DAY NINE, THURSDAY, 7/23/2015, 6.7 paddling miles, 1.9 portaging miles, 8.6 miles total - Two portages - Thomas, Kiana, Recline, Lake Insula, Williams Island snack, campsite #1333

We hated to leave our cove on Thomas and ended up packing up in a light rain under my 15'x15' Cooke Custom Sewing tarp. That is a very cool well made tarp. We could have headed into Alice but we decided to shorten things by going to Insula instead. At every turn to go deeper into the wilderness further from civilization, the group chose the shorter route which to me was a bit of a downer. My grand ideas met reality but I was certainly far from unhappy, just wishing we had more time. The kids really did not want to leave that site.

A Bald Eagle was hanging out near one of the portages which was always a pleasure to see although my camera lens was not enough of a zoom to really do it justice. The 185 rod portage into Insula was a bit of a kicker even with lighter food packs. I believe it was on this portage that we met an Outward Bound group headed the opposite direction who had either been in the BWCA for 30 days or were going to be in for that length total. I thought to myself that would be a fun experience. Kids were hungry and we stopped at an Island campsite after a windy paddle but it was occupied. The guys there were real nice and we broke out the Snicker Bars we had been saving as a reward to the kids for the long 180 rod portage we had just done. 

We paddled around Insula looking for a good campsite and eventually found one North of the burn zone at the southernmost point of a large island. Right off from our camp site was a passage between major portions of the lake and it seemed that fishermen hoped to snare a few toothed submarines in that vicinity. Insula is certainly a windy lake. Shortly after landing at our new campsite a couple of guys fishing caught a large pike and could not seem to bring it into their canoe. So they paddled over to our beach and we gathered around to ooh and ahh over the Pike. After that the kids all grabbed fishing rods hoping for a big fish but did not catch anything.

We planned on just one day at this site. Lake Insula, unlike other lakes we had been on had a number of sandy beaches which was very nice. The kids enjoyed wading with sand under their toes. The guy holding the pike was the fisherman and not one of our group.

~Kiana Lake, Recline Lake, Insula, Lake