It rained most of the night. I get up early and it’s foggy, calm and dripping. Everything is wet. A very solid gray day this morning. I get right to packing up the tent and gear before it rains again. My breakfast is coffee, a Usana protein shake, gorp, trail bar, and what’s left of the dried fruit. I’m ready to go and we shove off around 9:00.

Luna seems tired and naps all the way down Sunday. We tackle the rocky portage to Bayley Bay and luckily the wind is mild for the crossing. I’m seeing people now coming the other way just starting their trips. We chat as we pass each other.

Then I see two tandem canoes passing about 30 yards from me and I hear “Where’s your dog?” Luna picks her head up and I hear “There she is. Hi Tom”. It turns out it's Jon AKA “Banksiana/Solus” just starting out today. We have a quick chat and I wish them a good trip.

After I reach the Ranger station I dig in for the two hour paddle back to LaTourells. I fight a stiff head wind most of the way. We eat a quick lunch on an island and press on. It rains on and off but not heavy.

At the parking lot landing I meet a group of 8 guys mixed in age from Indiana. This is all their first trip except for one older person. They appear to be renting all of their stuff and are not going in very far. Lots of ginormous tackle boxes.

A few of them watch me unload and take interest in my gear and ask lots of questions. Seems they really want to do a trip to the interior but just don't have experience and are unsure so they pick my brain. I tell them to hit the message boards and I give them some names. I'm not used to being viewed as an expert but I guess with 16 weeklong or more trips up here now I kinda know what I'm doing. I encourage them to give it a shot.

Luckily the bunkhouse is open tonight and I pay cash for it. The next morning I make it to Brittons, a local cafe in Ely for breakfast. It’s packed but I grab a seat at the counter where I chat with an local ex miner named Myron. Everyone knows him here and I find out he comes most mornings for coffee. He’s probably in his 80’s and I get a few old time stories out of him before saying goodbye. He’s been in Ely most of his life and I enjoy my time with him.

So it’s on the road again where I see my sisters family. Lots of nieces and nephews and kids show up to meet me there. It was a really nice way to end the trip.

Here’s me and my partner on our Kahshahpiwi Lake campsite. She sleeps most of the way home.

My thoughts for this trip is I need to go lighter. Lighter canoe, maybe return to hammock camping, leave the chair and get a smaller/lighter depth finder. I'd like to make dehydrated dog patties for Luna so her food won't take up so much space in the pack.

It was a great idea to meet up with another soloist and something I plan on doing more of in the future. I've also decided I need to see the northern access of Quetico from now on and Woodland Caribou Park is now on my radar too.

BTW if interested, Luna's PFD is from a very cool company from New Zealand called D-Fa Dogs. Great stuff. she also has a coat from there and I can't recommend this company more. They ship from the US so the shipping rate is normal.