And the next day I went off to bushwhack to Leah Lake. It was finally calm and beautiful. After all, “we had all day" and a merganser showed me the way:

And using a map and compass heading due east I found my way to Leah, first crossing a little crystal clear creek:

And it flowed into Leah:

Because of the so-so campsite on Mesaba, I decided to paddle on to Dent. From this point on it is important to note that the portages on this loop were used very, very little, greatly overgrown and difficult. For the next 4 days, I would see no one and realize that I was in a very remote area.

More headwind as I went across Chaser L. The 130 r portage into Dent was pretty. Pretty hard. It began with a straight up climb and twisted and turned into dead end moose trails. I got hung up a couple of times, but finally got through it. I had the feeling of complete solitude. I even said out loud once on the trail, “Jerry, you are truly alone in the wilderness.”

Turning southbound into Dent I hit yet another headwind. I was sure getting tired of that weather factor. It made the “We have all day” mantra a little tough to savor. But once I reached the east site on Dent it was well worth it. Laced with large gently sloping granite shores and a nice tent pad, it was an exquisite site. Two loons spent the evening dancing on the water and I watched sitting there with my Bailey’s Irish Cream “on the rocks”. I started an idea for a song called “The River Inside Me”.

It was an 8 fly day.