Day three dawned with slowly clearing skies, and we devoured our summer sausage sandwiches as the sun rose. We packed our wet gear and hit the water headed for our eventual destination of Ogishkemuncie Lake. We conquered the portages with ease and only had to make two trips each time. On Kingfisher Lake we discovered a spot of moving water flowing from Ogish into Kingfisher, and Cam caught a single smallie on his the first cast. I was pleasantly surprised to see the shores of Jasper washed in green from birch and popple trees. The area has come a long way since I last saw it in 2013.

As we headed out of the burn area on Ogishkemuncie, Cam got the first glimpse of the untouched Boundary Waters. We grabbed a five star island site that Deb had recommended for us near the west end of the lake and got camp set up. This site had a wonderful fire grate near the water and a nice tent pad higher up on the camp site. After we set up the tent, Cam headed in for a swim while I set out our gear on a tarp to dry in the warm September sunshine. I set up our stoves and made our lunch of pancakes and bacon, which we enjoyed with coffee and blueberry crisp Clif bars (delicious!) After we did the dishes, Cam took a short nap while I rinsed some of my clothes in the lake and took a swim. The water was surprisingly warm for mid-September.

We headed out into Ogishkemuncie and fished several of the bays and shorelines on both sides of the lake but didn’t catch anything at all. A very large smallmouth was able to shake Cam’s lure out of its mouth, giving both of us a rush, and we tried the same spot again later on with no success. The wind picked up, so we headed back for our campsite and shore fished for a while. Cam caught two tiny pike that way. Fishing was sporadic for us the entire trip due to the late season.

The previous occupants of our campsite had left a good stash of cedar so we got a good fire going and kept it up for several hours. As we enjoyed it, I got our dinner together, which included Mountain House freeze dried beef stroganoff with noodles, beef jerky, and coffee and cider. It was delicious. The day ended around the campfire with music, small talk, and the ever present wind out of the west. Rain started to fall as we fell asleep.