GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: HELL'S GATE ????

DAY 38, MON. JULY 11, 2011
EARLY SUN, HHH, PM SHOWERS L65 H90
DEP YOUNG’S PT 08:45 ARR. LOVESICK LAKE LOCK #30 11:45
D 9.3SM/714.5

Today we do only nine miles. We thought it might be too tiring to make it to Bobcageon (38m), and Buckhorn was poorly rated, so we decided to stop a LOVESICK LAKE. This lock is accessible only by water, is very quiet and also a very popular stop. The trip over goes thru lock 28 Burleigh Falls, Clear Lake, which is beautiful and easy to navigate, and thru a portion of Stoney Lake which looks very daunting on the chart. In fact this portion is called HELL’S GATE . If ever there was a misnomer, this is it. It should have been called Heaven’s Gate, as this has been the most beautiful area we have seen. Yes, we have to navigate in a narrow, winding channelS strewn with boulders, some the size of small cars, some with houses on them, but it is very well marked. From Hell”s Gate it is just a 2 m. ride to lock # 28 ( there is no lock 29) and then only 1.4m thru Lovesick Lake. When we get there we find that the lock is broke during the previous lock up, and we have to wait until tomorrow until 10:30 for it to be fixed. This worked very well with our plans as they allowed us to stay on the “blue line” until tomorrow, otherwise we might not have been able to stay at all.