"Puddle Lake" Expedition (part 7 of 9): Upriver We Go, Sausage Over Fire & Parting Thoughts

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• published: 21 Jun 2016
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This is the FINAL main episode on the series (Part 8: trail camera results and Part 9: Highlight reel). After pack-up and breakfast including sausage over fire, we make the long and tough journey back upstream. We decided to take it slow and enjoy the day as best possible - so we took frequent breaks to fish pocket water likely to hold resident brook trout. At the end we manage a respectable dinner which Jeremy was happy to consume back in civilization. We also properly put our fire out and stir the ashes, and enjoy some fresh birch sap. On the way up we tickle for trout and try to dipnet some spawning run suckers - all the while I do my best to sum up our experiences and accomplishments. At the end is a highlight reel - hope you enjoyed the series! Stay tuned for the results of the trail camera (Part 8 of 9) and also a stand alone highlight reel (Part 9 of 9). The highlight reel also follows the end of this episode! Thank you for all your support! Sub to Jeremy (One Wildcrafter): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy7HUXYD7Ua6zPR384d1ETg Narration: Many have said that the "journey is the destination." This no doubt fits for many cases, but in our case, if that were really so, then our destinations was arduous and unforgiving. But maybe that was it. Maybe that was what made this trip worthwhile and set it apart from a more simple trip. One were the journey merely required us to drive, park, and unload -- and camp steps from the edge of our vehicle. Maybe the mystique of the trip was born out of the sheer effort it required. In total, our trip would need 10 hours of total dredge down and then back up the headwaters of a shallow, log choked creek. By doing so, it put us into territory for which there were only likely a handful of previous visitors. That, in and of itself, was something. -- And with no guarantee -- it was a risk. We knew nothing for certain about "Puddle Lake." For what it was, this trip could have been nothing more than three men hauling and dragging two canoes, and their gear, down and up a small creek. But it wasn't, it was more than this -- it was an adventure born out of the hope for something great. It reached -- fell short, but still delivered upon it's promise. This trip didn't bring the monster brook trout Jayson sought, or the easy fish limits I had my eyes set on, but Jeremy had finally landed his first brook trout out of a lake - and that, was something he could never forget. It's always a treasure to pull a native brook trout out of the water, no matter it's size -- to revel in it's vibrant colours, and to be nourished by it -- we were as one within a chain of forces so vast that it is nearly incomprehensible. As part of this link, the role we serve in it, is unmistakable. Our trip featured many skills and we all learned. We made wild drinks from wintergreen and labrador tea and drank straight from upwelling springs, and snacked on cattail shoots. We ate the flesh of perch, freshwater clams, deer, and of course, plenty of brook trout. We ate by smoking, baking, frying, boiling, and with the help of a basic wooden skewer. We ate well over fire. As a parting gift, we drank fresh sap from a birch. We wasted nothing since nature provided us with the means to keep our meals fresh from spoil through cool spring water, smoke and heat, and when possible, we kept our meals alive so that nature would protect itself from decay. By following natures rules, it did not abandon, or punish us -- instead, it gave us life and energy. In return, we were sure to leave it as we found it, and disturb it as little as possible, and also take back what refuse had been previously discarded. Nature provided us with much on this trip, and for that, we owe her respect. Music: Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/