2020 Newsletter Produced By Loon Haunt Outposts,

2020 Newsletter produced by Loon Haunt Outposts, Box 1344, Red Lake, Ontario, Canada, P0V 2M0 807-735-2400Loon Haunt Outposts – 2020 The Season That Never WasThe COVID-19 pandemic early thisyearwasunanticipatedandunprecedented but we were cautiouslyoptimistic the border would open atsome point. In April, we announced wewould rebook guests to availableopenings later in 2020, rollover depositsto 2021 or offer refunds if that waspreferred. Thank you to our loyal guestsfor rolling over your deposits to nextyear. Our government kept extendingmonthly closures to leisure travel and byJuly it was clear to us that our seasonwas a bust and could not be salvagedthis year. We were disappointed thatyour fishing getaway with us did nothappen. We missed you and long fornormalcy to resume in 2021.We are grateful to all the frontline staffacross Canada and the United States,and indeed the world, who are workingtirelessly and selflessly to bring thissituation under control.While we waited for confirmation thatthe border would open, we spent thesummer at Goose Lake and worked onsmall projects. Our days were too quietand we longed to hear the sound offishermen coming and going. We missedthe conversation, the laughter and theshared excitement of a great catch. Youhave become like family to us and weenjoy catching up on your lives.In December of 2019, Ryan accepted acaptain’s position in the Maldives. TransMaldavian Airways operates the largestRyan and Eliza surprised us when they tied the knot in July. Once they weremarried, they could cross the border freely as long as they completed a 2week isolation in Canada before moving around in the country.seaplane operation in the world and hewanted to fly the mighty Twin Otter onfloats. He really enjoyed the job and thewarm weather and it was a sad day forhim when Canada asked all citizens toreturn home in late March because ofthe Covid-19 pandemic. His hope is toreturn some winter to resume hisseasonal flying adventures there.Ryan spent a fair amount of time inMinnesota with his girlfriend Eliza andthey actually got married in July! Elizaworks as a county prosecutor and plansto spend some time at camp next yearso some of you may be meeting her. Shelikes to fish and hunt just like Ryan.It seemed like the summer fairly flewby as our job list dwindled. Once thecooler weather showed up, we beganmaking plans to leave for town. OnSeptember 28th we left Goose Lakeafter we closed down for the winter. Thefall colours were spectacular and itnever gets old soaring above them.

Louise’s Chatter We figure Goose Lake and all ourother outpost lakes were ice freeabout May 13th.one of ours and apparently not onebelonging to the 2 camps upriver.We can only surmise it belonged to aprivate camp on Upper Goose Lakeand was used briefly last fall but notpulled up far enough to escapehigher spring lake levels. On June 12th we flew to Goose Lakeand found the camp pretty much aswe had left in in October of 2019. Theice had spared our dock but pushedthe sand far up the beach in front of This summer we heard the sad newsthe cabins. Nothing was damaged but that several of our guests had passedit was impressive to see how muchaway. We will miss our guests Ronpower is in that ice.Brazier, Mike Hubbard, SteveMilliner and Tom Webster. Between Somehow the heavy ice crusher bythem, they spent many happy yearsthe large flower garden was pushedfishing at our lakes.over. Maybe a bear or possibly justthe result of frost heaving theground. I brought a few tomato plants,several cucumber plants and a single There were no downed trees to clean pepper plant from town and plantedthem in our Scott Coppen Memorialup so Bill was happy.Garden. I also tried some carrot, We were surprised by thegreen beans and pea seeds. 2020appearance of a damaged boat at the proved to be an excellent growingbottom of Woman Falls during ayear and some of the plants grewsightseeing trip in June. It was notprolifically. However, all the carrotIt took a few days to complete thejob and the 3 boats were modifiedto the Goose Lake standard. Wethink they look great and hopeyou look forward to using themnext year.and pea plants were eaten as soon asthey emerged on the surface. Thiswas the first time we have growncucumbers and we actually were ableto add some to our salad! Wedecided we have to make plans toenlarge the garden and try plantingother vegetables as well. We have nosoil at camp and have to fly it in sothis might take some time as theplanes always seem to be alreadyloaded with other freight. June and July proved to be very warmand we found we could only workoutside in the early mornings as itWe are sorry you weren’t here to enjoy the spectacular clump of Lady’sSlippers. We swear it grows larger every year.

became unbearable once it warmedup. Forest fires popped upeverywhere but none threatened usat any of our outposts or at the maincamp. High winds knocked over trees on aregular basis and Bill was kept busycutting them up for firewood andhauling away branches to the burnpile. We watched the weather forprime burning opportunities andwere able to dispose of the mountainof brush. One puzzling thing about this seasonwas the absence of wildlife at thecamp. We did not see a singleCan you spot the new Eagle’s nest above the falls?footprint on the beach even thoughthings were quiet. We thought wewere only a few rabbits to chase outabsolutely nothing to eat unless youwould have moose and caribouofthegardenaswell.Thelooncount the empty beer cans it chewedparading through the camp but it waspopulation was just as prolific as everthrough.not to be. Even the seagulls were notthough.as plentiful and they seemed to August brought along our residentwhiskey jacks. We look for theseforget the source of the fish entrails. One animal that showed up in lateSeptember surprised us all as we hadbirds to arrive in early August and thisSame thing with the eagles andvultures. They were kept busynever seen a raccoon here before.year there was a family unit of 3 toforaging for food rather than enjoying Hopefully it will move on and notfeed.a daily buffet of fish scraps. Therereturn next year as it found A pair of Trumpeter Swans nesteddown in South Bay but it appears thatthey lost either the eggs or thecygnets because late in the year onlythe adults remained. 2020 was not a year for fallmushrooms. Maybe it was becauseof the hot conditions but there werenone to find anywhere. The Cheetofungi were present in large numbersthough.Ryan’s time in the exotic Maldives was much too short. He hopes toreturn one day as he really enjoyed the job and warm weather.Boo Covid! Wild rice plants startedappearing in mid-June and by themiddle of July they covered a largearea. By August the plants werestarting to stand up and developflowers and heads. We were hopingfor a good crop as we had the time topick it. The first picking was in earlySeptember and we were heartened

rice picking as well. Later inSeptember, their friends Pat andTrish, along with 6-week-old Eva,arrived for a quick moose hunt. Ryancalled out a young bull for Pat andafter 40 minutes of waiting for themoose to present itself, Pat was ableto shoot a young bull. I looked afterEva while everyone else went to helpthe guys transport the moose back tocamp.Fall lake levels were back up. This is Whitedog Falls from the top. One project that Bill and Ryanwanted to complete this year was tobring the boats from Nechigona backto camp to be modified. It took a fewdays to complete the job and whenPat and Trish arrived everyonehelped pull the boats back over theportage using our dependable Lewiswinch. We hope you’ll enjoy usingthe boats next season as they willprove to be easier to move around in.by the size of the crop but the ricewas dicey for a while but slowwas slow to mature and it wasn’tprogress was made and then acoming off the plants. Waiting a fewtorrential rain all but put the fire outdays for more ripening to occur stilland residents were able to returndidn’t work, then high winds andhome.heavy rains made picking impossible. Ryan brought his wife Eliza to camp Ryan and Bill inspected all theoutposts at the end of the season andBy the middle of Septemberfor the first time and he enjoyedwere pleased that the bush is reallythousands of migrating ducks hadshowing her around the lake and the“greening up” at Unnamed Lake afterfound the rice and shortly after,best fishing spots. Eliza helped withlast year’s forest fire. hundreds of geese also showed up togorge themselves before resumingtheir southerly flight. It seemed asthough we had to fight to pick ourshare of the rice and it was adisappointing 3200 pounds. Our goal this year was to makeimprovements that didn’t strainthe budget so we painted, stained,varnished, cut down trees andburned brush. Some of this you’llnotice when you return, all of this Iwill notice. A forest fire near the towns of RedLake and Madsen in mid-Augustproved to be dangerous and anevacuation order for the Red Lakearea was ordered. Thousands ofpeople did evacuate for severaldays while fire fighters, aided bywater bombers, fought the blaze. ItA successful moose hunt for Ryan and Pat. Several days of huntingensued before this young bull answered Ryan’s call.