3-Days Solo Camping and Fishing in Fall

What's going on guys? Alex here with Northern Scavenger. It is mid-September. We have a beautiful weekend. Summer's kind of coming to a close. We're starting to have colder nights, colder days. The very first thing that I have to do today is a race. It is a race against the sun. The sun is setting very quickly and there are no campsites on the very first lake that I'm launching from. So I need to do a little paddle and a 1,400 meter portage, which I am suspecting I may end up doing in the dark. So I made it onto the lake in pretty good time. It only took about 10 minutes at the launch. Now I'm basically just trying to get to the portage as quickly as possible. There's still some sunlight out. I got some news from the launch. A gentleman there mentioned that this trail is very well maintained. So at least if I do need to do the portage in the dark, it should be a clear trail to do it in. So just absolutely beautiful out here so far. Alright, so I made it to the portage. I didn't pack quite as light as I was planning on packing, but that's okay. It was a mindful decision. So I'm going to try to do this in one shot by just carrying everything, but I might have to take multiple breaks along the way. But that'll probably still work out to being faster than if I have to walk it three times and do two trips with the gear. So we're going to give it a shot and see how it goes. Alright, so I'm just taking my first break. Resting the shoulders before I continue pushing on. We still have light, which is good. We'll see what the light scenario is by the time we get to the lake though. Big win is that I'm actually able to one shot all of this gear. A little tricky, but it's like well worth it. Take a couple of these breaks along the way and it still ends up being faster than walking it three times. So I happened to come across someone at the launch that told me to look out for some yellow flagging tape along this portage. Because apparently you can paddle. Let's see if it. So that is what we are currently trying to do. So far I'm liking this. There's a little beaver dam here, but it's built like a slide. Sorry canoe. So it is very dark out here now. Luckily we've got a full moon, which is giving us a little bit of extra light. And the best news, I think I'm very close. I was actually able to paddle most of this portage along that stream. Looks like I have like 100 meters or something to get to the lake. Time to push, get over there. So, believe it or not, I actually made it to a site tonight. The portage in ended up not being as bad as I was expecting. But I was having a difficult time finding a campsite on this lake. So I found a little rock crop that I think has a nice tent pad. I'm just going to get a little fire going, then set up a tent. We've got a beautiful full moon tonight, which definitely helped navigating the lake. And even a little bit on the portage gives a little bit of extra light. A couple clouds in the sky, but nothing to worry about. Oh, perfect. Alright, so, my beer is done. My tent is set up. I couldn't really film it because it's very dark. And my headlamp is not very bright. The campfire is just sizzling out. I've brushed my teeth, set up my tent, sleeping pad, and just getting ready to go to bed. I'm really thankful that I pushed to get to this site tonight, rather than sleeping in my car at the launch or something. It feels like I had a full extra day here. So it'll be nice to wake up tomorrow and start exploring, and hopefully hooking into some lunkers. Good morning. We've got a beautiful morning here so far. Really calm, beautiful sunrise. Last night we got a little bit of rain. I was thankful that I slept with a fly on my tent. I was debating just sleeping without one. But I put it on, and that was the right decision, because it did rain a little bit. We had a little bit of a pink sky this morning, which, I believe in a sailor's books, means that a red sky in the morning is a sailor's warning. So I don't know what that means for the rest of the day, but at least for now, we've got blue skies, and a perfect little morning. Just whipping up some coffee right now, and I'll have some oatmeal, and then I want to get on the water and get some fishing in, before I start making my way to my next campsite. There we go. I've got it dehydrated here. This was left over from a previous trip, and I've got some crackers. I'm not ready for lunch yet, but in order for the hummus to have enough time to rehydrate, I usually put the water in in the morning so that it's got time to soak up and absorb, so that I've got a good prime hummus for lunch. First fish of the trip is an absolute trophy. Might have him for dinner, I'm not sure. What a beautiful day we have on our hands here. So, I took my time at camp this morning. I had a beautiful morning. Got a little bit of fishing in. We've got one fish so far. More to come. So, I'm very close to the portage that I want to take this afternoon into the next lake, but I want to check it out first, just to see what I'm kind of up against, because I would like to fish this lake a little bit more before I leave, but I also don't want to pooch myself by having a really difficult portage, and it ends up taking way longer than expected. So, I'm going to paddle over, check out the portage, and then make a decision on what my next game plan is in terms of how long I can stay here. Please tell me that's a fish. Oh, yes it is. First cast at the beaver dam. And crash. Oh, he flipped off. Alright, one and a half fish. I've got a weighted woolly bugger here. Doesn't look as nice when it's all soaked like this and out of the water. I've pinched my barb on this, which makes it harder to catch the fish, but nicer for the fish when you're planning on just fishing for fun. Alright, so some good news. I found a portage sign, actually, and the trail is looking pretty good. So, I think that means I can spend a little bit more time fishing here before I have to take this portage to the next lake, which is exciting! That was my fault, I didn't set the hook. There we go. Decent. Nice. Oh, man. That guy hammered it. Oh, yeah. There we go, number five. Beauty. Alright, so I've had a pretty solid day of fishing so far, but I think now is time to head to the portage to continue on because who knows, maybe the other lakes ahead have better fishing. So, I'm just going to paddle up to the portage and make my way to the next lake. Alright, so the good news is that that portage wasn't so bad. And now I'm on a beautiful lake. Doesn't look like there's anyone else here. And I am going to try to scout for a campsite somewhere on this lake. Alright, so I think I found a nice little home for the night. It's got lots of space and a beautiful view of the lake. I need to eat. I'm so hungry. So, so hungry. Take my life jacket off. Might as well stay a while, eh? Alright, so now the moment of truth. Time to find out how this hummus is doing. There. Okay. It's a little chunky still. I could definitely do better getting that to a better consistency. More hummus-like, you might say. But I'm pretty freaking hungry right now. I think I need just a couple plain chips. That is so good. Alright, so I am going to grab my saw and I'm going to walk back and try to find some wood. It looks like there's some pretty groomed trails here. So, I have a feeling I might need to walk a little bit further in order to find some wood. The good news is I'm here much earlier today so I have a lot more time to be able to find it. There's a few different things in here. Nice fallen one there. That guy dangling right there. Looks like a pretty good one. I'm just trying to decide what my best bang for my buck is because I have to carry these back with the camera. I've got to choose wisely. I might just walk around a little bit more and make sure there's not like a piece of gold somewhere, you know? So this is a nice piece of dry hardwood. The thing weighs a ton. It's going to be tough to carry it back but this is going to keep my fire going the longest and the warmest so I think it's going to be worth carrying it back. And then I have a bunch of other smaller stuff as well so pretty good haul. Might have to do it in two loads. So I've been having an awesome day so far. I can't believe it's still only 3 o'clock. I feel like I have a lot of time left in the day or it's probably closer to 3.30 now but I've got a lot of work out of the way. I've got my tent set up. I've got firewood for the night. I think next steps are going to be setting up the hammock so I have a nice chill pad when I get back. I think I might go for a quick swim just to revitalize the soul and then I come back and start picking this lake apart for fishing and hopefully there's some lunkers in here. Alright so my hammock. This little guy right here. Very small. Very light. I don't know too much about it. There's no I don't see any brands on it or anything and I got it for Christmas from my dad. I have to be honest when I first got it I don't think I ever thought that I'd bring it on a backcountry trip but now it's one of my favourite things to bring on like a trip where I'm not too too worried about the weight that I'm bringing so this would be one of those trips. Wait till you see this thing set up because it is comfy! I kind of like that it's not too high off the ground so that if any of these cords break on me or my knot slips the knot shouldn't slip but like I don't know how strong the rope is. It should be strong enough to hold a person you'd think with it coming with a hammock but just in case It's nice to not be too high off the ground so that the fall's not as bad. That's a good cast. Yes! Alright so I'm adopting a new strategy because the wind is pushing me around too much. So I'm gonna make a little makeshift anchor here. So there's a little beaver dam over here. Provides good structure for bass. Hopefully a lunker. Oh yeah. That is the one. Oh yeah. There's one. Alright. Hey. He's alright. Nice. Oh that's awesome. You put your lure in the water for two seconds. Ayo! What a perfect evening. I still can't believe it. Wind is starting to die down a little bit which is making it a little bit easier for me to cast my fly rod. We've got some fish. Perfect temperature. It's not that muggy muggy hot stuff. I think I got this lake to myself so bonus. I'm gonna do a couple more casts and then head in for some supper. See if we can get one or two more fish in the boat. Alright. So on the menu tonight is pasta. I've got I know these start with an F. I can't remember frinelli's or something? Fritelli's? Little wings. I'm pretty sure they start with an F. Drop a comment if you know what these little wing things are. Anyways, it's a pasta night. I Good morning. It is freezing out this morning. Not actually freezing but it is very cold. And that made it very difficult for me to get out of bed. I think I need to get a fire going because it is cold having my hands out of my pockets right now. I didn't bring any gloves. I didn't think it was going to get this cold. Absolutely beautiful morning though. I think I need a coffee as well. I still can't get over how quiet it is. It's just like all you hear is the odd animal. Little red squirrel. There was a ton of barred owls last night actually. It sounded like he was like right over my tent. Couldn't see him though. Couldn't see him. The sun is just starting to peek through and hit the trees and even hit the lake a little bit there which means we should have the sun soon. You can see it hitting the top of those trees. And the further down the lake you go, the more of the trees are exposed. It's been a beautiful morning but the sun would definitely be warmly welcomed and would warm me probably. Good flame licks on the pot right now. Good flame licks which means I should also have warm water soon for coffee. Normally I'd put dried fruits and things inside my oatmeal but I don't have any in this one. This was leftovers from a previous trip and it was like the reason it didn't get eaten is because it didn't have the dried fruits in it. Since it's kind of just a straightforward oatmeal with some shredded coconut, I decided I'm going to spice it up by adding a little Snickers bar into it so that it melts hopefully. This Snickers bar, also entirely from a previous trip, has kind of taken on a new form. It's already changing the color of my oatmeal. Heck yeah! So the water is absolutely beautiful right now. Breakfast is all done. I just poured myself a fresh coffee and I think what I'm going to do is launch my canoe and get a couple casts in before the sun fully shows itself and before I need to tear down camp. Alright, so I have packed up camp, done a walkthrough, made sure I didn't leave anything, and I've left a nice pile of wood for whoever gets to come and stay here next. And now, it's time to hit the water and make my way back home. This was a nice, refreshing weekend. Full reset. And I'm ready for the week ahead. So I'm just finishing up the final stretch back to the car. Just taking my time, meandering my way up this river, trying to make this last as long as possible. Feeling fully rejuvenated and very happy that this is how I spent my weekend. It's absolutely beautiful out here. And we're actually just starting to see some signs of fall with some of these changing leaves. Thanks for watching this video, guys. Make sure to drop a comment, let me know what you thought. If you've got any questions, hit that like button and don't forget to subscribe. Happy paddling. Oh my gosh, I don't know if you're going to be able to see these fall colors, but this is ridiculous.