We left our site after a breakfast of bacon and Camp Chow fry bread (really good!). We made short work of the portage and passed through the first two sites that were open, hoping to find one of the peninsula sites. We headed first to the East facing site only to find it had been taken a few minutes earlier, so we headed to the West site that was conveniently open. It was fun to see the excitement of my daughters as they checked out the site looking for a good tent pad and nice fire area. With a positive report from them (and a quick double check from dad), we claimed the site as ours.

By now the girls and my wife were getting into the rhythm of this place: setting up the tent, inflating air pads and getting out the sleeping bags, hanging the gravity filter, looking for dry wood, etc. All things were done with excitement and a sense that they were helping the family.

After camp chores were done we broke out lunch (chicken salad wraps for the adults, peanut butter/jelly/nutella wraps for the kids). We were QUICKLY greeted by the resident chipmunk and mouse asking for scraps of which we were very careful not to give them anything.

My daughters helped my find dry firewood and K asked to help cut and split what we had brought back.

We left for an evening paddle down the East arm of Horseshoe as it heads into Vista. We encountered several beavers and the associated tail slaps which everyone thought was very entertaining. M did get a little nervous when she thought we got too close. Earlier in the trip we had thought about spending a night or two on Vista but we were told by two kayakers they had paddled through the portage. After seeing the water coming out of Vista, I believed them.

We headed back to camp with the Sun melting into the trees, the air cooling off, and warm sleeping bags waiting.