Late Fall trips to the Canadian border lakes can be tempting when the promise of nice weather is in the forecast, especially when I know Summer boat traffic is long gone. This time of year, the north country lakes are quiet. It's the time between fishing, hunting, and snow machines. Kabetogama was the choice this time, and with a base camp at Woodenfrog campground, we had a perfect opportunity to check out the West end of Kab. I'd never seen the the Ellsworth Rock Gardens so this was our first destination for a late Friday afternoon lunch stop. The gardens are a worthwhile stop to see, and I can only imagine the how it would look in the Spring with the flowers in full bloom. As it was we saw the stone structures one man had assembled over 20 years. One can only imagine the work involved, moving the large stones into place with planks and ropes. The gardens are worth the time to go see.
This was a weekend trip we decided to leave the GPS at home and do some seat of the pants navigation. It was hard to leave the reliable little Garmin at home this time, and on a part of the lake I'd never been on, it was going to be a challenge! I'd like to blame it on poor maps, because more than once I was wondering what island we were looking at. In the end we found our way, but it wasn't without some head scratching! Navigation among the lakes and islands of the north country is definitely a challenge, some map reading skills along with a good understanding of the compass is the only way to be comfortable finding your way around this place.
The weather was fantastic .. we had the full moon weekend .. and with a base camp at Woodenfrog, with the Jeep and a cooler full of good food, plenty of wood for the campfires for the long fall evenings, a deck of cards and a bottle of wine. Life can be pretty darn good if you give it a chance.
