Monday, July 29, 2013 We awoke at Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters after spending the night in a bunkhouse and had a great breakfast of French toast and our last drop of 'civilized' coffee. This year we had the same cast of characters as last year. Rowan is 6, my son, head full of blond curls and couldn't be happier chasing grasshoppers and fishing. Marissa is also 6, my niece, loves socializing, s'mores and playing cards. It's both their second time up in the BWCA and have been looking forward to a return trip all year. My older brother is the assistant to the leader, has a plethora of enthusiasm and novel ideas, yet lags behind everyone in basic outdoorsmanship. My mom is 64, raised three boys, still a full time professor of theology, puts up with all of the typical BWCA shenanigans but insists on bringing a super duty thermarest mattress that inflates to a larger size than the twin mattress I used through college. But it's your mom, so you portage it anyway. My dad turned 70 this year but that didn't stop him from helping carry the packs at the portages, which didn't stop him from falling over at the portages...

Sue and the crew got us loaded up and trailered us to the public landing on Gunflint where we put off. 

The paddle on Gunflint and Magnetic was great, with very little wind we relaxed and took our time. Even circled the island with the Swiss Chalet on it.

 

As we made our way down the Pine river, the scenery was gorgeous, the portages were rocky and the blueberries looked promising! We had a lunch of gorp, granola bars and jerky overlooking the falls.

When we arrived on Clove, the northern campsite with the sandy beach was taken, but the western campsite was available so we took it. It's a solid site, getting in and out is a little tricky but otherwise fine. We did some fishing from shore and had some luck with a few northerns and bass. Rowan caught the big fish of the night with a three pound smallie, when you're 42 lbs yourself, that's a big fish!