Friday, June 03, 2016 We woke early and started breaking down camp just as daylight started to show itself. We had one last hot breakfast and finished cleaning up camp.  We had a couple fish left so we filleted them and put them in the empty leech locker with a couple of cold packs to see if they'd keep on the paddle out. We shoved off from our Iron Lake paradise at 8:30 with a slight headwind to keep us busy. We decided not to do Bottle Portage once again and the 240 rod and 70 rod portages to the Ranger Station went even smoother than on the way in. This will be the new standard route for us as it shaves quite a bit of paddling distance and avoids the crowds of Bottle.  Once we got back to Boulder Bay we decided to follow the Boulder River down past the Dahlgren River to try the 115 rod portage into Agnes. The Boulder River is a gorgeous paddle and I'd recommend it, but the portage to Agnes was a little tough to find. It ended up being much further west than the map indicated but we found it after 10 minutes of searching. This is a true "muskeg" portage. There were logs laid across the first 25 feet or so of the portage landing which looked a little swampy and sure enough it was. Dad hopped out of the bow and proceeded to plunge about thigh deep in the muck. He had stepped right next to the logs because he thought it looked like better footing. I kind of looked at him smiling and he simply said "help". If his artificial knee can handle this, there's nothing he couldn't do. We managed to pull him out of the muck and save his boot in the process. I was already regretting the choice to do this portage, but that changed in the last 40 rods. The trail passes through a gorgeous canopy of pines, and you can see Agnes through the trees as you follow the boardwalk for the last 20 rods or so. The landing on the Agnes side was picturesque and two loons paddled in the bay greeting us with some cackles as we loaded back up for the paddle across Agnes. We stopped to munch on a Clif Bar and power up for the open water paddle across Agnes. Our decision to stay on Iron for our last night proved to be a good one as every sight we paddled past seemed to be occupied. There were lots of canoes on the lake today and I wondered how many of them were locals on a day trip. We got to Nina Moose Lake around 1 and the final stretch down the Moose River to the final landing was the quietest portion of our paddle. We didn't say a word for the last hour or so as it seemed as though we were both trying to soak in our last minutes in the wilderness. The last portage up to EP 16 was smooth and we enjoyed a couple of warm Grain Belt's before we loaded everything up and started the 4 hour drive back home. I'm so grateful to have these trips with my dad year after year and I'm just as grateful that we Minnesotans are fortunate enough to have this gem of a wilderness area in our own backyard.  Next year will be the most special yet as we will be joined by a third generation when my oldest , Douglas, my 5 year old son makes his first BW trip. I can't wait to share this amazing and sacred place with him and eventually my younger kids for years to come. Also, the fish we filleted and brought with us stayed fresh in with the cold packs the whole 7 hours it took us to paddle out. They made it to the dinner table at my house a few weeks later. Thanks for reading and stay safe fellow canoe campers.