THE LAND NORTH OF SUPERIOR

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You’ve had a great day and the evening is turning into night.  The day has been full of your favourite things to do and you crack a bit of a yawn. You could go to sleep, but you could be missing one of the best parts of your trip into the land north of Superior.

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Now to be sure if you are visiting north of Superior in the first couple - three weeks of June you may have no options, except to dive into your camp for the night and batten down for the invasion of the mosquitoes and all their relations.  The swarms of flies that appear as the sun starts getting lower in the sky can drive a person to distraction and beyond.  Some people will not go outdoors during this intense hatching time of the mosquito.  Did you know that that same time frame is also the best bit for pickeral.  Did you know that the speckled trout are at their most ravenous?  To stay away from your favourite fishing hole at this time of the year is admitting defeat.  Bring a book, have a radio to listen to, play cards with your fellow camper(s) and the time will pass quick enough until you go to bed.

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But later on in the summer the bug populations settle down to acceptable levels.  The transition from evening, the dark and well into the dark can be full of activity.  The time to build a fire is before dark.  Safety should be a concern and the pit should be on sand, not loam or topsoil, which can and does burn.  A ring of rocks should be around the fire to contain it’s spread, you are looking for a campfire, nothing larger.  Wood should be cut to length and split, if needed in the daylight.  It should be piled handy to the fire but with enough distance so it doesn’t accidentally catch fire.  There should be several five gallon pails full of water to put the fire out before going to bed, never leave a fire unattended, or in case of some emergency.  The campfire can be used for snacks like cooked wieners and smokies, marsh mellows are always a huge hit with the kids and even to bake potatoes if the hunger strikes.  A fire will often encourage a round of story telling that will last well into the night.  The campfire will draw neighbours for a social time and maybe a few cold ones while fish stories are exchanged.

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Once the fire is burning but while the sun is still up bring out your camera and tripod.  Set it up to take sunset pictures, especially if there is a partly cloudy sky.  As the sun sinks to the horizon and below the skies will change colour and spectacular photos can be made.  The idea here is to know your camera and to use the tripod to eliminate movement in these low light shooting situations.  Film and processing is cheap and pictures will last a lifetime and beyond.  The new digital cameras can add an unexpected level to your photo opportunities with some great tricks in both the camera and a computer later.  Memories of days gone by will be unlocked when you go through your photo albums in the middle of winter.  It seems that every time one looks at a picture some new and different thought is triggered, yet they all relate to the picture.

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The dusk is the time that the night hunters start to come out.  In many places bats can be seen against the sky before full dark sets in.  Their graceful swoops and dives as they feed in the flying insect life is a thing of beauty to behold.  They feed by using a form of radar to home in on the insects and will still be feeding long after you have gone to bed.  I have never had a bat land in my hair even by so-called ‘accident�?  It is quite safe to stand on a bridge or riverbank as they make your life better by depleting the insect population.

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Dusk is the time the builders of the north, the beaver emerge from the dens.  The sleek head of the beaver knifing through the water as it heads about it’s business is a sight to see.  The whole family joins in from mom, father and all the growing kits.  The beavers can be seen well into the night as they cut down food trees and scrubs and bury them on the stream or lake floor near their lodge entrance for winter food.  They use mud to hold the branches to the bottom of the waterway.  They can stay down a remarkable amount of time as they prepare their winter forage.

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Nighttime is the time of the fox and the wolf as they hunt for food to feed their growing families.  The bears are about in the night too as they forage and teach their cubs survival.  These animals need not be a concern to the average camper as they are normally shy of humans.  A clean campsite is of paramount importance so as not to attract these animals into your neighbour hood.  The fire you have burning should burn the paper plates you used for super and the left over cooking oil from the fish fry you had.  All other garbage should be tied up in a tree branch well out of reach of marauders.  Fish and game should be cleaned well away from camp to ensure those smells will not invite unwanted quests.

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The nighttime is a time for peace and solitude.  The quiet of the world will help in some timely soul searching and cleansing.  The fast pace of today’s world needs to be countered by moments of tranquility.  The savouring of the lack of industrial noise, the lack of police and ambulance sirens, yes even the lack of the evening news telling of more doom and gloom in the world will do wonders for the human mind.  A quiet walk by your self or with a loved one is an excellent sleeping tonic.  The flickering campfire sooths the troubles of the days and weeks gone by.

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