The bear barrel was right where we left it. Complete with our pans on top of the barrel with the empty beer can I found still inside of them. We ate the last of our Clif bars for breakfast & were on the water EARLY.

It didn't even seem like the same lake? It was glass & there was a incredibly heavy fog. We kept her pretty close to shore. More so we knew where we were than a concern over big waves. I'd swear if it wasn't for the yellow orb in the sky I'd scarcely know which direction we were headed.

It was surprising how quickly we moved down the lake. We encountered a couple of canoes coming in as we neared the "portage" into McFarland. The fog was starting to lift just a little as we shot the rapids out of the BWCAW. We made it! At long last we had finally escaped from our Pine lake prison.

We encountered many ducks & mergansers while paddling on McFarland. There was even a beaver out for a morning swim. He lingered for awhile then gave us the trademark tail slap & disappeared. I don't know what time it was when we got up this morning? But we paddled over 3 miles on Pine plus the entire length of McFarland and it was only 7:15 when I pulled the van down to the landing.

We loaded up & were on our way. It appeared they had patched up the rough spots on the Arrowhead trail. As soon as we had signal we let everyone know that we were OK. Blue Waters Cafe was serving us a hearty breakfast by about 8:30.

We then headed for my parents home where we were finally able to open the gifts & cards we had recieved. What a trip!