In which our heroes illegally enter Canada, and return unscathed

We drive back home tonight after two nights in Duluth following our sojurn on Gunflint Lake. Pictures aren't as plentiful as they might be, due to poor thinking on my part, as I will explain.

We rented a nice A-frame cabin on Gunflint Lake, with three bedrooms so that Heather could have her own room. The U.S. - Canada border runs through the lake itself, so the view from the deck was of the lake and Canada - specifically a part of the Quetico wilderness. Our hosts warned us about crossing the border, saying that U.S. and Canadian border bureaucrats have become increasingly humorless and diligent.



So Rob wanted to take the resort kayaks for a spin our first afternoon. Sure, lets go! It was a calm day, so we didn't bother to change into bathing suits, we just strapped on the life jackets and went paddling. We decided to explore this one peninsula, and we then began to head back.

Unfortunately, a south wind had kicked up and was getting stronger, and Rob, light as he is, got pushed out faster than he could paddle. That got pretty demoralizing. Considering the lake is 100-feet deep, I couldn't just get out and push. I tried pulling him alongside, but that didn't work. It became clear that I needed to tow his kayak, but the only way to rig that up was to go to shore, and the only shore downwind was Canada. We got ourselves upwind from a pebbly beach and let the wind take us in.

At this point, the waves were breaking 1-2 feet high on the Canadian shore, so we were getting soaked with each wave -- including the camera strapped to my belt (the poor thinking come home to roost). Exhausted, Rob curled up and took a nap on the beach while I rigged up a comic tow line using the carrying handles on the kayaks and my t-shirt. We fueled up with our GORP and our water and set back out in a ludicrous kayak train before the Mounties were able to saddle up and detain us. After what seemed like forever, we made it back across the lake. My arms were pretty much shot for the day for work beyond lifting a beer bottle to mouth level.

When we got home, the camera didn't work. I have taken out the battery and left it open, but it has yet to show signs of life. Fortunately, Dan has a camera and took better care of it, so we will have pictures, once I get him to let me copy them from his computer.