We left at about 7am from the Twin Cities and drove up the north shore to Sawbill Outfitters. There we unloaded our cars and then drove one over to EP #37, where we planned to exit. Meanwhile, I questioned Bill (who, you will see later, is our savior) about our route.

The weather was pretty much perfect, warm and sunny with temperatures in the 70s. It remained that way nearly all week, lucky us! We hit the water at about 2:30pm and paddled across Sawbill lake, down Alton against some wind, and across Beth. The portages were nothing too bad, even though we crossed the Laurentian divide between Alton and Beth. On Beth we camped at site 839, which had room for our three tents and a beautiful eastward view of the whole lake.

We enjoyed some chicken that we froze the night before and cast leeches from camp into the twilight. A few little smallies bit. For dessert we tried something new, we wrapped cinnabuns (from a tube) around the end of sticks and roasted them like marshmallows, then dipped them in the sugar sauce bucket. The stars were clear and beautiful. A perfect first night.