We’re back in the field in our favorite place on earth: Quetico Provincial Park! It’s only taken us seven years but its all happening. Join us on the journey.
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Episode Transcript
[0:00:24 – 0:00:33] UNKNOWN: What episode is it?
[0:00:33 – 0:00:38] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:00:38 – 0:00:41] Adam: Anybody out there know what episode this is?
[0:00:42 – 0:00:42] Erik: 291.
[0:00:42 – 0:00:43] Erik: Are you recording?
[0:00:43 – 0:00:43] Erik: Yeah.
[0:00:44 – 0:00:44] Erik: Wow.
[0:00:44 – 0:00:46] Erik: It’s like starting a TCC track here.
[0:00:47 – 0:00:48] Erik: Coldest of Opens.
[0:00:52 – 0:00:52] Adam: Oh no.
[0:00:55 – 0:01:03] Adam: My name is Adam and I’m joined here in the Baptism Creek by my dear friend Eric.
[0:01:04 – 0:01:05] Adam: Hello.
[0:01:05 – 0:01:05] Adam: Oh yeah.
[0:01:07 – 0:01:11] Adam: Yeah, we’re here in Baptism Creek.
[0:01:11 – 0:01:12] Adam: We’re standing in it.
[0:01:13 – 0:01:19] Adam: We got the canoe here filled up and we’re about to embark on our second portage of the trip and of the day.
[0:01:20 – 0:01:22] Adam: And I think this is our longest portage of the day.
[0:01:23 – 0:01:25] Adam: And there’s some pretty good bird here.
[0:01:27 – 0:01:28] Erik: You can hear it.
[0:01:28 – 0:01:33] Adam: And there’s a nice huge downed log here, which is creating some water sound.
[0:01:35 – 0:01:36] Erik: You can hear it.
[0:01:36 – 0:01:38] Adam: And that checks out.
[0:01:39 – 0:01:43] Adam: Tumble Home is, as always, sponsored by our good friends on Patreon.
[0:01:43 – 0:01:45] Adam: Thank you for your support of Tumble Home.
[0:01:47 – 0:01:54] Adam: Your financial support and emotional support funds our adventures so we can bring you live in the field content.
[0:01:54 – 0:02:04] Adam: And I believe as we were driving Highway 11 this morning, we concluded this is for sure our first live in the field audio from Quetico in the history of Tumble Home.
[0:02:05 – 0:02:08] Erik: It is a Quetico podcast for the foreseeable future.
[0:02:09 – 0:02:12] Erik: We’ll see how many tracks we get out here, but… We’re going to get a lot.
[0:02:12 – 0:02:20] Adam: We got a nice, super long weekend out here planned, and this was a super last-minute kind of audible.
[0:02:21 – 0:02:33] Adam: We had left this weekend open, thinking this would probably be a good time to get out and do some paddling, but we had not acquired any permits on permit day, and there were certainly some permits available on the American side.
[0:02:34 – 0:02:44] Adam: But, you know, once you start crunching the numbers, to drive up here to French Lake on the Dawson Trail campground, it’s about a horse apiece, as we say in Manitowoc.
[0:02:45 – 0:02:46] Adam: The drive time, that is.
[0:02:46 – 0:02:48] Erik: Between that and going over to Ely?
[0:02:48 – 0:02:52] Adam: Yeah, to go to Ely’s side, I mean, it’s about the same amount of distance.
[0:02:52 – 0:02:54] Adam: The border crossing went pretty smooth.
[0:02:54 – 0:03:00] Adam: We stopped in Thunder Bay for a few key pieces of supply.
[0:03:02 – 0:03:10] Adam: And, yeah, we got in, and we were given, we were not given a quiz, but we were given printed permits sponsored by the Coleman Company.
[0:03:10 – 0:03:11] Erik: Very nice.
[0:03:11 – 0:03:13] Erik: Thank you, Coleman, for sponsoring at least the paper?
[0:03:13 – 0:03:13] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:03:13 – 0:03:14] Erik: What are they sponsoring?
[0:03:15 – 0:03:15] UNKNOWN: The park?
[0:03:15 – 0:03:16] Adam: The entire damn park.
[0:03:16 – 0:03:18] Adam: They’re sponsoring all those employees.
[0:03:18 – 0:03:18] Adam: Yeah.
[0:03:19 – 0:03:21] Erik: Quetico Provincial Park, brought to you by Coleman.
[0:03:22 – 0:03:23] Adam: We haven’t laid anybody off.
[0:03:23 – 0:03:24] Adam: We just keep hiring.
[0:03:25 – 0:03:25] Adam: They’re everywhere.
[0:03:28 – 0:03:29] Erik: More French girls.
[0:03:30 – 0:03:36] Adam: We’re like the only ones in this entire parking lot at the ranger station at Dawson Trail there.
[0:03:36 – 0:03:38] Adam: And we picked up our permits.
[0:03:39 – 0:03:40] Adam: I got me a fishing license.
[0:03:41 – 0:03:45] Adam: And they kind of gave us – they didn’t give us a test, but they –
[0:03:47 – 0:03:59] Adam: The one ranger gave us like a, basically got out a binder and showed us the rules of the park, including like a poop emoji with a rainbow background on, do you know how to poop?
[0:03:59 – 0:04:00] Erik: I do know how.
[0:04:00 – 0:04:01] Adam: And we were proud.
[0:04:01 – 0:04:05] Adam: We like both like put our hands on our hips and like we actually brought a really nice trowel.
[0:04:06 – 0:04:07] Erik: I’m pooping right now.
[0:04:07 – 0:04:10] Adam: I’m pooping in my pants right now talking to you.
[0:04:12 – 0:04:13] Erik: Shout out to Skyler.
[0:04:13 – 0:04:16] Adam: Thank you, Skyler, for your help at the ranger station.
[0:04:17 – 0:04:22] Adam: We got our permit, and it’s issued by Coleman’s, which is the… Why not Coglins?
[0:04:22 – 0:04:24] Adam: Coleman’s is basically the Coglins of America.
[0:04:24 – 0:04:26] Adam: I don’t get it, but they’re on there.
[0:04:27 – 0:04:29] Adam: I don’t know what my fishing license is sponsored by.
[0:04:29 – 0:04:31] Adam: I didn’t even look, but it’s in my pocket.
[0:04:31 – 0:04:35] Erik: Our first ever, I don’t know, for myself personally, like…
[0:04:36 – 0:04:41] Erik: 100 plus nights of self-issued permits in Quetico.
[0:04:41 – 0:04:44] Erik: This is the first time we’ve actually had to go to a ranger station and do the thing.
[0:04:45 – 0:04:45] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[0:04:45 – 0:04:47] Adam: No, it was very interesting.
[0:04:47 – 0:04:49] Adam: I like the binder approach to the rules.
[0:04:49 – 0:04:51] Adam: And they basically were like, have you done this before?
[0:04:51 – 0:04:54] Adam: We said, yeah, 10 years, we guessed.
[0:04:55 – 0:04:57] Adam: Ten years of doing Quetico together at this point.
[0:04:57 – 0:05:03] Adam: It’s been longer than that for sure, but I don’t know how many different Quetico trips we’ve done over the years, but they’ve all been, like, off-season.
[0:05:03 – 0:05:04] SPEAKER_00: For sure, yeah.
[0:05:04 – 0:05:05] SPEAKER_00: We’re in prime time now.
[0:05:06 – 0:05:07] Erik: This was a new experience.
[0:05:08 – 0:05:15] Erik: And, yeah, the manual handheld, like, slideshow that we got, we got to go outside.
[0:05:15 – 0:05:16] Adam: Yeah, why don’t we go outside?
[0:05:16 – 0:05:17] Adam: It’s so nice out.
[0:05:17 – 0:05:18] Erik: Do it out there.
[0:05:18 – 0:05:20] Erik: A little smoky, but very nice.
[0:05:20 – 0:05:21] Erik: Yeah, that’s a good point.
[0:05:21 – 0:05:24] Adam: We do have a lot of smoke, but down here in the Baptism Creek,
[0:05:25 – 0:05:29] Adam: Valley, the smoke is not as prominent or we’ve grown accustomed to it.
[0:05:29 – 0:05:30] Adam: I can’t tell which.
[0:05:30 – 0:05:31] Erik: Yeah, hard to say.
[0:05:32 – 0:05:44] Erik: The other thing with the Quetico trip is even as we were planning our trip just like five days ago, we were like, oh, well, Quetico, Boundary Waters, none of the permits in the Boundary Waters were really speaking to us.
[0:05:44 – 0:05:44] Erik: And we’re like, let’s just…
[0:05:45 – 0:05:46] Erik: Let’s go up to Quetico.
[0:05:47 – 0:05:50] Erik: And we were like clicking around and it was like, oh, full fire ban in Quetico?
[0:05:50 – 0:05:51] Erik: What?
[0:05:51 – 0:05:51] Erik: Yeah.
[0:05:51 – 0:05:53] Erik: Quetico’s got a full fire ban.
[0:05:53 – 0:05:57] Erik: There’s active fires in the boundary waters and there’s no fire bans at all.
[0:05:57 – 0:05:59] Erik: Not even a restriction to certain hours of the day.
[0:06:00 – 0:06:01] Adam: Yeah, it’s pretty crispy out here.
[0:06:02 – 0:06:05] Adam: We had gotten together, I don’t know, what, Sunday night we got together?
[0:06:06 – 0:06:08] Adam: It’s now Thursday.
[0:06:08 – 0:06:23] Adam: We got together Sunday night, and I feel like while we were just looking at the map and kind of feeling out what we wanted to do with this time, I got an alert on my phone while I was at your house, and it was like the fire ban had just been put into effect then.
[0:06:23 – 0:06:24] Erik: I think it was the 25th, yeah.
[0:06:24 – 0:06:25] Erik: Yeah.
[0:06:25 – 0:06:30] Erik: So, which, I don’t know, honestly, it didn’t really affect our decisions.
[0:06:30 – 0:06:32] Erik: I think we were already pretty much set on it.
[0:06:32 – 0:06:36] Erik: And I think a lot of people would probably be like, oh, no, I got to have a fire.
[0:06:36 – 0:06:37] Erik: Let’s do the Boundary Waters.
[0:06:38 – 0:06:38] Erik: Right.
[0:06:38 – 0:06:40] Erik: And it’s like, I don’t know, let’s just…
[0:06:40 – 0:06:45] Erik: I’d rather go and see some new territory and blaze some new trails and new roads.
[0:06:45 – 0:06:49] Erik: Even the drive up here was like cool and new and beautiful.
[0:06:49 – 0:07:01] Erik: And now we’re paddling entirely like just in the last like two hours, we’ve paddled more river than we did all of last year on the Frost River because the Frost River is really only like a mile of river actually.
[0:07:01 – 0:07:02] Erik: Yeah.
[0:07:02 – 0:07:02] Adam: It’s true.
[0:07:02 – 0:07:04] Adam: And we’re going against the current here.
[0:07:05 – 0:07:10] Adam: But, yeah, we figured since we can’t have a fire, we stopped at the Dollarama on Dawson Road.
[0:07:11 – 0:07:35] Erik: and it’s right next to the walmart and we picked up a really nice candelabra so we’re going to be definitely lighting that they said it’s fine um they gave us some looks but they said it’s fine so we’re going to definitely fire that thing up yeah we had to leave the black cats and roman candles behind but you know whatever we’ll light them off in the parking lot when we get back um yeah it’s uh gonna be a little bit of an out and back trip for us with the amount of time we have
[0:07:36 – 0:07:39] Erik: A mild scouting run for a potential…
[0:07:40 – 0:07:42] Erik: I’ve always wanted to paddle the Cache River.
[0:07:42 – 0:07:45] Erik: Just not enough time to get that in this trip.
[0:07:45 – 0:07:51] Erik: But we’ll scope it out so that when we come back next year, we’ll be able to just cruise this section.
[0:07:52 – 0:07:52] Erik: Even though…
[0:07:53 – 0:08:18] Adam: shockingly this whole river has been flagged which is kind of a weird thing right they told us at the ranger station that there is a portage clearing crew out ahead of us on this route right now you know we’re still giving us like dirty looks not dirty looks but just like discouraging looks about the uh the long portage into cash lake ahead and that uh we may be in for a rough one but yeah the portage crews out here there was like it appeared to be
[0:08:20 – 0:08:27] Adam: They had hit this tree in the middle of the river with a chainsaw at one point, and everything’s flagged, so you really can’t go wrong.
[0:08:27 – 0:08:45] Adam: But there is some trickiness to this river because you’re on the French River to start going up French River, and then you have to take a really hard, hard right to get onto the Baptism Creek after you go under the second bridge, which I’m going to say there’s a big sign up that says that second bridge is not safe, Eric, and it does not look safe.
[0:08:45 – 0:08:46] Erik: I believe it.
[0:08:46 – 0:08:46] Erik: It’s blown.
[0:08:47 – 0:08:48] Erik: The bridge is fully out.
[0:08:49 – 0:08:57] Adam: We did stop at the LCBO also next to the Dollarama, and we picked up a large—it’s actually not large.
[0:08:57 – 0:08:58] Adam: It’s a four-liter.
[0:08:59 – 0:09:22] Adam: bag of uh white wine uh la ambiance la ambiance and the four liter variety the in-between size not a three not a five it’s a four it fits really well into the tree craft wine satchel which is here on the river with us um we’re packed kind of light i’d say for our standards for uh even for a three-night trip like we’re packed pretty light yeah i like some of that
[0:09:25 – 0:09:26] Erik: You don’t even know what’s on the menu.
[0:09:26 – 0:09:30] Erik: I literally walked into the grocery store yesterday with no concept.
[0:09:30 – 0:09:31] Erik: Didn’t even have a list.
[0:09:31 – 0:09:34] Erik: I was like, I’m just going to go in and see what speaks to me.
[0:09:34 – 0:09:38] Erik: And I think we have enough food so that we will not starve.
[0:09:38 – 0:09:40] Adam: You just texted me because I was working yesterday.
[0:09:40 – 0:09:45] Adam: You’re like, I don’t know, maybe get some basil and some fresh mozzarella.
[0:09:45 – 0:09:46] Adam: We’ll do a caprese.
[0:09:46 – 0:09:48] Adam: So I know we’re doing caprese.
[0:09:48 – 0:09:49] Erik: Yeah, we got a caprese.
[0:09:49 – 0:09:50] Erik: Caprese?
[0:09:50 – 0:09:50] Erik: For peas.
[0:09:51 – 0:09:52] Erik: L’ambiance.
[0:09:52 – 0:09:53] Erik: L’ambiance.
[0:09:54 – 0:10:00] Erik: And, yeah, there’s a surprise that goes along with the Caprese.
[0:10:00 – 0:10:00] Adam: Oh, no.
[0:10:00 – 0:10:01] Adam: Yeah.
[0:10:02 – 0:10:03] Adam: It’s not just Caprese.
[0:10:03 – 0:10:05] Adam: And you’re not talking about the tomatoes and the balsamic.
[0:10:06 – 0:10:06] Adam: Oh, no.
[0:10:06 – 0:10:07] Adam: This is additional.
[0:10:07 – 0:10:08] Adam: A surprise on top of that.
[0:10:08 – 0:10:08] Adam: Yes.
[0:10:09 – 0:10:10] Adam: In the biter variety.
[0:10:10 – 0:10:11] Adam: Neat.
[0:10:11 – 0:10:31] Adam: neat oh oh biters night one biters are on the menu of course um anybody out there know uh hit us up uh gmail it’s tumblehomecast at gmail.com what do you think la ambiance means um because i’m i’m feeling like vague senses of dread frolic and uncertainty
[0:10:32 – 0:10:34] Adam: after a few sips out of the satchel right now.
[0:10:35 – 0:10:42] Erik: Yeah, it will leave you feeling like the taste in your mouth that you have after watching the movie Midsommar.
[0:10:42 – 0:10:43] Erik: Exactly.
[0:10:43 – 0:10:44] Erik: Just like that.
[0:10:44 – 0:10:49] Erik: We’re going to both have a collective scream-cry together at the end of the night tonight.
[0:10:50 – 0:10:51] Erik: That’ll bring it all together.
[0:10:51 – 0:10:54] Adam: You knew this one was going to be an emotionally charged trip too.
[0:10:55 – 0:10:59] Adam: It’s a first of its kind, but we hugged in the parking lot before we went on the trip.
[0:10:59 – 0:11:12] Adam: Normally, Eric and I only hug after completing a trip, but so you know that this is going to be a real roller coaster of emotions and existential dread for sure because we’re hugging on our way out.
[0:11:12 – 0:11:14] Erik: Pre-trip hug.
[0:11:14 – 0:11:15] Adam: L’ambiance.
[0:11:15 – 0:11:18] Erik: L’ambiance.
[0:11:18 – 0:11:21] Erik: Yeah, this is, like I said, potentially a scouting run for…
[0:11:23 – 0:11:36] Erik: A trip next spring, Cache River, the Wawiag River, always been kind of big blank spaces in this neck of the woods, this northeastern corner of Quetico.
[0:11:37 – 0:11:39] Erik: And so far, I’ve really liked what I’ve seen.
[0:11:40 – 0:11:45] Erik: You know, depending on how this fall-September tumblehomie trip goes, we might…
[0:11:46 – 0:11:48] Erik: Call our crew, or maybe not.
[0:11:48 – 0:11:50] Erik: Maybe all will be welcome.
[0:11:51 – 0:12:04] Erik: We’re using this as a potential scouting run, and then maybe next year we get the tumble homies out here, and we can use that as a potential whittling down of for real Waba Kimi bros.
[0:12:05 – 0:12:11] Adam: I got to say that we had a couple of fun interactions and experiences so far that need to be shouted out.
[0:12:11 – 0:12:18] Adam: For one, before we even crossed the border, I saw something in the ditch as we were approaching Grand Portage.
[0:12:19 – 0:12:21] Adam: And I go, I don’t know, bear maybe?
[0:12:21 – 0:12:21] Adam: Bear?
[0:12:21 – 0:12:23] Adam: And we went by and Eric got a really good look at it.
[0:12:23 – 0:12:28] Adam: And I just saw kind of the butt, but it was like a yearling moose in the ditch right on 61th.
[0:12:29 – 0:12:32] Erik: Yeah, right down on the shore, scrambling, youngish.
[0:12:33 – 0:12:36] Erik: Not a baby, but not a full-grown moose.
[0:12:36 – 0:12:39] Erik: Second on-the-shore moose I’ve seen in like two weeks.
[0:12:39 – 0:12:40] Adam: They’re thirsty.
[0:12:40 – 0:12:43] Adam: The moose are coming down to the lower elevations.
[0:12:43 – 0:12:43] Adam: They’re thirsty.
[0:12:44 – 0:12:46] Erik: Coming down to lap up that fresh water.
[0:12:46 – 0:12:47] Erik: It’s hot up in the woods.
[0:12:47 – 0:12:48] Adam: That was pretty neat to see that.
[0:12:48 – 0:12:57] Adam: We also did see our first Cybertruck, or at least it was my first Cybertruck, which I was able to flip off hard right as we were approaching the bridge on the Pigeon River.
[0:12:58 – 0:12:59] Erik: Yeah, as is tradition.
[0:12:59 – 0:13:00] Adam: That wasn’t one of the neat things, though.
[0:13:00 – 0:13:07] Adam: When we got here, we had the fun of driving Highway 11, which is really desolate.
[0:13:07 – 0:13:10] Adam: More desolate than even advertised, probably.
[0:13:10 – 0:13:11] Adam: There’s really nothing out there.
[0:13:11 – 0:13:13] Erik: Just an insane power line.
[0:13:13 – 0:13:19] Adam: Yeah, and like a river you’re following, and then you’re in Shebandawan for a good 40 minutes there.
[0:13:20 – 0:13:21] Adam: Shebandawan.
[0:13:21 – 0:13:22] Adam: Finally.
[0:13:22 – 0:13:23] Adam: It’s a state of mind.
[0:13:23 – 0:13:24] Erik: It actually does exist.
[0:13:25 – 0:13:35] Erik: We saw all the places of names that we’d only heard from a French-Canadian robot woman on a weather radio 15 years ago, but it does exist.
[0:13:35 – 0:13:36] Adam: Has it been 15 years?
[0:13:36 – 0:13:38] Adam: It’s been 15 years!
[0:13:38 – 0:13:39] Erik: I think it has been.
[0:13:39 – 0:13:40] Erik: Yeah.
[0:13:40 – 0:13:43] Erik: The other thing with this… You’re like the old lady in Titanic right now.
[0:13:43 – 0:13:48] Adam: It’s been 15 years since I heard the name Shabandawan.
[0:13:48 – 0:13:50] Erik: That old lady was just a liar.
[0:13:50 – 0:13:53] Adam: She should have been paid by Peter Lorre.
[0:13:53 – 0:13:54] Adam: Everybody knows that.
[0:13:54 – 0:13:55] Adam: Oh, no.
[0:13:55 – 0:14:00] Erik: Well, we have been practicing our Peter Lorre voices, so be prepared for that.
[0:14:00 – 0:14:01] Erik: We’re not going to crack them out yet.
[0:14:01 – 0:14:02] Erik: We haven’t got them finally honed enough.
[0:14:03 – 0:14:03] Erik: Only in the dark.
[0:14:04 – 0:14:05] Erik: Only in the dark.
[0:14:05 – 0:14:06] Erik: If it ever does come.
[0:14:06 – 0:14:08] Erik: We’ve only got about 10 hours of light left in the day here, but…
[0:14:08 – 0:14:10] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know where we’re going to end up.
[0:14:10 – 0:14:11] Adam: Neither does Eric.
[0:14:11 – 0:14:16] Adam: And that’s part of the beauty of these trips is they are freeform and fancy free.
[0:14:16 – 0:14:19] Adam: Eric did pick up a new map, which is exciting.
[0:14:19 – 0:14:21] Erik: The sexiest of new fishers.
[0:14:21 – 0:14:22] Erik: I got an F30.
[0:14:22 – 0:14:23] Erik: It’s the last one.
[0:14:25 – 0:14:49] Adam: in the whole series any f30 gang out there get in get in on the comments on this one f30 gang get in i want to hear it get in here i want to know what you’re doing out there um but yeah uh we got up here we’re we got in like middle of the day uh interestingly enough we thought the whole trip was going to be in eastern time zone because once you cross into canada obviously you go into eastern time zone we got a pretty early start on the day
[0:14:50 – 0:14:54] Adam: Eric got up to the tumble shed and we like, I was pretty much all packed somehow the night before.
[0:14:54 – 0:14:56] Adam: So looking pretty good.
[0:14:56 – 0:15:05] Adam: But yeah, like halfway over here on 11, there’s this big sign that says, uh, entering the Arctic circle watershed, which we didn’t stop.
[0:15:05 – 0:15:07] Adam: We will stop on the way out and get a picture of that.
[0:15:07 – 0:15:09] Adam: But then also entering central time zone.
[0:15:10 – 0:15:15] Erik: Back in the central time zone, we just popped an hour forward and came an hour back, so it really doesn’t even make a difference at all.
[0:15:15 – 0:15:16] Adam: We traveled through time.
[0:15:16 – 0:15:17] Adam: It’s quite amazing.
[0:15:19 – 0:15:27] Adam: Yeah, so then you get your permit, and then there’s a couple little campgrounds at Dawson Trail on French Lake there.
[0:15:28 – 0:15:31] Adam: There’s also just a parking zone and launch for backcountry paddlers.
[0:15:32 – 0:15:41] Adam: And we pulled in there and we were taking our sweet time just getting everything kind of out of the truck and repacking and being as efficient as we can, as we like to be, you know.
[0:15:41 – 0:15:43] Adam: And we are very efficient.
[0:15:43 – 0:15:50] Adam: I’d say of these three packs we have here in the canoe, they’re like, they’re nowhere near like max capacity or max weight.
[0:15:50 – 0:15:56] Erik: No, I feel like everything is about as reasonable as it’s ever been for a trip like this.
[0:15:56 – 0:15:56] Erik: Yeah.
[0:15:58 – 0:16:00] Adam: Um, but yeah, we got everything like kind of ready.
[0:16:00 – 0:16:05] Adam: We’re having some cold beverage, uh, sitting by the truck.
[0:16:05 – 0:16:09] Adam: We watched one group pull out of there and there’s, I don’t know.
[0:16:09 – 0:16:09] Adam: What do you think?
[0:16:09 – 0:16:10] Adam: 12 cars in the lot.
[0:16:11 – 0:16:15] Erik: Yeah, it wasn’t full by any means, but there was actually more than I thought there was going to be based on…
[0:16:15 – 0:16:17] Adam: There was, like, nobody at the ranger station.
[0:16:17 – 0:16:27] Erik: Nobody at the ranger station, and when I was sniffing around at available permits, I was looking, and, like, especially the Baptism Creek permit quota was always two, like, every day.
[0:16:28 – 0:16:32] Erik: So I don’t think we’re going to see anybody out here besides the potential portage crew that we did hear about.
[0:16:33 – 0:16:36] Adam: They feel like they’re ahead of us by a day or two, though.
[0:16:36 – 0:16:41] Adam: I’d say we’d be lucky to see, because they’d probably be really ripped.
[0:16:42 – 0:16:44] Adam: Whoever’s on that crew, I’d want to see that.
[0:16:45 – 0:16:46] Adam: Glistening and ripped?
[0:16:46 – 0:16:52] Adam: Yeah, I want to see that just as inspiration for what we can become someday.
[0:16:52 – 0:16:53] Adam: If we really put our minds to it.
[0:16:54 – 0:16:54] Erik: Sure.
[0:16:54 – 0:17:10] Adam: but uh we’re just hanging out like chilling uh we got a it’s not a mongolian warbler that’s for sure it was a magnolia warbler sounds invasive uh perula and we got a national warbler and a lot of very uh not very virios
[0:17:11 – 0:17:11] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[0:17:11 – 0:17:13] Adam: Plenty of good birding going on in there.
[0:17:13 – 0:17:15] Adam: And then we watched one crew, like, leave.
[0:17:15 – 0:17:20] Adam: And then right as we were about to, like, start moving stuff down to lunch, another, like, tandem came in with a…
[0:17:20 – 0:17:24] Adam: It looked like another Min 2 that was of the same era as M1 here.
[0:17:25 – 0:17:25] Adam: Exactly.
[0:17:25 – 0:17:26] Adam: We have M1 with us.
[0:17:27 – 0:17:29] Adam: It’s 10 pounds lighter than Gordy’s boat.
[0:17:29 – 0:17:35] Adam: And, frankly, if we’re going to get to Cache Lake, that’s a long portage, which we will get to on a future track.
[0:17:36 – 0:17:39] Adam: But it would probably be smart to pack light and take the lighter of the two boats.
[0:17:40 – 0:17:42] Adam: But they had kind of the same matching setup as us.
[0:17:43 – 0:17:45] Adam: And, yeah, they came, like, walking up.
[0:17:45 – 0:17:48] Adam: They’re like, hey, got a couple pre-rollies here.
[0:17:48 – 0:17:50] Adam: We’re about to go back across the border if you guys want them.
[0:17:51 – 0:17:52] Adam: I was like, yeah, sure, thanks.
[0:17:52 – 0:17:53] Adam: So we talked to them for a little bit.
[0:17:53 – 0:17:56] Adam: They gave us two joints here.
[0:17:56 – 0:17:57] Adam: You know, pretty neat.
[0:17:58 – 0:17:58] Adam: And they’re huge.
[0:17:59 – 0:18:00] Adam: They’re very big joints.
[0:18:00 – 0:18:01] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:18:02 – 0:18:02] Erik: Mucho joints.
[0:18:02 – 0:18:05] Adam: We’re going to have to wait until we get into camp to fire those bad boys up.
[0:18:06 – 0:18:11] Adam: But it was a nice, like, act of kindness and paddler solidarity.
[0:18:12 – 0:18:12] Adam: Yeah.
[0:18:13 – 0:18:16] Adam: You could probably take them across the border, but who wants the hassle?
[0:18:16 – 0:18:17] Erik: No, I don’t want that hassle.
[0:18:17 – 0:18:18] Adam: What do you guys got on you?
[0:18:18 – 0:18:20] Adam: Are you going to pay the tariff or whatever?
[0:18:20 – 0:18:22] Adam: You know, just give them to a stranger.
[0:18:22 – 0:18:23] Adam: So it was kind of nice.
[0:18:23 – 0:18:24] Adam: We talked to them for a little bit.
[0:18:24 – 0:18:26] Adam: I think it was Zach and Tom?
[0:18:27 – 0:18:28] Erik: Close enough, from Wisconsin.
[0:18:28 – 0:18:28] Adam: Zach, for sure.
[0:18:29 – 0:18:38] Adam: They looked a little bit up, but they said they caught multiple 40-inch pike, huge walleye, and they said the blackflies and mosquitoes were both out, like, last night especially.
[0:18:38 – 0:18:41] Adam: So take it as you will.
[0:18:41 – 0:18:42] Adam: But they were super nice.
[0:18:42 – 0:18:45] Adam: They had Subaru with a Wisconsin plate, so…
[0:18:46 – 0:18:52] Adam: Zach and Tom, if you’re out there listening, thank you very much for the free joints, and we’re going to pay it forward.
[0:18:52 – 0:18:58] Adam: If we have any joints left at the end of this trip, we’ll give them to whoever we find in the parking lot, whether they like it or not.
[0:18:58 – 0:19:04] Erik: Or we’ll tape them up inside the outhouse at the truck weigh station.
[0:19:04 – 0:19:07] Adam: Oh, I forgot about the truck weigh station we stopped at to pee.
[0:19:07 – 0:19:10] Adam: That was a nasty vault toilet.
[0:19:10 – 0:19:13] Erik: That was maybe one of the worst ones I think I’ve ever been in.
[0:19:13 – 0:19:13] Erik: It had the…
[0:19:15 – 0:19:41] Erik: 1998 edition of a late great chevy’s magazine didn’t realize that was a magazine probably doesn’t exist anymore that’s out of print now that’s actually pretty rare i sure probably grabbed it i was thinking about grabbing it but i felt like you would have just been immediately cursed if you even touched it you would have been both cursed and immediately contracted herpes by picking up that magazine off the floor of a truck stop on the side of highway 11 yeah
[0:19:43 – 0:19:49] Adam: Highway 11 had more traffic than I thought it would, but I only saw one other vehicle with a canoe on it.
[0:19:49 – 0:19:52] Adam: And at one point I was wondering, are we actually on the road to Atikokan or not?
[0:19:53 – 0:19:55] Adam: Because I feel like we’re out here on our own.
[0:19:56 – 0:19:59] Adam: But we did make it, and it was right where it was supposed to be.
[0:20:00 – 0:20:02] Adam: And the ranger station was honestly very lovely.
[0:20:03 – 0:20:08] Adam: It’s a huge like pyramid shaped building with this crazy fireplace in the middle with like sopas.
[0:20:09 – 0:20:13] Erik: All the firewood stacked up with signs on top of it that say fire ban, no fires.
[0:20:14 – 0:20:19] Erik: It’s like, well, glad you gathered up all of the firewood just to show us that we can’t burn it.
[0:20:19 – 0:20:24] Adam: But yeah, the little landing at French Lake was like a nice sand beach landing.
[0:20:24 – 0:20:29] Adam: And yeah, we moved our way up the French River into the Baptism Creek.
[0:20:29 – 0:20:29] Adam: And here we are.
[0:20:30 – 0:20:34] Erik: Yeah, we’re right about to do a supposedly 146-rod portage.
[0:20:34 – 0:20:40] Erik: Looks like an Irish donkey path right now to start.
[0:20:40 – 0:20:41] Erik: We’ll see how it goes.
[0:20:42 – 0:20:47] Erik: I don’t imagine there’s going to be much in the way of any kind of elevation that challenges us on this trip.
[0:20:48 – 0:21:03] Erik: But I’m guessing some of the footing and low bog level status that some of these portages are… Will maybe create for a little bit of a lighter slog.
[0:21:03 – 0:21:08] Erik: Which, I guess, I don’t know if I would rather take that than climbing dry hills…
[0:21:09 – 0:21:11] Erik: But, yeah, we’ll see how it goes.
[0:21:11 – 0:21:15] Adam: You can’t really tell being down here in the creek either how dry it really is.
[0:21:15 – 0:21:19] Adam: It feels like lush and wet and perfect down here.
[0:21:20 – 0:21:23] Adam: We’re standing in the creek right now as we record this.
[0:21:24 – 0:21:25] Adam: We both have our feet in the creek.
[0:21:26 – 0:21:30] Adam: And, yeah, it doesn’t feel as dry as it should down here.
[0:21:31 – 0:21:36] Adam: But also, that being said, like, the first partridge we did was no muck at all.
[0:21:37 – 0:21:40] Adam: The river does appear to be a bit lower than you normally would see.
[0:21:40 – 0:21:43] Adam: But, like, we’ve had no real issues getting over the few beaver dams we’ve come across.
[0:21:45 – 0:21:48] Adam: Eric, I think, nailed it early on on our paddle.
[0:21:48 – 0:21:50] Adam: He’s like, what does this remind you of?
[0:21:51 – 0:21:54] Adam: And I think we both arrived at this, that it looks a lot like the Nina Moose River.
[0:21:55 – 0:21:59] Adam: Sandy, deep woods right up to the water.
[0:21:59 – 0:22:00] Erik: Right up on the edge.
[0:22:00 – 0:22:02] Erik: You know, you’re not in like a bog.
[0:22:03 – 0:22:09] Adam: You’re just like in this little valley and the trees are right up against it.
[0:22:10 – 0:22:11] Adam: And there’s a good like rock.
[0:22:12 – 0:22:13] Adam: There’s good gravel bars in here.
[0:22:15 – 0:22:37] Adam: um it’s very endearing the sand is crazy like yeah so sandy you can look back to us like right behind us here to the to the north there’s like this huge rock outcropping that’s like right up against the river uh you just don’t see that kind of stuff on you know say large creek or yeah no any of the other you know people think about river stuff in the boundary waters and it’s usually that picture
[0:22:38 – 0:22:44] Adam: It’s like a winding little river with some beaver dams that’s kind of going through a giant field of flatness.
[0:22:44 – 0:22:44] Erik: Yeah.
[0:22:44 – 0:22:46] Adam: And the water has just sort of picked its path.
[0:22:47 – 0:22:49] Erik: This is cutting right through pure land.
[0:22:50 – 0:22:51] Erik: Land and rock.
[0:22:51 – 0:22:56] Adam: But you said earlier, like, we’ve been on this river for longer than we were on the Frost River all of last year’s trip.
[0:22:56 – 0:22:57] Erik: Yeah.
[0:22:57 – 0:22:57] Adam: Same time of year.
[0:22:58 – 0:22:58] Adam: Right.
[0:22:58 – 0:23:00] Adam: And we’re not even done with it.
[0:23:00 – 0:23:05] Adam: We’re just starting the portage section, and then we still have a little bit more river before we actually get to Baptism Creek.
[0:23:06 – 0:23:10] Adam: So it’s a pretty neat little section of, like, moving water in here.
[0:23:11 – 0:23:12] Adam: But, yeah, it’s, like, wide and deep.
[0:23:13 – 0:23:23] Adam: And I’ve been watching carefully, and I haven’t seen any fish in here, but there’s some deep sections in here where there’s, like, big sand banks on some of these oxbows you go around.
[0:23:23 – 0:23:26] Adam: You know, you can just tell it’s probably 15 feet deep down there.
[0:23:26 – 0:23:27] Adam: Who knows what’s hiding?
[0:23:27 – 0:23:28] Erik: Who knows?
[0:23:29 – 0:23:31] Erik: We didn’t stop to find out, but, yeah.
[0:23:32 – 0:23:32] Erik: Yeah.
[0:23:32 – 0:23:34] Adam: No, we have everything buttoned up.
[0:23:34 – 0:23:41] Adam: The fishing pole is broken down and fully wound into the gunnels.
[0:23:42 – 0:23:43] Adam: The reel is packed away.
[0:23:43 – 0:23:44] Adam: It’s that kind of trip.
[0:23:44 – 0:23:49] Adam: We’re just trying to get as far as we can before we bust out the fishing stuff.
[0:23:49 – 0:23:51] Adam: Unlikely we’ll even fish tonight, no matter where we end up.
[0:23:52 – 0:23:53] Adam: I’m more saving that.
[0:23:53 – 0:23:54] Adam: I actually bought my license.
[0:23:54 – 0:23:55] Adam: It’s a one-day license.
[0:23:56 – 0:23:58] Adam: And you’re only allowed to fish.
[0:23:59 – 0:24:00] Adam: You don’t have to do the sportsman’s card or anything.
[0:24:00 – 0:24:04] Adam: But I basically asked the rangers to start it at noon on Friday.
[0:24:05 – 0:24:06] Adam: So tomorrow.
[0:24:06 – 0:24:08] Adam: So I really can’t fish tonight.
[0:24:09 – 0:24:10] Adam: Even if I wanted to.
[0:24:11 – 0:24:18] Adam: But yeah, tomorrow seems like the prime window when we would probably make it to our final destination, which we will save for a future track as well.
[0:24:18 – 0:24:35] Adam: But I think that’s the spot where if I had not bought the fishing license and then we actually made it there, Eric, I think I’d be extremely disappointed with myself that I didn’t have a fishing pole and or the ability to chuck some casts if we actually get to that spot.
[0:24:35 – 0:24:40] Adam: Because it looks like the kind of lake that very few people get to in the course of a year.
[0:24:40 – 0:24:42] Erik: I’m happy that we’ve got something.
[0:24:42 – 0:24:51] Erik: You know, last year we didn’t bring anything on the Frost River, and that’s kind of just because we knew, like, what we were getting ourselves into, what the lakes were going to be.
[0:24:51 – 0:24:53] Erik: Like, you’re not going to fish the river, really.
[0:24:53 – 0:24:54] Erik: Yeah.
[0:24:54 – 0:24:57] Erik: And what are we going to do, like, fish Tuscarora on the way out?
[0:24:57 – 0:24:59] Erik: It just didn’t really make sense to even try and bring it.
[0:24:59 – 0:25:09] Adam: Yeah, this one, as you said earlier, it’s an out-and-back, and if we make it as far out as we want to, that should be a lake that will pay dividends.
[0:25:09 – 0:25:09] Adam: Yeah.
[0:25:10 – 0:25:20] Adam: And that I would, like, again, I’d feel like I missed out on something if we made it that far and then didn’t have the chance to at least throw a couple casts and maybe do a trolling run at sunset.
[0:25:20 – 0:25:22] Erik: At least wet a line.
[0:25:22 – 0:25:23] Adam: So, you know, I don’t know.
[0:25:23 – 0:25:24] Adam: Down here, it feels…
[0:25:26 – 0:25:49] Adam: wetter than it is and also whatever smoke we’re dealing with today from the fires near winnipeg is not really like dipping into this valley but when we’re getting in here like it was extremely smoky and smell it you could see it it’s supposed to be smoky tomorrow and you know but then saturday it looks really really nice like calm winds sunny and i did see northern lights last night while i was like packing the truck
[0:25:50 – 0:25:54] Adam: And there was like a range, there’s like all the like young French rangers.
[0:25:54 – 0:25:58] Adam: And then this old guy waddled in and was like, oh, you stayed up late and took pictures.
[0:25:59 – 0:26:00] Adam: He was trying to show us his pictures.
[0:26:00 – 0:26:02] Adam: I was like, yeah, I saw him too.
[0:26:02 – 0:26:03] Adam: The Northern Lights were legit last night.
[0:26:04 – 0:26:04] Erik: They were legit.
[0:26:04 – 0:26:05] Erik: Hopefully they come back out.
[0:26:05 – 0:26:06] Erik: But I don’t know.
[0:26:06 – 0:26:09] Erik: It’s tough when you get out here to try and stay up until midnight.
[0:26:10 – 0:26:11] Adam: Yeah, it’s almost June.
[0:26:11 – 0:26:12] Erik: Especially when you can’t have a fire.
[0:26:13 – 0:26:18] Erik: We’ll sit up under the light of the AAA lantern that I brought.
[0:26:18 – 0:26:20] Adam: And the Dollarama candelabra.
[0:26:20 – 0:26:22] Adam: But, I mean, that’s only going to go so far.
[0:26:23 – 0:26:28] Erik: We’ll play that fifth game of the eternal cribbage tournament that we were in.
[0:26:28 – 0:26:30] Adam: Yeah, we’re going to keep working on that cribbage tournament from last year.
[0:26:31 – 0:26:32] Adam: I think it’s tied up right now one-to-one.
[0:26:33 – 0:26:35] Erik: Well, depending on whether we count the practice round or not.
[0:26:35 – 0:26:36] Erik: L’ambiance.
[0:26:36 – 0:26:36] Adam: L’ambiance.
[0:26:39 – 0:26:39] Adam: All right.
[0:26:40 – 0:26:45] Adam: Well, I think we better keep moving, and I’m going to have another sip of La Ambiance.
[0:26:46 – 0:26:51] Adam: I think we’ll probably save the joints until we get up to actual Baptism Lake itself.
[0:26:51 – 0:26:53] Erik: I would think it’s probably a good call.
[0:26:53 – 0:26:54] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:26:54 – 0:26:57] Erik: I’d rather, you know, it doesn’t really seem like we can get into too much trouble.
[0:26:57 – 0:26:58] Erik: I think we’ve made it through.
[0:26:58 – 0:26:59] Adam: Actually, I got one more thing.
[0:26:59 – 0:27:05] Erik: Any of the tricky navigation, everything’s pretty much straight south at this point.
[0:27:05 – 0:27:09] Adam: My mom, you know, I told her where we’re going, and I said, we’re going to Baptism Creek.
[0:27:09 – 0:27:12] Adam: She said, oh, are you going to do a second baptism?
[0:27:12 – 0:27:13] Adam: Why not?
[0:27:14 – 0:27:15] Adam: I’m going to stick my head in the river.
[0:27:15 – 0:27:16] Adam: What do you think?
[0:27:16 – 0:27:16] Adam: Do it.
[0:27:17 – 0:27:17] Adam: All right, let’s go.
[0:27:24 – 0:27:24] Adam: Wow.
[0:27:24 – 0:27:25] Adam: Beautiful.
[0:27:25 – 0:27:26] Adam: How does my hair look?
[0:27:27 – 0:27:29] Erik: Pure as the… Oh.
[0:27:30 – 0:27:31] Adam: Quetico.
[0:27:32 – 0:27:33] Erik: Oh, no.
[0:27:34 – 0:27:37] Erik: Pure as the hopes and dreams of a Catholic pastor.
[0:27:37 – 0:27:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:27:37 – 0:27:39] Adam: Make sure you don’t drink the river water, by the way.
[0:27:39 – 0:27:40] Adam: It’s not legal.
[0:27:40 – 0:27:41] Erik: Yeah, no.
[0:27:41 – 0:27:42] Erik: Not even if it’s filtered.
[0:27:43 – 0:27:47] Adam: They told us at the ranger station, like, even if you filter it, it’s not legal and we will come for you.
[0:27:48 – 0:27:48] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[0:27:48 – 0:27:52] Adam: I was like, well, I’ve been reborn, you know, and I’m still thirsty, so La Ambiance.
[0:27:53 – 0:27:54] Erik: Born again, La Ambiance.
[0:27:55 – 0:27:55] Adam: That felt pretty good.
[0:27:56 – 0:27:56] Adam: I bet.
[0:27:56 – 0:27:57] Adam: I highly recommend it.
[0:27:58 – 0:28:00] Erik: Yeah, I mean, it’s like mid-70s right now.
[0:28:00 – 0:28:03] Erik: It’s supposed to be damn near 80 the next two days.
[0:28:03 – 0:28:05] Adam: This creek water feels great.
[0:28:05 – 0:28:05] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:28:06 – 0:28:08] Adam: Honestly, we’re probably going to end up swimming, right?
[0:28:08 – 0:28:11] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know if I’m going to be swimming in this creek, but I’m definitely jumping into a lake.
[0:28:11 – 0:28:12] Erik: That’s for sure.
[0:28:12 – 0:28:16] Adam: It looks like the kind of creek where you could easily just sit in this creek and enjoy yourself for a good hour.
[0:28:16 – 0:28:17] Adam: Probably, yeah.
[0:28:17 – 0:28:19] Adam: It’s a good sitting creek.
[0:28:19 – 0:28:20] Erik: It’s a good sitting creek.
[0:28:20 – 0:28:21] Erik: Get your tubes out.
[0:28:21 – 0:28:26] Erik: Get your jugs of, I don’t know, twisted teas going.
[0:28:26 – 0:28:35] Erik: You could probably just come out here and set up on Dawson’s Trail Campground and then paddle down the river and just sit in the creek for the whole weekend.
[0:28:35 – 0:28:36] Adam: That actually sounds really nice.
[0:28:36 – 0:28:42] Erik: We were thinking about staying at the campground and just doing a real easy trip, maybe taking a hike, going up to the pines.
[0:28:42 – 0:28:47] Adam: If they wouldn’t have put the fire ban on, I could have seen us doing the campground for night one.
[0:28:48 – 0:28:57] Erik: But without being able to have a fire, just sitting in a campground, something about that seems way less enjoyable than sitting at a backcountry site in Quetico.
[0:28:57 – 0:29:01] Adam: Crazy enough, though, they do have a movie building.
[0:29:01 – 0:29:02] Adam: It’s a cinema.
[0:29:02 – 0:29:02] UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[0:29:03 – 0:29:06] Adam: And they were playing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea tonight.
[0:29:06 – 0:29:07] Erik: Oh, I thought they were playing Sinners, actually.
[0:29:08 – 0:29:09] Adam: Oh, they were playing Sinners.
[0:29:09 – 0:29:10] Adam: That was the late-night feature, actually.
[0:29:10 – 0:29:13] Adam: 20,000 Leagues was the matinee.
[0:29:14 – 0:29:16] Erik: Exactly, yeah.
[0:29:16 – 0:29:22] Erik: We were going to try and get the campsite that was closest to the staff French girl RV encampment.
[0:29:24 – 0:29:29] Erik: When you’re in a different country, I think they say you’re allowed to just do whatever you want, right?
[0:29:29 – 0:29:30] Adam: It’s for the culture.
[0:29:31 – 0:29:32] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it’s for the culture.
[0:29:33 – 0:29:34] Adam: Le Ambiance.
[0:29:34 – 0:29:36] Erik: It’s for the, whatever that word means.
[0:29:36 – 0:29:37] Erik: Le Ambiance.
[0:29:37 – 0:29:38] Adam: We’re not sure.
[0:29:38 – 0:29:43] Adam: If anybody knows what Le Ambiance means, please hit us up in the Discord or in the DMs.
[0:29:43 – 0:29:44] Adam: We don’t know.
[0:29:44 – 0:29:47] Adam: We don’t speak the French, but we’re here in French country.
[0:29:47 – 0:29:48] Adam: And I never will.
[0:29:48 – 0:29:50] Adam: And we’re in the French River Watershed.
[0:29:50 – 0:29:54] Adam: This is, if anybody recalls too, one more side before we let you go.
[0:29:54 – 0:29:55] Adam: Please stop.
[0:29:55 – 0:29:56] Adam: Before we let you go.
[0:29:58 – 0:29:59] Adam: You guys are listening to us.
[0:29:59 – 0:30:01] Adam: You can just hit mute or pause it.
[0:30:01 – 0:30:01] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:30:02 – 0:30:13] Adam: If anybody remembers the Portage Into the Past series, they did try and, like, make an alternate border route that went out of Fort Williams, and it ended up going right through where we are right now.
[0:30:13 – 0:30:41] Adam: yeah done uh well actually yeah to pick roll from french but that first part for sure yeah for sure from there on into lac la croix so we were on like the historic old route which failed miserably and somehow was worse than the grand portage the grand portage won out so that tells you how bad the dog river is the dog river that goddamn dog river is tough but the baptism creek very nice pretty
[0:30:42 – 0:30:50] Adam: All right, well, I think we’re going to move our way up this portage and see what baptism has to offer for us.
[0:30:50 – 0:30:54] Adam: So thank you for joining us here on Tumble Home Live in the Field.
[0:30:55 – 0:30:55] Adam: We’re having a good time.
[0:30:56 – 0:31:00] Adam: It’s a beautiful day here, and we thank you all for listening.
[0:31:00 – 0:31:02] Adam: All right, we’ll see you probably in camp.
[0:31:02 – 0:31:03] Erik: All right.
[0:31:03 – 0:31:04] Erik: All right, then.
[0:31:04 – 0:31:05] Erik: Enough.
[0:31:06 – 0:31:06] Adam: Stop.
[0:31:16 – 0:31:18] Erik: Caprese.
[0:31:19 – 0:31:20] Adam: Caprese.
[0:31:20 – 0:31:21] Erik: Caprese.
[0:31:21 – 0:31:23] Erik: How do you pronounce a caprese?
[0:31:23 – 0:31:24] Adam: It’s a caprese.
[0:31:29 – 0:31:30] Adam: Caprese.
[0:31:32 – 0:31:40] Erik: Good morning from Little King Island on Baptism Lake.
[0:31:41 – 0:31:42] Erik: Morning one.
[0:31:42 – 0:31:43] Erik: We’re back.
[0:31:43 – 0:31:46] Erik: We’re back in the queue, baby.
[0:31:46 – 0:31:51] Erik: And our night terrors were fueled with so much fresh basil.
[0:31:51 – 0:31:52] Adam: Oh, my God.
[0:31:52 – 0:31:54] Adam: I had nothing but basil for dinner.
[0:31:55 – 0:31:57] Adam: Literally just had a bowl of basil at one point.
[0:31:57 – 0:32:01] Adam: I was just chewing on it like a four-legged animal.
[0:32:03 – 0:32:06] Adam: I had four legs and a bowl of basil for dinner, that’s for sure.
[0:32:06 – 0:32:11] Erik: So much basil that there was an entire forkful left on your fork.
[0:32:11 – 0:32:16] Adam: I can’t believe that’s so embarrassing that I left a forkful of basil behind.
[0:32:17 – 0:32:23] Adam: There was one sip of rum in my cup, too, when I walked back out to the fire area, which I’m proud of us.
[0:32:23 – 0:32:25] Adam: We did not have a fire last night.
[0:32:25 – 0:32:27] Erik: Well, we’re in a fire ban.
[0:32:27 – 0:32:28] Erik: We’re not allowed to have a fire.
[0:32:28 – 0:32:30] Adam: You brought this little lantern.
[0:32:30 – 0:32:40] Adam: We were joking about a candelabra, which obviously we don’t have a candelabra with us, but Eric brought this little lantern dealio with us, and it gave us a nice warming light.
[0:32:41 – 0:32:44] Adam: We did stay up well past dark last night.
[0:32:44 – 0:32:45] Erik: We actually did.
[0:32:45 – 0:32:50] Erik: I was pretty, I don’t know if I’d say proud, but surprised that we made it that long.
[0:32:50 – 0:32:57] Erik: But, you know, when you’re gifted the most powerful joint known to man by a…
[0:32:57 – 0:32:58] Adam: Damn you, Zach.
[0:32:58 – 0:33:02] Adam: Anyways, Zach, if you’re listening to this, that joint was too powerful.
[0:33:02 – 0:33:02] Adam: Yeah.
[0:33:03 – 0:33:04] Adam: Way too powerful.
[0:33:04 – 0:33:05] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:06 – 0:33:10] Adam: He went in the dispensary and was like, give me a five-pack of your most powerful joints.
[0:33:10 – 0:33:11] Erik: I’m from Madison.
[0:33:11 – 0:33:12] Erik: I know what I’m doing.
[0:33:12 – 0:33:13] Adam: All right, buddy.
[0:33:13 – 0:33:15] Adam: Get back to Dane County with that attitude.
[0:33:19 – 0:33:20] Adam: Yikes.
[0:33:21 – 0:33:22] Adam: We finished that joint, though.
[0:33:22 – 0:33:23] Adam: We finished it.
[0:33:23 – 0:33:28] Adam: We finished the basil, except for one forkful, which I ate this morning with my rum.
[0:33:28 – 0:33:30] Erik: Start in the morning with rum and basil.
[0:33:30 – 0:33:36] Adam: You know you’re off to a good start when you go with a forkful of basil, one sip of rum, and two ibuprofen.
[0:33:38 – 0:33:39] Adam: That’s how you start your day.
[0:33:39 – 0:33:40] Adam: I have a first to report.
[0:33:41 – 0:33:42] Erik: Yes.
[0:33:42 – 0:33:43] Erik: You’re going to report which first.
[0:33:44 – 0:33:49] Adam: I slept with my sandals on in the hammock in my sleeping bag.
[0:33:51 – 0:33:52] Adam: What the hell?
[0:33:54 – 0:33:56] Adam: I was in like, we’ll get to it too.
[0:33:56 – 0:33:58] Adam: I’m in a bit of a precarious set over here.
[0:33:59 – 0:34:05] Adam: And I felt it necessary to leave the sandals on to make it into the hammock correctly last night.
[0:34:05 – 0:34:08] Adam: And I did make it into the hammock, but I was wearing my sandals.
[0:34:09 – 0:34:10] Adam: So, I don’t know.
[0:34:11 – 0:34:13] Adam: And I did sleep with my contacts in.
[0:34:13 – 0:34:15] Adam: So, thank you, Zach.
[0:34:15 – 0:34:16] Adam: Thank you.
[0:34:16 – 0:34:17] Erik: Thanks, Zach.
[0:34:17 – 0:34:19] Erik: Thank you, Zach and Tom.
[0:34:19 – 0:34:20] Erik: That was fine.
[0:34:21 – 0:34:21] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:34:21 – 0:34:27] Erik: I feel like we’d – I thought we had done a pretty good job of getting hammocks set up before we – Everything was set.
[0:34:27 – 0:34:29] Adam: I’m just sort of on a slope over here.
[0:34:29 – 0:34:36] Adam: And then once I realized, like, it was fine to set it, and I also did – there was this crazy little stump.
[0:34:37 – 0:34:41] Adam: Somebody had cut and left six inches of a pointy stick.
[0:34:41 – 0:34:42] Adam: It was like a beaver chew.
[0:34:43 – 0:34:46] Adam: It was, right under the butt of the hammock set over there.
[0:34:46 – 0:34:50] Adam: And I even pointed it out to Eric yesterday, and I said, look at this.
[0:34:50 – 0:34:52] Adam: You could easily get killed by this thing.
[0:34:52 – 0:34:57] Adam: If you fell on it wrong, it would just go right through your butt and kill you.
[0:34:57 – 0:34:57] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[0:34:58 – 0:35:02] Adam: And so we have a saw with us for portage clearing maintenance needs.
[0:35:03 – 0:35:06] Adam: And I got out the saw and I saw that thing down to the ground perfect.
[0:35:08 – 0:35:15] Adam: And where I’m set, you easily could envision tripping or falling out of your hammock somehow and landing right on that thing.
[0:35:16 – 0:35:22] Adam: So it’s always important when you’re setting your hammock to especially look at the ground right underneath where you’re going to be laying.
[0:35:23 – 0:35:26] Adam: Just in case, I’ve never had it happen, but what if the hammock failed?
[0:35:26 – 0:35:32] Adam: Or what if you slipped and fell when you were trying to get in the hammock at night?
[0:35:32 – 0:35:38] Adam: It would be really unfortunate and also super embarrassing and regrettable if you were to die getting in a hammock.
[0:35:39 – 0:35:39] Erik: Or out.
[0:35:40 – 0:35:47] Erik: Yeah, that’s a chief level of oafdom there if you were to go out by landing on a stump.
[0:35:48 – 0:35:50] Erik: Twisting out of a hammock in the middle of the night.
[0:35:51 – 0:35:51] Adam: Oh, man.
[0:35:51 – 0:35:52] Adam: But I don’t know.
[0:35:52 – 0:36:00] Adam: So it was steep enough where I didn’t feel like I was going to be able to get into the hammock with barefooted, I guess.
[0:36:00 – 0:36:00] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:36:01 – 0:36:11] Adam: Anyways, I woke up, and I’m bleeding out of the ear pretty bad, and I’m trying to figure out why I’m bleeding so bad on my ear, and then I wiggled my feet, and I was like, what the hell?
[0:36:11 – 0:36:13] Adam: I’m still wearing my sandals.
[0:36:13 – 0:36:14] Adam: Just ready to go.
[0:36:14 – 0:36:19] Erik: I want to be able to get up immediately in the morning and be able to walk around.
[0:36:20 – 0:36:25] Adam: Eric beat me out of the hammocks this morning, which is pretty rare, and I don’t get to sleep in much these days, folks.
[0:36:26 – 0:36:29] Adam: And he’s up, and I, like, basically just came running right out of my hammock.
[0:36:29 – 0:36:30] Adam: And I was like, all right, let’s go.
[0:36:31 – 0:36:32] Adam: Let’s go, little king.
[0:36:32 – 0:36:33] Adam: We’re on our way.
[0:36:33 – 0:36:34] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:36:34 – 0:36:41] Erik: The first thing I saw when I looked over was, yeah, it looked like you were literally bleeding from your ear hole.
[0:36:41 – 0:36:45] Erik: There’s blood all over my hammock.
[0:36:45 – 0:36:49] Adam: I woke up, and then a whole, like, flap of the hammock was covered in blood.
[0:36:49 – 0:36:51] Adam: And I felt in my ear.
[0:36:51 – 0:36:52] Adam: I’m like, what the F?
[0:36:52 – 0:36:52] Adam: What the F?
[0:36:53 – 0:36:56] Erik: It’s a lot of crispy blood dripping down like half of your cheek.
[0:36:56 – 0:37:01] Erik: And our best theory is that you just got fully whacked by a black fly.
[0:37:01 – 0:37:01] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[0:37:02 – 0:37:06] Adam: I didn’t put up a bug net, obviously, because I barely made it in the hammock without the bug net.
[0:37:06 – 0:37:12] Adam: And it would probably have been impossible based on the angle of the ground over there to like weasel your way into the bug net.
[0:37:13 – 0:37:18] Adam: But yeah, I think a Black Flyer 5 got on my ear last night and just had themselves a feast.
[0:37:18 – 0:37:19] Erik: They were feasting last night.
[0:37:19 – 0:37:21] Erik: Yeah, unfettered feasting.
[0:37:21 – 0:37:23] Adam: They didn’t want nacho cheese, Eric.
[0:37:23 – 0:37:24] Adam: They wanted blood.
[0:37:24 – 0:37:26] Erik: Yeah, they were hungry last night.
[0:37:26 – 0:37:26] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:37:26 – 0:37:27] Erik: The bugs weren’t too bad.
[0:37:27 – 0:37:28] Erik: They weren’t.
[0:37:28 – 0:37:28] Adam: I was happy to have them.
[0:37:28 – 0:37:31] Adam: Honestly, I didn’t feel the need for the bug net in all honesty.
[0:37:31 – 0:37:33] Adam: It wasn’t due to the difficulty of terrain.
[0:37:33 – 0:37:37] Adam: I just didn’t deem it necessary based on conditions.
[0:37:37 – 0:37:44] Erik: Yeah, no, the island we’re at right here is, I think, the smallest we’ve ever camped on.
[0:37:44 – 0:37:45] Adam: Easily, yeah.
[0:37:45 – 0:37:54] Adam: We were saying maybe the little island we stayed at on the Namakan River back in 2011 rivals this in size, but I think that was bigger.
[0:37:55 – 0:37:56] Adam: I think that was bigger.
[0:37:57 – 0:37:59] Adam: And you’re on a river also.
[0:37:59 – 0:38:00] Adam: This is a full-on lake.
[0:38:00 – 0:38:01] Erik: Yeah.
[0:38:01 – 0:38:04] Erik: We got 360-degree views in every direction.
[0:38:05 – 0:38:07] Adam: Why aren’t there 360 days in a year?
[0:38:07 – 0:38:10] Adam: Eric pointed this out right away this morning, and it’s true.
[0:38:10 – 0:38:11] Adam: There should be.
[0:38:11 – 0:38:19] Erik: It just seems like everything would match up so much nicer with 360 degrees and seconds and minutes.
[0:38:19 – 0:38:21] Erik: Those extra five days, we could just kind of…
[0:38:22 – 0:38:43] Adam: meld like meld those into the rest of the year somehow sneak them in cancel them and i’d be fine with it eventually like in a thousand years winter would be in june but who cares or yeah just add a problem for people in a thousand years to deal with just have christmas be five days long i’m trying to embrace this new mindset christmas is five days and people in a thousand years can deal with this
[0:38:43 – 0:38:45] Adam: Sure, great, yeah.
[0:38:45 – 0:38:46] Adam: That’s their fucking problem.
[0:38:46 – 0:38:52] Erik: I think I feel like that’s generally the mantra of most people in charge at this point.
[0:38:52 – 0:38:58] Adam: I hope people understand that I’m joking and that I don’t actually feel that way, like that we should care about a thousand years from now.
[0:38:58 – 0:39:03] Adam: But it’s absurd to me how few people in this world actually do think that way.
[0:39:04 – 0:39:08] Adam: And most people just think about what’s most important for me today.
[0:39:08 – 0:39:08] Erik: Yeah.
[0:39:09 – 0:39:11] Adam: So it’s a joke, people.
[0:39:11 – 0:39:12] Erik: I’m bleeding out of the ear.
[0:39:12 – 0:39:13] Adam: Episode 291 needs a disclaimer.
[0:39:13 – 0:39:14] Adam: How does he really feel about the world?
[0:39:23 – 0:39:23] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:39:23 – 0:39:24] Adam: Overall, I feel pretty good.
[0:39:25 – 0:39:30] Adam: All things considered, I slept with hammock, with sandals in hammock, and I’m bleeding out of my ear.
[0:39:32 – 0:39:32] Adam: I’m feeling pretty good.
[0:39:33 – 0:39:36] Adam: It’s probably because of the vast amounts of basil that were consumed last night.
[0:39:36 – 0:39:37] Adam: The caprese.
[0:39:37 – 0:39:39] Erik: The caprese saved us.
[0:39:39 – 0:39:43] Erik: Yes, we did kill the lambiance.
[0:39:43 – 0:39:44] SPEAKER_00: There’s still a sip or two left.
[0:39:44 – 0:39:46] Erik: A sip or two in the lambiance.
[0:39:47 – 0:39:48] Erik: Really put the music in it there.
[0:39:50 – 0:39:51] Erik: We killed that.
[0:39:52 – 0:39:53] Erik: Yeah.
[0:39:53 – 0:39:58] Erik: Caprese’s were had later than I thought.
[0:39:58 – 0:40:01] Erik: They were almost dark by the time we got into those.
[0:40:01 – 0:40:11] Erik: And then the biter treat that was a surprise that we have not mentioned yet, I think, because I didn’t mention it to you beforehand.
[0:40:11 – 0:40:16] Erik: The whole menu is just going to be a fun, wild ride of surprises for Adam here.
[0:40:17 – 0:40:42] Adam: um and i think we’ve come to a child who wandered into a room eric dad dad uh yeah we had what was it old el paso old el paso brand pizza biters but they’re just nacho cheese stuffed nachos baby that’s all i’m at the co-op bud no way i didn’t look at the ingredient list i’m never will
[0:40:42 – 0:40:45] Erik: Get your pillow-shaped squares out of here.
[0:40:45 – 0:40:47] Erik: I’m all about the points now, baby.
[0:40:47 – 0:40:47] Erik: Triangles.
[0:40:48 – 0:40:49] Erik: Triangles.
[0:40:49 – 0:40:53] Adam: And… We discovered the mystery of the pyramids last night, and we’re never going to tell.
[0:40:53 – 0:40:53] Adam: Never.
[0:40:54 – 0:40:55] Adam: We’ll never tell.
[0:40:55 – 0:40:57] Adam: You have to come camping with us, and then we’ll tell you.
[0:40:57 – 0:41:07] Erik: But we also did come to a conclusion as to how pizza biters could be greatly improved, and I think it all comes down to the ratio.
[0:41:08 – 0:41:08] Erik: More…
[0:41:09 – 0:41:11] Erik: Fucking cheese, baby.
[0:41:11 – 0:41:12] Adam: Less sauce.
[0:41:12 – 0:41:14] Erik: Less red sauce.
[0:41:14 – 0:41:17] Erik: Less acid-burning red sauce.
[0:41:17 – 0:41:19] Erik: More gooey, melty cheese.
[0:41:20 – 0:41:24] Adam: I feel like a million bucks right now, and I credit it all to the cheese.
[0:41:24 – 0:41:26] Erik: Yeah, we’ve got cheese all over you.
[0:41:26 – 0:41:28] SPEAKER_00: I’m covered in cheese, too.
[0:41:28 – 0:41:30] SPEAKER_00: It’s all on the same side.
[0:41:30 – 0:41:36] Adam: My left ear is bleeding, and my left sleeve of my chopped hoodie is all covered in nacho cheese.
[0:41:36 – 0:41:36] Adam: Yeah.
[0:41:38 – 0:41:41] Adam: So I guess I was rotating to the left yesterday.
[0:41:41 – 0:41:42] Adam: Yeah, you were.
[0:41:42 – 0:41:45] Adam: I was in proper orbit here on Little King Island.
[0:41:45 – 0:41:49] Adam: I did several laps around the island, all counterclockwise.
[0:41:50 – 0:41:53] Adam: It’s illegal to go clockwise on this island.
[0:41:53 – 0:41:54] Erik: Let it be known.
[0:41:55 – 0:42:00] Adam: If you ever find your way to Baptism Lake, make sure you never, ever walk clockwise around an island.
[0:42:01 – 0:42:02] Adam: The spirits will be angered.
[0:42:03 – 0:42:09] Erik: I’m not completely out on pizza biters, but I’m all in on stuffed nachos at this point.
[0:42:09 – 0:42:10] Adam: I think that’s an honest assessment.
[0:42:10 – 0:42:17] Adam: We’re both in on pizza biters still, but I’m way all in on the nacho cheese, old El Paso triangles, pyramid biters.
[0:42:18 – 0:42:22] Erik: I think that the Totino’s people need to take a lesson here.
[0:42:22 – 0:42:33] Erik: And if you’re going to have a cheese pizza variety, I don’t know about you, but sauce is a component of pizza.
[0:42:33 – 0:42:34] Erik: It’s not my favorite part.
[0:42:35 – 0:42:36] Erik: Definitely not.
[0:42:37 – 0:42:43] Erik: Let’s bump up those cheese levels, especially on the straight cheese variety of the cheese biter.
[0:42:43 – 0:42:46] Adam: You’re getting flanked by old El Paso, Totino.
[0:42:46 – 0:42:47] Erik: Yeah, you’re getting out-bitered.
[0:42:47 – 0:42:48] Adam: You’re out-maneuvered.
[0:42:49 – 0:42:52] Erik: Out-technologied by the triangles, one.
[0:42:52 – 0:42:53] Erik: Yep.
[0:42:53 – 0:43:00] Erik: B, your cheese levels need to be greatly improved, and then we can maybe have a conversation.
[0:43:00 – 0:43:04] Erik: But until then, I think I’m ride or die team old El Paso right now.
[0:43:05 – 0:43:09] Adam: Yeah, it’s the new phase, Glenn, for the modern era.
[0:43:09 – 0:43:09] Adam: Yeah.
[0:43:13 – 0:43:14] Adam: Lock of the week.
[0:43:14 – 0:43:17] Adam: You got to get your old El Paso’s.
[0:43:17 – 0:43:18] Adam: Don’t worry.
[0:43:18 – 0:43:22] Adam: It even says right in the bag, like, don’t worry, you won’t bleed out of your ears after eating this product.
[0:43:22 – 0:43:24] Adam: So, I mean, it’s good enough for me.
[0:43:24 – 0:43:28] Erik: Yeah, we thought it was a curious disclaimer.
[0:43:28 – 0:43:30] Adam: Yeah, I was like, why would they even say that?
[0:43:31 – 0:43:33] Adam: It contains traces of peanuts.
[0:43:33 – 0:43:35] Adam: Also, you won’t bleed out of your ears.
[0:43:35 – 0:43:36] Adam: I was like, well, that’s weird.
[0:43:36 – 0:43:37] Erik: You won’t bleed out of your ears?
[0:43:38 – 0:43:42] Adam: This product was prepared in a facility that also contains wheat.
[0:43:43 – 0:43:43] Adam: Okay.
[0:43:44 – 0:43:47] Adam: And everybody that works there is actively bleeding from the ears.
[0:43:52 – 0:43:53] Adam: Little King Island.
[0:43:56 – 0:44:00] Adam: You know, back in the 90s, teams used to play the Little King defense more, and I wish they still did.
[0:44:01 – 0:44:03] Adam: But they don’t, and that’s why the Timberwolves lost.
[0:44:03 – 0:44:04] Adam: They didn’t play enough Little King defense.
[0:44:05 – 0:44:06] Erik: Back when we were a country.
[0:44:06 – 0:44:10] Adam: Back when we were a real country with high ideals.
[0:44:10 – 0:44:12] Adam: You’d put a little guy up on the rim.
[0:44:13 – 0:44:16] Adam: I’m stealing this joke from John Boy on Blue Sky.
[0:44:16 – 0:44:23] Adam: Obviously, one of the funniest things, the stupidest, funniest thing I’ve ever read in my whole life.
[0:44:23 – 0:44:28] Adam: I’m still laughing about it five days later, about the Little King tweet that John Boy put on Blue Sky.
[0:44:30 – 0:44:32] Adam: Zero listeners are following at this point.
[0:44:32 – 0:44:33] Erik: What is he talking about?
[0:44:33 – 0:44:34] Erik: Get back to the Campstart Review.
[0:44:34 – 0:44:37] Erik: Talk more about biter cheese ratios, please.
[0:44:38 – 0:44:38] Erik: This is why, tune in.
[0:44:38 – 0:44:41] Adam: You guys need to all get on Blue Sky and follow me on Blue Sky.
[0:44:42 – 0:44:43] Adam: That’s the point.
[0:44:43 – 0:44:44] Adam: Because Blue Sky is awesome.
[0:44:45 – 0:44:46] Erik: And I’m on there.
[0:44:46 – 0:44:48] Erik: What do they call it when somebody posts on there?
[0:44:50 – 0:44:50] Adam: Like Sky-ing?
[0:44:51 – 0:44:52] Adam: I’m calling it a tweet.
[0:44:52 – 0:44:53] Adam: It’s the tweets.
[0:44:53 – 0:44:53] Adam: It’s still a tweet.
[0:44:53 – 0:44:55] Adam: Yeah, we get to keep the term tweet.
[0:44:56 – 0:44:59] Adam: And it was the perfect term and should never have been ditched.
[0:44:59 – 0:45:01] Adam: So we’re just going to keep it now.
[0:45:02 – 0:45:02] Adam: I’m Blue Sky.
[0:45:02 – 0:45:03] SPEAKER_00: Okay.
[0:45:03 – 0:45:03] Adam: Thank you.
[0:45:03 – 0:45:05] Adam: So John Boy, thank you.
[0:45:05 – 0:45:06] Adam: John Boy, if you’re listening.
[0:45:06 – 0:45:14] Adam: Thank you, and you’re hilarious, obviously, and enjoy your storytelling very much, but I really liked your Little King joke.
[0:45:15 – 0:45:19] Adam: And now you have an island named after that tweet in Quetico.
[0:45:20 – 0:45:21] Adam: This is now Little King Island.
[0:45:21 – 0:45:21] Adam: It’s official.
[0:45:21 – 0:45:23] Adam: We wrote it on the CRISMR.
[0:45:23 – 0:45:23] Erik: It’s official.
[0:45:23 – 0:45:24] Erik: It’s on the map.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:35] Erik: Yeah, we started with definitely the smallest island we’ve ever camped on, and that is allowed because you can camp wherever you want in Quetico, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
[0:45:36 – 0:45:42] Erik: We were saying multiple times last night as we were walking around on this island, I feel bad.
[0:45:42 – 0:45:44] Erik: I feel bad being on this island.
[0:45:44 – 0:45:46] Erik: Walking around, crunching the lichen.
[0:45:46 – 0:45:50] Adam: Even if you’re going counterclockwise, it feels bad to walk on it.
[0:45:50 – 0:45:53] Adam: It’s very dry, and the lichen’s very crunchy.
[0:45:54 – 0:45:55] Erik: I feel like with the hammocks…
[0:45:55 – 0:45:57] Erik: It’s a real crunchy, boss.
[0:45:59 – 0:46:08] Erik: With the hammocks and with us not having a fire, this might be our most successful leave no trace ethic treated campsite.
[0:46:08 – 0:46:16] Erik: Not that we’re ever leaving behind trash or anything, but anytime you have a fire and a fire grate, you can tell somebody’s been there.
[0:46:17 – 0:46:20] Erik: This fire grate, I don’t know when the last time anybody’s been here.
[0:46:20 – 0:46:23] Erik: Our best guess was maybe like two years ago.
[0:46:23 – 0:46:25] Erik: There’s literal like moss growing in it.
[0:46:25 – 0:46:26] Adam: Yeah, it reminded me.
[0:46:26 – 0:46:28] Adam: It’s giving me whipped vibes.
[0:46:29 – 0:46:30] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[0:46:30 – 0:46:33] Adam: Like a fire grate that hadn’t been used in a very long time.
[0:46:33 – 0:46:33] Erik: Yeah.
[0:46:34 – 0:46:35] Adam: It’s like the old lady from the Titanic.
[0:46:36 – 0:46:36] Adam: You know what I mean?
[0:46:37 – 0:46:38] Adam: That old lion bitch?
[0:46:41 – 0:47:08] Erik: killed leo what are you doing it’s been 90 years since i’ve had a fire in this pit what does that mean there’s like a there’s a log uh old desiccated like almost petrified log that’s the end of it’s cut off and we were like when was that cut like is that was that like with like sigurd olsen out here trimming off the tip of this cedar my god like
[0:47:09 – 0:47:10] Erik: Sigurd always said, just the tip.
[0:47:11 – 0:47:12] Adam: I only burn the tip.
[0:47:12 – 0:47:13] Adam: See?
[0:47:14 – 0:47:15] Adam: Historically accurate.
[0:47:17 – 0:47:17] Adam: That checks out.
[0:47:17 – 0:47:20] Erik: Just got to hide this real quick.
[0:47:20 – 0:47:29] Erik: Yeah, so I don’t think people are coming out into these parts very often by all accounts, besides the portage clearing crew.
[0:47:29 – 0:47:33] Adam: Apparently the portage clearing crew went through, and they did leave marking tape everywhere.
[0:47:33 – 0:47:37] Adam: But yeah, these portages are like PMA-style portages on this side of the Quartico.
[0:47:38 – 0:47:38] Adam: It’s pretty rough.
[0:47:39 – 0:47:43] Erik: Yeah, I would say, yeah, pretty rough going.
[0:47:44 – 0:47:46] Erik: We kind of lost the portage a little bit yesterday.
[0:47:46 – 0:47:48] Erik: It just ended in a beaver pond.
[0:47:48 – 0:47:52] Adam: It just came down the hill into a beaver pond, and we’re like, well, what now?
[0:47:53 – 0:47:58] Adam: We kind of walked in circles, counterclockwise, obviously, until we found a flagging.
[0:47:59 – 0:48:01] Adam: It was like you had to just go hard left.
[0:48:02 – 0:48:03] Adam: And get up onto the beaver dam.
[0:48:03 – 0:48:07] Erik: You had to, like, literally walk across, like, a 50-year-old beaver dam.
[0:48:07 – 0:48:08] Erik: Grassy dams.
[0:48:09 – 0:48:10] Adam: Grassy dams.
[0:48:11 – 0:48:13] Adam: Yep, and we made it.
[0:48:13 – 0:48:15] Adam: That was, like, the longest partage of the day at, like, 140.
[0:48:16 – 0:48:17] Adam: I’m sorry, we’re doing it in meters.
[0:48:19 – 0:48:21] Adam: Let me get the map.
[0:48:21 – 0:48:24] Adam: I’ll give the weather update in Celsius, too.
[0:48:24 – 0:48:25] Erik: Oh, good.
[0:48:25 – 0:48:26] Erik: I have a weather update.
[0:48:26 – 0:48:29] Adam: All right, let’s get the map out.
[0:48:29 – 0:48:51] Adam: we got the map uh the longest portage of the day yesterday is a 420 it says here on the chrismar no way no way 420 around the beaver pond and there’s a little like campsite in there on the baptism creek apparently which i guess eric could kind of see from the water but once you’re on the portage even though it’s right there you really couldn’t see it yep
[0:48:53 – 0:48:59] Erik: Obviously, the Chris Marr doesn’t show campsites, but the Fisher’s got campsites, and those are, you know…
[0:49:00 – 0:49:02] Erik: I’ve been burned in the past.
[0:49:02 – 0:49:17] Erik: I think I’ve mentioned previous Quetico experiences where Fisher has red dots where it’s like, why are these dots on the map when you go paddling by and it’s literally just a sheer wall of Canadian shield.
[0:49:17 – 0:49:19] Erik: There’s never been a campsite here.
[0:49:19 – 0:49:21] Erik: How did a red dot get on this map?
[0:49:22 – 0:49:26] Erik: But so far, the Fisher has been pretty accurate.
[0:49:26 – 0:49:30] Erik: Not that we’ve gone by a ton, but the four sites that are marked on this lake,
[0:49:31 – 0:49:36] Erik: I wouldn’t say that they’re, like, clearly used, but you can tell they’re campsites.
[0:49:36 – 0:49:37] Erik: They’ve been camped at.
[0:49:38 – 0:49:44] Erik: But the island that we’re on here, like, when you look at the map, I thought it was, like, the backside of this big island next to us.
[0:49:44 – 0:49:47] Adam: No, the red dot is just bigger than the island.
[0:49:47 – 0:49:51] Erik: The campsite dot is larger than the island we’re camped on.
[0:49:51 – 0:49:53] Erik: So that gives you an idea of what we’re working with here.
[0:49:53 – 0:49:54] Adam: Is this an acre?
[0:49:55 – 0:49:56] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:49:56 – 0:49:56] Erik: Maybe.
[0:49:56 – 0:49:57] Erik: I would say, like, .75 acres.
[0:49:57 – 0:49:57] Erik: Okay.
[0:49:59 – 0:50:07] Adam: I’m not a good judge of how to tell what is a yard of gravel or what is an acre, but I’d say this is probably about an acre maybe.
[0:50:07 – 0:50:09] Adam: Maybe, but probably not.
[0:50:09 – 0:50:10] Adam: I’d say it’s under an acre.
[0:50:10 – 0:50:16] Erik: Yeah, I think acreage has always been like a weird little like blind spot for me that I can just never comprehend.
[0:50:16 – 0:50:20] Erik: Like people always, oh, it’s like a 7,000 acre lake.
[0:50:20 – 0:50:21] Erik: I’m like, I don’t know.
[0:50:21 – 0:50:21] Erik: Is that big?
[0:50:22 – 0:50:24] Erik: Sounds big, but what’s an acre?
[0:50:25 – 0:50:26] Adam: Yeah, I’ll put it this way.
[0:50:26 – 0:50:32] Adam: If you walked around the outside edge of this island counterclockwise, it would be about 11 rods.
[0:50:35 – 0:50:36] Adam: Does that make sense to anybody?
[0:50:37 – 0:50:37] Erik: Perfect sense.
[0:50:37 – 0:50:39] Adam: Yeah, I think so.
[0:50:39 – 0:50:40] Adam: Is that right?
[0:50:40 – 0:50:49] Erik: Yeah, there’s like a 500-year-old gnarly pine, like cedar thing on the other side of the island.
[0:50:49 – 0:50:50] Erik: I don’t even know what it is.
[0:50:50 – 0:50:53] Erik: It’s like I think maybe a crazy old jack pine.
[0:50:53 – 0:50:54] Adam: I think it’s an old jack pine back there.
[0:50:54 – 0:50:58] Adam: There is a cool old cedar, a bunch of red pine.
[0:50:59 – 0:51:01] Adam: And a couple of spruce out here.
[0:51:01 – 0:51:06] Adam: And yeah, like unlimited amounts of old lichen.
[0:51:06 – 0:51:07] Adam: Very…
[0:51:07 – 0:51:11] Adam: Pretty little like pink flowers everywhere right now that are in bloom.
[0:51:12 – 0:51:13] Adam: It’s a magical place here.
[0:51:13 – 0:51:14] Erik: Yeah, very crispy though.
[0:51:16 – 0:51:21] Erik: I think I’ve mentioned this already, but when I heard that there was a fire ban, I was a bit…
[0:51:22 – 0:51:42] Erik: I was a bit incredulous, and now that we’re out here, it kind of makes sense for this time of year for it to be, especially on those portages yesterday, those things look like they could have literally had, like, water flowing down them most of the year, and they were not super muddy, which for the fire ban, I guess, makes sense, and, you know,
[0:51:43 – 0:51:44] Erik: It is what it is.
[0:51:44 – 0:51:52] Erik: I think after last night and the warmth that we’re experiencing, I don’t know if it’s going to make the trip any less enjoyable to not have a fire.
[0:51:53 – 0:52:04] Erik: It’s kind of nice to be able to get into camp and not have to worry about going out and getting firewood, even though this island is literally all dead down firewood.
[0:52:04 – 0:52:04] Erik: We could have had a…
[0:52:05 – 0:52:09] Adam: Yeah, we wood gnomed it hard because there’s a huge stack down where I put the hammock.
[0:52:10 – 0:52:13] Adam: It should have been my first clue as to don’t put a hammock here.
[0:52:13 – 0:52:17] Adam: There’s a huge pile of firewood laying right, and that’s how I ended up finding a little stump.
[0:52:18 – 0:52:23] Adam: Because I moved a whole pile of firewood, and then there’s a little weird stump down there, and I had to cut that.
[0:52:23 – 0:52:25] Adam: So that was the only cut made with the saw so far.
[0:52:25 – 0:52:30] Adam: Nothing on the portaging, and yeah, just one little butt killer underneath the hammock.
[0:52:30 – 0:52:36] Erik: We did have to actuate the Sven saw last night, but just for the murder stick that we had to cut out.
[0:52:38 – 0:52:39] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:52:40 – 0:52:49] Erik: I don’t think I’m fully prepared to say that fires are overrated, but I don’t think it should affect your decision as to whether to come out here or not.
[0:52:49 – 0:52:52] Adam: Bring a little lantern thing, and the ambiance will be ideal.
[0:52:52 – 0:52:53] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:52:53 – 0:52:54] Adam: Ambiance.
[0:52:58 – 0:52:59] Erik: Yesterday was pretty warm.
[0:53:00 – 0:53:01] Erik: It’s going to be another hot one today.
[0:53:01 – 0:53:02] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:53:02 – 0:53:09] Erik: The last thing that you really want to do, I think, when you get into camp and you’ve been baked by the sun all day is sit next to a crackling fire.
[0:53:10 – 0:53:10] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:53:11 – 0:53:20] Erik: You’re going to just have to deal with that lack of sweet crackling fire audio and refer to older in-the-field episodes if that’s what you’re craving.
[0:53:20 – 0:53:26] Erik: It’s just going to be the din of candelabra, wind in the trees, birds…
[0:53:27 – 0:53:30] Erik: And smoke on the nose.
[0:53:31 – 0:53:32] Erik: Frickin’ Vireos.
[0:53:32 – 0:53:34] Erik: Frickin’ Vireos, man.
[0:53:34 – 0:53:52] Erik: Yeah, we only have two portages today to get down to our goal of the, hopefully, the island on Cache Lake, which has kind of always just been a gleaming beacon of some place that I knew I always wanted to get to.
[0:53:52 – 0:53:54] Erik: There’s something about a lake that has two portages
[0:53:56 – 0:54:00] Erik: 3,000 plus meter portages to get into.
[0:54:01 – 0:54:05] Erik: That’s always just been like, yeah, probably not a lot of people are going there.
[0:54:06 – 0:54:10] Erik: We’re not even like halfway there on the map in terms of mileage.
[0:54:10 – 0:54:13] Erik: And it already feels like nobody comes to baptism.
[0:54:13 – 0:54:16] Erik: So how quiet is Cache Lake going to be?
[0:54:16 – 0:54:17] Erik: Probably pretty quiet.
[0:54:18 – 0:54:22] Adam: I’d say that we’re unlikely to see anybody on this trip at this point.
[0:54:22 – 0:54:24] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:54:24 – 0:54:27] Adam: Apparently the portage crew went through there, but it is going to be a beast.
[0:54:28 – 0:54:39] Adam: It looks like you have to cross the Cache River about a little before halfway on that portage, so we’re going to treat it as two long portages with a short river crossing in the middle.
[0:54:39 – 0:54:40] Erik: And a…
[0:54:41 – 0:54:46] Erik: A portage caprese snack halfway we were already discussing.
[0:54:46 – 0:54:50] Adam: We should eat more basil at that break halfway there when we’re crossing the river.
[0:54:50 – 0:54:51] Adam: Eat a bunch of basil.
[0:54:51 – 0:54:53] Erik: We do have a lot of basil.
[0:54:53 – 0:54:54] Erik: So much basil.
[0:54:54 – 0:54:55] Adam: I stuffed it all in there.
[0:54:56 – 0:54:58] Adam: I took the whole tub and I stuffed it into a little bag.
[0:55:00 – 0:55:01] Adam: That’s how you buy bulk basil, folks.
[0:55:02 – 0:55:02] Adam: That’s how you do it.
[0:55:03 – 0:55:04] Adam: Get the tongs in there.
[0:55:06 – 0:55:10] Adam: Yeah, so trousers and then into cash is the plan.
[0:55:10 – 0:55:14] Adam: And I do have a fishing license that activates at noon today.
[0:55:14 – 0:55:15] Adam: Ooh, baby.
[0:55:15 – 0:55:20] Adam: And I do have my fishing pole still strapped into the M1 over there laying in the bushes.
[0:55:21 – 0:55:24] Adam: And it’s wired into the gunnels with no reel on it.
[0:55:24 – 0:55:25] Adam: I did the whole thing.
[0:55:26 – 0:55:27] Adam: I took the rod apart.
[0:55:27 – 0:55:28] Adam: I took the reel off.
[0:55:28 – 0:55:32] Adam: The reel is in the blue pack, which goes in the yellow pack.
[0:55:33 – 0:55:33] Adam: Oh, no.
[0:55:33 – 0:55:34] Adam: Oh, no.
[0:55:35 – 0:55:44] Adam: And I got line and everything on there, and then I have three little Cleos with barbed hooks, barbless hooks.
[0:55:44 – 0:55:49] Adam: I crimped the barbs down with a vice grip and pinched my finger the night before the trip.
[0:55:49 – 0:55:55] Erik: I feel like we have some potential loon bleeps in here, but we’ll for sure have to loon bleep that one out.
[0:55:55 – 0:55:57] Adam: Oh, I was just misspoke.
[0:55:57 – 0:55:58] Adam: I know.
[0:55:58 – 0:55:59] Adam: We’re definitely not using barbed.
[0:55:59 – 0:56:00] Adam: I have single hooks also.
[0:56:00 – 0:56:02] Adam: I’m not using a treble.
[0:56:02 – 0:56:03] Adam: I’m not a monster, Eric.
[0:56:03 – 0:56:08] Erik: We’ve got barbed treble hooks, a bunch of live suckers.
[0:56:08 – 0:56:11] Adam: I got a little bit of lure with a lot of hook.
[0:56:11 – 0:56:14] Adam: I added a little lure to my hook for this trip.
[0:56:14 – 0:56:16] Adam: So, yeah, everything’s, like, packed away.
[0:56:16 – 0:56:22] Adam: I have to, like, assemble the rod today when we get to cash, and then maybe we can go out for a little, like,
[0:56:22 – 0:56:51] Adam: trolling run at sunset or something just do a trolling run down to the island there we go i guess all right uh i don’t know how you even judge sunset because it’s so so smoky that the sun disappeared on us it just disappeared like 10 fingers before the horizon even it just turned into a red dot where you could just stare at it like you’re wearing eclipse glasses and then it just disappeared with 10 fingers above the horizon gone like it’s still light out but the sun’s gone yeah
[0:56:51 – 0:56:53] Adam: That’s how smoky it is out here.
[0:56:53 – 0:57:02] Adam: The forecast was that the winds tonight are supposed to shift more straight north, and then that will take the smoke plume away from us.
[0:57:02 – 0:57:06] Adam: Then we’re supposed to have clear, smoke-free skies after this evening.
[0:57:08 – 0:57:09] Adam: Yesterday was pretty smoky.
[0:57:09 – 0:57:13] Adam: I woke up to bloody ears and whiffs of smoke right away this morning.
[0:57:13 – 0:57:18] Adam: I don’t know if it’s really affecting us, but it’s noticeable.
[0:57:19 – 0:57:20] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:57:20 – 0:57:25] Erik: Maybe I’m just becoming more, like, nose-blind to it, but I definitely woke up to the smell of smoke.
[0:57:25 – 0:57:26] Erik: You can still see it in the sky.
[0:57:27 – 0:57:27] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:57:27 – 0:57:29] Erik: It’s not really bothering me, though.
[0:57:29 – 0:57:35] Erik: It’s not, uh, noticeable or, uh, you know, it’s not affecting the nasal cavities.
[0:57:36 – 0:57:36] Erik: Um…
[0:57:38 – 0:57:39] Erik: And, yeah, I don’t know.
[0:57:39 – 0:57:39] Erik: We’ll see.
[0:57:40 – 0:57:45] Erik: Once it clears out and it actually, if it does blow out, maybe I will regret saying that.
[0:57:45 – 0:57:47] Erik: It doesn’t seem to be affecting me in any way.
[0:57:47 – 0:57:52] Erik: But if we get a pure blue sky at some point here, it could change things.
[0:57:52 – 0:57:56] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:57:56 – 0:57:58] Erik: I’m not too affected by the smoke.
[0:57:59 – 0:57:59] SPEAKER_00: Maybe I’m just used to it.
[0:58:02 – 0:58:04] Adam: We’re going to give the grades.
[0:58:05 – 0:58:05] Adam: What’s the fire?
[0:58:06 – 0:58:11] Adam: This fire pit, I think I said last night, is one of my, usually we kind of like rebuild a Quetico fire pit.
[0:58:13 – 0:58:15] Adam: I would not touch this one.
[0:58:15 – 0:58:17] Adam: If we were going to have a fire, it’s perfect.
[0:58:17 – 0:58:18] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[0:58:18 – 0:58:19] Erik: It’s pretty good.
[0:58:20 – 0:58:32] Erik: It’s not like the huge volcano of 20 years worth of ash that you have to usually kick over, or the huge built-up pile of rocks where it’s like, do you need to have a campfire four feet up off the ground?
[0:58:32 – 0:58:33] Erik: What is going on here?
[0:58:34 – 0:58:35] Erik: You’ve seen that so many different times.
[0:58:35 – 0:58:39] Erik: This one’s like, maybe it’s just because it doesn’t get used that much, but it’s like…
[0:58:40 – 0:58:47] Erik: It’s what you would think of if you were like, I’m going to build from scratch a fire pit area to control the ash and block the wind a little bit.
[0:58:48 – 0:58:48] Erik: It makes sense.
[0:58:49 – 0:58:49] Adam: It’s very tasteful.
[0:58:50 – 0:58:50] Adam: Yeah.
[0:58:50 – 0:58:56] Adam: And it’s a nice oval shape with the backside away from the lake being the taller edge.
[0:58:57 – 0:59:02] Adam: And there’s one big rock in the middle, which I kind of wiggled to see if you could remove it.
[0:59:02 – 0:59:04] Adam: But I think it’s there intentionally.
[0:59:05 – 0:59:10] Adam: You could, like, rest a kettle on it or a little grate on there.
[0:59:10 – 0:59:17] Adam: That would be a good spot to cook your nacho biters if you so need it.
[0:59:17 – 0:59:19] Erik: Individually toasted on a grate?
[0:59:19 – 0:59:20] Adam: There we go.
[0:59:21 – 0:59:23] Adam: The fire grate gets high marks here on Little King Island.
[0:59:23 – 0:59:26] Adam: I don’t know if there’s anything that’s not going to get high marks here.
[0:59:26 – 0:59:26] Adam: It’s just…
[0:59:26 – 0:59:28] Adam: Honestly, the whole island gets an A+.
[0:59:29 – 0:59:29] Adam: Love it.
[0:59:30 – 0:59:31] Adam: The landing is great.
[0:59:31 – 0:59:34] Adam: That little landing down here we pulled into last night.
[0:59:34 – 0:59:37] Erik: Perfect little sandy landing on a whole…
[0:59:37 – 0:59:40] Erik: The whole island is just like a slab of rock, yet they’re…
[0:59:40 – 0:59:44] Erik: Manages to be just one little notch of a nice gravelly, sandy landing.
[0:59:44 – 0:59:47] Adam: Yeah, I wonder how much the water level fluctuates here in Baptism Lake.
[0:59:48 – 0:59:51] Adam: You can kind of see some lines on the rocks.
[0:59:51 – 0:59:58] Adam: Maybe it gets a little higher than this, but maybe we’re currently at a high-water mark, and therefore this landing is very nice.
[0:59:58 – 0:59:58] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:59:58 – 1:00:06] Adam: You’ve heard that before where you’re like, oh, this spot was really good, and then you hear somebody say, oh, the landing’s horrible in high water or in low water.
[1:00:06 – 1:00:07] Adam: I don’t know.
[1:00:08 – 1:00:11] Adam: Right now, the landing’s really good in… Where are we?
[1:00:11 – 1:00:12] Adam: It’s still May.
[1:00:12 – 1:00:13] Erik: Yeah, it is still May somehow.
[1:00:13 – 1:00:14] Adam: Still May.
[1:00:14 – 1:00:16] Erik: Doesn’t feel like it, but…
[1:00:16 – 1:00:17] Adam: Right now, really great landing.
[1:00:18 – 1:00:23] Adam: We made it work with a couple of hammocks, but I think if you had more than two people…
[1:00:24 – 1:00:33] Adam: You’d figure out a way to get more than two people hammocked in here, but you’d have to play a little puzzle game trying to work it.
[1:00:33 – 1:00:34] Adam: But you could work it.
[1:00:34 – 1:00:36] Erik: I think you could do three for sure.
[1:00:36 – 1:00:37] Erik: Four would be pushing it.
[1:00:37 – 1:00:39] Erik: There’s no way, I think, without doing like…
[1:00:39 – 1:01:07] Erik: full like maintenance on this place you’d be able to get a tent in here anywhere comfortably unless you had like just a little one person like bivy sack maybe you could nestle in right behind us here but you’d almost have to split up if you had a big group out here you’d have to have like the hammock boys over on the little island and then the the ground pounders over on the big island on the other side i did we didn’t get out and look at that one but there might be more tent space over there i don’t know island is at least 10 times bigger than this island and you can
[1:01:08 – 1:01:11] Adam: You could throw a rock over and hit that island right from here even.
[1:01:11 – 1:01:12] Adam: It’s right there.
[1:01:13 – 1:01:29] Erik: I think the only downside to this island would be, and this is a great reason to camp here on night one, is if anybody out there is experiencing wilderness trips in the past can maybe relate, but I know both me and Adam can relate.
[1:01:29 – 1:01:36] Erik: My internal workings don’t start pushing out waste for like…
[1:01:37 – 1:01:59] Erik: oh two days into a trip out here i see where you’re going it’s like it never fails i almost to a point that it starts to get worrying and then it just starts flowing and then you’re you’re back to regular but like it’s like two days the first two days out here especially in quetico i don’t know what it is we got the little shovel it’s the basil it’s that basil uh but it’s not it’s not a big enough island if you had to like
[1:02:00 – 1:02:29] Erik: actually go out and try and dig like you’d be way too close to the water there’s no privacy so like you’d have to almost like get in the canoe and go over to the other island and use that as like a a decent place to go and uh dig a cat hole but i don’t i’m not too worried about it this morning i feel no i feel no movement occurring um this morning i’ve had three cups of coffee now i got nothing working for me so yeah we’ll save that one for the portage you ever uh you ever take a dump on a portage
[1:02:32 – 1:02:33] Adam: Because this would be the day.
[1:02:34 – 1:02:35] Adam: This probably would be the day.
[1:02:35 – 1:02:37] Adam: This would be the day to maybe it’ll be another first.
[1:02:38 – 1:02:39] Adam: Yeah, my gosh.
[1:02:39 – 1:02:40] Adam: This is a trip of firsts.
[1:02:40 – 1:02:41] Adam: Many firsts.
[1:02:41 – 1:02:42] Erik: I guess, yeah.
[1:02:43 – 1:02:44] Adam: Depends on… Sleep with your sandals on.
[1:02:44 – 1:02:45] Adam: Bleed from the ear.
[1:02:45 – 1:02:46] Adam: Bleed from the ear.
[1:02:47 – 1:02:48] Adam: Take a dump on a portage.
[1:02:48 – 1:02:50] Adam: Take a dump on a portage.
[1:02:50 – 1:02:50] Adam: Click them all off.
[1:02:51 – 1:02:52] Adam: I’m running out of fingers here.
[1:02:52 – 1:02:54] Erik: Triangle cheese biters.
[1:02:54 – 1:02:55] Adam: There’s four, so I only got the thumb left.
[1:02:55 – 1:02:57] Adam: I got one more first to give.
[1:02:58 – 1:03:00] Erik: Have we ever had a caprese salad?
[1:03:00 – 1:03:00] Adam: There’s five.
[1:03:00 – 1:03:01] Adam: There we go.
[1:03:01 – 1:03:07] Adam: All right, so we do have to poop on the portage today to complete that, but it’s going to be magical somewhere out there.
[1:03:07 – 1:03:08] Adam: Somewhere out there.
[1:03:10 – 1:03:11] Adam: It’s probably going to happen.
[1:03:11 – 1:03:14] Adam: Anybody out there listening ever had to poop on a portage, tell us your tale.
[1:03:14 – 1:03:15] Adam: Tell us your tale, traveler.
[1:03:15 – 1:03:18] Adam: Tumblehome at gmail.com.
[1:03:18 – 1:03:21] Adam: Tumblehomecast at gmail.com.
[1:03:21 – 1:03:22] Erik: Tell us your tale.
[1:03:22 – 1:03:24] Erik: Where’s the craziest place you’ve ever dumped?
[1:03:26 – 1:03:46] Erik: gotta know we’ll put it up on the subreddit when we get home although i do have enough internet out here i could probably post it to the subreddit right now yeah we did uh we did fire up the phone this morning to check in to see uh how the uh stanley cup playoffs were shaking out and we’re getting uh we’re getting a rematch of last year connor mcdavid’s back for blood
[1:03:47 – 1:03:49] Adam: He’s bleeding from both ears.
[1:03:49 – 1:03:50] Adam: He wants it bad.
[1:03:50 – 1:03:52] Erik: He’s going to rip their faces off.
[1:03:53 – 1:03:54] Erik: I’m all in on the Oilers again.
[1:03:54 – 1:03:55] Adam: Let’s go.
[1:03:55 – 1:03:58] Adam: We’re going to get that oil drop tattoo if they win this year for sure.
[1:03:59 – 1:04:06] Adam: But, yeah, we are able to check the Oilers score, and I haven’t even had to use the satellite texting yet.
[1:04:07 – 1:04:10] Adam: Although I was assured by the Rangers that it will work here in Canada.
[1:04:10 – 1:04:11] Adam: Yeah.
[1:04:11 – 1:04:13] Adam: Because they asked about our comms.
[1:04:13 – 1:04:15] Adam: What’s your comms set up?
[1:04:15 – 1:04:15] UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[1:04:16 – 1:04:17] Adam: I got an iPhone.
[1:04:17 – 1:04:19] Adam: Okay, you’re all good then, I guess.
[1:04:19 – 1:04:21] Adam: Would they have let us come out here if we didn’t have comms?
[1:04:21 – 1:04:22] Adam: I don’t know.
[1:04:23 – 1:04:26] Erik: I don’t know how that whole interaction would have gone.
[1:04:26 – 1:04:30] Adam: They, like, recorded everything about us down to the color of our packs.
[1:04:30 – 1:04:31] Adam: And hammocks.
[1:04:31 – 1:04:33] Adam: And hammock color, Eric.
[1:04:33 – 1:04:36] Erik: I said I had an orange one, and then I pulled out my hammock, and it’s not orange.
[1:04:36 – 1:04:45] Erik: So if we get lost out here, I’m about as screwed as that powwow trail guy that got lost and his tent got snowed on.
[1:04:46 – 1:04:47] Adam: They’re never going to find you.
[1:04:47 – 1:04:50] Erik: Just going to be out here looking for an orange hammock for the rest of their lives.
[1:04:50 – 1:04:51] Adam: Rescue mission failed.
[1:04:51 – 1:04:54] Erik: God damn it.
[1:04:54 – 1:04:55] Erik: Yeah, that was interesting.
[1:04:56 – 1:04:58] Erik: They kind of took our itinerary, more or less.
[1:04:59 – 1:05:02] Adam: That’s like we had told anybody where we’re going.
[1:05:02 – 1:05:04] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:04 – 1:05:05] Adam: They fingerprinted us.
[1:05:06 – 1:05:06] Erik: Yeah.
[1:05:06 – 1:05:07] Adam: They took all.
[1:05:07 – 1:05:08] Erik: Retina scans.
[1:05:08 – 1:05:11] Adam: They probably actually came out here in the night and took a blood sample out of my ear.
[1:05:11 – 1:05:12] Adam: That’s probably what happened.
[1:05:12 – 1:05:13] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:13 – 1:05:17] Erik: You’re going to get your 23andMe results back when we stop in at the ranger station on Sunday.
[1:05:17 – 1:05:19] Adam: All Slovakian.
[1:05:20 – 1:05:22] SPEAKER_00: I don’t know about that, boss.
[1:05:22 – 1:05:23] Adam: I don’t like it.
[1:05:24 – 1:05:25] Adam: This is the worst.
[1:05:25 – 1:05:29] Adam: My Peter Lorre’s just keep getting worse and worse the more I try.
[1:05:29 – 1:05:29] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:29 – 1:05:32] Erik: Everybody at home is keeping track, and yeah, it’s degrading.
[1:05:32 – 1:05:34] Adam: The ratings are going right in the tubes.
[1:05:34 – 1:05:36] Adam: Peter Lorre has been degraded.
[1:05:38 – 1:05:39] Erik: I don’t know what else there is to say.
[1:05:41 – 1:05:45] Erik: The intangibles are probably what, I would say, lifts this.
[1:05:46 – 1:06:11] Erik: this island you know if you were to just take pick this island up and and drop it into the boundary waters and it was a campsite oh i don’t even know what it would look like it would just be a it would just be a dirt pit you know or people have scraped back the like how long would it take do you think for some of those sites where you see those tent pads where they’re just like it’s just down to like packed dirt like is that even read like can you even regenerate that it’s been tamped
[1:06:11 – 1:06:14] Erik: Yeah, it’s like the soil has, like, been gasolined.
[1:06:14 – 1:06:21] Erik: Like, it seems like nothing is ever going to grow here again, which leads me to even more, like, anti-tent sentiment.
[1:06:22 – 1:06:23] Adam: Yeah, I agree.
[1:06:23 – 1:06:24] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know.
[1:06:24 – 1:06:29] Adam: A tent wouldn’t belong on this island and wouldn’t be recommended or feasible to even try.
[1:06:29 – 1:06:36] Erik: Yeah, I mean, I felt bad just putting a hammock and scraping off some of, like, the bark off of the pines last night, but I’m like, this still beats the hell out of, like…
[1:06:37 – 1:06:59] Adam: scraping out the ground to get a nice uh smooth soft spot for a dumb tent there there’s a spot right over here by the fire pit that sort of looks a little like packed um but otherwise yeah i mean and there’s some cut logs obviously it’s been used as a campsite and you can see the the use but yeah
[1:07:00 – 1:07:04] Adam: As we said earlier in the track, I don’t think anybody camped here last year even.
[1:07:05 – 1:07:11] Adam: And we’re almost certainly the first people to camp here this year, although there’s been a fire ban on for the last four days.
[1:07:11 – 1:07:12] Adam: So I don’t know.
[1:07:12 – 1:07:14] Adam: Maybe somebody camped here a couple days ago and didn’t have a fire.
[1:07:14 – 1:07:19] Adam: But it does not appear that anybody’s been here any time in the recent history.
[1:07:20 – 1:07:23] Erik: Nope, I don’t think I’ve seen even a piece of micro litter.
[1:07:23 – 1:07:28] Erik: Even like we were saying, just walking around on the lichen was like, I felt bad.
[1:07:28 – 1:07:35] Erik: But even just like leaving footprints on the little like gravelly beach down there is just like, oh no, we’re leaving footprints behind.
[1:07:35 – 1:07:37] Erik: That’s just how like untouched this campsite feels.
[1:07:38 – 1:07:46] Erik: But in the grand scheme of things, I think we’re going to do a pretty good job of… We’ll bust out the Coghlan’s camp rake and smooth it out like a…
[1:07:47 – 1:07:49] Erik: Like a sand trap at Augusta before we head out.
[1:07:49 – 1:07:52] Adam: I was going to leave it real majestic.
[1:07:52 – 1:07:55] Erik: Or like one of those zen gardens.
[1:07:55 – 1:07:58] Erik: We’ll do like a kind of yin-yang design on the way out.
[1:07:58 – 1:08:00] Erik: Yeah, do the landing that way.
[1:08:02 – 1:08:04] Erik: Yeah, A-plus all around.
[1:08:04 – 1:08:07] Erik: A-plus just in general to be back out here.
[1:08:09 – 1:08:12] Erik: And, yeah, I don’t know if we’re doing anything for breakfast.
[1:08:12 – 1:08:16] Erik: We’ve got a whole sack of pre-made breakfast burritos.
[1:08:16 – 1:08:19] Erik: We could throw a couple of those in the cast iron.
[1:08:19 – 1:08:20] Adam: I think I could go for a burrito, honestly.
[1:08:20 – 1:08:21] Erik: You’ve got a couple.
[1:08:22 – 1:08:23] Erik: Gas me up, bro.
[1:08:23 – 1:08:24] Erik: You’ve got to get gassed up.
[1:08:24 – 1:08:26] Erik: We can’t go into that portage empty stomached.
[1:08:27 – 1:08:31] Adam: We got a little teensy portage to get to Trousers, which isn’t even going to blip the radar.
[1:08:31 – 1:08:33] Adam: It’s just going to be a little paddle.
[1:08:33 – 1:08:37] Adam: We can basically carry the whole canoe over that and paddle all the way down to the big portage.
[1:08:37 – 1:08:38] Erik: 60 meters?
[1:08:38 – 1:08:39] Erik: Is that what it says on the map?
[1:08:39 – 1:08:40] Adam: 60 meters.
[1:08:40 – 1:08:41] Adam: Oh, I promised a weather update.
[1:08:42 – 1:08:43] Adam: I promised a weather update.
[1:08:43 – 1:08:46] Adam: If anybody cares, I’m going to give you the weather update.
[1:08:47 – 1:08:49] Adam: I took a picture at the ranger station.
[1:08:49 – 1:08:50] Adam: They had this printed out.
[1:08:51 – 1:08:53] Adam: Thursday, the high was 27 degrees.
[1:08:55 – 1:08:56] Adam: And the low of 13 last night.
[1:08:56 – 1:08:57] Adam: It was a warm night.
[1:08:57 – 1:08:59] Adam: Maybe that’s why I got bit up.
[1:08:59 – 1:09:02] Adam: But very few bugs actually out here on Little King Island.
[1:09:03 – 1:09:09] Adam: Forecast for today is clearing 26 degrees with a low of 4 tonight.
[1:09:10 – 1:09:13] Adam: And so tonight’s going to be our coldest night.
[1:09:13 – 1:09:18] Adam: And then Saturday the 31st is a high of 23 degrees.
[1:09:20 – 1:09:22] Adam: A mix of sun and clouds and fun.
[1:09:22 – 1:09:24] Adam: What kind of forecast are they using up here?
[1:09:24 – 1:09:24] Adam: Wow.
[1:09:24 – 1:09:25] Adam: You can’t forecast that.
[1:09:26 – 1:09:28] Adam: Humidity was 98% yesterday.
[1:09:28 – 1:09:29] Adam: Pressure was at 101.9 kPa.
[1:09:32 – 1:09:35] Adam: And the dew point was at 5.5 degrees.
[1:09:35 – 1:09:36] Adam: It seems low.
[1:09:37 – 1:09:38] Adam: Yeah, it’s dry, but humid.
[1:09:39 – 1:09:39] Adam: How does that work?
[1:09:40 – 1:09:41] Adam: How does the dew point even work, Eric?
[1:09:42 – 1:09:44] Erik: It’s the temperature at which dew is formed.
[1:09:44 – 1:09:45] Adam: Thank you.
[1:09:46 – 1:09:46] Adam: Ding.
[1:09:46 – 1:09:47] Adam: Check that.
[1:09:47 – 1:09:48] Adam: Where’s our little bell?
[1:09:48 – 1:09:50] Adam: We did add the little bell.
[1:09:52 – 1:10:01] Adam: Sunday is the warmest day of the trip, and I think at that point the wind is supposed to come down to almost nothing by Saturday evening into Sunday.
[1:10:01 – 1:10:02] Adam: It’s going to be nice and calm.
[1:10:03 – 1:10:04] Adam: High on Sunday.
[1:10:04 – 1:10:07] Adam: June 1st is 27 degrees.
[1:10:07 – 1:10:10] Adam: It’s going to be a pretty nice day.
[1:10:10 – 1:10:14] Adam: Saturday going into Sunday looks like just ideal, and we probably will end up swimming.
[1:10:14 – 1:10:15] Adam: I think we’ll have to.
[1:10:16 – 1:10:17] Erik: Here’s your weather update.
[1:10:17 – 1:10:20] Erik: Here’s your weather update for everybody following along at home.
[1:10:21 – 1:10:43] Erik: we’re we’re uh cash lake or bust today and uh yeah we’ll wait and see how it goes but it almost seems like it might be an out to cash and then back up here for a staging for an exit i don’t want to think about that yet no i totally i could totally see a world in which we end up back on little king island on the last night of the trip and that would be ideal actually
[1:10:43 – 1:10:44] Erik: It would, yeah.
[1:10:44 – 1:10:46] Adam: Who knows what we’ll find out there.
[1:10:46 – 1:10:50] Erik: We might go by a glorious spot out on Trousers.
[1:10:50 – 1:10:52] Adam: Yeah, we gotta try, yeah.
[1:10:53 – 1:10:58] Adam: But yeah, the route in yesterday was more challenging than it looked like on paper, for sure.
[1:10:59 – 1:11:00] Adam: My knees are a little creaky.
[1:11:01 – 1:11:05] Adam: I took some ibuprofen, like more preemptive ibuprofen for the portage ahead.
[1:11:06 – 1:11:08] Adam: Not so much a reaction to the portage behind.
[1:11:08 – 1:11:09] Adam: The portage of the past.
[1:11:10 – 1:11:12] Adam: I’m thinking about the portage of the future.
[1:11:13 – 1:11:14] Erik: It’s a good mindset to be in.
[1:11:14 – 1:11:20] Adam: So I took two ibuprofen just because my knees were creaking a little bit and I don’t think it’s because I slept with my sandals on.
[1:11:22 – 1:11:27] Adam: Just because those portages were, you know, four of them yesterday and four in change, I would say.
[1:11:28 – 1:11:33] Adam: And they weren’t long, but they were, you know, they were pretty rough.
[1:11:34 – 1:11:36] Erik: Yeah, they were technical.
[1:11:36 – 1:11:39] Adam: They were technical portages for those distances, really.
[1:11:39 – 1:11:41] Erik: And they’re the first portages of the year.
[1:11:41 – 1:11:47] Adam: Always feels a little tougher that first day and a half of camping into your canoe season, you know.
[1:11:47 – 1:11:48] Adam: It does…
[1:11:48 – 1:11:57] Adam: It hits your knees a little different, but I’m confident that by the time we come back through them that we’ll be flying through them, and we’ll be going with the current on the way out.
[1:11:57 – 1:12:03] Adam: If you’re paddling against the current, pulling up over beaver dams, a lot of those we’ll be able to just shoot them.
[1:12:03 – 1:12:04] SPEAKER_00: That’ll be nice.
[1:12:04 – 1:12:05] Adam: Yeah, it will be fun.
[1:12:05 – 1:12:06] Erik: A lot of fun.
[1:12:06 – 1:12:09] Erik: It should be a little quicker, too, heading on the way out.
[1:12:09 – 1:12:14] Erik: But, yeah, like you said, on the map, it’s like, oh, that’s all the farther we went, and it still took us, like, kind of longer than I thought.
[1:12:14 – 1:12:16] Adam: Three, four hours of travel yesterday.
[1:12:16 – 1:12:21] Adam: It’s a lot of winding, a lot of turning, and you never really get into, like, a strong, like…
[1:12:22 – 1:12:25] Erik: But even by the time we got on to baptism, I was just like, I just need like a lake.
[1:12:25 – 1:12:27] Erik: I just want some water to paddle.
[1:12:27 – 1:12:29] Erik: And that is what we have ahead of us today.
[1:12:29 – 1:12:30] Erik: I’m looking forward to that.
[1:12:31 – 1:12:38] Erik: I don’t know if I necessarily am not looking forward to that big portage, but I’m not like dreading it either.
[1:12:38 – 1:12:39] Adam: I’m not dreading it.
[1:12:39 – 1:12:39] Adam: It’ll be fine.
[1:12:40 – 1:12:44] Adam: Like the rangers were like, oh, that’s a real nasty portage.
[1:12:44 – 1:12:46] Adam: And we’re like, we like portaging.
[1:12:46 – 1:12:47] Erik: And I was like, it’s not even named.
[1:12:47 – 1:12:48] Erik: How bad can it be?
[1:12:48 – 1:12:49] Erik: All the worst ones are named.
[1:12:49 – 1:12:52] Erik: And she’s like, oh, no, it’s because it’s not named.
[1:12:52 – 1:12:53] Erik: Get out of here, Skyler.
[1:12:53 – 1:12:54] Erik: You don’t know what you’re talking about.
[1:12:56 – 1:12:57] Adam: You haven’t even done it?
[1:12:58 – 1:12:58] Adam: Yeah.
[1:12:58 – 1:13:02] Adam: You haven’t been – you’ve got to do a whole summer in the station before they let you in the field.
[1:13:02 – 1:13:04] Adam: You don’t even know what you’re talking about.
[1:13:04 – 1:13:06] Adam: But we’ll find out and we’ll report back.
[1:13:06 – 1:13:07] Adam: Yeah.
[1:13:07 – 1:13:10] Adam: Probably on the next track, actually.
[1:13:10 – 1:13:10] Erik: Yeah.
[1:13:10 – 1:13:12] Adam: Probably on the next episode, actually.
[1:13:12 – 1:13:14] Adam: Next week you’ll find out how bad was the portage.
[1:13:14 – 1:13:15] Adam: Yeah.
[1:13:15 – 1:13:16] Adam: Did Adam’s knees hold up?
[1:13:18 – 1:13:19] Adam: How much blood came out of his ear?
[1:13:19 – 1:13:21] Adam: Is he bleeding from the other ear now?
[1:13:21 – 1:13:26] Adam: How much basil can one person eat in a 24-hour period, and did they poop on the portage?
[1:13:27 – 1:13:29] Erik: What are toxic levels of basil intake?
[1:13:29 – 1:13:33] Adam: All these questions will be answered on the next episode of Tumble Home, live in the field.
[1:13:35 – 1:13:38] UNKNOWN: Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew.
[1:13:39 – 1:13:40] UNKNOWN: Tumble Home.
[1:13:41 – 1:13:42] UNKNOWN: Tumble Home.
