We get up and get going from our house in Hibbing, MN at 6 am to get to the ranger station bright and early. We’re all very excited to get our paddles wet and get to Mudro uneventfully. As my wife and I begin unloading the car, Dorothy decides that she needs to see where we are putting in. After unloading the gear and a short reminder about appropriate canoe behavior, we’re off!

The first portage out of Mudro and into Sandpit is a bit hilly and not too difficult for an adult, but I was wondering if it would prove to be too challenging for Dorothy. She was a champ and double portaged with us carrying the leaches and her paddle.

We get to Horse and are very excited about the prospect of camping on the north end of the lake. There was not one occupied site on the way in, which we took as a good omen. Well, we paddled all the way to the north end of the lake only to find every single site on the lake is occupied. 

We discuss our options at this point:

1) Horse River to the falls and press onward to Crooked. We quickly dismiss this idea because it would be too demanding on Dorothy. 2) Head to Fourtown. This was appealing, but again we were worried about the activity on the lake and the wear on Dorothy getting there and searching for a site. 3) Head back to Tin Can Mike. We knew the entire lake was wide-open and that Dorothy would handle that trip back.

We headed back to Tin Can Mike and check out the sites on the lake. We choose a peninsula site on the west side. After a lunch of summer sausage, cheese and pita, Dorothy was ready to fish. It was a solid drop off from the point we were on, so I set up Dorothy’s pole and let her fish while we set up camp. She caught a couple of smallies in the half-hour we were busy.

Since we had spent a few hours in the canoe already and the fishing appeared to be good from our site, we stayed put and relaxed.

We ate dinner played Go Fish and were to bed just after dusk.