This was our last full day in the BWCA and we slept in late. We took our time breaking camp and once everything was loaded in the canoe, we did one last police call of the area before heading North. Our goal today was not very far. We only had to make Ham Lake before nightfall. Isaac continued to soak a line while I slowly moved us along the Western shore of Rib Lake. It was a very peaceful day and once on the water, we had no need for headnets to keep the bugs at bay. We ghosted along, neither of us talking, just absorbing the beauty of our surroundings. There is a point as you head North on Rib where you have to make a quick zig zag turn to the West and then it turns quickly North again. Because we were moving so quietly, as we rounded the bend going West, we came within 50 yards of Mr. Bullwinkle!!!! He was definitely huge and I am not sure who was more surprised, us or him. He quickly made for the shore and went crashing into the brush. Way cool. We ran into a large group of people on the portage from Rib to Cross Bay. They were on their first day of a trip that would eventually end at Poplar Lake. We made our way through Cross Bay and reached the portage into Ham Lake. Our goal was the campsite located on the point. The portage across was fairly easy and we made it into Ham well before noon. The last campsite toward the East end of the lake had a tent in it so we made towards our destination. As we pulled up and got out onto shore, we found the sight occupied. There was a hammock it the trees, but not visible from the water. Not sure what the most Western camp site would look like (the 2007 Ham Lake Fire started there), we choose to head back toward the East and check out the remaining camp site. It was not good. Huge ant mounds were at several places and I was not going to contend with them. We had two choices... Check out the last Ham Lake site, or go back to the last camp site on Cross Bay. We headed West as we were already on the lake. After six years, the camp site didn't really look too bad. It was a real trick to land the canoe there though. Once ashore, we made a quick survey of the camp. There was a very nice place for our tent, about five feet from the water, and it had some good shade. It was very spooky standing there and realizing that one of the most destructive fires in the BWCA started there only six years earlier. It gave both Isaac and I a new respect for the power of a fire and how quickly it could start and get out of control. The fire actually burned only a small portion of the camp site, but sparks ended up jumping about 50 feet of channel at the narrows to begin it's destructive march. Needless to say, when we built a fire that night, we made sure it was completely out. We just fished from shore, laid around soaking up the sun on the rocks, relaxing in the breeze and watching a beaver who appeared to be annoyed that we were in the camp site. After awhile, we could here the sounds of aluminum canoes being smacked into rocks and a bunch of loud voices. We knew it would only be a short while before we would have company coming through the channel. Within an hour, three canoes carrying six college buddies came past our site. In a way, it reminded me of myself all those years ago. I really hope I wasn't that obnoxious and loud back then. We could hear them all the way to the portage going from Ham into Cross Bay. Wow! Isaac and I stayed up late that night and enjoyed the evening before putting out the fire very well and turning in.

Rib Lake, Cross Bay Lake, Ham Lake