Sylvania

  On the day home from Alaska, I feverishly paid all bills that had backed up, and tried to catch up on everything else.  Then the next day, I left on another vacation.  Son#1, Son-in-law#2, three grandsons, and myself headed North to Sylvania Wilderness for a canoe camping and fishing trip.  I had never been there before, so I was excited for the experience.  Sylvania is a scaled down version of the BWCA, only in the U.P.  We arrived up north in the evening and spent the night in a motel.  In the morning we stopped at the outfitters and picked up paddles and life vests.  The canoes were already at the entry point.  The route to our campsite (Ermine 1) on Mountain Lake had only one portage, so we made good time arriving around noon.  After lunch, we finished setting up camp for our three night stay.  It sprinkled on us off and on most of the time we were there, but we had rain gear so it didn't disrupt us too much.  It was cool, but we still had some nice weather at times.  The fishermen we met on our way in said fishing was poor, so we didn't try too hard.

 

Isaac loaned us his bug tent (along with a lot of other gear), so we spent a lot of time in it when it was drizzling or buggy. I expected a mosquito problem, but they really didn't bother us much.

The boys enjoyed playing around and with the campfire.  They were able to go swimming one warm, sunny afternoon, and they spent a lot of time catching and playing with frogs.

We spent some time exploring in the woods, exploring a nearby island, and hiking across a nearby portage.  We found a patch of wild raspberries that the boys picked.  There was a pair of swans on Mountain Lake, and a loon family that swam by every morning and evening. Over the four days that we were here, I saw more loons than I ever did in the BWCA.  We were able to watch a nice sunset one evening when it was clear.

 

It was sprinkling on us the morning we packed up and broke camp.  It rained on us as we paddled all the way out.  We wore them out, but I think the boys enjoyed the trip.  We stopped back at the outfitters and returned our gear, and bought souvenirs for the boys.  Then we headed home with a van full of wet and dirty gear.  We had a good trip home, and I think the boys would like to go back again next year.  Maybe next time the fishing and weather will cooperate a little better.

And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.             Exodus 16:10