May 25, 2008 Day 11. The crew woke up early, fixed breakfast, packed up camp and waited in the cold sporadic drizzle for Jan to show up. The fire was built up to hold the damp chill at bay - the crew watched attentively for Jan's return the brightest color packs positioned for easy identification in the blowing mists of morning. While waiting, we found that Pete’s Roselli hatchet could sprout wings and fly, although erratically. Close, but no first aid required.

The Zup's boat came into view, and Jan spun her around – eventually nosing the boat through the brush and finding a landing spot on the high water LLC. We were able to load our packs and canoes in fairly short order, relaxing against the cushioned seats for the speedy ride back to civilization at Zups. On the tow back to Zups was a father/son team and we discussed routes and lakes. When asked what his favorite lake was for fishing, he replied “Redpine”. Hey, that was supposed to have been our lake. The father said that this was the first time he had been able to get his 15yo son to go on a canoe trip. They had much better luck with the walleyes than we did.

Back at Zups, fresh coffee, cookies, muffins, and good cheer…and a beer. Pete decided to try out his “Want to go camping?” line on the cute 20something gal at the counter. To his utter surprise and shock, she whips around, looks him straight in the eye, and says “When?” Pete, the ol’ charmer was caught red-faced and speechless. The rest of us were not speechless, and when the riot finally died down, we got back underway. Mark talked about her tattoos for the next hour straight and finally decided to get a new tattoo himself when he got home. After 10 days in the bush, that girl was inspirational.

The route back differed from the route in and included a long, rugged cross country truck portage - several guys with beaten and abused Chevy Suburbans with trailers loaded up our gear and strapped the canoes onto the racks helped us across a logging road that permitted no speeds over 4 MPH- all part of Zup's excellent service. We think this portage is where old Chevy Suburbans go to die. Loads of junk in the woods along the road. Our driver was from over by Thunder Bay and commented that many people going back and forth across that truck portage treated the drivers like indentured servants. Our guy was fun to talk with and took great care with our gear, so we gave him a tip.

After dealing with the surly customs agent at Crane Lake, gear was separated and stowed back in the vehicles and on the BMW. Time flies on these trips and it seems only yesterday that they were standing at the same landing, ready to go out. Farewells, all around. Pete and Dave would meet up again in the Wabakimi this season, but as a group only through good fortune would we all be together again. Regardless, the memories of this trip are cherished.

Summary - a great adventure. During this trip, we could observe an almost daily greening of the hillsides as the deciduous trees sprang to life. The quiet forests of Quetico quickly came back to life with returning migratory birds, flashes of welcome color and singing the songs of the springtime forest. Group chemistry is so vital to trip success, and this assemblage of four essential strangers into a cohesive team was possible only because of common passions, interests and the forum created by Adam and BWCA.com. It worked flawlessly - I'd travel with this crew anytime.