Time to pack up and head back to reality. But once again the winds were howling. They had to be in the 15-20 mph range with gusts near 25 mph. Paddling across Gabbro I had visions of the opening scenes of Hawaii 5-0 in my mind with the way the waves were crashing over the bow of the canoe. Thank God for Gore-Tex.

Of the eleven trips I've done in the BWCA this was by far the most challenging. I've done a trip in May for the past four years and each year it only seems to get colder and windier. So next year, I'm shooting for the second week of June. I know the weather in June can be almost as bad (it was on my first trip in June 2000), but I just can't seem to beat the odds and get decent weather up there in May. I think one of the guys summarized our trip quite well when he said, "It's not a vacation, it's an adventure." Nothing wrong with that, but I'd rather have just a little more vacation and little less adventure for a change. Hope you enjoyed reading this or at least found it helpful. If you have questions or would like additional details, feel free to e-mail me.