An actual sunrise! The wind had dropped and it was a pretty nice morning. Since we had repacked a lot of our gear we had a cold breakfast and hit the water by 6:15. The 230 rd portage into Kelly Lake was muddy and the skeeters were active already but being eager to get home the long portage was soon behind us and we were soon at the 3 rod portage into Peterson Lake. We let John and a heavy pack off on shore and Terry and I maneuvered through the rocky little rapids. After picking up John I felt a large pang of sadness to be leaving as the sun began to burn bright and the water was smooth with easy paddling to see us off. Just before the 10 rod portage into Baker Lake we got hung up on some rocks in shallow water again. Both John and I were out of the canoe to help us through. Then, just like that we’re back at the EP and loading up to go home. We arrive at the EP at 9:00 and were back where Terry and I live just before 6:00 PM. Man, on Burnt Lake at 6 in the morning and home having supper with my wife 12 hours later. I loved this trip and fell in love with Cherokee and Sawbill lakes!

A couple of lessons learned or at least reinforced: 1. Bring canoe repair material. For some reason we didn’t really plan for it. I think with Kevlar canoes we must have thought they’d be indestructible and we found out the sharp rocks in the BW don’t care what your canoe is made of. 2. Continue to get up early and get moving on to the next destination. If you don’t find a site on the lake you wanted to stop on at least you give yourself time to continue on and still have luck finding something. 3. We had a lot more rain on this trip than others I’ve been on. This year I used a ground tarp to protect the tent bottom and an “innie” for the first time. Everything stayed dry so I like that arrangement but need to find a better material than clear plastic for the inside. It was like my gear and I were in an ice rink the way things would shift around in the tent. 4. If someone seeks shelter in your site with a storm bearing down don’t let them talk you into “well, we’ll find something over there” because they might be clueless as to what’s available and you could do them a real favor by letting them in. 5. The more you move toward the interior of the park the easier it is to find campsites. Last year on the Kawishiwi River it was a real struggle. This year wasn’t so bad. 6. I didn’t pack fishing gear and found that with the right mindset I didn’t miss it…much. The others in my group don’t fish so I found ways to stay busy with them and the time went by just as fast. 7. Check for dead trees before setting up the tent. Don’t wait until you see the weather could be bad.