The Fifth Lake

A few years ago. I traveled to the fifth lake in String O’ Lakes. It was not an easy trek (relatively speaking) because I had to drag my canoe about a hundred feet over a floating bog in order to reach the fourth lake and after having paddled across it, had to thrash through heavy undergrowth, and then climb the ridge that separated that lake from the fifth lake.

Revisiting the fifth lake was something I had to do in order to satisfy my need “to see what was on the other side”. It’s that same feeling you get when you stand on the coast and you want to follow it to see what is around the corner, or when you want to follow the river around just one more bend. I think I have a much better understanding of why the world was mapped as early as it was.

When I first visited the fifth lake, I didn’t have a fishing pole with me before then but resolved to come back again when I did because I was curious to see if that lake had fish in it.

I had saved a hundred bucks of my vacation money in order to buy a small blowup boat and some fishing gear in order to satisfy my curiosity. Here is a picture of a “boat” I found on sale at “Menards” for 45 bucks and the Zebco rod and reel I found at “Walmart” for 16.

The box the boat came in said it was for two men, but at 205 lbs, it barely fit me. Indeed, I had to be VERY careful when I turned around in it so I wouldn’t let water seep in, as the sides of the raft were only a few inches above the water line.

The backpack contained a half-gallon of water, a couple of apples and a bag of White Cheddar Cheese puffs. Those are the greatest. You really have to try them. 🙂

It is rare that I have encountered other people at String O’ Lakes, but you can tell from friends and family that have left comments that a fair amount of people have been there. However, since the water level has more often than not been low, I believe that the number of people who have visited the fourth lake have not been very many.

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Since the fifth lake is even more inaccessible, I believe the number of people who have visited it has been limited to the rare hunter or trapper who was able to walk to it, or snowshoe to it in the winter. Or, perhaps to someone who has a four-wheeler.

Of all the time I spent in Red Lake (ten days this last trip) I was only able to spend a day out in the woods. But it was worth it.  I mentioned the drive to String O’ Lakes. It was fun using my brother’s truck. I had to cut a few trees down in order to park the truck up on the hill where pop wanted to build, as high winds from a storm a couple of years earlier had knocked down some of the big trees that were there.

It took a while getting used to the oars. And since the little boat didn’t have a keel, I had to put in some effort to keep it from zigzagging back and forth as I rowed. It didn’t matter whether there was a front or a back as it responded equally well no matter what direction I rowed.

Here is a composite picture of the fifth lake.

The signature Norway Pine and Beaver house let you know that you have arrived at Paradise.

This is what I had to slog through to get to the fourth Lake

Try as I might, I couldn’t stay awake while I was out there (on the fifth lake.) I napped on and off for about three hours. It was great! The weather was warm and there was enough cloud cover so that I didn’t get sunburned. I would have thought that the breeze would have blown me all over the lake while I was sleeping, but the strange thing was, each time I woke up I found myself in this position in relation to the Beaver House.

I did do some fishing while I was there. Nary a bite. So the jury is still out on whether there are fish or not. I did not retrace my steps back to the fourth and second lake. Rather, I portaged my little boat through deer trails  that ran along the ridge between the fourth and fifth lakes to the third lake. While the boat only weighed about ten pounds inflated, it started to feel pretty heavy by the time I was able to get to the third lake. I had just enough time to paddle back to the landing on the first lake and start home before it got dark.

I just noticed that my blog registers 7000 hits so far. Thank you, each and every one of you, for hanging in there for me! May you all get the chance to visit your own “Fifth Lake” this year.

Best Wishes,

Russell Littlecreek

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