These were the only Pukaskwa structures we saw. The structures on and near Richardson's Island are well known and likely the most visited. I had maps of the Pukaskwa coast with many more that I borrowed out to a 'friend' kayaker but lost track of them and eventually forgot who I borrowed them to. Prehistoric peoples of this area, I've heard about 1,000 years ago, made them? The use or purpose can only be theorized.
The camping at the Cascade River is nice. We had a nice dinner which included fried lake trout caught earlier in the day. We slept in a bit getting on the water about 8:45. It was a warm morning and the warmest paddling we'd had so far. We decided to check out the Pukaskwa Pits at Richardson's Island and that's where we had lunch. The weather changed a bit during lunch with developing clouds and a NW wind which pushed us along nicely. We wanted to get as far around the corner as possible due to predicted strong NW winds tomorrow. The shore now runs nearly east and west rather than the north and south of the National Park's shore. As it turned out we camped just 2 nights in the Park, not counting the Hattie Cove campground night. RedSucker Cove is listed as a campsite for those paddling on to Wawa. It has 2 ends so I'm not sure we picked the right one but it was the end of our longest day and we'd been paddling in the rain for the last half hour or so. A substandard site compared to the many beautiful campsites but during dinner under a big cedar tree a pair of Sandhill Cranes flew in and landed in the cove. They're still here .. Resting up just like us.
Dan in the morning ready to launch. One last shot of the Cascade's falls.
Dave and Amy...almost to the 'pits'. ... This Pukaskwa structure is near Richardson's Island.
Michipecoten Island in the distance. Just a couple more miles to RedSucker Cove. Heading toward the rain...
Not our best campsite. Tight squeeze on tent space.
Our after dinner soup. .. Can you see the Cranes? Dave took some with his big lens I'll add at some point.
We stayed here 2 nights.. It was raining in the morning and .. Well we just decided to stay?..
It aw the last day of May and we had quite a heavy frost. I bet it was 28 degrees. I was barely warm in my bag.. My tent was on the beach where it got a bit colder. I had to blow on my tent pole joints to thaw them. The sun would be bright and once we launched it was quite nice with just a light to non existent headwind. There were some small remnants of swells from yesterday which were confused and bouncy with the rugged Pukaskwa coast. The seas calmed throughout the. We caught a 4 pound lake trout midway through morning and stopped just one time to fillet it and have lunch...oh and pee of course. Another 10 miles or so brought us to the Cascade River ..where we decided to camp. We planned to camp out on Otter Island to check out he lighthouse and Pukaskwa structures, but noticed the island is closed to protect the Park's small caribou population during calving time...May and June. It's really nice here at the falls though. I think it's going to be another cold night but not as cold as last night... It keeps the bugs down.
Frosty morning!
Almost ready o launch .. Dan and Dave taking a Secchi Disk reading.. Or we're the dealing with a fish?
We got one though..
A little cove in English Fishermen's Harbour where we had lunch and filleted the fish.
At the Cascade River..
From top of falls ... From further up the river with the end of Otter Island in background.
Dave and Amy's camp ... Dan and Dave after dinner.
Nice evening
We had a light tailwind when we left Hattie Cove. It was an overcast chilly day with brief sprinkles. We could have gone further with such awesome paddling conditions but Fishermen's Cove is such a nice spot, we stopped. I think it was about 3:30. It did get sunny by the time we got to our campsite at Fishermen's Cove but it never did warm up Wednesday. I think we paddled maybe 25 miles? That's about double the typical guided group distance back when I did kayak trips here.. The last time was 1997 and I'd not been back since. Plenty of paddlers would come close to doubling that 25 mile day but for me, these days and with my gimp shoulder 25 seems just fine. The shoulder is slowly feeling better but far from normal and it still won't allow me to take my normal stroke. Feels nice to be in the sleeping bag... I won't be uploading these next few posts until we get to Wawa.
Another camper watched us pack and snapped a pho to of all 4 of us. .. Dan and Dave take a Secchi Disk reading.. A water clarity test Wilderness Classroom is participating in.
Orchids.. What are these ? Snowy Lady Slippers or Pink ? There were lots of them and right at the campsite.
Looking down at the beach from up where the orchids were ... I camped on the beach as it seemed warmer.
We hiked the coastal hiking trail to an overlook of where we camped. See my tent?
Waiting for dinner to cook ... After dinner fire waiting for sunset.
Nice sunset campsite...
We are at the almost deserted Hattie Cove campground. We 4 make up about half of all who are here now. It's cold. We're looking forward to the forecasted much warmer weather.
Can't wait to see the sun again. We paddled about 12 or 13 miles I guess with a 15 knot headwind. Some places stronger with shoreline effect. Seas were mainly a foot or so but built to over 2 with some over 3 feet and possibly higher at the point and bay leading into Hattie Cove. The refracting wave scenario. The visitor center is now only open July and August due to budget cut backs but a few students from Pic River were taking a nature type class so we were able to warm up and dry gear a bit.. The shower room is unheathed but the rest rooms have heat so we did a bit more gear drying.. It's basically cold. Sounds like some sun and warmer temps are to begin tomorrow for a change. I wish I could have taken some photos while we were on route but it was not photo friendly and my lens was all wet anyway from the 100% humidity...drizzle...fog. At least the bugs have been knocked back down. The black flies were coming out last nice weather.
Breakfast and packing at the launch in Marathon near which we camped 2 nights. .... The one break we took after finding a supposedly open passage according to the chart, a dead end. A pee break was over due anyway.
Our boats at Hattie Cove ... Our site at he Hattie Cove campground.
Hanging out cooking dinner. We won't have Internet until we reach Wawa I guess. 9 days if weather allows.
