Sunday, October 09, 2016: Woke again to a 5 a.m. alarm after another cold night, sleeping in every stitch of clothing I had. Outside, stars sparkled in a black, black sky. My breath steamed as I moved around camp, and a heavy layer of frost coated my tent and tarp. My travel shoes had frozen solid. I was glad I had brought the Sawyer filter into my sleeping bag. I boiled water for coffee and oatmeal, and wrestled stiff, frozen gear into my pack. As the sky grew lighter in the east, I set off for the portage to Wasini amidst pockets of fog.

Not long after dawn clouds moved in, teasing me with occasional blue-sky breaks. Wind out of the southwest was in my face most of the day, and I felt real doubts about making it back to Snowbank before sunset. I rested and ate a quick lunch at the same Thomas campsite where I had sheltered on Wednesday, and reckoned the many portages and lakes still to go.

I had expected to see other paddlers, but my first glimpse didn't come until I was battling a headwind the length of Disappointment, where I saw three groups fishing from canoes. At the portage to Snowbank/Parent, I met a group of three outbound to fish on Thomas. One man told me they had used the direct portage from Snowbank to Disappointment, and that they had encountered three-foot waves on Snowbank. The wind hadn't seemed quite that strong, but I opted for carrying to Parent Lake, then portaging again to Snowbank to leave a short paddle across to the landing. Two trees were down on the carry from Disappointment to Snowbank, too tall to climb over with a canoe, and too low to go under. The portage out of Parent to Snowbank was a muddy mess, and I was running on fumes by the time I put my canoe in the water on Snowbank for the last, short paddle. The wind was not a problem, waves were small, and I was stacking my gear at the EP27 landing at least half an hour before sunset.

After a quick dinner in Ely, I headed for home, arriving just after midnight. On the long drive, I reckoned up some successes -- acquiring the Helinox chair and Sawyer filter, cooking freeze-dried dinners in freezer bags -- and some mistakes. I had packed for the forecast, but the weather had been considerably colder and wetter than expected. But above all, I had planned a relatively ambitious route without leaving enough time. My hurried pace on Saturday and Sunday had kept me from truly enjoying the experience.