Day Two- We do boil water for coffee in the morning but on a travel day everyone provides their own breakfast. I opted for Cliff bars and trail mix and found it to work great. We broke camp and were on our way west by 8:30. Of course the wind was in our face but we headed straight across Isabella Lake and stopped at the first campsite on the right as the lake narrows into the river. We walked around some and checked maps. This site is rather spacious and has a fine wide sand canoe landing area. We made a mental note to come back here for our final night (however plans changed as you will learn).

Into Isabella River. The first portage is a relatively easy one that crosses the Pow Wow Trail. The portage goes straight through but a left turn puts you on a bridge made for the hikers. It’s a neat place to stop and watch the water and snap a few pics. It looks like you might be able to shorten the portage by putting in just past the bridge (the left turn) but we opted to go all the way to the end where there was a decent landing and you are well past the rapids.

Other than an “in your face” breeze the next section of river travel was scenic and easy. We checked campsites for our return trip and leisurely paddled with the current.

About 4 ½ to 5 miles from campsite one we encounter our first portage of length. There is a long stretch of rapids that makes for a 130rod portage. The first part of the rapids looks doable but don’t. As you walk the portage you come close to the river at one point where the water is extremely rough. The portage has a plank footpath through a muddy area and a bridge is built across a rough stretch of creek. We met two couples that had just spent the weekend on Rice Lake and they informed us of an eagle nest and beaver lodge to watch for on the short stretch from the portage to the lake. Both are on the left.

We had hoped to camp on Rice Lake but the other two canoes went ahead of us and reported the sites were small and we should move on. The site on the west side could maybe fit 1-2 tents and one of our young men hopped out to check the island and felt we would need more room.

The wind is picking up now but we continue to head down river to the site on the left just past Rice Lake. It’s an elevated spot where there is a beautiful “room” like feel to the site with the fire grate up against a large rock and huge rocks surrounding the grassy space. We were able to fit two tents in easily here. We found a decent site straight back from the fire grate quite a ways and we wedged a tent into another space to make it all fit. It was bright sunny afternoon and we first erected a shade tarp to rest up a bit. The sound of thunder in the distance woke us up though and we set up the camp just in time for a brief rain. It made us aware of taking care of the setup first and then being lazy. While others went back to inspect the rapids and look for firewood I tried my hand at fishing from shore. It’s a small area to fish but I caught a small northern and had many others following the lure. It kept me out of trouble for a while. The sky cleared and we had a stunning starry evening.