The flies !! .. The Flies !!

As we were paddling the Superior Canadian shore I used to think how nice it will be on the warm sand beach south shore.. The swarms of biting 'fish flies' have sadly dashed such thoughts and frankly if this cooler change in the weather doesn't lessen the severity.. I'll call it good on this kayak trip? Maybe... The unseasonably hot humid June weather has these flies swarming in a feeding frenzy. Worst camping experience of my life.. It caused me to go all out yesterday to reach Grand Marais Michigan with a strong SW offshore 15 to 25 knot wind gusting to 30 and creating an on again off again headwind from shoreline effect.. I had to stay tight to shore which the nasty flies took notice of. I stopped just once after a mile or two to access a headset and bug repellant .. I drained the bottles of Natrapel and donned the headnet toward the end until the final 2 miles where I lost the windbreak of shore with only the sandbar to clinge closely to...I finally made it into the Harbor. My impinged shoulder problem took a real beating .. 10 hours nonstop other than the one to prepare for the horrid day of battling biting flies and stiff headwind. 36 mile day. I think the day before was similar distance though fewer hours paddling time in idealic conditions. Today.. A fairly strong NW wind.. Im not sure id say windbound conditions but I planned to stay here 2 nights.. Maybe more depending on conditions. I broke one of my foot braces.. Wonder if the outfitter store would carry such a thing? I have my sleeping bag..dry bag up in front of my feet so I'll get by either way.

The first photo was my unbearable cooking of dinner.. Which I ate in the tent never to come out until morning. .. The other photos were taken in the morning when they were a little subdued and not quite so thick. 30 of the nasty creatures made it into my tent with me despite my efforts to chase them away from the door. It seemed to just get them crazy!

Mouth of the Two Hearted River where I took my only break. I had 4 snack bars and drank from the lake often. No lunch.. 10 hours of nonstop paddling. I was loopy for several hours once I got to the campground. Such was the. Seriousness of the swarming flies!!