KOPKA RIVER SOLO DAY 2

PHOTOS
Top: Relaxing cooking dinner 2nd night.
Bottom: Watershed portage trail lower end--looking at Redsand Lake.
Middle: The cozy lagoon day 2 camsite.
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After a night at my "C" site I finished the portage to Redsand Lake. It should be noted that this portage crosses the water shed between the Arctic and Great Lakes. There used to be a "marine railroad" made of jackpine logs and a cart with old car rims that could be used to move a gear loaded canoe from one system to the other. There are still traces of the pathway and a few old wooden ties to see in places, but most of it is gone. The uniqueness of this portage was one reason I've wanted to do the Kopka from its headwaters.

The little SE bay of Redsand Lake opens to the main lake and there on the right is a bare rock "C" campsite that offers a better view and fewer bugs than the portage trail site I used. There is another bare rock "C" site on the left shore about 2 1/2 miles further on. The land here is still recovering from a massive forest fire so vegetation still seems stunted and struggling...no good shade for a few more years .... but lots of fire wood.

Seiss Lake starts definitively after passing through a very narrow channel and opens up where there are a lot of islands. It's hard to get lost though--you just head north. The wind was gentle and always at my back. About a third of the way up Seiss Lake the lake narrows again and there is a nice "B" wooded campsite on a spit to the right before the narrows. After these narrows the lake is less island cluttered and in four miles takes a bend to the right (east). In 2 1/2 miles, after passing by a fairly large island, at the next narrows there is a really nice "A" campsite and this is where I pitched the tent for my second night.

The weather was particularly hot and I took the first of many swims on my trip. This campsite has an ideal place to harbor and dock the canoe and have a nice swim--kind of your own personal lagoon. To top it off, I enjoyed a beautiful sunset.