Pudgies and Chipmunks

Day 6 (6/23&24/10)

It was time for our annual Mauthe Lake Camping trip or at least the first one. We are thinking about another one in July. We were a little concerned about rain. Every forecast we looked at looked worse than the last but finally we decided to go for it. When we got to the entrance station the National weather Service had the direst predictions, storms at 3:00 and showers the rest of the day. We had always wanted to try Mauthe’s Teepee so we decided with the prediction of storms this might be a good time to have two layers of cloth between us and the storm. Fortunately, it was not taken. We proceeded to set up camp with the idea that at some point we would be confined to barracks. After we got things set up we headed out for a short bike ride. We had already planned on not redoing last year’s debacle where we biked to Long Lake and then Kayaked the rest of the evening and couldn’t sleep because of sore muscles. The impending storms also meant we did not to push the limits too far. After our ride we carried the Kayaks down to the lake. One of the nice things about the Teepee is how close it is to the lake. It was quite windy as we headed for the Milwaukee River which runs into the North West side of the lake. We had been looking forward to going up the river all winter. The first time we had gone up we had spent a good deal of time photographing a baby deer eating lily pads. The last time we went up we were run off by a family making so much noise that even the dead were evacuating. The wind did not seem as much of a factor after had entered the river. It was much deeper than it had been last year so we were able to go quite a way farther. We actually saw little in the way of wildlife. We have been surprised this year by the lack of shore birds. It is still early so maybe they will come later. I hope so. We could have probably gone even farther but the clouds were starting to look ominous so we elected to head back. By the time we got back to camp it was looking less like rain and the wind was nearly gone and so I started casting from shore. After awhile we hauled my Kayak back down to shore and I went out and fished for awhile. Soon after going out I hooked into a nice Northern. While I was trying to get the hook out it gave one last effort and snapped the line. I tried a little longer but had no success. It was time for supper anyway. One gets new respect for our forefathers when your supper is dependent on a fire of soggy logs. After much tending, we finally got the fire going and started our supper of assorted pudgy pies. Pudgy pies, for those people out of the loop, are sandwiches made by stuffing almost anything between two slices of bread and grilling them over a fire with special campfire sandwich grillers. As we were finishing our entrée and about to start our dessert course it started raining. It was a gentle rain so we grilled right through it. By the time we finished it was starting to get dark so we called it a night. Unlike last year the night was uneventful and we were not visited by any wildlife. The next morning the fire started much easier. The first thing we did was to start a pot of coffee. As we drank our first pot we watched the chipmunks scurry around camp. They had little fear and were hilarious. After a second luscious pot of coffee (camp coffee is the best) and breakfast “Pudgies” we were off with the kayaks once again. It was still a little windy but a beautiful day to be out kayaking. We went back to the river and although nothing spectacular happened it was just wonderful to be out on the water. I had to be back at 3:00 so after a morning of exploring it was time to tear up camp and head for home.

After the Rain