I’m up with a jump as my watch alarm goes off at 6:00 startled by the unfamiliarity of the sound. I lay back down for 5 minutes to relax. I didn’t sleep all that great. I dress and go to the car. I load my three water bottles with ice cold Gatorade from the cooler and gather everything including the canoe down to the tow boats by the pier. It’s then in to the office where things are already buzzing. I meet Blaine and then Dave goes over my route with me. He points out a few good campsites and his eyes widen when I mention Burt Lake. I mention I’d like to stop for a night on Joyce Lake and he tells me a friend caught a 32” walleye there years ago. Now MY eyes widen. That’s a huge trophy fish. He wishes me well and points the way to the dining hall.

I stroll around back and find the eating room. A friendly waitress points to my table already set and waiting for me. I chat up a couple younger guys going in today too. At another table is two older couples also going to Quetico today. We all eat pancakes with coffee, orange juice, and fruit cocktail while we chat about our trips.

I finish and don’t dilly dally. I’m down to the tow boats where I meet a young college age helper who loads the boat for me. I’ll be getting the approx. 2 mile tow to the Prairie Portage Ranger station at the Canadian border of Quetico Park. We have a nice conversation on the way and I find out he’s from Canton Ohio and this is his summer job. He reminds me of a young me. Everything is still in front of him.

I’m the first one in line at the ranger’s office. She opens up and about 5 of us file in. She seems a bit cranky today but I show my necessary documents and give her my route and money before heading out.

My gear is the lightest I’ve ever taken on a solo trip. The canoe is a 46 pound 1994 Blackhawk Starship. It’s 16 feet long and just a great boat for this type of thing. My large pack is a CCS (Cooke Custom Sewing) Pioneer Pack. The smaller one is a Boundary Waters Journal Guide Pack made by Kondos. A 260 cm Bending Branches kayak paddle and my portage yoke. This clamps on the canoe and pads my shoulders when portaging between lakes. No Sherpas here folks. My plan is to make two trips or “double portage” the trails. My other loose items to carry on portages will be my PFD and a large map case. An extra paddle and two fishing rods are strapped inside the canoe.

I shove off into calm water under low hanging clouds. It takes a while to find a good rhythm with the paddle but I feel great. Not 10 minutes later a bald eagle comes swooping across the lake in front of me and glides up into a tree along the shore 30 yards from me. We look at each other. He seems unconcerned and probably wonders if I have any fish for him. Wow, what a way to start a trip.

I cross big Bayley Bay of Basswood Lake with a slight tail wind and take the portage at the sand beach leading to Burke Lake. Once on Burke I spy a tandem canoe up ahead going the same way. I gain ground with the yak paddle and we meet at the next portage. I find it's an older couple from around Fargo SD. They say they plan to go to Shade Lake. I tell them I’m going the same way but plan to camp on McNiece which is a few lakes further. Knowing I might not see any other people for awhile I ask if they would take my picture. I strike a pose and ask if I look like a voyageur. The woman said “I don’t think they wore shorts” with a chuckle.

They are single portaging so they get ahead of me. The problem is that they are slow on the water and I catch up to them at the next portage. Now I start to feel like I am intruding on them so plan to lay back a little. After a no name pond we enter a lily choked stream.

Ah, the perfect place to fart around with my new camera. My wife Mia surprised me with a Sony Cybershot waterproof point and shoot camera for this trip. I always have admired the macro photography of BWCA board members Ho Ho and especially Spartan 2. So, with their inspiration I saddle up next to a lily and fire off about 10 pics.

It’s difficult to shoot as the breeze moves the canoe but it does kill some time for the other couple to get well ahead of me. I portage into North Bay of Basswood and again, the wind pushes me across. Coming out at the north end I pull into a very low water stream and what do I see? The other couple is up ahead and walking their canoe. Their weight has grounded them while I barely glide along, scraping the sand bottom. At one point, I too have to get out and walk the boat. I catch up and we say hello. Again they single portage and I decide to have a little snack.

On the way again 10 minutes later and I notice a blister developing on both thumbs. My forearm is tightening up and my upper back twinges. I press on. After South and West Lakes I come into a no mame and to my left coming towards me out of the bay is… the SD couple. I ask if they had lunch and they say they took a bad portage trail and ended up bushwacking for a bit. Well, together again.

By now the wind has picked up and changed direction. Clouds are rolling in too. I tell them I’m hurting and will look for a campsite on Shade. I sense their disappointment as I shove off ahead of them. I know they plan to camp there too and I decide to settle on the lesser of two sites near the middle of the lake.

I land on a 3 star site on a small penninsula. The packs are unloaded and the canoe is pulled on shore. The wind has really picked up from the north and dark clouds are off in the distance across the lake. I quickly set up the hammock and tarp and put the packs underneath. Just as I finish staking everything out it hits with a massive blast of wind and rain. It’s a violent horizontal deluge. Sharp cracks of thunder ring out nearby. I do my best to hold the door shut as the tarp billows violently. I pray that lightening doesn't strike a tree holding my hammock.

I’ve only had this hammock and tarp setup on one other trip and then it barely rained so now I get to see what it can handle. I would feel very vulnerable if this storm hit during the night. In the future, I will make sure the tarp stakes are secure and also use the side pullouts (2 on each side of the tarp) for extra support and to keep it from billowing in a strong wind.

After a half hour it’s over. I change out of my wet clothes and pull out a turkey sub sandwich for dinner. I’m pretty tired and glad I stopped when I did. I’m in the hammock at 7:00.

Just after dark I hear a loud splash in the small bay about 40 feet away. It’s a large animal and it’s wading into the bay. I hear it swimming. Long slow inhales and then a steady exhale. By the sound of it his is a big animal, most likely a moose. It’s completely dark out so I stay put and listen. It swims around close by for awhile then suddenly I don’t hear anything. I drift off and then I hear the breathing again. No splashing just a steady breathing in and out. Something is swimming around out there and then it disappears again. 2 minutes later, there it is! Now I hear it coming out of the water. Large splashes and a slight rustle in the brush and it is gone.

A couple of days later I was reading a small book called “Fun Facts of Quetico Park’ when I read that moose will dive up to 18 feet deep to feed on lake bottom vegetation and can hold their breath for several minutes. That solves it. This is what I was hearing.