Day 2.

Day 2.  Monday August 16th.  Caribou to Smoothrock 14.1 Miles.


 We awoke during the night listening to the howling wind and wondering if we would be able to cross Caribou at all, but the wind had died by morning and we were able to cross the lake with a light breeze from the north.  We saw several fishing boats in the distance, not surprising since you can drive to this lake.

We continued down the Caribou River, taking the five easy portages before eating a late lunch on the last portage landing on Funger Lake.  Again we saw a boat in the distance, no doubt residents of the outpost on Funger's northern arm.  We broke out the rain gear as a very light shower went by. The first campsite on the swift between Funger and Caribou Bay seemed overused, so we continued on.

A bit further down the lake, we spotted our first of two bears on the trip. It was standing in a burn on the north shore of Caribou Bay, probably feeding on the abundant blueberries there.  (Blueberries and bear sign were everywhere for much of the trip.)

We were glad we passed over the first campsite, because just beyond the burn we found a lovely site on a small point, with a propane fish fryer (which we didn't use of course) and luxury of luxuries, a picnic table  (which we did).  We worried a bit about bears, having just seen one and a large scat nearby, but we told ourselves that a bear gorging on berries would have little interest in our camp.

Luxury on a canoe trip!  The ubiquitous propane fish fryers are in the background.

click for day 3