We got up around 5:15AM and broke camp. We had a quick breakfast and arrived at the Kawishiwi lake landing around 8AM. We loaded the van and made our way to Sawbill for a shower (was a wolf along the road), Tofte to unload the canoes, and Betty's Pies...well for some pies.

The trip itself was pretty much perfect, with excellent weather, good temps, and great friendship. The guys were flexible and never complained which makes things easy for me. The only downside was a four car pileup South of MSP (we were rear ended on I-35). The State Patrol was there quickly and a plain clothed officer witnessed the incident. Thankfully all involved suffered no obvious injuries, and the van only had a crunched in bumper/liftgate so we were able to continue on home.

Notes: I have a couple CCS hybrid packs that I greatly enjoy. I picked up a few Granite Gear Solo packs to round out the group packs. These were great for holding a couple sleeping bags and clothes/personal items for 2. I have no doubt I could fit everything inside for a solo trip. These packs could alternatively hold two BearVault 700s side by side. Speaking of BearVaults, I really like not having to worry about my food. Last new bit of new gear was an MSR Autoflow gravity filter. We really enjoyed not having to pump, but the flow was noticeably reduced during the trip. Probably should have backflushed the filter more often with more water.

We rented 2 Souris River Q17s. These felt very stable and were pretty easy for Eric/Alex to paddle.