My Uncle John, his wife Diana, Ruth and I were completely delighted to get the best campsite on the lake after 3 hours of paddling and portaging. It was threatening rain so we put up the tarp and were soon enjoying our afternoon snack. Our steaks were still frozen so we went to plan "B" and fixed Macaroni, boiled hot dogs and salads for supper. At sunset we gathered on the west rock to watch the colors, photograph and visit. We enjoyed our time together. In the morning Ruth and I fixed spam and egg beaters. Very good eatting, but this kind of food weighs down the packs coming across the portages as did a lot of our delicious but heavy food. John and Diana had very light packs because of their careful packing and freeze dried food. We were impressed by how well they camped with a minimum of gear. While fishing in the afternoon we found a campsite with a huge supply of firewood. We spent an hour of our precious fishing time shuttling a load of it back to our camp. Our fishing adventure continued with me using a slip bobber and leech while Ruth used a cisco, large hook and large regular bobber. I learned these methods from Frank and Mark, respectfully. It was great fishing with Ruth but we didn't catch anything. Upon returning to camp I took a quick swim. The cool water is extremely rejuvinating. Supper was fire grilled steaks and baked potatoes. Ruth made delicious salads. The steaks were perfect and once again worth their weight crossing the portages. There was a heavy cloud cover and no sunset so we played cribbage. The girls won 2-1. We started the next beautiful day with Sturdiwheat pancakes. It pleased us greatly to know that we had enough mix for a second breakfast of pancakes. Later that morning all of us headed for the eastern bay of the lake for some serious fishing. It was great to be paddling around on such a fine day. It was cloudy but the sun peaked through every once in a while. We checked out an O.K. campsite on the eastern shore but found it just a little too small. Next we headed for "Dangerous Waters". We had lunch on a large rock overlooking the first rapids, followed by hiking the portage. We marveled at the many flowers, moss and ferns. Diana saw her first real live Pink Showy Lady Slipper. We had to cross several downed trees, they were challenging but fun. Back at camp we all immersed ourselves in the wilderness experience of swimming in a cool Boundary Waters lake. It rinsed our bodies and minds. Ruth built a fire and roasted hot dogs for supper. We went fishing again and after an hour of no luck stopped to photograph a rock wall and it's reflection on the calm waters. Ruth set her pole down without reeling it in and spent several minutes composing many images of the beautiful scene. When she picked up her pole she realized she might have a fish on. Then she thought it was snagged. Then the snag moved about 10 feet. Now she was sure she had a fish. She had trouble getting the Northern close to the boat but I finally netted it for her. It was a nice sized eatter. We cleaned it on a nearby rock and headed back to our wonderful campsite. The magic of this super day continued with an outstanding sunset that was an extravaganza of color for about 45 minutes. In the morning, after listening to the weather report we decided we should head out. The forcast was for high winds the next day. But, before we left we fried the Northern and made pancakes. A superior last breakfast. The paddle out that afternoon was full of northwoods beauty and wonder even though the portages were congested. It was great spending time with John and Diana and we're looking forward to another trip soon.
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