It was pretty cold this morning and it misted a little. Scott even had his rain gear and stocking hat on. We made pancakes for breakfast. It warmed up a little bit but it was still mostly cloudy and it was breezy out of the NW. We finally broke camp around 11:30. It was an easy paddle and portage to Winchell. There was a group of guys fishing on the first site to the west. We talked briefly and they said they caught one fish. At least one of them had a strong accent. I think he was from the south but I don’t really remember. We checked out the ‘5 star’ site west of them. We initially thought it was a great site but we couldn’t find the latrine and the tent pads were only so-so. There was a huge rock outcropping going into the water but that also made the fire area a little ways from the water and sort of tucked down in the rocks. There was also a strange odor. It was either poo or a dead animal. Scott and Claire both had an eerie feeling like something bad had happened there so we decided to move on. I didn’t get that feeling but it was still weird that they BOTH had that feeling. The 5 star site on the point was taken. The next OK site was free but we pushed for the next 2 sites that were supposed to be nice. The first nice site was taken by the couple we saw off in the distance earlier on the other side of Winchell that were coming from the south. This site had a big rock face that went into the water. Claire was pretty sure this was the site she stayed on in 2005. We talked with them as we passed by and they said they watched a moose in the swampy area for around 30 minutes from 50 yards away. The way they described it I assume this was around the grassy lake portage.

The next site on the point was open and it was a big morale booster. It was a pretty awesome site. Not too long after we got there, out of nowhere Scotty randomly stripped off his shirt and ran into the water. We all took a much needed dip to cool off. This was a nice site for swimming. Claire napped in the hammock while Scotty and I bummed around. I tried fishing but no luck. We hung up the tarp to stash our gear for the night. Scott cut his finger while he was sharpening his hatchet, err small forest axe as I learned today. Claire woke up to Scott breaking styx (in honor of Mr. Roboto that Scott got stuck in our heads). We heard yet another tree crack and fall into the water across the lake. How often does this happen??? We had Mountain House chicken and mashed potatoes and beef stroganoff for dinner. We actually thought it was rather tasty. I finished off the blackberry brandy. We sat around the fire until 11 tonight, fighting with the wet wood most of the time. It must have been around 9 when Claire was ready to throw in the towel but I wouldn’t give up on the fire. I got it going for the most part and managed to keep a decent flame for quite awhile.

Omega - Winchell