A quick two-night trip to test out some new gear...
We put in at Stanton Bay on a Tuesday afternoon; we aimed to camp at Buckingham for both nights, but changed our minds when we got to Rawn...we camped on the first island in Rawn, and day-tripped to Buckingham on the Wednesday instead.
Water levels in Quetico are as high as I've ever seen them...water well up into the tree line in places, small islands completely flooded in Rawn Narrows.
Conseqently, the portages are all unusually wet...not just muddy, but large areas of standing water, as well as flowing water on the Stanton Bay portage and particularly on the Buckingham portage. On the Buckingham portage, the creek has overflowed its banks; the last 100m on the Buckingham side was knee-deep flowing water with plenty of large rocks and tree roots to navigate.
I would have liked to explore Art Lake, but the wind was up and there were plenty of whitecaps...amazing how Art could be so whipped up but Rawn and Buckingham on either side of it were windy, but easily navigated.
Buckingham is a pretty lake, but a dead end; having been there once now, I'm not sure I'd have reason to go back. If I head this way again, I'd sooner spend the day touring Art, which has some nice looking rock formations.
Paddle back across Pickerel was surprisingly calm for a sunny afternoon in July. And we had a fantastic encounter with a young bull moose snacking on lily pads.
Other than an atrocious hatch of stable flies that drove my poor dog insane, it was a decent little trip...a little wet but a good test of my new portaging shoes!
