I woke up to a hard, stiff, and cold north wind blowing through camp. I had slept in my long underwear and was grateful for my flannel shirt and stocking cap, which I bring along in expectation of a day like this. It must have been in the low forties. The wind had blown all of the rain and storms away and it was actually quite sunny. It also had the wonderful side effect of keeping all of the mosquitoes far away.

Grandpa, Jon and I enjoyed cups of coffee and some hilarious stories before starting to prepare breakfast. My stove worked hard with the wind to heat up the frying pan and coffee pot for our breakfast. We figured out that we had to place them so the fire grate would break the wind, and our food quickly cooked then. The hot coffee tasted wonderful that morning, along with our French toast bagels (coated in butter and toasted) with syrup, bacon, and more leftover hot dogs in lieu of sausage.

It was Jon’s seventieth birthday that day. We gathered for our devotional time and read a passage of Scripture and then prayed again as always. Then Grandpa pulled out the hilarious card he had selected. We all laughed and then watched as Jon read the more serious letter that Grandpa had placed within. He then gave Grandpa a big hug. Grandpa told me later it was the first hug he had ever gotten from Jon. I was glad to see that we were blessing Jon in this way.

The wind died down a little so we could fish in the lee of our small island and in the more protected bay near Saganaga Falls. I wanted to be sure that we were fishing on the Canadian side. From looking at my map it appeared that the falls were on the Canadian side, so we did not venture up close to them and instead fished the small bay nearby. I caught an average small mouth and released it back at camp.

The wind calmed down and we all headed in for a refreshing swim in the lake, and then ate more summer sausage, Tang, and trail mix for lunch. As it was still rather chilly, I heated up more water and we enjoyed some instant apple cider. Mine was pumpkin flavored. The colder temperature kept the bugs at bay for the most part. I can see why people swear by September trips so much now.

Grandpa and I took the camp saw and felled a dead birch near our camp site. Sawing off a section we returned to camp, cut it into smaller sections, and split them. We had a nice pile of wood that we would use for a campfire that night. Grandpa then headed in for a nap. I relaxed around camp for a while with Jesse before he too headed in for a rest. Jon discovered a natural fishing pier near the landing on our camp site, where a deep drop off made for good fishing. He caught a small northern and bass after some time and filleted them up.

The afternoon warmed the air considerably. My Katadyn Basecamp filter had slowed dramatically, so I boiled lake water that Jon had gotten for me during our swim for our soup. I prepared a good dinner of vegetable beef soup and we fried up the fish and enjoyed them as well. I then pulled out the Little Debbie cakes I had been hauling in the barrel just for this day. We all enjoyed Jon’s birthday cake. By then the bugs were out again in full force, so we lit up our campfire and the smoky fumes from the burning birch (which was probably still damp) kept the bugs away while we sang a few tunes.

We then headed out for a final fishing expedition near the falls. Jon caught a good sized small mouth but otherwise we were skunked. We later heard from our outfitter that the weather was not in our favor and Saganaga Falls was usually a good fishing spot. Somehow I also get the impression that it is acceptable to fish right at the base of the falls. A beautiful sunset kissed our faces as we paddled back to camp.

The bugs were intolerable, so we retired to the big tent and played an intense game of hearts. We listened to two loons calling to each other. Their beautiful laughter is still ringing in my ears. As the full moon rose over the campsite two whippoorwills began calling, one of the most incredible and surreal things I have ever heard. They called to each other all night long. In the still evening, the peaceful hush of Saganaga Falls lulled us to sleep. Before falling asleep I listened to the whippoorwills and prayed for the first year of law school that was fast approaching.