39 – 0:36:43] Erik: It’s just one of those lakes where you’re like, everything is right with the world when you’re in Mountain.
[0:36:43 – 0:36:43] Erik: Yeah.
[0:36:43 – 0:36:43] Erik: It is.
[0:36:44 – 0:36:47] Erik: This is what should be happening outside of the smallmouth bass, which whatever.
[0:36:48 – 0:36:50] Erik: At this point, it is what it is.
[0:36:50 – 0:36:53] Erik: Or the one zero to five inch sculpin.
[0:36:54 – 0:36:54] Erik: Unbelievable.
[0:36:55 – 0:36:57] Erik: Which is kind of mind boggling.
[0:36:57 – 0:37:03] Erik: But for the most part, Mountain Lake is like a lake of days gone by.
[0:37:03 – 0:37:07] Erik: It’s the lake that should exist naturally.
[0:37:08 – 0:37:10] Erik: And we haven’t as a human species…
[0:37:11 – 0:37:12] Erik: Found a way to muck it up yet.
[0:37:13 – 0:37:17] Erik: So it’s a lake that I love to make it to every year for that reason.
[0:37:17 – 0:37:21] Erik: Yeah, when I worked up here, I worked at Clearwater.
[0:37:21 – 0:37:26] Adam: We’d go in there like every other day for the whole whatever window that the trout were shallow.
[0:37:27 – 0:37:29] Adam: Like as many times as you could get up there, I’d get up there.
[0:37:30 – 0:37:33] Adam: You know, nowadays I’m a little closer to town.
[0:37:33 – 0:37:36] Adam: So if I can get up there one time in the season.
[0:37:36 – 0:37:37] Erik: Where exactly do you live now?
[0:37:38 – 0:38:01] Adam: um somewhere in minnesota yeah yeah closer to town but not so far up the trail yeah um yeah the the lake trout and mountain are a special a special thing and anytime we we get to run into them it’s always cherished yeah um yeah you’ll see some smallies in there apparently there’s a good population of white suckers so that’s probably the main forage species there for the uh
[0:38:02 – 0:38:02] Adam: For the Lakers?
[0:38:03 – 0:38:05] Erik: They’re probably stacked up down at East End.
[0:38:05 – 0:38:11] Erik: That’s one of the craziest end of the lakes that you’ve ever seen with all those stacked up logs.
[0:38:11 – 0:38:11] Erik: Yeah.
[0:38:11 – 0:38:17] Erik: It’s kind of a combination of just downed trees, but I think it’s also a little bit of leftovers from logging.
[0:38:18 – 0:38:23] Erik: All of the trees that have fallen into the lake have blown down to the east end of Mountain, and they’re all stacked up.
[0:38:23 – 0:38:25] Erik: It’s real spooky and gross.
[0:38:25 – 0:38:26] Erik: Yeah.
[0:38:26 – 0:38:32] Erik: On a clear day, we get kind of those like deadhead willies, but it’s also like- The willies.
[0:38:32 – 0:38:33] Erik: The deadhead willies.
[0:38:34 – 0:38:43] Erik: Also really cool, and you don’t see large expanses of tangled, jumbled logs like that at the ends of lakes, but that’s one place where you can see it.
[0:38:43 – 0:38:43] Erik: Yeah.
[0:38:44 – 0:38:47] Erik: Yeah, the Fishing and Mountain, spectacular when it’s good.
[0:38:48 – 0:38:50] Erik: When it’s tough, though, it’s tough.
[0:38:53 – 0:38:53] Erik: Yeah.
[0:38:54 – 0:38:59] Erik: Anything else that you’d like to comment on in regards to Mountain Lake?
[0:39:00 – 0:39:02] Erik: Big, beautiful Mountain Lake?
[0:39:02 – 0:39:04] Adam: It’s all these things, yeah.
[0:39:05 – 0:39:07] Adam: I just wish I could go more, you know.
[0:39:07 – 0:39:10] Adam: It’s one of those lakes I used to get to a lot and I just don’t have the time for it anymore.
[0:39:10 – 0:39:13] Adam: I mean, that’s just my story on fishing in general.
[0:39:13 – 0:39:14] Adam: Yeah.
[0:39:14 – 0:39:21] Adam: But, yeah, I’m really looking forward to getting up there and…
[0:39:22 – 0:39:23] Erik: Yeah.
[0:39:23 – 0:39:25] Erik: Cutting this one a little short so we can get up to mountain.
[0:39:25 – 0:39:27] Adam: No, and then hopefully we get some field audio.
[0:39:27 – 0:39:27] Adam: So yeah, sorry.
[0:39:27 – 0:39:38] Adam: We’re, we’re quite a ways under an hour right now, listeners, but, uh, we appreciate you sticking with us here and, uh, hopefully we’ll have some more, uh, fishing, uh, audio to report from the lake, but, uh,
[0:39:39 – 0:39:41] Adam: Yeah, no, I’m just itching to get out there.
[0:39:41 – 0:39:44] Adam: I think we should just cut this episode where it’s at.
[0:39:44 – 0:39:45] Adam: We’ve covered everything.
[0:39:45 – 0:39:49] Adam: And one more thing we should mention, I guess, is the cool overlooks you can get.
[0:39:50 – 0:39:51] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[0:39:51 – 0:39:55] Adam: Just quick, the border route trail does cross the portage coming in from…
[0:39:56 – 0:39:59] Adam: Clearwater, you hit that at the very top of the hill.
[0:39:59 – 0:40:12] Adam: And you can go either direction, but if you go back to the west on the border route trail from that portage, it kind of wraps itself way up onto this big overlooked cliff facing all the way down.
[0:40:12 – 0:40:16] Adam: Like I said at the beginning of the episode, how when you hit this lake and you can just
[0:40:17 – 0:40:21] Adam: This great feeling you get from seeing all the way down such a long and beautiful lake.
[0:40:22 – 0:40:28] Adam: Um, it’s that times 10 magnified when you’re up on this overlook, you can really see that thing.
[0:40:28 – 0:40:30] Adam: It’s quite the, quite the thing.
[0:40:30 – 0:40:35] Adam: So, um, definitely if you’re ever going to visit this lake, if you can take like an hour or two out of your time.
[0:40:36 – 0:40:41] Adam: Up there to just stop on the portage and then hike up to that overlook and like maybe have a little picnic up there.
[0:40:42 – 0:40:44] Adam: Definitely be worth your while.
[0:40:44 – 0:40:46] Adam: We’ve talked about this overlook in previous episodes.
[0:40:46 – 0:40:47] Adam: I’m certain of it.
[0:40:47 – 0:40:52] Erik: Yeah, the one on the west, heading west off of the portage is by far the premier.
[0:40:52 – 0:40:59] Erik: One of the, I mean, the Border Rock Trail, we’ll have an episode on that, but it’s one of the best views on the Border Rock Trail.
[0:40:59 – 0:41:04] Erik: But if you head east, you can also get up to one that’s a little quicker and it kind of looks over just a little bit of…
[0:41:05 – 0:41:25] Erik: uh mountain lake and then over into like watop and kind of into rove but yeah that right that view that looks down the the length of mountain in the fall especially when you get the colors some of those morning morning mists and fogs on the lake yeah that’s uh that’s the top spot for me for sure i love that spot
[0:41:26 – 0:41:30] Adam: One of the coolest things about the lake and just one that not a lot of people know about or get to.
[0:41:30 – 0:41:35] Adam: I know I’d certainly fished it and paddled it a bunch before I ever even was cued into that.
[0:41:36 – 0:41:38] Adam: Uh, so pretty neat to get up there, but, uh.
[0:41:39 – 0:41:39] Adam: Yeah.
[0:41:40 – 0:41:42] Adam: Overall, one of our favorites and right in our backyard here.
[0:41:43 – 0:41:46] Adam: So if you’re in the Clearwater area, check it out.
[0:41:48 – 0:42:00] Adam: And if you guys have any stories you want to relate or share about the lake, we probably won’t actually get them edited into here because Eric’s going to be out on the trail in the park next week, but we will certainly try and tag that onto a future episode.
[0:42:00 – 0:42:06] Adam: So hit us up on social media, Gmail, tumblehomecast at Gmail.
[0:42:06 – 0:42:08] Adam: You can send us pics or stories there or
[0:42:09 – 0:42:10] Adam: on our Facebook page or Instagram.
[0:42:11 – 0:42:13] Adam: Check us out and let us know what you guys think about it.
[0:42:13 – 0:42:19] Adam: But I’m sure there’s been some real monster fish out here caught that I’d love to see a picture of.
[0:42:19 – 0:42:19] Erik: Yeah.
[0:42:20 – 0:42:20] Adam: Let us know.
[0:42:21 – 0:42:23] Adam: But hopefully we’ll have some pictures too.
[0:42:24 – 0:42:26] Adam: Until next time, thanks for listening.
[0:42:26 – 0:42:29] Adam: This has been Tumble Home, episode 020.
[0:42:29 – 0:42:29] Adam: My name is Adam.
[0:42:30 – 0:42:30] Erik: I’m Eric.
[0:42:31 – 0:42:32] Adam: Happy paddling.
[0:42:32 – 0:42:32] Erik: All right, let’s go.
[0:42:33 – 0:42:33] Erik: Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
[0:43:04 – 0:43:07] Erik: Heading on in towards Schliep Bay.
[0:43:08 – 0:43:09] Adam: Yes we are.
[0:43:12 – 0:43:14] Adam: Uncharacteristically slow out here.
[0:43:15 – 0:43:20] Adam: We did just go from 88 and sunny and humid down to 46 and cold and misty.
[0:43:21 – 0:43:33] Adam: We’re theorizing that the slowdown in fishing is not really water temperature related, but more air temp and a low pressure system has come in here and disrupted our feeding frenzy.
[0:43:33 – 0:43:37] Adam: We’ve got nothing going on out here today, but we’re in prime spots.
[0:43:38 – 0:43:39] Adam: This might be too late, I think.
[0:43:40 – 0:43:41] Erik: No, it’s not too late.
[0:43:41 – 0:43:45] Erik: This may be the first time I’ve ever been 100% skunked on mountain.
[0:43:46 – 0:43:57] Erik: You know, sometimes you get out here and you run into the smallmouth, and it’s like, okay, well, it’s probably a little too late, water’s warmed up, smallies are up.
[0:43:57 – 0:44:05] Adam: If you’re catching smallies, then you know you’re too late, but we haven’t even seen a smallie or nothing, so I don’t know.
[0:44:05 – 0:44:07] Adam: That’s unfortunate, but that’s fishing.
[0:44:09 – 0:44:10] Adam: Still a nice day to be out in the boat.
[0:44:11 – 0:44:11] Erik: Yeah.
[0:44:12 – 0:44:12] Erik: Nice.
[0:44:13 – 0:44:22] Erik: I would rather be out here and not catch fish in cloudy 60 degree temperatures than 85 and sunny and not catching fish.
[0:44:23 – 0:44:28] Erik: But… We got our big views down mountain.
[0:44:30 – 0:44:31] Erik: Not very many lakes.
[0:44:31 – 0:44:34] Erik: You get seven miles straight down a lake that you can see.
[0:44:38 – 0:44:38] Erik: Get people…
[0:44:41 – 0:45:07] Erik: paddling right up to us as usual cannot literally come out into the park without somebody being right next to us always nice get some portaging audio on the way out maybe some thrush some sweet sweet thrush i am currently dragging an x-rap
[0:45:09 – 0:45:12] Erik: Whilst Adam is casting a spoon.
[0:45:14 – 0:45:15] Adam: Guess what kind of spoon?
[0:45:17 – 0:45:17] Adam: Listeners.
[0:45:19 – 0:45:20] Erik: Fact check us on that one.
[0:45:23 – 0:45:24] Erik: Chartreuse.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:26] Erik: We love saying that word.
[0:45:28 – 0:45:30] Erik: I have no idea.
[0:45:30 – 0:45:32] Erik: There’s maybe a minute of this that’s worthwhile.
[0:45:32 – 0:45:33] Erik: …
[0:45:38 – 0:45:39] UNKNOWN: Thank you.
[0:46:06 – 0:46:06] UNKNOWN: THE END
