We awoke at dawn, very cold, and had a total of 30 minutes of sunshine in the morning fog before it quickly clouded over again. And still the east wind, a help to us paddling northwest, but a warning of more rain to come.  This was to be our last day, another long day with six portages.  The portages were supposed to be relatively easy, as we were following the Cross River with no hills to climb.  However, the river was at spring flood stage because of all the rain, and we were coming downstream towards rapids and waterfalls that we had to know where the portage was in order not to be swept down in the strong current.  Something to think about!

We passed through Karl Lake and a beautiful narrows next to an island, and made the 28 rod portage to Lower George just before a waterfall.  From there we continued through Rib, 37 rods, and then the 56 rod to Cross Bay Lake. The river was amazing, torrents of water, and a tricky entry in the current at the put in on Cross Bay. Parts of the portages were under water, but by now we were used to this as normal conditions! We made a side trip up a small creek to look for moose, but instead of a moose we saw a turtle!  We made a lunch stop on an exposed rock, but the regular tenants of the rock (black flies and mosquitoes) decided to come out for such a welcome that we quickly moved on!

After passing the easy 24 rod portage to Ham Lake and enjoying the east wind down to the end, we came upon the scene of the start of last years infamous Ham Lake fire. From here it is just a small burn, following along the river outlet from the lake, hard to believe that it spread over 10's of thousands of acres! Just two more portages around rapids are we are out. As you might have guessed by now, we are looking forward to ending our trip!  The last 50 rod portage was also a challenge, as the put in was completely flooded and we had to load the canoe in the current.  One more bend in the river and the outhouse at the Cross River Landing comes into view! We made it! Here is a photo of the flooded dock to verify the water levels.

Overall, it was an awesome trip. Given the weather conditions, the length of trip, and our age spread, we were pleased we rose to the challenge!

That night it rained hard again, and we woke up at the Super 8 in Grand Marais high and dry!