Since we only had one canoe, Rachelle and I made the first crossing with all of the gear. Then I returned to shore to pick up Steve and Chelsey. Once we were on the island, we started leveling out patches of ground for the tents and worked on our site for a bit. Steve amused himself by knocking down rotten trees. Since it's a steep and rocky ascent from the shore to the campsite, Steve and I built handrails using thin trees. We also built a rough staircase using large flat rocks. Since the campsite is high above the shore, it can't be seen from the water. If our canoe wasn't there, it would have been impossible to know we were on the island (if you ignored the smoke from our fire).
Our handrail masterpiece.
We passed most of our time eating, drinking beer, playing Monopoly and relaxing. We were rudely awakened the next morning by the piercing cries of a bird - I assume it was a bald eagle. I did some fishing in the morning while the water was still, but didn't catch anything. Before leaving the campsite, I wrote "THE EAGLE COMETH" on a flat rock using the charred end of a stick, and leaned it against a tree. I'm not sure if we'll be back. It was a great campsite but there were cottages along the shore and one in particular was hosting some sort of family reunion with annoying country music late into the night, which somewhat ruined the atmosphere. I think I prefer the more remote locations.
This is one loaded canoe!
