8-30-09 Up at our usual 6 AM. We had a leisurely breakfast of blueberry pancakes and hot maple syrup. This is our last morning and our pick-up doesn't arrive until 1 PM, so we are in no real hurry. The fog was quite thick this morning. At times we couldn't see either end of Horse Lake, or even the trees across from us. It was cool, but not cold--all-in-all, a lovely morning with a hint of fall to come. By 9 we are packed and on the water. A paddle down Horse Lake and a portage of 166 rods puts us into Murphy (or Tin Can Murphy) Lake. This was an interesting portage because much of it was along a board walk through a swamp. The board walk made walking through the swamp very easy. A short paddle down Murphy Lake led to another portage of 160 rods into Sand Pit Lake. We enjoyed a leisurely paddle to our 3rd portage of 100 rods into Mudro Lake. This was our hardest portage of the whole trip--we later learned it was aptly called "Heart Attack Hill". This 100 rod portage was mostly straight up a hill of boulders. Judy has always carried our double canoe on portages and I don't know how she managed to get the canoe up the hill. When we walked back on the trail to get the remaining gear bags, she took one look down the steep hill and said, "Good gosh, I didn't know it was that steep!" I guess there is something to be said for not being able to see the trail ahead from beneath a canoe. Along the upper part of this trail, Debra spotted 3 Ruffed Grouse in the shrubbery and trees beside the trail. Two of them crossed the trail in front of us, so we got really good looks at them.

Mudro Lake started out looking like just another lake, but it rapidly narrowed into an interesting, narrow channel winding through cattails and other grasses. Judy and I felt justified in stopping now and then to take photos of the plants and lovely flowers. After all, we'd just hauled our selves, two canoes, and half a ton of gear up "Heart Attack Hill"! At the end of Mudro Lake was our last portage--relatively short and mercifully flat, with a large yellow VNO van at the end of it. This was an easy portage, although I'm sure it seemed even easier due to the comparison to our last portage. We were greeted with a cold Hamm's Beer and enjoyed watching our canoes and gear being loaded onto the van. And, yes, we had even arrived right on time at 1 PM. Our 45 minute drive back to civilization hardly prepared us for seeing so many people and cars once we reached Ely.

Once back in Ely at VNO, we unloaded and turned in our gear, thanked Andy and said good-bye to him, and then drew straws for the shower. We had arranged to spend the night in VNO's "bunkhouse", and it was wonderful to be able to wash clothes and stand in a hot shower. After cleaning up, the four of us went to our favorite Ely restaurant, the Chocolate Moose, and had a celebratory dinner! The trip was fun and exciting--we all had a great time and, although not all of us are interested in doing it again, none of us regret doing it. VNO did a great job supplying us with food (actually, more than we could eat!) and first-rate gear, and securing our guide, Andy, for us. Andy was worth his weight in gold to us. Yes, we could have done it alone, but we are into fun and enjoyment, not trying to prove what tough women we are (we've already done that and got the T-shirts). He gave us the leisure to enjoy our time in BWCA. So, "Thanks, Andy!" and, "Thanks VNO!" We had a great time and you'll see some of us again.