We awoke to clear skies and immediately decided to take the opportunity to hike the Mountain portage to the Border Route Hiking Trail. Tawney and I scarfed down a couple of granola bars and I got the backpack ready and filled the water bottles. We loaded up our giant hound and shoved off for our adventure. I shortened up on the cord in order to avoid any further damage and was able to start the motor on about the 15th pull. Not too bad considering yesterday’s fiasco… We made the short motor to the Mountain portage in about 5 minutes and tied up the boat. The Mountain portage is a pretty steep uphill climb. Just as you crest the hill and start to be able to see the lake through the trees, the unmarked Border Route Trail intersects with the portage. We turned left and headed west along the trail. There was quite a bit of blowdown which I assume is from the July 4th 1999 storm and we saw quite a bit of wolf sign on the trail. I was glad that we had brought 3 liters of water. It was quite hot and the trail ascends and descends through the forest where the breeze is next to nonexistent. Slim Jim is a 100% house dog and, although he was quite enthusiastic at first, he began to fade as we climbed the final couple of hills to the Mountain Lake overlook. Well, I must say that it was well worth the effort to get there. We stopped and took a few pictures at the first overlook and continued to the next one. Wow! This is a fantastic view looking east down the Voyageur Canoe Highway as it heads toward Lake Superior. This is far and away the best view that I have ever seen in the BWCA. We could see for miles! After a short rest and lots of photos, we decided to head back. The map showed another set of contour lines which suggested a very promising spot for an overlook but it was about another 2 miles away and I wasn’t sure that Slim Jim would be all that excited to be dragged along. After all, it’s his vacation too… When we got back to the boat his tongue was almost dragging on the trail and he had been way behind us for the last ¼ mile or so. He spent the next 10 minutes standing in the lake drinking like a dying man in the desert. When he had drunk his fill, he lay down in the lake and let the waves break over his back. I have never seen him so worn out and it made me glad that we hadn’t pushed him for the next overlook. I don’t know much about heat stroke but my guess is that he was not far away from it. The breeze was really beginning to pick up so we loaded up the boat and pushed off. We had no idea that this was just the beginning of the windiest bunch of days that I have ever spent in the BWCA. After a leisurely cruise up the lake we headed back to camp and got some lunch. I had picked up some of the foil packed tuna salad packets on the advice of some of the BWCA.com board members and they were spot on. The sandwiches were so delicious that it left Tawney and I wishing that we had brought along a bunch more! By around 1PM the breeze had turned into a steady wind at about 25 mph and the whitecaps were really kicking up. It was a beautiful sunny day but the wind was really causing some problems for the groups of canoes we watched from camp. One, in particular had 3 canoes and it looked like 2 of the canoes had adults and the third was paddled by what looked to be young boys. Eventhough the wind was at their backs for most of the lake, they really struggled to make the final push toward the West Pike portage. Somehow they ended up sideways in the huge whitecaps as they tried to paddle over to rejoin their group. Tawney urged me to get in the boat and rescue them before they ended up on the rocks. I stood by the boat and told myself that I would not go unless they dumped with all their gear or hit the rocks. To me, there’s something exciting about saving yourself and it’s all part of the wilderness experience. In the end, one of the adult canoes came to get them. These guys were both very strong paddlers and, once they committed to the rescue, they really put their backs into it and got the job done. As they paddled away into the protected bay on their way to the portage, I reflected on how important it is to pair the weaker paddlers with strong stern paddlers to keep that kind of thing from happening. At about 3PM we heard a loud cracking sound and a huge crash. Tawney and I both jumped up from our seats along the shore and ran toward the noise. A large rotten birch tree had come crashing down about 50 feet behind our tent and broken into 4 or 5 pieces. We double checked the site again for widowmakers and used a lot of extra caution around the large pine tree which was leaning over the far edge of camp. As afternoon turned to evening we ate cheese and crackers, sipped some wine, and shared a nice warm shower using our sun shower bag which we had left in the sun for about 5 hours. It was a very nice way to wind down the day. I have never brought one of them on a BWCA trip before but they are lightweight and don’t take up any room in the pack so I plan on adding one to my gear list for future trips. Once again we were treated to a beautiful sunset after dinner and retired to the tent with the wind still howling.