Day 48: Priestly Point on Eagle Lake to Jaws on Churchill Lake (9.4 miles)

OK, I could have, should have perhaps, gone farther today, but look at the experiences I wouldn’t have experienced.  Chase Rapids is fast approaching and must be run in the morning between 8 and noon, the hours that water is released from Churchill Dam to create a five-mile run of Class I and II whitewater.  Instead of trying to make it that far, I set up camp by late morning just short of Heron Lake and Churchill Dam, poised to be first in line tomorrow.

The morning began well.  Rounding Priestly Point, the urgent call of a loon greeted me, then echoed back with intensity and precision from the darkly wooded shore.  Again and again the male called with gusto, his mate nearby.  Always the answering voice quickly responded.  I was so enjoying the wing stretching, the closeness, the echoes, that I didn’t give thought to the why of the scene.  Until I spotted a small dot near the mother – a chick, of course.  I angled away to leave the little family in peace, the calls and their echoes immediately fading into memory.

After my loons, and a yellow-bellied sapsucker, and Moose #4, I arrived in camp and was all settled in well before noon.  I love looking at maps…today I just stared for a while at Map #12 as it dried, seeing how one body of water flowed into another and trying out the Abenaki names.

By mid-afternoon, I’d had my fill of reading, snacks, and gathering firewood, and decided to paddle over to the Churchill Depot History Center at Churchill Dam.  Leaving a note for my Vermont friends welcoming them to camp with me, I spent a full hour at the museum reading about Paleoindians, examining artifacts, and trying to imagine the historic photos bringing life and people to the places that are now so wild.  On the way home, paddling in the lee of the west shore, I spotted a cascade of water.  A bull moose, just raising his antlers, still in velvet.  The reward of Moose #5 for not lazing around camp!

TOTAL MILES: 652.8